hey this is my first post and i am loving this forum already but ide like to know what the diffrence between the barrel like in the 308 and the 260 are is the 260 really that much better than the 308 it will be used for shooting steel paper coyotes and maybe dear if i get the chance
260rem or 308win
- Thread starter speers
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First of all, the .308 has probably won more titles than any other cartridge out there.
However the .260 would be flatter shooting and have less recoil. Both would be a good choice for all of the said type shooting. You may also want to consider the .243 and the 7mm-08 for that matter.
Thane
However the .260 would be flatter shooting and have less recoil. Both would be a good choice for all of the said type shooting. You may also want to consider the .243 and the 7mm-08 for that matter.
Thane
Wild_Thing
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WRT target shooting the little .260 is ballistically closer to the .300 Win Mag than to the .308 Win, not to mention that 6.5mm cartridges like the .260 are the ###y new thing in many target disciplines.
WRT hunting, both would meet your criteria.
Thanks to the department of idiocy at Remington, the .260 is for the most part a hand-loaders only proposition. They only chamber it in very few rifles and even then the twist is a little slow. People who like the caliber, like it a lot and generally snap them up when available.
Couple of points.
Rifle: If you want a general purpose rifle, then a .308 is available pretty much everywhere in pretty much every make, model and action. The .260 much, much less so.
Ammuntion: if you are buying vs. loading your own, same story. You are severely limited by the fact that only Remington and a couple of others load commercial .260 Rem.
Resale: Every FPS-playing, digi-cam wearing, mirror-posing fat kid wants a tacticool .308 (and a AR) and will be drooling all over your gun ####. The .260, less so.
However feel free to Google, .260 vs .308. I get about 88 million pages, which I'll let you read at your leisure.
PS. My favorite rifle for hunting up to deer size game is a Rem 700 Mtn in .260
WRT hunting, both would meet your criteria.
Thanks to the department of idiocy at Remington, the .260 is for the most part a hand-loaders only proposition. They only chamber it in very few rifles and even then the twist is a little slow. People who like the caliber, like it a lot and generally snap them up when available.
Couple of points.
Rifle: If you want a general purpose rifle, then a .308 is available pretty much everywhere in pretty much every make, model and action. The .260 much, much less so.
Ammuntion: if you are buying vs. loading your own, same story. You are severely limited by the fact that only Remington and a couple of others load commercial .260 Rem.
Resale: Every FPS-playing, digi-cam wearing, mirror-posing fat kid wants a tacticool .308 (and a AR) and will be drooling all over your gun ####. The .260, less so.
However feel free to Google, .260 vs .308. I get about 88 million pages, which I'll let you read at your leisure.
PS. My favorite rifle for hunting up to deer size game is a Rem 700 Mtn in .260
Don't shoot dear with it, you will likely have your guns taken away and end up in prison for a long time. Besides, she can't be that bad.
260 shoots higher BC bullets and has a great reputation for excellent long range accuracy. Barrel life is fairly good ~2000 very accurate rounds, but not as good as the 308's 5-10,000 accurate rounds.
The 260 is of course derived from 308 by simply necking down the brass.
If you plan on using the rifle for hunting AND targets, there will be compromises, since guns built specifically for each purpose are diamterically different.
If you are just buying a factory gun, the accuracy won't be a factor. Both will shoot the same.
frankly a 223 is probably a better paper/varmint caliber, but not popular with DEER. It is however a popular choice within NATO for killing people, and they are about the same anatomical mass where it counts.
260 shoots higher BC bullets and has a great reputation for excellent long range accuracy. Barrel life is fairly good ~2000 very accurate rounds, but not as good as the 308's 5-10,000 accurate rounds.
The 260 is of course derived from 308 by simply necking down the brass.
If you plan on using the rifle for hunting AND targets, there will be compromises, since guns built specifically for each purpose are diamterically different.
If you are just buying a factory gun, the accuracy won't be a factor. Both will shoot the same.
frankly a 223 is probably a better paper/varmint caliber, but not popular with DEER. It is however a popular choice within NATO for killing people, and they are about the same anatomical mass where it counts.
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Barrel life, or more properly throat life has to do with the powder volume/bore size ratio, more than with the actual powder weight being consumed. Thus a larger bore can consume much more powder than a small bore, yet have better barrel life, the shoulder angle has an additional effect, but I believe that effect to be lesser than the powder charge in a specific bore size. Ackley suggests that a very rough comparison of barrel life for cartridges can be made if we accept the notion that optimal barrel life occurs when the powder charge is approximately 30% of the bullet weight, he went on to suggest this did not seem to apply to .22s. Thus a 150 gr bullet in a .308 with 50 grs of powder does quite well, while a .243 with a 95 gr bullet and 45 grs of powder does not so well. The .260 Remington with a 120 gr bullet and 45 grs of powder is closer to the .243 than it is the .308. Your specific load and your shooting style might reinforce this concept or upset it. Shooting very heavy for caliber bullets cause us to reduce the powder charge, so could influence the barrel life, but choosing very light for caliber bullets would cause us to use proportionally larger powder weights which have an adverse effect on barrel life if those are the only loads we use in that barrel. A .260 loaded with a 140 gr bullet ahead of 40 grs of powder should have a barrel life similar to the optimal .308/50/150.
From Sniper Central - 260 Remington
The 260 Remington is essentially the old wildcated 6.5-08, a 308 necked down to the .264 bullet. The 6.5 bullets have very high ballistic coefficients and sectional density for their weight. This makes for a light recoil round that has very good long range ballistics. The 260 has become very popular in sniper shooting competitions. The only down side is the variety (or lack thereof) of factory loaded ammo. Remington and Federal cartridge both load a 120gr and 140gr load for the .260, but neither one of them really makes use of the 260's potential. The lack of match ammo really hurts us, but the 120gr ballistic tip loads do okay at long range. But recently the mid sized ammo makers have been making the push for good 260 match loads. Black Hills did a limited run of 139gr and may produce more in the future and HSM and Cor-Bon now have match 260 loads in their standard catalog.
An interesting note is that the Lapua 123gr Scenar bullet has a BC of .547 which is better than the 30 cal 190gr Sierra Matchking (.533), and if it can be launched at 2900fps it will exceed the ballistics of the 300 Win Mag Federal Gold Match Load at long range, though it will not have the same energy. The Cor-Bon 123gr load does this and is a very good load. The Lapua 139gr bullet has a BC of .615 and if it can be launched at 2800fps it also exceeds the long range Ballistics of the 300 Win Mag. The Black Hills and Cor-Bon 139gr loads both achieve this.
Overall, the 260 is a great caliber for mid range sniping (out to 1000 meters) in smaller to midsized weapon systems as it far exceeds the ballistics of the .308 and with less recoil. The round inherently has good accuracy and enough energy mixed with outstanding long range performance to make it a serious player. To top it off, the 260 does not have the same barrel burning problem as the 6.5x284. Barrel life should be good, though not as good as a .308. We are also working with HSM to develop a nice match load with the Sierra Match King 142gr bullet and they already list a berger 130gr VLD load that we would like to test as well.
The 260 Remington is essentially the old wildcated 6.5-08, a 308 necked down to the .264 bullet. The 6.5 bullets have very high ballistic coefficients and sectional density for their weight. This makes for a light recoil round that has very good long range ballistics. The 260 has become very popular in sniper shooting competitions. The only down side is the variety (or lack thereof) of factory loaded ammo. Remington and Federal cartridge both load a 120gr and 140gr load for the .260, but neither one of them really makes use of the 260's potential. The lack of match ammo really hurts us, but the 120gr ballistic tip loads do okay at long range. But recently the mid sized ammo makers have been making the push for good 260 match loads. Black Hills did a limited run of 139gr and may produce more in the future and HSM and Cor-Bon now have match 260 loads in their standard catalog.
An interesting note is that the Lapua 123gr Scenar bullet has a BC of .547 which is better than the 30 cal 190gr Sierra Matchking (.533), and if it can be launched at 2900fps it will exceed the ballistics of the 300 Win Mag Federal Gold Match Load at long range, though it will not have the same energy. The Cor-Bon 123gr load does this and is a very good load. The Lapua 139gr bullet has a BC of .615 and if it can be launched at 2800fps it also exceeds the long range Ballistics of the 300 Win Mag. The Black Hills and Cor-Bon 139gr loads both achieve this.
Overall, the 260 is a great caliber for mid range sniping (out to 1000 meters) in smaller to midsized weapon systems as it far exceeds the ballistics of the .308 and with less recoil. The round inherently has good accuracy and enough energy mixed with outstanding long range performance to make it a serious player. To top it off, the 260 does not have the same barrel burning problem as the 6.5x284. Barrel life should be good, though not as good as a .308. We are also working with HSM to develop a nice match load with the Sierra Match King 142gr bullet and they already list a berger 130gr VLD load that we would like to test as well.
