Best Bullet for .260 Remington

[billyzink]

Hello , Wondering if anyone has any expertise in what would be a good bullet to shoot in this rifle? Would need to be store bought, no reloading for me, The rifle would have two uses, whitetail deer and coyote hunting, no concerns about hide damage on the dogs. Hunting ranges would be 200 yds and under majority of the time with a few opportunitys of a 400 yard shot. Below is the barrell description:
Description

Barrel:

24" Length 416 Stainless steel bull barrel 6 grooves, right-hand 1x7.5 twist, button rifled
Chambered in .260 Remington
DPMS
Panther™ LR 260
Model: RFLR-260

[rmclaughlin]

I USE 120 GRAIN REMINGTON WITH THE PLASTIC POINT.GOOD FOR WHITETAILS,HAVE NOT USED THEM ON COYOTES ,TO EXPENSIVE.

[nexttime]

I have the exact same rifle except with a 7.5 twist rate. Nothing factory would give me under an inch that I tried. Loaded up some 140 SMK's and started shooting one holers @ 100. I seem to be showing signs of high pressure even with moderate hand loads and some factory stuff. Have you noticed anything in regards to high press?

[mike3132]

Any of the 120 grain bullet loads will be good for both. Mike

[billyzink]

Jan 24, 2011 16:48:56 GMT -5 nexttime said:

I have the exact same rifle except with a 7.5 twist rate. Nothing factory would give me under an inch that I tried. Loaded up some 140 SMK's and started shooting one holers @ 100. I seem to be showing signs of high pressure even with moderate hand loads and some factory stuff. Have you noticed anything in regards to high press?

Just got the gun and have never shot it, I double checked turns out it is the 1 -7.5 like yours. Again I will not be able to load shells, of the factory stuff you did try what worked best?

[nexttime]

I believe they went with the fast twist in order to cater to the 140 gn bullet in that rifle. The 140 in factory did seem to shoot a little better than the 120's if I remember correctly. Buy some of each and see what she likes. I think Remington was the only brand I tried. Save your brass. I'll be happy to buy it down the road if your not ever going to reload. I'm curious to see if yours is going to show any signs of high pressure. The primers would be flatter than expected and my primer pockets would be over sized in no time. This is my first AR and I'm learning as I go.

[mike3132]

Mine was a Savage, it was a 1-9.25 twist. I couldn't get the heavier bullets to shoot good and the 120's shot great. The twist you have will shoot the bigger bullets better. Mike

[herman]

When the 260 came out there was no brass so I bought a box of rem 125 gr and a box of 140 gr core-locs.Both shot very good in a rem MTN rifle with a 1:9 twist and a ruger with 1:8 twist.Just to get some brass to reload.
Nexttime what load are you shooting with the 140's? Both the flat primers and the pocket short lived sounds like a pressure problem.I would slow them down some and see if that helps.
In my rem BDL for the 120's I use Imr 4064 and my custom I use H4350 both give me close to 3000fps.
For deer don't over look the 100 BT and the hornady cup and core bullets.
The 130 accu-bonds are a good deer bullet also.This is the heavest i shoot in the 260's.
But do shoot the 140's and 142's in my 6.5/284

[nexttime]

Glad you chimed in Herman. My load is 35gn of RL 15 running thru my chrony at 2640 or so. My Lyman reloading manual gives a max load of 38.5 for that powder with a 140 gn bullet. If I go over 35 gn my primer pockets are shot on 80% of my brass. Also the bolt face starts to dig into the case pretty good. I figure with the faster twist rate of 7.5 the bullet is in the barrel longer building more pressure. I had similar results with 4350 with no accuracy compared to R15. My goal is to maintain or increase the speed,keep the accuracy and get at least 3 plus reloads out of my brass.

[herman]

Wish I could help you more,I haven't tried R-15 in the260 and shot only a few 140's in them.
Sierra gives max of 36.9 /2600and 35.1/2500 which would be under 60,000psi.So I would think your 35 gr load shouldn't be a problem but you never know every rifle is differant.
I do remember setting up a fellows rem 700 for 140 BT and the best powder in it for the 140's was AA 3100 give some very good groups out to 300 yds.But don't remember how much powder I used.I'm sure it was max or close to it.
I need to try some of the 140's in my 1;8 twist custom and see how they do with pressure and accuracy.
The 100's,120's,129's and 130's do so well in mine that I never saw the need for the 140's and 142's.

[cfvickers]

Sounds like you have a very nice rifle. Bad thing is that nothing factory will usually shoot to a custom rifle's potential. if I were going to take a shot in the dark, See if hornady offers anything in 260. If not Federal with a 140 grain bullet, 120s would work fine but would not make the most of that 1/7.5 twist aqnd will likely be a little erratic because of it if they are going too fast. I don't have a .260 but I have several other 6.5mm rifles/cartridges. Right twist, perfect for a 140 VLD or a Sierra Match king or game king in the 140-142 class. Cool thing about 6.5s is they make up for velocity with ballistic coefficient. A 100 grain pill doing 3250 won't shoot any flatter at 300 yards than a 140 doing 2850. at least not more than an inch or so difference. and the 140 will hang way higher at 400+.

[mountainam]

I second cfvickers, nothing kills as effiently as the 6.5mm's. They are overlooked in this country way too much. I have experience with the 6.5x55 Swede in a CZ that I wrung out for a friend. I believe it had a 1/7.75" twist and shot 120's as good as any of my best varmint rifles. They limit the pressures on this cartridge for fear that someone will shoot hot reloads in a 93 mauser Swede. To Billyzink, sadly you may not see the true potential of the .260 if you don't handload. You may be better served with a 6.5 Creedmore round. One of the manufacturers make an AR platform in the 6.5 Creedmore and Hornady manufactures some awesome shooting ammo for it. I think there is a lot or info on www.6mmbr.com for the 6.5 Creedmore. Good Shooting!