.260 Rem loads

[selmerfan]

My .260 Rem is far and away my favorite deer cartridge with jacketed bullets. I'd like to do lots of target/plinking time on inanimate reactive targets in the off-season. I have a nice NEI 130 gr. RNGC mold for it (can't remember number and I don't want to run downstairs :) ). Is anyone else using cast boolits in the .260 Rem? I assume that 6.5x55 data is a decent starting point. I'll be starting with 2400, 16-19 gr, 5 shot groups, increasing by 1 gr. increments. I'll also try out the 10 gr. Unique load and 11 gr. Red Dot. At the current price of .22 LR ammo I can load these light .260 Rem loads for about the same price. Insane. Next I'll have to cut down the spare stock so my daughters can use it. They've already taken over my .243 Win...

[Wolfer]

I don't have a 260 but it sounds like a plan to me. Personally I would start both powders about 2 gr lower. I suspect you'll hit your best load close to where your start loads are.
IMO you've picked the two best powders for standard vel cast loads. Woody

Ps I said two because I've never used red dot.

[selmerfan]

Well, I loaded up as listed, actually I went with 11 gr. on both Unique and Red Dot. If they don't work well, I'll try lower charges, but I shouldn't be in dangerous territory by any means.

[selmerfan]

I used the comparable 6.5x55 data because the case capacities are so similar. The 6.5x55 has 2 gr more water capacity and the load data is limited to prevent destroying old actions with weaker steel. I'm shooting my .260 Rem in a Ruger M77 MkII. I'm not too concerned about pressure.

[Wolfer]

I certainly don't believe your in dangerous territory. What I was going on is my 7x57. Case capacity is very close. I have a bigger bore but shoot a heavier boolit. 16 gr of 2400 gets me 1500 fps with excellent accuracy. This is as fast as I can go accurately with this powder and my soft alloy.

[selmerfan]

Interesting. 17 gr. 2400 with 311299 gets me right at 1600 fps in my .30-40 Krag with 28" barrel. As far as I'm concerned, slower is just fine. I want great accuracy and light recoil.

[Nobade]

Shooting the Lyman 140gr. borerider, I have had good results with 11gr. Green Dot, 14gr. AA5744, and 28gr. IMR7383. Shooting conventional cast boolits in a 1:8 twist barrel can be a challenge, keeping velocity below 1500 fps seems to be the key. If your rifle has a 1:9 or maybe slower twist it will be a little easier to get it to work.

-Nobade

[selmerfan]

Nope, mine is a 1-8" Ruger barrel. I'm fine with velocity under 1500 fps. I'll run these loads over the chrono and see where they are at tomorrow if the nice weather holds.

[richhodg66]

I haven'yt shot cast in it yet, but I bought a Remington Model 7 youth rifle for my oldest son's first deer rifle and I'm a real fan of the cartridge for deeer hunting and think it's a great choice for a young hunter.

I need to get set up for cast in the 6.5s. I also have a nicely sporterized Swedish Mauser to try that in.

Good luck, I'll be interested in how this works out.

[selmerfan]

The .260 is a great choice for ANY hunter. :) I started on a .243 Win, graduated to a .308 Win, graduated to a .30-06. Being a non-fan of recoil, I have now settled on the .260 Rem for all of my deer hunting. I've had a nice string of 8 one-shot kills with the .260s I shoot - the Ruger and also a 17" MGM barrel for my Encore. All hunting is done with jacketed bullets.

[pipehand]

I have 2 260 Remingtons. One Remington40XBR-KS, and a Savage Model 10 with a 28 inch Pac-Nor barrel. The 40X is a range queen with a 1:9" twist barrel, and the Savage is a medium sporter with a 1:8" barrel that has taken three deer with two shots. All shooting has been with jacketed bullets ranging in weight from 85 to 142 grains. So far I have limited my boolit casting to 30 caliber on up, but if I live long enough I'm sure I'll be casting for the 6.5mm and the 22's.

There is/was a group buy discussion for a 6.5 Grendel boolit that would probably work well in the 260. The 260 doesn't have the huge long throat problem that the 6.5 Swede has, and the boolits designed for the Swede may be too large and long.

When I do feel the need to cast for the 260, I will probably buy the 6.5-140 Sil boolit mold from RCBS. Have had good results with the 30 cal version in the 308 case.

[selmerfan]

Well, I'm pretty darned happy! I went out to the range this morning after dropping the girls off at school. I looked up my mold #, BTW. It's an NEI 266469. So, range report. All shooting done at 100 yds. Wolfer, get ready to say, "I told you so!" :). I took his advice and loaded up 5 rounds of 12 gr. 240 and 14 gr. 2400 to see how the lighter loads would go. So here were my loads. Chrono was not working well due to sunny morning and bright white snow - kept getting errors, so no velocities.

12 gr. 2400 - Okay, 2" group
14 gr. 2400 - sub-MOA, nice round group
16 gr. 2400 - sub-MOA, looked like the 14 gr. group, but 1.5" higher on the target
17 gr. 2400 - okay, 2" group, things are starting to open up
18 gr. 2400 - 2.5" group
19 gr. 2400 - 4" triangle - I could see the group wasn't going to be worth a hoot, so I slammed steel with the last two rounds - rings nicely!
11 gr. Unique - almost zero recoil, very low report, MOA group
11 gr. Red Dot - more snap than the unique, odd, almost hollow sounding report - 2" group

I'm very pleased with the 14 gr and 16 gr 2400 groups and the 11 gr Unique group. The best part is that I have this rifle zeroed at 250 yds for my 44 gr. IMR 4350 129 gr. Hornady Interlock deer hunting load. I didn't adjust the scope one click and the three best groups are all 1" right of center and within 1" on elevation. Perfect for shooting steel. I'll be loading up a bunch of these for plinking for me and the girls. I have an extra wood factory stock for this Ruger and I'll be cutting down the LOP so the girls each have a "youth" rifle in addition to their .22s, as I have a .243 M788 with two stocks as well - one cut down, one full length. Currently the rifle sits in a Boyd's laminate thumbhole at full length for me and I really like it. I'm excited because if I don't count the price of brass into the load, I can load these buggers up for $.08/round - equal or less in price than current .22LR prices, when I can find them.

[Nrut]

selmerfan,
>>>BTW. It's an NEI 266469<<<

???????

Thats a Lyman mold #..
NEI doesn't make such a mold as per their website..

Nice shooting and load work up..

[selmerfan]

Interesting. I went down and examined the mold and box. I bought it used here, but the previous owner apparently got confused with his molds. The box has the original NEI sticker on it with specs and weights and mold number - 130.264GC, which is also stamped on the mold blocks. BUT - the previous owner wrote 266469 on the box in permanent red marker and on the sprue plate in a silver marker pen. I wonder which way he advertised it? :) In any case, it fits my rifle perfectly, boolits are 135 gr. sized, checked, and lubed.

[Nrut]

So your mold is a NEI .264-130-GC #25 ??
93474

The reason that I am interested is that also have a couple of .260's and so far haven't found a mold the would keep the rear of the bullet in the case neck without some major nose sizing..
Must say that I agree with your opinion on the .260 being a very good deer round..
Same for the 6.5X55..
Personally I don't think I would hunt deer with cast using one but that thinking comes from no experience doing so..

[selmerfan]

Yep, that's the mold. However, I'm pretty sure the base is below the neck/shoulder junction. I've never worried about that factor too much, and I've recovered plenty of my cast boolits with the gas check still in place. I have thought about extending the throat in this gun to accommodate maximum magazine length, but haven't done it yet. It shoots so well with jacketed and cast that I hesitate to fix what ain't broke.

[Wolfer]

One of the things I love about cast in my 7x57 is the noise or lack of it. I shot a bobcat with it a few weeks ago and the sound of the boolit hitting was almost as loud as the shot.
With my jacketed loads dead on a 200 yds my cast loads are dead on at 100 yds. I hunted here at home with it a little because I have a dog that will trail on a leash. I doubt that I would need her but I'd like to have some expierence with it before I take it to deer camp.
I have lots of expierence with it and jacketed. As you know these guns are highly underrated. Woody

[selmerfan]

Yep, severely underrated as hunting cartridges. I have zero qualms about taking my .260 Rem elk hunting with a 140 gr. Partition at 2700 fps. I might even be inclined to use the 129 gr. Hornady Interlock, as I've taken two big mule deer with quartering toward shot angles - entrance on the shoulder knuckle, exit out the opposite ham, both at over 200 yds with full-body penetration. With as good as these shoot, I might be inclined to take it hunting for tree rats, just for kicks. :)

[6.5 mike]

Might be a bit rough on tree rats. 6.5 TCU & 129 gr Kurtz is REAL hard on them, LOL.

[rlb]

260 works good for elk. Took my cow this year with a Sierra 130 HPBT. 1 shot quartering away. Went in just behind the last rib and through the heart on the run. She only went 50 yds.

[selmerfan]

Just got done with an hour of quality time with my girls at the bench. They are 8 & 10 and love to shoot, hunt, catch fish, clean fish, exercise the dog, and are starting to hold their own in the kitchen. (We cook 98% of our meals at home and my wife and I split the cooking duties). They also love to help reload. I had polished, re-sized, and primed 100 pcs of .260 Rem brass and they did the case neck expanding and boolit seating for me. Reloading goes about 3 times as fast with these two helpers - they even enjoy emptying the polishing media out of the brass. I still do all of the powder charging, but they get to watch how I set up the measures - Harrel's for ball and extruded, Lyman #55 for flake - and carefully weigh the starting charges before I start throwing. I love having apprentices and they are excited to shoot the rounds that they help reload. We loaded 50 rounds of 15 gr. 2400 (split the difference of the two best loads) and 130 gr. cast and 50 rounds of 11 gr. Unique and 130 gr. cast. Now for another nice day to take them out shooting. And I have to get some velocities of the loads. I'll also run both loads through my .260 Rem 17" MGM Encore pistol barrel as well and see how they do.