.260 Rem.
 

Just looking for experience/opinions with this caliber. I've got a Remington model 700 action laying around the house, and am considering having my local gunsmith build a 260 rem on this action. Anyone have experience with this round? It will be used primarily for deer and hogs.

A good cartridge
 

It's an American cartridge, using a necked down 308 caliber cartridge. It is very similar to the 6.5 Swedish cartridge, used in a military rifle and for Swedish hunting.

It's been around commercially for some 15 years, young for a cartridge, but it's European connected past makes it older.

I recall the importing of the 6.5 Swedish bolt action rifles in the 90's. Shooters loved the low recoil in a deer rifle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.260_Remington

IMO, that is a good choice for what you are looking to do. I wish I bought the one I was looking at years ago, regrettably I didn't. I personally love that cal, to me I feel like its a great mix of not much kick, plenty of performance. Ideally you'd probably want to handload which I assume you probably do if you are even considering having a gun built as factory ammo is not readily available it seems. Buddy of mine has one, loves it. Still kicking myself. :bash:

I recently bought a new rifle, Savage model 11. Final choice came down to .260 Rem or 7mm-08. Went with the 7-08. Ballistics are similar out to 400. 7-08 does better if you want to go to a little heavier bullet for hunting purposes. (I'm not an expert, this is based on things I've read online, so take that for what it's worth). Either way though, I like both calibers, but, unless you are looking for a long-range gun, I'd consider the 7-08 as well.

I love the 260 for Whitetails! Plenty of energy to get the job done. The ones I've shot/owned have not been picky with factory ammuniton either.

Decent whitetail gun. Very accurate. If I remember correctly, Jim Carmichael designed this round for competitive target shooting.

As for ammo, I haven't seen it on the shelves for years. Maybe a place like Cabela's would have it. Handloader? Don't worry about it. Buy a bunch of brass online and have at it.

FANDAMTASTIC round! :hail:

As far as I'm concerned, the ONLY reason one would have for buying a 243 instead of 260 is because of availability of ammo OTC. The 120-140 weight range in the 260 is just so much more capable and authoritative than the 85-105 offerings available in the 243. (I'm particularly talking about shooting larger bodied deer. The 243 is fine for deer up to 150#s but the results I've seen on a couple of 200+# bucks my youngest son shot lastyear, left me questioning the 243 and that's with him shooting Barnes TSXs!) A 120-140 Barnes in a 260 AINT stopping inside ANY whitetail...

btw, I fixed "my fears" as my 17 year old now has a 45-70 and my 12yr old has a 7-08. ;)

I'd consider the 6.5-284 and/or 7mm-08 instead perhaps.

I have the Rem Mtn Rifle in 260 and like the gun. I have bought all my ammo thru Midway USA using Remington Managed Recoil 130 grain. I traded in my Rem 243 BDL for this and wished that Remington would have made the 243 in the Mtn Rifle series also, I would have owned both calibers.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I do handload, so ammunition availability won't be an issue. However, Federal Premium has a 260 load that is loaded with Barnes triple shocks that I intend to try. That should be a good load. I have all the components in the mail now. A Shilen select match grade #4 sporter barrel, and a HS Precision sendero stock. The Rem 700 action I already have. Considering a Timney trigger, but I may just have the factory one polished and tuned. Should be an interesting little rifle.

The only expereince I have personally with the 260 Rem. was a few year ago while mule deer hunting with a group of guys in eastern Montana. A youngster killed a fine 4x4 at about 275 with his 260 Rem. , Rem. Model 7. I have no clue what bullet that he was using. Personally I think that the 6.5 mm rounds such as this and the 6.5x55 SE are very good for medium game, though not popular in comparison to the "usual" deer cartriges.

You guys are really making me want one, again!