.260, 7mm-08, or 308 Win

I am looking to build a new rifle for next years Deer season. I want a light rifle that is easy to manuver and comfortable to shoot. 7-8 pound w/scope, and a 20-22" barrel. Do any of the above cartidges have any real advantages over the other. I don't plan on shooting over 300 yards, in fact most of my shots will probably be 50-100 yards. I leaning pretty much towards the 308.

I'll probably build it on a Rem 700 SA.

I am curious to your suggestions and bullet to use since I reload.

Because you plan on handloading, then it's a tossup. They will all kill deer very well. Bullets are widely available for all three. I don't think anyone round has a distinct advantage over the other (except maybe lighter recoil). None of those are hard kickers.

For deer there are many very good bullets in all calibers.

I personally like the Nosler BT. They can misbehave a little if you make a bad shot .

Truthfully, I've never had a bullet fail on me. Everything I've shot has basically dropped in its tracks.

If you're building a custom rifle, perhaps a 6.5x55 Ackley Improved (Though I think that requires a LA)? That would be a nice deer round. It's got the umph to push 140 gr bullets (Though 120s are fine for deer).

308 is always a nice caliber....


And since you handload...you can take it up to Elk and load it down to varmints...although its a mighty blast. :D


260 is somewhat oddball in that its a slightly rebated rim...and not a standard like 308/7-08....

Now the 7-08 is another good choice...VERY nice selection of bullets...I see a 7x57 in some rifle in my future to compliment my 7-30 Waters...just as my 30-30's compliment my 308...where one drops off, the other can pick up.

D

.308. More bullet availability. Good solid round. Good plinking ammo. I shot m2 ball today for 10 cents/shot.

Tough call.

The 260 will give you the longest legs and the least recoil; 308 will give you the most thump, and the 7mm08 will be the jack-of-all-trades in between the two. If this was my only rifle, I'd probably be tempted to get the 7mm08 if only to split the difference. There are good bullet selections for all three calibers; I tend to gravitate towards the 30-cal and 7mm stuff because they are generally offered in the greatest range of bullet constructions.

For what you've described, the 308 is probably the most versatile. Certainly, you can always shoot mil-surp thru it if you ever get the hankering.

260 is somewhat oddball in that its a slightly rebated rim...and not a standard like 308/7-08....

Ahem. The .260 Remington is simply the legalized name for the old 6.5-08 cartridge, which was the .308 Winchester necked down to 6.5mm/.264", nothing more, nothing less. Where did that rebated rim garbage come from? :scrutiny:

(Building a Model 7 in .260 Remington, myself.)

Now, the 6.5-284 is the rebated rim 6.5mm darling one hears so much of these days. It's based on the older .284 Winchester, which itself was a rebated rim design with a 0.500" case body diameter, allowing greater case capacity while still using a standard .308/.30-06 bolt face for .473" case heads in a short action.

I can assure you that there is no rebated rim on the .260 Remington. It can be formed from .308, 7mm-08 or .243 Win brass without any hitches. (Well, okay, you will probably have to neck turn cases formed from .308 and probably 7-08 as well.) Perhaps you've confused the .260 with the .284 Win?

Anyway, my vote is for the .260 Remington, especially if you reload. It can easily drive a 120gr BT or 125gr Partition at 2900fps from a 22" barrel. (I've measured those speeds from my Mountain Rifle.) It has the least recoil and when loaded with 140gr bullets will penetrate at least as well as a 180gr in the .308. Though others will say otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to take it after non-trophy black bear and even moose here in New Hampshire (if I had a permit), so long as you pick the shot carefully. I mean, these things aren't bullet-proof.

The long 140s lose a little in the speed department though; best I've been able to do is pushing close to 2700, but not exceeding it. Don't expect Remington 140gr CoreLokts to chrony at the advertised 2750; I got 2600 out of the batch I tested, but nice 3/4" 3-shot groups at 100 yards. Got to buy some of those bullets to load up sometime! :eek:

Go with the 260 if you reload and the 708 if you don`t. I have used both for deer since the late 80s and they are a couple of the best deer rounds out there. I`ve been dragging a 260 to the woods the last 5-6 years now and am on my second rifle, a Kimber M84. The first was a Rem M700 that`s still shooting sub MOA but the Kimber at about 7 lbs even, loaded and scoped with a 22" barrel is pure heaven to carry and shoots like no ones business. The 129 gr Hornady SP over a load of R19 drops deer just fine- I`ve used it on 5 so far- and recoil is very light.

This is kind of interesting...right now I am trying to decide on a deer caliber also...and two of the calibers are ones you are interested in. I also like the ballistics of the .260 and the 7mm-08, but I am more interested in the .25-06 than the .308.

So, out of the two calibers we agree on, I am leaning more towards the 7mm-08, just because of a wider selection of factory loads. I hope to start reloading sometime...but it's a very open ended sometime.

greg

My deer rifle is nearly complete and I chose a .260. I was also contemplating the 7mm and .308.

My reasons varied from low recoil to flat trajectory to just wanting something different.

Ed

BTW, I reload if that counts for anything.

No mistakes in the bunch. Factory ammo favors the .308 however the reloader has great component choices in all three. Might you ever plan an elk or moose hunt? That would push me to the .308.

No mistakes in the bunch. Factory ammo favors the .308 however the reloader has great component choices in all three. Might you ever plan an elk or moose hunt? That would push me to the .308.

The 7MM-08 is fine for Moose and Elk.

I've got a Remington 700P rebarreled in .260 and an AR-10 in .260.

Absolutely _love_ them for target shooting, but I haven't hunted with either.

Good barrel life, easy to reload, low recoil.

I suspect it would be GREAT for deer.

Mike

.260 Rem if you want the best round for the purpose.
7mm-08 Rem if you are concerned about commercial ammo availability on a hunt (e.g. you can't travel with your ammo)
.308 if you want to shoot milsurp ammo

.260 retains a lot of energy out at 200-300 yards. Low recoil. Flat trajectory. With the right bullet, you should be able to shoot +/- 3" out to 300 yards, so you won't even have to worry about range when hunting.

.308 would be my last choice of the three if I built a rifle and loaded my own ammo. More recoil, little or no more energy at 200 yards than the .260, and more bullet drop out at distance.

But of course they'll all work; I'm assuming that, if you're going through the work of a custom rifle and handloaded ammo, you want the best choice, not just something that "works".

Might you ever plan an elk or moose hunt? That would push me to the .308.

My thoughts on this are if the Swedes can hunt moose with a 6.5mm (6.5 x 55), so can I . ;) Besides, with todays bullet technology, it's well within .260s capabilities with selective shooting and accurate bullet placement.

Ed

im looking at those three calibers too, but mine is for an encore pistol. i reload as well so im not concerned about commericial availability, but my question is which has the best bang for the buck out of a 15 in barrel? i've been leaning toward the 7-08 just cause it seems like it will be far more managable in a pistol form then the 308, but i really just dont know.

I had a hard time killing deer with it. It definately killed them, just not very quickly or decisively. I just couldn't seem to find the right load. I just picked up a 7mm-08 and look forward to playing around with it. The .260 was very accurate and had a small kick, however it did not seem to put down deer the way a 25-06 or a .280 does. I am hoping to get better performance on game with similar accuracy and recoil attributes as the .260.

We will see.

Matt

Frankly at short range such as 300 and closer I doubt you could tell much of a difference in any of the calibers. I doubt a deer would know the difference. Where the 260 comes into its own is long range shooting. Most LR shooters I know have at least one 6.5mm in their stable. I have a few heavy barrel 308s, all fine guns but I am in the process of converting one to a 260 right now.

Excellent LR target and varmint caliber.

Be different and build a 260.

If you are a reloader, try and keep the brass in different bins. I once mixed 7-08, 243 and 308 brass and used a max 7-08 load in 243 brass. Not good. It perfed the primer and gave me a good puff of gas for my trouble. Since then, I carefully check the headstamp on each round as they go in the press.

My vote by the way is for 7-08. I have a nice BDL in 7-08 and it is accurate and kills deer quickly. Also I believe there is more 7mm bullets then 260 bullets available.

No question that the smaller of the two rounds will work on the bigger deer species. As far as that goes, I would have no problem taking my 6.5x55 out for elk. I should have said that when it comes to elk and moose-sized critters, I am personally happiest with more rather than less bore diameter. Even so, there is little practical difference between the three. And given that the original poster never even mentioned elk (I did) and only intends to hunt deer at very sane ranges, any of the three is an outstanding choice.

My father-in-law has a Rem 700 in 7mm08 and I have a Tikka T3 in .308. They both take deer just fine. Significantly more choices are available in .308 factory ammo.

Have you ever seen 260 or 7-08 ammo on sale?
What about brass on sale?
Are they going to be around in 30-40 years or are this years fade?
Do they have a wide range of bullets for them?
Can you get them everywhere?
Can you shoot a wide assortment of game with them?
How many compaines load for them?
I have seen calibers come and go, I think the Gun companies and the Ammo companies interduce them, just to sell more guns and high price ammo, that we do not have any need for, that have smaller and smaller niches on the cartridge board.
Yes, buy the 260 or 7-08, but I would buy the 308. It will do the same job, but it will be around forever, and never have to worry about it getting discontinued.....ie, 351, 401 Winchester, 303 Savage, 32 Remington.....

Have you ever seen 260 or 7-08 ammo on sale?
What about brass on sale?
Are they going to be around in 30-40 years or are this years fade?
Do they have a wide range of bullets for them?
Can you get them everywhere?
Can you shoot a wide assortment of game with them?
How many compaines load for them?


I`ve bought 708 ammo from Gander Mt on end of year clearance.

Midway just had 260 brass on sale last month as I remember

Don`t matter, the brass in simple to make. Just run 243 or 308 cases in your sizeing die (might have to check 308 down to 260 for neck thickness but going up from 243 is a snap) The 7-08 though has lasted 20 years now, I doubt it is leaving in the near future.

There are almost as many 7mm bullets available as 30 cal and the 6.5 (260) has more then anything but the .30, 7mm, and .224 cal I believe.

I get both in all the gun shops in the area, and have found 7-08s in Dunhams, and Wal mart. I have also seen 7-08s in K-Mart at one time.

Both have been used on everything from varmites to moose.

The 708 is loaded by Remington, Winchester, and Federal. The 260 by Remington and Federal and were in Speers old Nitrex line. Both have multiple bullet wgts available.

.308 mostly because i have the most exp. with it & i think it is the best if your only going to have one. 7mm08 second, unless your real tired of recoil i'd skip the .260. i have a 6.5X55 sweed but usually take something bigger on serious hunts (i'd rather be a little over gunned than a little under).
if you go with the .308 the following loads work well in my rem. 600 18" bbl. for deer hunting:
165 gr. nosler boattail ballistic tip, 48.5 grains hodgen h380, cci 200 primer.
165 gr. nosler boattail ballistic tip, 47.0 grains win. 748, federal 210 primer.
always check reload data to manual!

I had a hard time killing deer with it. It definately killed them, just not very quickly or decisively. I just couldn't seem to find the right load. I just picked up a 7mm-08 and look forward to playing around with it. The .260 was very accurate and had a small kick, however it did not seem to put down deer the way a 25-06 or a .280 does. I am hoping to get better performance on game with similar accuracy and recoil attributes as the .260.

We will see.

Matt

Can I ask what bullets you used? I've heard and read bad reports of the factory Remington 140gr CoreLokts, especially from the shorter carbine barrels on the Model 7. Although I don't consider myself a speed-freak, I do like to keep the velocity up when using the smaller guns. A 125gr Nosler Partition at 2900fps isn't far off a .270 Winchester in speed, weight and diameter, and I doubt I could tell the difference in downrange effect between the two.

almost no expansion. Then I tried a the 120 Nolser BT's and got better results, but not like I wanted. I was very upset because my rifle was extreamly accurate. It was a Ruger M77 w/ a 22" bbl. I can not figure out why it did not work for me. I loaded it to max which should duplicate 270ish ballistics. I have heard from others that they had great luck with the .260.

For now I have gone back to my old stand by, the 6mm Remington. I am working on the 7mm-08, but I do not think it will be ready for deer/pig season.

Hope this info help you out.

Matt

This thread is getting interesting. My main purpose for this rifle is for whitetail deer. I had a 6.5x55 built a while back in a LA model 70. I use the Hornady 129 gr SPT and they work great. But the rifle is long barreled, heavy, and not very manuverable in the woods.

I was thinking of using the same bullet in a .260,
Maybe a 120-140 in the 7mm-08, and/or
a 150-165 in the .308.

I would like to keep the barrel length at 22". Can any of you post reasonable velocities with the above setups? I kind of feel that I am splitting hairs here, and any of the three would work fine as I think someone already posted. I just want to cover as many of the bases as I can before I hand a bunch of money over to a gunsmith. :)

TMAS,

I haven't tried the Hornday 129. Like I've posted already, I can get 2900 fps from a 22" barrel on the .260 with the 125gr Partition but they only group about 1.5" for 3 rounds at 100 yards. With the 140s I've only ever chrono'ed them at about 2600 fps (factory Remington CoreLokts and reloaded 140gr Gameking and 41gr of H4350, IIRC); haven't chrony'ed my current 140 load, which is book max and should be close to 2700 and will hold an honest one minute for 3. I can easily push the 120gr Ballistic Tip to 2900+ fps, but accuracy is only so-so at best at those speeds in my rifle. For some reason my Remington does not like the lighter bullets.

I'm really looking at the new Swift 130gr Scirocco as maybe an answer to my accuracy/speed dilema.

Hope all that helps a little.

TMAS,

Is your Model 70 a Classic (CRF) action? Reason I ask, I've got a low mileage 6.5x55 barrel for a CRF action that came off a Winchester Featherweight that I would let go cheap.

Don

USSR,
Nope, it's a push feed. And besides, the gunsmith was supposed to true up the action, including chasing the threads. So the factory threads may be a little small in the OD.

Thanks

Gotcha.

Don