.260 Rem Vs. 6.5 x 47L?

Not to refute anybodies argument about the quality of the various makes of brass
(since my opinion is just the regurgitation of what someone else wrote),
but here is an article about someone using .260 Remington brass and actually
winning.:eek: Which considering how badly Remington dropped the ball where
the .260 is concerned, is definitely a ray of hope for what I think is a very
interesting cartridge.
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/tag/260-remington/

the topic of which is the 'best' brand of brass will rage on and on. Brands vary, lots vary so this is a moving target.

I get to see alot of different brands and try a bunch just for S&G's. I have yet to find a commercial brass that was 'BAD'. I have shot brass that was softer and didn't stand up to high pressures but they weren't any less accurate (1/4 min at 200yds is my goal).

I have used brass that varied quite a bit in weight but their internal volumes were spot on.

I have used brass from the same brand that was annealed well and some poorly.

Varying in trim length, neck thickness and amount of flashing in the flashhole.

Expensive or cheap, with basic brass prep (something I do regardless of brand) and careful work up, they all shoot well.

It is very rare for me to toss brass from any 1 lot.

Tested through shooting, I find what prep and sorting actually works to make my groups smaller.

I have found alot of parameters that simply don't matter. And am always surprised when those looking for peak accuracy will avoid min work that can help them achieve their goals.

Jerry
 
Jerry,
The expander ball does NOT cause case stretching or brass "flow" and I never claimed that it did. Sizing does cause brass flow. When a piece of brass is expanded by firing, it may actually shorten a bit as the diameter increases. When it is resized and the diameter is reduced, that brass doesn't go back where it came from. Instead, since it has thinned out, it tends to remain thin. In order to remain thin, it gets longer. As I said before, firing, especially if the chamber fits the brass well, doesn't seem to change the brass too much. This is true as long there is no deficiency in the rifle which causes deformation of the brass (crooked bolt face etc.).
I am, at present, a bit torn as to the advisability of neck turning as a means of achieving uniformity. thirty five years ago, I would have said, "absolutely". Now, I kind of think it may be better to sort except as regards brass for short range BR. In this venue, I think fitting the neck to the chamber pays. After all, a .05 moa improvement in BR is HUGE. In all other situations, not so much. Regards, Bill
 
Actually, there are a number of authors that differ on the stretching due to the expander ball. Simple enough, just measure before and after. To really show it being done, just don't use any lube in the neck compared to one with lube :)

Too cold to test right now but will do some measuring in the future on before and after lengths. I know what you are saying. I have measured cases after using the Lee collet die with no significant change in length so ?????

how it grows really will vary on all the parameters above but what we know is that chamerings with shallow shoulder angles at elevated pressures will stretch. So trimming and neck turning become just more steps in the maintenance of my cases.

For me neck turning is about consistent neck tension (annealing too).

My reasoning is this. With a bushing neck sizer, we are squeezing from the outside in so if there are any inconsistencies on the outside, then will make it to the inside and this can aid in increasing runout.

An even consistent thickness should help the 'squeeze' be consistent around the perimeter which should help with neck tension. Neck turning can certainly help you control the amount of neck tension applied.

And that should also help reduce runout related problems (yes, fully aware most of the runout issues are in the seating step but have seen sizing cause enough to spend the extra few seconds).

If we are walking down this path, that even neck should tend to expand more evenly/consistently. Maybe that aids in more consistent ignition, smaller speed variations, etc etc.

Maybe it does exactly nothing?????

But for the few seconds it takes to skim the neck of each case, I figure it's worth it. Certainly will not cause any harm.

Annealing has really shown some benefits on paper but that is another story....

Jerry
 
See above where I posted I went from .243 to 7-08 in 2 steps? Even at the 6.5/260 step, there was evidence of buildup at the shoulder. At 7-08, the Lapua brass wouldn't even chamber after full length sizing....had to be turned, and had to be turned deeper than I liked so I scrapped the 10 I did. I dunno which side of the argument this falls on, but it is a recent real world experience.
 
As the OP asked, just buy 6.5X47 Lapua and be happy with Lapua brass, considered the best by the best.

My problem is that although I already own a 6.5x47.there is another factory varmint rifle that I want,that is available in 260,but not in 6.5x47.
 
Yep Peter, it is why I went with a 6.5-284. Fantastic brass, no screwing around, minimal prep. Great argument for the 6.5 Lapua.

(If only we could persuade them to make 260 brass!!!)
 
See the end of the carbide .260 mandrel on the K&M neck turner. Those flutes are a donut cutter. If you have or get donuts at the base of the neck, this cuts them out from the inside. Problem solved.

NormB

As Leeper pointed out "all" brass is thicker at the base of the neck than at the mouth. As Jerry pointed out this extra brass, at the base of the neck, starts on the outside and is forced to the inside of the neck when fired. This extra brass is what causes that dreaded "donut" and is present on both the new case and the fired case. Uneven neck tension from case mouth to base of the neck is the result.

Outside neck turning a new case only gets rid of part of the excess brass when using standard neck turning procedure. With the K&M tool, shown in the picture, standard procedure is to run the K&M Expander into the neck so it will accept the standard pilot and turn. This still leaves the mouth thinner than the base, as shown in the picture, unless you turn the necks thin enough too clean them up. This leaves them too thin at the base, when you neck up, as suggested by Leeper and causes excessive neck clearance in standard chambers. Inside neck turning a fired case results in the same problem, only in reverse.

Experience in sizing up a case for my 7mm-25 WSSM and sizing down cases for my 20EXTREME (222Rem) and 6.5EXTREME (300RCM) has taught me a few things:

1. That it is possible to get a uniform neck, when necking
up, only if you have a thick enough neck to start with as
necks tend to get thinner when stretching.
2. It is easier to get uniform necks by necking down as
they thicken which allows more brass to be turned
while still maintaining proper neck thickness.
3. It is better to turn the necks, slightly below desired neck
thickness, just to the base before sizing down. This way
the necks will maintain even thickness through more
firing/sizing cycles.
4. I use the K&M turning tools to get a uniform neck
from mouth to base. First I use the Expander but only
run it into the neck about 3/4 of the way, or just
enough to expand the mouth enough to leave about
1/2 of the "donut" on the outside and the other 1/2 on the inside.
I then turn using the carbide mandrel, shown in the
picture, cutting the excess brass from both inside and
out. If the neck is thick enough it will be totally cleaned
up and uniform. Using this method works best, I think,
because of the difference in spring back from the case
mouth to base when using the expander past the base.
5. Once uniform neck thickness is achieved it doesn't
matter whether you use collet die, expander die or
bushing die you will have uniform neck tension.
6. The amount of neck tension can be adjusted by using
neck bushing but will only be the same provided all
necks are the same thickness from mouth to base. If
they are not then it is best to use a custom expander
ball or the collet die as Jerry suggests.

I have attached a drawing of formed brass for my 6.5 EXTREME with a Berger 140VLD seated to the lands. The necks are a uniform 0.0160" down well past the base. As you can see it is properly designed for the 140 VLD to fit in the clip using a Long Magnum Action. Three fit and feed perfectly from a Rem 700 clip. It will drive this bullet to over 3000fps while maintaining low enough pressure that the brass has Zero Stretch at the WEB. Should get 6-7 Full Length Sizing's before having to trim.

65EXTREME-140BergerVLD.jpg
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Here are the first test targets, shot from the bi-pod and rear bag, after load development. The top two bullets on the 400-500 Meter target were shot by a 300 Win Mag, with Berger 210 Vld's, for wind-age comparison.

65EXTREMEto500Meters.jpg
[/IMG]

65EXTREME100Yards-1.jpg
[/IMG]

No question which 6.5 I would choose.
 
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