Who here hunts with 260Rem

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fragout

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Just curious, as I have a rifle chambered in 260, but do not use it for hunting.

If you use one for hunting, I have a few questions.

1. What factory or other load/bullet combo have you used

2. What critters have you hunted successfully with this caliber

3. Distance to target, as well as other details about the shot

4. Effects on target
 
i hunt with a handloaded 6.5x55, it is basically the same cartridge.the 260 is just the modern version of the 6.5x55.

if you can find 140 grn rem core lokts use those.i handload so i dont use any factory ammo. the 140 grn is pretty much the best bullet for this caliber.not to say other weights dont do well as well.

i mostly hunt deer and coyotes.it is overkill for coyotes for sure, but ive never found a more perfect cal for deer.for me, it kills as good as a 243 with less meat damage and penetrates better and drops less than a 30-06.

as far as range goes. its about as far as you can shoot accurately.the long 6.5 bullet has a awesum BC and with a good bullet id not be afraid of useing it on deer to elk size game out to 300 yrds. provideing you can do your job and put it where it belongs.

all the deer size game ive shot with it always had perfect penatration and expansion. lung shots or even grazeing the heart resulted in kills that didnt go 30 yrds.since i dont do shoulder shots or neck shots anymore i cant tell you about them.

if you have a 260 then about anything you want to hunt is yours if it weighs less than 500lbs and you put your bullet where it needs to be.over 500 lbs id stay within 200 yrds.
 
I have a friend that got his grandson a model 7 not long after the 260 first came out. They shot the Remington 140 gr (?) gr factory load, that young man slew antelope, deer, elk and a mtn lion with that rifle.
 
I've taken 4 whitetail deer with mine.
I used Speer and Hornady bullets with handloads.
Two deer were taken with Speer 120gr HotCore soft points. One has been taken with the Speer 140gr PtSpt "HotCore" and one with the Remington/Hornady "Accutip" 120gr version of the Hornady SST.
Performance was indistinguishable from the .257Roberts or .270win.
Accuracy is all that you can expect from a 6.5lb factory barrel/rifle. It will occasionally shoot 3-shots touching at 100yds. A bit more accurate than my nearly identical rifle in 7mm08, but not quite as effective on deer.... The 7mm has a slightly wider wound cavity. Deer are small enough that penetration is indeterminable as most bullets completely penetrate. I have recovered one bullet from the .260. It was a Speer 120gr that hit the front shoulder and was lodged in the pelvis area of the deer. Expansion was to ~.750" and retained weight was 94gr. Or, again about like the .257Roberts or .270win. At the velocities of the .260 (2,850fps w/120gr bullet, 2,700fps with 140, the so-called "legendary penetration" isn't going to happen with bullets that open and expand reliably. Expansion precludes penetration...
With some Sierra 160gr RN that I've got a splendidly accurate load with at ~2,400fps, You "might" see the so-called penetration. However, you better place that shot very, very precisely, or the game will depart to relms unknown, just like anyother deep penetrating/low expansion bullet.
I like the .260 and the rifle it's in.
But, it ain't a .30/06 or .257wbyMag.
It dosen't have the laser-beam trajectory of the .257 with 100-115gr bullets; nor the wider wound chanel with similar penetration/trajectory of the .30/06.
But, thats what puts it and it's older sibling the 6.5x55 in a unique category.
BTW; IMO, it's head and shoulders above a .243 for medium game, which is it's "niche", anyhow.... No real suprises. Just a mild, capable game killer, with a decent bullet and "reasonable" shot placement. Just no "MAGIC" or such.
 
I am with Don and ridgerunner. If I used factory ammo it would be Rem. CorLok. I have owned a 6.5x55 and a 260. Nearly identical ballistics and absolutely deadly on deer sized game. I shot 120 gr. Speer HotCor in both rifles. Worked swell.
 
I'll have to ask what load she used, but I know a friend of mine took a nice mule deer at 575 yards or so a couple of years ago with her .260 Rem. I wasn't there, but I'm pretty sure I was told the deer dropped in its tracks (she's a darn good shooter though, so I'm sure the bullet went where it was supposed to go).
 
Thanks for sharing the first hand experiences with the 260 here.

Keep it coming.
 
I have shot 8 antalope with my rem 700ti and it works fine. I tested a bunch of reloads and the best in my gun was 100gr noz partition with RL 15 powder. Non't remember the axact amount maybe 43.5 but werify with powder manufacture to be sure.
 
I shoot a Sako 6.5x55 which as has been said is about the same as a .260. Have killed three barbary sheep and several pigs with it, this fall I'm taking it on a cow elk hunt with a 156 grain bullet. My last hog hunt I got four hogs with four shots, I gut shot one and even it only ran about 25 yards and dropped dead. Mild recoil and blast.
 
Thanks for the feeback everyone.

Anyone else actively hunt with a rifle chambered in 260?
 
Like most of the others I don't have the 260 but it's old ballistic twin the 6.5x55. Very good performer on deer class game with 120-140gr bullets, thus far 120gr Ballistic tips, 140gr SST and 140gr SGKs have been my favorites.
Very little recoil even with my full power handloads, easily my favorite deer rifle.
 
I hunt regularly with a Ruger compact .260. Its short barrel gives considerably slower velocities but I have taken several deer and countless hogs with it. I use 120 Hot-Cor's with good results. I've tried tougher bullets but I think it runs them a little slow for full effect. I can only get the 120's up to 2700 fps due to the short barrel but it is a lovely little gun. It's a good round but I'd consider it a reloaders round at this point. If you need more info feel free to PM me.
 
I have a 6 lb lightweight 260. I shoot 125gr Partitions, 130gr Berger Hunting Vld's and Hornady 129gr Sp.
I have killed 18 animals with the rifle.
15 Whitetail deer, ranging from 22 yards to 497 yards using the Hornady and Berger loads. The Hornady flat out kills chit, the Berger is probably the most spectacular bullet for instant trauma and DRT that I have used barring a CNS shot. If you place the Berger in the vitals and not through bone it is simply amazing. All the hydrostatic shock into the target with none wasted beyond it.
2 Elk including a large 6x6 bull at 299 yards with the 125gr Partition and a cow elk at 488 with the 130 gr Berger.The bull ran about 25 yards laid down and expired, the cow never moved, DRT.
1 Hog at 127 yards with the Partition load. Did not move from the shot.
This rifle is my favorite lightweight, mild recoil, killing machine.
 
One of my sons started hunting with a Model 7 in .260 because I bought it for him. We started out with 120 gr. sierra PH handloads. He killed a couple of PA whitetails with no problem, then had two bad experiences. One, he hit a big doe in the shoulder blade and the bullet never penetrated into the body cavity. It put the deer down, and it required a second shot. He hit another doe, he claims it was a good shot, and we tracked it until the blood stopped and never found it.

After that, he switched over to 140 gr. corelocks and hasn't lost a deer since. Most of the other posters are using heavier bullets, or premiums, and based on my son's experiences, I have to agree.

Laphroaig
 
My oldest daughter has killed a deer & a pig with the .260.

The lightest load in any manual was still too much for her at 10 years old, so her "practice" load was an 85 gr. bullet over 10 grs. of Unique. This load was suggested to me by a technician at Speer and it recoils like a .22, so she could shoot all day.

The hunting load, IIRC, is usually a 125 gr. Nosler Partition or a 130 gr. Barnes bullet, but I can't think of the powder charge(s) off the top of my head.

I've used the same rifle (Ruger Compact w/Leupold 2-7X) & load to kill a couple of deer, the longest shot was probably about 125 yards.

My youngest daughter will be using the same combo next month on a late season doe hunt & has been shooting with the same practice load.

I did learn the hard way, that the 156 gr. Oryx bullet from Norma is too long to stabilize in the .260, and so never even tried the 160 gr. from Hornady; 140 gr. is the heaviest weight in a standard rifled barrel, and realistically is the heaviest bullet one would need in the .260.

For youths, ladies, or recoil-sensitive shooters, it's pretty hard to beat the .260 Remington.

Sam
 
Found a couple of documented targets while getting ready to take the youngest out again.

One was 5 shots, with 4 touching and the 5th about 3/4" off. The load was 39.5 gr. of IMR 4350, Federal 210 primers, Norma cases and 125 gr. Nosler Partitions.

The other was 34.5 gr. of H4895-all other components were the same. It had 4 shots touching with the 5th about 1/2" off.

Sam
 
one poster mentioned having probs with 120 grn bullets.in reality i have no experience with them.but i have killed a lot of trouble free deer with smaller bullets in other calibers.

however one thing i do know is that the 260-6.5x55 round gained its rep with the 140 grn bullets.i see no reason to mess with that. the 140 is a proven killer and the difference in kik between it and the 120 is really nothing.
 
another reason to love the 260 is that with 140 grn bullets you can accomplish the same thing as a 06 with 150 grn bullets on lighter game with 20 grns less powder.
 
I own 3, a Rem Model 7 CDL, a Ruger M77 MKII, and a 700 CDL SF Limited. Have taken deer out to 300yds using Federal Pre. with the Barnes TSX 120gr out of the 700 CDL and wouldn't think twice about going further with that combo. The Ruger likes the 140gr bullets better because it came with a 1 in 8 twist where the Remington's have a 1 in 9 twist.
 
Fragout;

All Remington did was invent the .260 so they'd have a short Swede & crow about it being in a short action. They reinvented the wheel, whoopee-ding.

With that off my chest, I shoot a true Swede, using Sierra Gameking 140 grain bullets. Because I'm a lefty, I had to have the gun built & I'm glad I did regardless of the cost. It'll shoot consistently under .5" at a hundred yards & it's best is a .261" with a sporter weight Lilja barrel. Last Sunday I took a simply huge mulie buck off our property with it.

900F
 
Actually the 260 came about as 1 of two wildcats based on the 308 case Jim Carmicheal developed for bench rest shooting. Then he shot some game with them, and Remington bought the bobcat? 260 from him.
 
Nonetheless, they put their name on it & thereby claimed it as their very own.

900F
 
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