all purpose 260 recipe

[silhouette13]

hi all,
i am really trying to get into the HP, there is no scene NH/Ma/VT/ME so off to Pa i have to go. i am in the process of aquiring a 260. that will be justified as a deer rifle i can shoot HP with. is there a load that will work for all the animals AND whack the occasional deer?


as much as i would like to dedicate my self to HP, as agrown up with an expensive investment in my future( AKA teenager) at home i cant justify multiple loads and a crap load of misc bullets on the loading bench. so i will be lucky to shoot 3 silo days a year so need someting versitile, will take most rams, wond bang up the chickens, will help me eat some venison.

cheers
dave

[silhouette13]

also i have a crap load of 243 brass, any tricks to forming them? i have necked down but never necked up, what do i need to do it i ordered a set of full lenght dies.

dave

[Jerry G]

The 142 gr Sierra is a great bullet. Squirt it out at about 2650 and everything will fall. It is a plesant load to shoot. Don't let them talk you into making a different load for each animal.

[silhouette13]

thanks Jerry,
i have a recipe in mind for just such a pill, H380 41.5 gr for about 2640.

has any one hunted deer with match king bullets?

dave

[ywltzucanrknrl]

Dave, I have shot four elk and several deer with a 260 and many more with a 6.5x55—which in my way of thinking is nearly identical. I’ve never had any problems with bullet performance except once, and it was with a match king. It killed the elk well enough but only because it hit the top of his heart. The bullet acted very similar to an AP round or solid. I would not recommend a match king from my limited experience with them---I will never use one again to hunt with.
I’ve had good luck with 160 grain Hornady RN (mainly in the 6.5x55), Nosler’s—both ballistic tips and partitions, Sierra’s and Speers. I like the 140’s. I’ve shot some Barnes bullets but didn’t see any advantage and they did not shoot as good.
I think any “hunting” bullet will work fine for you. I like Rel 19 and 4350 for my hunting loads, but have had good success with other stick powders from 4895 to 4831 (with heavier bullets).

[Bob Mc Alice]

I completely agree with Jerry, shoot the 142 on all targets. Don't worry about damaging the chickens, they are a very tough target at 1/2 " thick and can take the punishment all day long. Occasional welding of the foot pad puts them back in service.

For deer shooting go to the 140 Sierra Game King instead of a match bullet. If the 140 shoots well out of your rifle, consider using it for steel shooting. I would not try to develop accuracy loads with H380 or any ball powder. They are great when loaded to maximum for highest velocity, but magnum primers are recommended for uniform ignition. High velocity with decent accuracy is rare. Varget or I4895 would be the right powders to start with for match quality ammo.

Forming .243 to .260 is easily accomplished by running the case into the size die. The expander button has enough leade angle to slip into the case and will expand it to size with little effort. It is only a .010 per side expansion. Lube the inside neck and simply run it in the die. Get your self a quality 3 die set that will include a neck size die. Redding would be my choice. Their competition seater die is a must have to assure minimum bullet run out.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.260_Remington

[Snake]

Ah the 260! 6.5....the caliber of choice by both the Italian and Japanese armies in WWII....that worked out for them Seriously....match kings have very thin jackets and are not made for controlled expansion.....I have shot at least 2 white tails with them just to see. On one it was a high lung shot which exited on the off side with a 2-3inch whole spraying bone and blood ...That was at 110paces. The second was a quartering shot entering just behind the left shoulder (low) and exited just in front of the right shoulder (leg) with a raggedhole and it broke the left shoulder...jacket fragments were inside the goo that was the lung (maybe 80 paces). Both blew up and any distance would have created problems. Use gamekings.
Why would one take that short necked 243 brass to make 260...the neck gets shorter and thinner. better to go down in size even from 308 and turn the neck to adjust to the correct thickness (assuming a 'factory' chamber).
The best recipe for 260 is rechamber to 7-08

oops almost forgot...6.5x55 used by the swedes in WWII...they also did well (the location of Nazi heavy water experiments)

[silhouette13]

views on A max and SST?

[Snake]

All Hornadys have heavier jackets... the a-max is still a 'match' bullet not designed or manufactured for controlled expansion...SST...are hunting bullets...bonded cores, fluted jackets etc with all the design features for deep controlled expansion which is predictable shot to shot......match bullets are not predictable on game....but they will kill...just one doesn't know if the jacket will let go before there is sufficient penetration for a clean/humane kill. I have used 140 gr game kings in my 7-08 for everything up to rams...I also use them to hunt. They shoot under 1 minute just not as under i minute as a match king. Hell I can't hold tight enough to see the difference....(i now use 120 nosler ballistic tips for everything up to rams just because i got a bunch as a gift...they still shoot sub-minute and are very low recoil)

[silhouette13]

best reason to use 243 brass is i have 1000 once fired ready to form!

[Jerry G]

Best reason to use 243 brass is it is easy to get and easy to form to 260. If you have a big pile to pick from, weigh the cases after they are all formed and trimmed to length. I have found quite a variation in case capacity which will hurt accuracy.

I would use the 142 Match King for steel and the 140 Game King for animals. For all practical purposes they have the same point of aim at hunting ranges so you won't have to re-zero your rifle.

[silhouette13]

so....... whos got a pet load for 142 MK using h4895. i guess one would use std large rifle primers?

i have a line on some 140 amax horady, anyone have a pet load for them using h4985?

thanks so far for the inputs...keep them comming!

[Bob Mc Alice]

So, with Remington no longer chambering anything in .260 what is your plan for a rifle ? Get a SA 700 and put a custom barrel on ?.. Tikka, Savage ? Not much out there ready chambered in .260 to choose from.

[silhouette13]

duuuuude! i am a ruger guy, i have a deal for a factory chambered 260 M77, may need a aftermarket trigger. other than that it should be good to go.

i was going the no 1 route and a 6.5 creedmoor but the 77 is half the price, and wont raise nearly as much scorn from the "in the know" crowd. :win
-i was thinking of 7-08 but that would garner nearly as much grief as a classy single shot.

the limited chamberings/ brass availiblity seems to be my weakness, ala 375jdj!

seems strange though for the big "r" to stop chambering the 260, the long range tactical guys seem to love it, if ammo was more at hand the deer woods would be thick with them, seems great . fingers crossed if i get a moose tag, i may use the 260 for that too, OR the 375H&H. either will be adaquate.

not a speed freak anymoore after reading the perfect shot by" Doctari" heavy bullet well placed at a modest (2400-2700fps) will do the trick on anything .

BTW my favorite 375 h&h load is 77.0g H380, magnum primer,260 nos accubond.
375jdj 50.g h4895,large rifle primer,225 g spirepoint

now share some h4895 260 loads!

[lone ringer]

duuuuude! i am a ruger guy, i have a deal for a factory chambered 260 M77, may need a aftermarket trigger. other than that it should be good to go.

i was going the no 1 route and a 6.5 creedmoor but the 77 is half the price, and wont raise nearly as much scorn from the "in the know" crowd. :win
-i was thinking of 7-08 but that would garner nearly as much grief as a classy single shot.

the limited chamberings/ brass availiblity seems to be my weakness, ala 375jdj!

seems strange though for the big "r" to stop chambering the 260, the long range tactical guys seem to love it, if ammo was more at hand the deer woods would be thick with them, seems great . fingers crossed if i get a moose tag, i may use the 260 for that too, OR the 375H&H. either will be adaquate.

not a speed freak anymoore after reading the perfect shot by" Doctari" heavy bullet well placed at a modest (2400-2700fps) will do the trick on anything .

BTW my favorite 375 h&h load is 77.0g H380, magnum primer,260 nos accubond.
375jdj 50.g h4895,large rifle primer,225 g spirepoint

now share some h4895 260 loads!

I have friends that have used 37.5 gr of Varget with a non moly 142 Sierra for rams, so since H4895 is close to the same burning rate of Varget if I was going to use it I would start with 36gr and work up to about 38gr or so of H4895.