260 Rem or 260 Ackley Improved? - Need opinions.
- Thread starter Steverdb
- Start date
SouthPaw, I had an extra 308 that I wanted to turn into a 7mmx08 or a 6.5x47 or 260. 260 has less recoil and better barrel life. Not as good with the AI but 260 Rem gets great barrel life. Plus I don't have a 260.
I also saw my former shooting instructor do some pretty impressive things with his straight 260 so it kind of attracted me to the caliber.
Yeah that's cool, I love the .260 as well, I just wouldn't personally go to the bother of .260 AI since the straight .260 is pretty bad-ass already.
I built a 6.5x47mm Lapua full blown custom on a Stillter Tac 30 action and never shot it. Sold it on the EE a couple of years ago. I felt the cost of dies, brass, and related reloading components were offensive. If I'd just built a standard .260 Remington I would likely still have the rifle now.
That's interesting to hear. I know the 6.5x47 brass is expensive, about $20/100 more than .260 brass, but other than that it would be the same prices for all the rest of the reloading gear wouldn't it? Same powder, bullets, and the smaller primers would actually be a little cheaper no?
Just to confuse the issue a bit ...I've been looking at building a 260 Improved which has a 30 degree shoulder compared with the 20 on the stock 260 and the 40 on the 260AI. Looks to me, like the best of both worlds. Google 6mm ar for specs
Last edited:
I don't think there's enough difference between the two to matter. There is a huge difference if you were to get off hunting and find you've left your ammo on the kitchen table. You might find .260 Rem in small places, but you will not find the AI. You only have to sight in again, so it's not that big a deal. It's more about how much mucking about you want to do to have ammo. Mind you, that is certainly part of the fun of having something out of the ordinary.
arcticcathonda
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Southern Alberta
I have a 260AI, so I will admit I am bias, however I also had a regular 260 before this. Both were great, but in my situation I am finding results out of my Ackley to be worth the extra cost in dies. Fireforming is a joke, and some of my best groups came from fireforming my brass. I would have to check my targets but 10 shots under 0.5MOA was awesome for me. I have never had to bump a shoulder, resize body, or trim brass. So for me, the prep is less than the regular 260. My brass is going on 6 reloads with measurements nearly identical to the batch I measured new. Will be getting ready to do some annealing this round.
Performance, according to applied ballistics my trued muzzle velocity is 2910 fps out of a 24" barrel using a load on the hotter side of things. Chrony results were similar in the 2880 range.
If you reload, I don't see what you have to loose by going AI other than higher cost for dies. Perhaps it was how ATRS cut my chamber, but I have not run into any feeding issues out of AI 5 and 10 round mags. Berger VLDs run long in the mag if I want a jam, but no issues for me. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to chat further.
Performance, according to applied ballistics my trued muzzle velocity is 2910 fps out of a 24" barrel using a load on the hotter side of things. Chrony results were similar in the 2880 range.
If you reload, I don't see what you have to loose by going AI other than higher cost for dies. Perhaps it was how ATRS cut my chamber, but I have not run into any feeding issues out of AI 5 and 10 round mags. Berger VLDs run long in the mag if I want a jam, but no issues for me. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to chat further.
- Location
- Brandon....
I get mine from Hi Pro Precision in Brandon.........Awesome Bullet even have Berger's BC beat!!
None of the 308 based cases gain much from AI'ing them. Take the gain capacity of the improved case over the regular case as a percentage. Divide that in two. That will be roughly the percentage gain in velocity all other things being equal. Will help with brass growth though. FWIW. - dan
- Location
- Brandon....
You take the same barrel,powder, bullet.......The AI will be 120-180 FPS faster! Plus you will be able to seat your VLD's out further with a costom chamber vs going stock 260,casing will last ALOT longer alot less flowing brass,less bumping the shoulder lots of pros vs cons!
When you're buying Lapua brass, it is. 6.5x47mm dies are very expensive or at least they were (2-3) years ago. I refuse to pay $130 for brass and +$200 (or whatever) for custom dies. At least with basic .308 Win. brass you can use it with basic case prep work.
If I was smart at the time I should have had the barrel re-chambered instead of selling it. I was just sick of it sitting in my safe and the thought of the mistake in cartridge choice just spoiled me on it.
Not at equal pressures it won't . But if you want to, have at it. - dan
My standard 260s ran 2750-2770fps with no pressure signs and easy bolt lift. My 260 AI ran 2950fps and was very accurate, but I know I was stepping a little too hard on the gas as I was having a hard time lifting the bolt handle, had flattened primers, and case head expansion was excessive. So the extra 180-200fps I was getting was not worth it in my mind, too high of a risk for the little gain I was experiencing. I am now going back to the straight up 260 and could not be happier. If you need more speed, look at the 6.5-284 or the various 6.5mm wildcats, the 6.5-06 and the 6.5 Sherman come to mind if you need more jam. In fact I have read that the 6.5 Sherman will deliver the 160 Matrix VLD at upwards of 3000fps, thats a lotta jam!
Yeah perhaps it was different last year, but I was researching building a 6.5mm myself and noticed that currently it doesn't seem to be much different.
From Hirsch's website:
Forster FL Die Set
004251 .260 Rem $99.00
004255 6.5X47 Lapua Bench $89.00
So aside from $20/100 more for brass, everything else is the same or less money than the 260.
Really though it's hard to go wrong with any of the 6.5mm rounds.
