260 Remington
 

For the better part of two decades, I used mainly 30-06s,270s, and 7mags for deer hunting. A few years ago, however, a buddy turned me on to Remington' s 260 as I was looking for a rifle for my boy. I have to say, I have been very impressed with this caliber on deer (haven' t used it on anything else), now my son and I both carry 260s deer hunting and I leave the ' 06s to bear and boars. I was wondering if anybody else had any experience with the 260 and what you all thought about it? Ballistically, they are right up there with the 7mm-08s and even .308s, but recoil is considerably lighter than the " traditional" deer guns.

Anyway, I' d like to hear what you all think.

RE: 260 Remington
 

You are right. The 260 is a fine round with little recoil. It is an excellent long range gun. For many years I shot steel silhouette targets which are as far out as 500 meters. I just read that the 260 is now the second most popular round used in that type of shooting. That is because of the excellent long range properties of the 6.5 caliber bullet. The 260 is well suited for game up to and including Elk. My 260 took a nice elk last year at about 250 yards. One shot with a Barnes 140 Grain X bullet. The bullet went in behind one shoulder, exited breaking the off shoulder. The only problem was, I didn,t get to do it. I loaned the rifle to a friend who had trouble with his rifle just before his hunt. The 308 is the same casing and would have a little advantage in bullet wt. They are however preyyt much interchangeable with the 308 and 7mm08 for deer hunting.

RE: 260 Remington
 

i have to agree , the .260 is a great cartridge and is an excellent performer on game , the only gripe i have about it , is that when i purchased mine , i got one of the very first model seven' s that were made for it , and the rifle just feels too small and unbalanced for me in the field. i think the model 700 is the best choice for that caliber but the rifle is light weight and she doesn' t have very much recoil at all , and she is a dream to shoot.:) it is based on the .308 caliber family of cartridges but, in my opinion , i' de compare her more to a 6.5x55 mm swedish round or a .250 savage :):)

RE: 260 Remington
 

I have hunted white tails for many years with a .270 and decided that I needed to purchase a .260 and " break it in" for my young son .I will have to admit that I felt a little undergunned initially when I took the .260 into the deer woods .However ,after watching several deer drop immediately with it ,I have decided it is time to buy my 10 year old son his own .260 .Mine is a Browning A bolt which I would not depart with .The recoil is just right and the ballistics are impressive .I reload with Nosler Partition 140 gr and have used Nitrex Speer Grand Slam 140 gr bullets as well .I am hearing rumors of a possible 6.5 mm WSM in the near future .

RE: 260 Remington
 

Flat, accurate and possesed with unbelievable killing power, the .260 Rem is probably as close as it gets to THE perfect cartridge for hunting deer.

RE: 260 Remington
 

seattlesetters you' re right. The 260 Rem is pretty close to the perfect deer cartridge which we all know it the 7mm-08 Rem. Seriously though, both are great deer getters. The 7mm-08 has the egde but the 260 isn' t so far behind as to make much of a difference to the dead deer.

RE: 260 Remington
 

i have always wante one. but i was also wondering about the 260rem aswell. How do the 260rem do with heavier bullets? or is the twist of rate better fro 120gr. or smaller bullets?

RE: 260 Remington
 

I now wish I had gotten a 260 in a savage before they stoppped chambering for them.I have a 7mm-08 and think the 260 would have been another great deer cartridge along these same lines.Oh well maybe I' ll see a used one at some point in a savage 16FSS and snap it up.Quilly there twist supports up to 140-145gr well.

woods

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RE: 260 Remington
 

I have a .260 in the Remington Model Seven,accurate caliber but I prefer my 7mm-08...:D

RE: 260 Remington
 

I have a ruger in 260 and a rem classic in the 7/08,I load the 140 gr coreloc in the
ruger and the 139 sst in the 7/08,get a little more speed out of the classic because of the 24 in barrel.But both do a job on whitails

RE: 260 Remington
 

The thing that impresses me most about the 260 is how well it penetrates. It truly is a wonderful deer gun. Maybe even the perfect deer gun. I wonder why the 6.5mm hasn' t really caught on in North America?? I see the popularity of the 243 and think that the 260 is a better caliber in just about all areas. I guess some people just don' t know what they are missing.

RE: 260 Remington
 

i have a 260 rem mountain rifle and it' s by far my fav rifle. i took it deer hunting this fall and even tho i have other rifles and will have more in the future i can' t see myself every taking any rifle but my 260 mountain rifle deer hunting.

cheers

RE: 260 Remington
 

I think the .260 in a mountain rifle, will be the next gun I buy. I have a .280 mountain rifle and absolutely love it. I have a son that will be wanting to hunt in a few years, and I think this will be my choice for him.
My buddy just bought his son a .243. I tried to talk him into the .260, but he was scared to get one because he didn' t know anyone that had one. ????
I have to agree with what was said earlier...the .260 might just be the " perfect" deer rifle...all things considered.

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RE: 260 Remington
 

The .260 Rem seems like a great cartridge that has been lost in the " Magnum Craze." Some have dropped the catridge and who knows what the future will hold for it. I personally like a .308 better because it shoots a heavier bullet faster, and both have very mild recoil.

RE: 260 Remington
 

The 260 must be a great cartridge. I own several of it' s ancestors (6.5 X 55 and 6.5 X 54MS). Its numbers resemble the numbers of the 6.5 X 55 and the 6.5 X 54MS and even a few othes still being used and globally recognized as premier hunting rounds for a wide range of purposes.

Some collectors prize their now defunct .264 diameter rounds like the 6.5 X 53R or 256 Mannlicheror the 256 Gibbs. A few wildcats like 6.5/257 or 6.5/7 X 57 ' s are still out there as well. Some others that are similar are still being used in Europe in the 6.5 X 57 Mauser and the 6.5 X 57R. These less well known rounds generally began life using 160 grain round-nosed bullets at around 2300 fps (some slower, some faster, but not much), and they were even used with solids to take brain shots on elephants. Thier excellent sectional density gave deep penetration (when decently placed). That said, I wouldn' t recommend a .264 diameter on elephants. I admit I have no experience with elephants, but I would rather be behind the buttstock or something MUCH larger.

The 260 took an already proven ballistic plan, put it in a short package, and shoved into a cheap, easily obtainable case. It is by no means a new idea. But it is a great package that has been decently advertised and promoted by Jim Carmichael. I think he originally called it the " Cheetah" , but as I said before...lotsa folks have played with shoving a 6.5 into a .308 case since the NATO round emerged. The 260 should become a staple eventually.

I' ll keep my 6.5 X 55' s and my 6.5 X 54 though. They' re paid for!

RE: 260 Remington
 

otis:

sorry it' s taken me so long to respond but i' m busy and don' t get to spend as much time reading the forum as i used to :( i like the 260 rem for several reasons.
1. it' s a light rifle with a very compact size. i can carry it around all day and it doesn' t bother me. if you' ve ever carried a 10 pound rifle around all day you' ll appreciate a 7-7.5 lbs package with scope!
2. the 260 is a great cartridge! no recoil, very accurate caliber in my mountain rifle (1/2 inch groups at 100yards), enough energy at 500 yards to kill a deer, short action is great too!
3. the 6.5 bullets have awesome sectional density and ballistic coefficients.

aside from getting a custom rifle i think the mountain rifle or the model 7 are hard to beat. you might consider velocity loss from a 20 inch barrel on a model 7 (i think that' s what they have) though. light weight, compact size, accurate (mine is), a dandy to carry around all day and the 260 rem is the perfect cartridge to complement a setup like this. i have a vx-ii 3-9x40 leupold on my scope and this is just about as perfect a set up as i could ask for from a deer hunting rifle. i would also like to add that i won' t hesitate to take this set up out for spring bear this spring. my friend used a 260 to shoot a nice bear last fall. bigger cartridges have their place of course and there are better choices for hunting moose but if shots are kept within reasonable distances (i' d say out to 200 yards) i wouldn' t think twice about shooting a moose with the 260. load up some barnes x bullets and you got yourself one dead moose!

i' m not saying everyone should sell their 7 rem mags and 300 win mags and go buy 260 rems and go moose hunting with them but the 260 will do the job on a moose too.
i' m buying a 300 ultra mag sendero sf this summer specifically for moose but my 260 will be my backup rifle :) btw there are many people that use a 260 AI for shooting 1000 yard matches. load some 139gr lapua scener bullets (.615 BC!) up and you got yourself one awesome long range gun that you can shoot all day long and it won' t kill your shoulder or your barrel.

cheers