.260 Remington Barrel Life

[Lovesbeer99]

So I'm looking to rebarrel my Mauser and I'm interested in the .260 Remington, but I keep hearing that they burn out barrels after about 800 rounds. Now this could just be a rumer, or hearsay, but it might be true.

Anyone know? Also, it looks like the only way to get the benefit from the .260 remington is to use a 26" barrel. A 20" barrel will not let the cartride perform as it should. Any opinions on this?

Thanks in advance.
Lovesbeer99 (but shoots safe)

 

[Bartkowski]

I do not know what the average barrel life will be, but it should be a lot higher than 800. My friends .243 has about 1200 shots through it and it shoots 1.5" at 100 yards on a good day, 2" average. To some that is shot out, but for a hunting gun that has never done much better, it is fine.

And considering that the .308 will perform very well out of a 22" barrel and doesn't gain too much past that, I would expect the .260 to be the same.

 

[Howard Roark]

600 and 1K yard prone shooters are getting about 3500-3800 rounds before they start throwing shots in the 9 ring.

For normal shooting I believe it will shoot fine for 6K and more.

 

[skinewmexico]

It's also a factor of how hot you load them too. I'm sure you could make up some mega-hot loads that would do it, but you don't need to.

 

[wanderinwalker]

I believe I've heard 800-1200 as a ballpark for the 6.5x.284, which is hotter than the .260.

The .260 should give you 4k-6k rounds of good, accurate life. As was said, it depends on what your game is. 600 yard X-ring-accuracy is going to be gone before 200-yard field accuracy would be considered borderline.

Is your Mauser a long-action? (I'm assuming so.) If you want to drive 140s, it may pay to have the barrel throated long so you can load out past the SAAMI max of 2.8" (IIRC).

Get the barrel longer rather than shorter for the heavier pills. I had a .260 in a Remington Mountain Rifle that would scream with 120-130gr bullets. By scream, I mean close to an honest 2900-fps, but that was topped out. The 140s were slugs in comparison, barely doing 2600. That was with a 22" barrel and H4350. A 26" barrel plus a long leade ought to get you into the 2700-2750 neighborhood with those long, high B.C. slugs. Incidentally, that is the factory claimed speed from a 24" barrel.

Good luck, and good shooting. Man I miss my .260!

 

[Horsemany]

5000 rounds is said to be typical barrel life for a 308. Since barrel wear is directly proportional to lbs. of powder burned, I'd assume the 260 to be about the same as the 308. I know a competitive shooter that gets his 308 barrel HOT. He told me last week his accuracy is starting to drop off. He has 2700 bullets logged. But his barrel is often too hot to keep your hand on and I'm sure that decreased his barrel life.

 

[rangerruck]

remember the 260 is a necked down 308, or a necked up 243, and a 308 , if fired rationally, certainly is not a bbl burner. I wouldn't sweat it.

 

[kenjs1]

Are you sure you aren't thinking 25-06????? BTW- what do you plan on using it for?

 

[Ol` Joe]

The 260 Rem throat should last a long, long time with a little care. I`ve 2 of them and neither show any excesssive throat wear after probably ~ 2500 rd in the one that I can determine without a bore scope.

My 6.5x284 now, will burn throats fairly rapidly. So will a 264 Win Mag, 6.5 Rem mag, 6.5x68, or 6.5-06. High pressure and lots of slow burning powder gas is what is very hard on barrels.

 

[Zak Smith]

I'm expecting between 3000 and 5000 rounds through my .260. It has about 2000 now and still shoots 1/4 MOA.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

I just plan to shoot targets at 300 yards, but sometimes at 100 and sometimes at 500. But I like to shoot a lot and I don't want to build a gun that will burn out barrels too quickly.

 

[JohnMc]

Related to what wanderinwalker asked, if it's a long action Mauser, why not barrel it in the first .260 round for the Mauser, 6.5x55 Swede?
I really like the idea of the .260 Rem, especially as it's the modern incarnation of the "magical" Swede, but the Swedish Mauser round just seems to fit.
Just my $0.02.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

It's not a long action mauser, it's a medium action, specifically the yugo 24/47. But we're talking .308 cases here, not 30-06 so it will work.

 

[Howard Roark]

I just got in a new 260 reamer from PTG. It was cut with a .5 deg leade angle to shoot Berger bullets.

I'm setting back a Hart barrel with just under 4K through it. It would still clean a 600 yard target but would barely hold the 10 ring at 1k.

 

[24kshooter]

Just a rumor - the 6.5 / 260 REM is a reasonably large bore for the typical powder load - as with all issues velocity related - you pack it full of powder to increase the velocity and it will burn the throat quicker - as all other cartridges will. The 243/6 mm bore is far more of a serious contender as a barrel burner as you are using the same basic powder load in a smaller bore area - remember the area formula squares the radius measurement so a small gain in bore radius (.5) gives a much bigger bore.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

24kShooter - can you please translate that into english? I think I get you, but I'm not quite sure. So is the .243/260 rem a barrel burner or not? Is it less or more of a barrel burner than the 6.5?

Thanks
STeven

 

[Bartkowski]

If you have two rifles, with the same case capacity but in different calibers; the one with the smaller bore will "burn out" faster.

 

[GunTech]

After about 5,000 rounds, I notice myu Hart BBl 260 wasn't grouping like it used to. I had the barrel set back and the chamber recut and she's still going strong after another couple thousand.

 

[skinewmexico]

Like GunTech is implying, burning out is usually the throat. We should all be so lucky as to shoot out a barrel.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

OK I got it. So when I heard that the barrels were burning out, it was actually the throat.

Ok, so if I get 5000 rounds in my gun, how much will it cost to set it back.
Also, how many rounds will a 308 shoot before the barrel needs any work.

I know the 308 is very accurate and there is plenty of data out there, but I'm interested in the 260 rem and thought I'd give it a try. I just don't want to waste time and money.

Maybe I should just stick with the .308.

 

[GunTech]

After shooting 308 for years, I see the 260 (along with the 6.5x47 Lapua and similar rounds) as very much superior to the 308 for LR shooting. There's no mystery either, it's al about the large number of excellent, high BC bullets one can find in 6.5. That difference is around 10 MOA of elevation at 1000 yards compared to similar 308 loads. Recoil is also more modest, particular when compared to the heavy 308 bullets.

308 does have a longer throat life - a couple thousand rounds more seems to be typical.

Cost to set back and rechamber will vary, and will also depend on the barrel profile. Most of my LR rifles are straight taper sewer pipes with plenty of meat to set back. YMMV.

 

[ThomasT]

If you can afford to shoot 5000 rounds of ammo at 50 cents each for a total outlay of two thousand five hundred dollars what difference does 2 or 3 hundred dollars for a new barrel make.

If you want it buy it. By the time you wear it out you may want a new caliber anyway.

 

[Horsemany]

I agree with Ratshooter. The 260 isn't hard on barrels. Evidence was given here of one lasting 5000 rounds on a target rifle. If you shoot 5000 rounds through it you'll be bored enought with it to have a new barrel anyway and the cost will be trivial compared to the cost of 5000 rounds of ammo.

I can't shoot that much volume without getting bored. I have been shooting for years on a weekly basis at least and I haven't worn out anything yet. And when I do the barrel will be an upgrade so it's a positive thing. I wouldn't worry about barrel wear in a 260 at all. It's not a problem in the 6.5 x 55 swede which is a slightly bigger case.