Mouse farts in a .260 Remington

[selmerfan]

I'd like to try some mouse fart/cat sneeze/gallery loads in my .260 Rem just for kicks (and squirrel hunting). 15 gr. of 2400 behind my NEI 130 gr RN is a great load, but louder than what I'm looking for. Should I work with light charges of Unique or Bullseye? And do I need a filler on top? Suggested starting charges? Standard 22" barrel. Thanks!

[MarkP]

I prefer to use Trailboss for reduced loads in bottle neck cartridges; I just shot some Red Dot and Trailboss loads in a 18.5" 7mm-08 last weekend; 137 gr cast with 6 grains Red Dot (no filler) was 1125 fps and report similar to a 22 LR; 85% case of Trailboss was 1,350 fps report was similar little more crack, a full case yielded 1,550 fps. In terms of accuracy no detectable difference between the two.

I prefer Trailboss as lighter charges of Red Dot may bridge in the powder measure when filling smaller necked cartridges. I always look inside the charged cartridges while in the loading block prior to seating regardless of charge weight and powder type.

Trailboss does cost a little more on a weight basis: $14.25/9 oz vs $19 / 16 oz (1 lb) but it is well worth it IMO not needing to mess with fillers and for peace of mind.

[selmerfan]

I don't worry too much about bridging - my drop tube is clear on my Harrell's measure and I start with a tub of primed cases, throw a single charge, seat a single boolit. Ideally I would get these to sub-sonic range with accuracy out to 50 yds, but they may be asking too much, I'm not sure.

[selmerfan]

Started with 2.5 gr and 3.0 gr. Bullseye. Still quite a bit of report from my 17" .260 Rem pistol barrel, but no recoil. Will test accuracy when I have daylight and temps above zero...

[dubber123]

I think the 260 has a similar case capacity to 6.5X55, and I just started firelapping one of those. I settled on 1.4 grains of Bullseye with a 140 gr. lapping boolit. Quieter than a .22, and I went 5 for 6 on a tin can at 40 yds. off hand. There is a noticeable "lag" between the shot and impact, so pretty slow.

[selmerfan]

Good to know. I'm going to load some 1.5 gr bullseye loads to try out of the 22" barreled .260 also.

[dubber123]

This is an 18" barrel. Very slow, but still enough to punch through both sides of a tin can.

[selmerfan]

Well, the recoil and report are both low, but the accuracy sucks with the light Bullseye loads...2" spreads at 30 yds...

[Larry Gibson]

selmerfan

Cast the bullets really soft; a 40-1 or 30-1 alloy works best. TL in LLA and let them dry completely. Leave as cast and use an aluminum GC that will just slip on or just crimp the GC on in the H&I die but do not size the bullet. You may also try w/o GCs.

Use well fire formed cases and neck size only. Use an M die. Wiuth the TL'd bullets if just feeding the cartridge one at a time into the chamber you may be able to just thumb seat the bullets in the unsized neck. You may also want to dedicated a few cases to these loads and drill the flash hole out with a #30 - #28 drill. That will get the primer flash into the case quicker for better ignition and will prevent case headspace set back after a few firings.

Bullseye is the best powder for "mouse fart" or "cat's sneeze" loads. Start with the 1.5 gr loads and work up to 6 gr Bullseye. The 6 gr load will put the bullet into the 1100 fps range and probably will give excellent accuracy out to 100 yards+. No wad or filler is necessary or advised.

Larry Gibson