Tips on .260 Barrel for DPMS .308?

[Swifty Morgan]

I bought a DPMS LR308 (AR10 style, .308 caliber) a long while back, thinking I would eventually put a .260 Remington barrel on it and look for a place where I could shoot at distances over 100 yards. I never got around to it.

Now I am looking at barrels again, but I have no idea what I'm doing. Wonder if I could get a few clues here.

I would like a barrel that shoots well, in case I ever get off my rear end and go out west to shoot prairie dogs or whatever. It doesn't have to be the greatest barrel in the universe, but I would like for my misses to be my fault and not the gun's.

I am reading that it's necessary to buy barrels a la carte and have them fitted. Unfortunately, I live in Miami where no one has any type of skills whatsoever, so I don't know where to send or take the parts, and I don't know what's involved in the work.

I don't want to risk taking it to some butcher in Hialeah.

Can anyone suggest a good barrel for this purpose? Can anyone tell me what will have to be done? I assume I'll want a new upper, but I don't really know. I've never changed the caliber on this gun.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I should also add that DPMS does make .260 barrel assemblies. The price confuses me, though. I've seen "expensive" custom barrels for between $300 and $400, but the DPMS jobs have a retail price of $859.

 

[Davek1977]

Are you sure the DPMS isn't a complete upper assembly, and the others were barrels only? That would likely explain the difference.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks. Looks like you're right.

It appears that the DPMS upper would be fine, but they're impossible to get right now.

 

[68wj]

.260: http://www.shop.blackholeweaponry.com/260-Remington_c531.htm

6.5 Creedmoor: http://www.shop.blackholeweaponry.com/65-Creedmoor_c533.htm

If you have the tools and know how, it is a garage job as with an AR15 type. Brownells has some good tutorials.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks for that link.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

DPMS just told me they discontinued .260 Remington.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Another question, if people don't mind.

Because I can't get the upper receiver with the barrel from DPMS, and because I can't find an assembled upper with barrel anywhere, I may have to put different parts together.

I have never modified this rifle, so I don't know much about the way the barrel and upper receiver go together. If I buy a .260 barrel somewhere, can I put it in the .308 upper I have now? If so, is it plug and play or a big job for a gunsmith?

What I'm trying to find out is whether the difference between my current gun and a .260 is just the barrel. Will the bolt and so on from a .308 work with .260 rounds?

I have a lot of tools, including machine tools, but I am no gunsmith.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Also wondering what a good price on the upper parts (less the barrel) would be for a DPMS.

I found an example on Gunbroker for $375. It says "low profile." I don't know if they're all low-profile, or whether this one won't fit my gun, or what. I don't even know what low-profile means.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I really doubt that DPMS discontinued the 260 Remington. They sell a bunch of them.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

All I know is what they told me.

 

[rbernie]

You can change the barrel in the 308 upper with a 260 barrel and nothing else need to be modified or swapped.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks. Now I have to make sure I don't buy a crap barrel.

 

[rbernie]

You can always go with someone like Lilja that specialize in premium barrels and whom also offer drop-in LR308 barrels in 260 Remington:

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/ar_10.htm

I noted that DPMS is also offering 260 Remington chambered barrels still on their web site:

http://www.dpmsinc.com/-260-Rem_c_314.html

 

[68wj]

Thanks. Now I have to make sure I don't buy a crap barrel.

The ones I linked have a good rep but for some reason their name hasn't developed the recognition of others. One of their pro-staff is a member here too, maybe he will chime in.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I'm thinking I may just wait for a DPMS barrel on Gunbroker. People claim to get great results with them.

I noted that DPMS is also offering 260 Remington chambered barrels still on their web site:

That's why it surprised me when they emailed me back and told me .260 had been discontinued.

 

[Surculus]

I really doubt that DPMS discontinued the 260 Remington. They sell a bunch of them.

Not for ~ the last 2 years they haven't. Remington seemingly abandoned the 260Rem for their 30RAR abortion, & then they abandoned that.

All part of the mismanagement that led to the Cerberus group trying to unload Remington & initially not finding any buyers. Have read on another forum recently that a coalition has bought big green & is planning on turning it around: let's keep our fingers crossed that they're successful!

[NB: DPMS was bought & rolled into Remington by Cerberus several years ago now...]

 

[Txhillbilly]

Not for ~ the last 2 years they haven't. Remington seemingly abandoned the 260Rem for their 30RAR abortion, & then they abandoned that.

All part of the mismanagement that led to the Cerberus group trying to unload Remington & initially not finding any buyers. Have read on another forum recently that a coalition has bought big green & is planning on turning it around: let's keep our fingers crossed that they're successful!

[NB: DPMS was bought & rolled into Remington by Cerberus several years ago now...]

Sure is funny that every DPMS dealer down here can't keep a LR-260 in stock,but they have 308's. The 260's sell as soon as they are put on the shelves.
The LR-260H and LR-260L's are big sellers around here!

 

[Surculus]

Sure is funny that every DPMS dealer down here can't keep a LR-260 in stock,but they have 308's. The 260's sell as soon as they are put on the shelves.
The LR-260H and LR-260L's are big sellers around here!

Must be why Remington/DPMS stopped making them... [Not the 1st time I've seen this rationale play out. Buyers for various retailers have repeatedly eliminated products from the shelves because they can't keep it in stock. Huh? How about ordering MORE! "Nope, nope, can't do that. Nobody buys it, says so right here on the sales chart: the only day it sells is Tuesday, the other days of the week it doesn't move." Uh huh. What day do new shipments arrive at the store? "Tuesdays." [crickets] They just never put it together that if a product sells out in one day, there's nothing left to sell the rest of the week..]

 

[rayatphonix]

You might want to consider the 6.5 Creedmoor. This was a 6.5 round developed with a semi-automatic rifle in mind. It's a ballistic twin to the .260 and has a huge following. DPMS makes a Creedmoor upper and most manufacturers make rifles for the round.

 

[Txhillbilly]

You might want to contact the correct people in charge at DPMS,because they still make/offer/sell the LR260.My local dealer has both the LR260H and the LR260L instock,and several other dealers around north Tx. sell the crap out of them.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Well, they've fooled MidwayUSA, too: "discontinued."