260, or 308???

[Darkker]

So here in my little patch 'O Hell, the wind blows. Not like on the news when you hear a city lost power when the wind hits 35mph. As part of our "Spring wind" last year we clipped 105mph. 20mph is just a normal breeze around here. I have gotten into long range rockchuck sniping on a part of the farm here.
So I'm going to hock my AR, as the wind just moves it around too much. I really enjoy my 308 for the afore mentioned task. I did love a 264WM that I built last year, so I am intruiged by the 260. Very few things can touch the ballistics of the 6.5 bullets.
As I now have children in the picture, how much different is the 260 from the 308?? I would naturally use the gun for varmint sniping, until the kids are old enough to be taught to shoot/hunt. So is there much of a difference in terms of kick?? Obviously apples to apples,(same weight gun, etc.)

 

[Michael Courtney]

With 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, the .308 makes a flat shooting, wind resistant, mild-recoiling, double duty deer and varmint gun. I see no advantage to the .260.

Michael Courtney

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Have you considered getting a 6.5mm Grendel upper receiver for your AR?

Would probably be cheaper just to adapt the settup you currently have rather than get a new rifle, and would be majorly cool.

The 6.5 Grendel has claimed quite a following both on THR and AR15.com

-MV

 

[wanderinwalker]

I'll vote for the .260. Those dinky little 125gr .308 bullets only have a BC around .366 and can only reach about 3100-3200 fps. A 6.5mm Sierra 107gr Matchking has a BC of .42 and can be driven to over 3100 fps in a .260. I have a Nosler loading data book in front of me showing speeds over 3300-fps for a 100gr bullet in a .260.

 

[IV Troop]

The .260 is a fantastic cartridge that has only recently begun to get the attention it deserves. It is beginning to see a lot of use in long range competitions over the 308 for its minimal wind drift as compared to the 308. I love 308 heavy bbl rifles and have 4 of them but my next LR gun will be a 260.

 

[RayDog]

Or you can go crazy and run 260 AI

 

[BulletFan]

Let's not forget however that speed does not necassarily mean accuracy. When you double the speed of a projectile, you square the force on the projectile. I think the only thing I can bring to this arguement is the price of ammo. Will you be reloading your own or buying new? If you're buying new I'd go with the .308. If you're reloading, you probably have a little bit more headroom as far as tweaking the round recipe to make it perfect for your gun...but I'd still prefer the .308.

My two cents.
Matt

 

[michael_aos]

I bought my 260's specifically to deal with the wind as well.

They get my vote! I tend to shoot the Lapua 123gr Scenar @ 2950fps.

The 120gr MatchKing is also nice.

 

[IV Troop]

Michael AOS.

You are KILLING ME!!

Just last night I was laying awake think that I NEEDED to build a 260 on an AR platform along with a new bolt gun. Who did the AR work, what kind of barrel and what base gun did you use???

 

[RayDog]

Here you go.Read this

http://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek046.html

 

[RayDog]

The 139 scenar has a BC of .615.....260 is the way to go.
My next rig will be 260 AI

 

[michael_aos]

Michael AOS.

You are KILLING ME!!

Just last night I was laying awake think that I NEEDED to build a 260 on an AR platform along with a new bolt gun. Who did the AR work, what kind of barrel and what base gun did you use???

It started as an Eagle stripped upper, Eagle stripped lower, bolt & bolt-carrier.

Roscoe's Custom Pistols did the work. Ordered most of the parts from Armalite. They cut a Lilja 6.5mm blank down to 22", turned it, and chambered it in 260 Remington.

Mike

 

[michael_aos]

The 139 scenar has a BC of .615.....260 is the way to go.
My next rig will be 260 AI

I kind of like the velocity on the 123gr, but for long-distance stuff, you're right.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone with a 260 AI in the bolt-gun. I've wound up with different loads for the AR-10 than the 700P anyway.

Mike

 

[Michael Courtney]

The 139 scenar has a BC of .615.....260 is the way to go.
My next rig will be 260 AI

The super-high BC bullets do have very appealing wind-bucking qualities, I've shot a few of them myself. However, most of these match bullet designs do not expand reliably on varmints and game. I've seen some cases of expansion, but they fail to expand about 1/2 the time. If you're doing pest control and it does not trouble you if the target crawls off to die, then this is no problem. If you prefer to provide an instant demise, stick to a bullet that expands reliably such as a ballistic tip, AMAX, or VMAX.

In .260, the 140 grain Hornady AMAX has a BC of 0.550 and can be launched at about 2700 FPS in a hot handload. Compare with a 125 grain .308 Ballistic tip with a BC or 0.366 and muzzle velocity of 3200 FPS. At 200 yards, the AMAX in .260 drifts 5.2" in a 20 MPH cross wind. The ballistic tip in .308 drifts 6.4". At longer ranges, the gap widens, but at shorter ranges it is barely noticable, so at some point it depends on the range of shooting that you do.

Without a rangefinder and some serious experience doping the wind, neither load is much use at the longer ranges, and both are useful out to 200-250 yards. The .308 shoots flatter at those ranges.

Michael Courtney