.260 accuracy

Airborne · #1 04-26-2004, 07:36 PM

For those of you who shoot this caliber, what are your average group sizes? I was shooting 1.25" at 100yds no matter what I put through it. So I sent the gun out and had a Douglas barrel, action trued, stock bedded. Now it only shoots 1 moa. Talk about being pissed. $600 for 1/4". What gives. Is this caliber accurate? [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

Varmint Hunter · #2 04-26-2004, 07:48 PM

Your 260 has the same accuracy potential as any 243,7mm-08 or 308. If the rifle was properly built and you are using quality ammo, I can see no reason why you should not expect to shoot groups that are less than half the size of what you are getting.

My factory 7mm-08 will shoot 1/2 inch with carefully tuned handloads. Almost any load will shoot 1-1.25" in this rifle.

If all else fails, contact the gunsmith to try and isolate the cause of the inaccuracy problem. Be patient but persistent and you'll get there.

VH

P-Steve-E · #3 04-26-2004, 09:26 PM

Airborne
I have a stock .260 ss mountain rifle
Well it has been pillar bedded and the crown polished!
anyways , when I first got it I was getting .6s with remington premium 120 BTs
They changed bullets and that went to crap--
Now I'm getting .5s with 140 sierra game kings over IMR4350. havent really worked that hard to best that load yet . I will try some 130 TSXs this summer over IMR 4320 and see what happens .
I think I can do much better than that with some tinkering

johnny k. · #4 04-26-2004, 10:36 PM

I bought the M700 S/S Mtn rifle for my son and it shoots rather well with 100gr NBT's, 43.0gr of IMR4064 and CCIBR2's. I get sub .5's with this load for 3 shots @ 100yds.
He and I have discussed moving up to a heavier bullet; maybe the 120gr NBT or the 130gr TSX.
This is a stock rifle except for trigger adjustment. I don't like the pencil thin barrel for load development and I have seriosly thought about removing the factory pressure point in the forward part of the barrel channel. Will try differnt bullet weights b4 removing this though. Johnny K.

Airborne · #5 04-26-2004, 10:42 PM

Johnny: I'm not sure I would do that. You were leading to a very interesting question. Should the barrel have a pressure point or not. I started with a Model 700 Mnt S/S. It is now in a HS Precision Stock which has been skim bedded and free floated. The action has been trued and I put a Douglas #3 barrel on it. It doesn't shoot that much better than factory. I am wondering if it needs a pressure point. I wish you luck with your endeavors.

308 nate · #6 04-26-2004, 10:43 PM

hi Airborne,
Sorry about your frustrations.
my suggestion would be to check your scope and mounts.(even Leupold has put out a bad scope or two)if you have another rifle that is shooting to your standards try taking the scope off that and putting it on your .260 (by the way Leupold does make GREAT scopes)hope you get the problem licked [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
308Nate

BountyHunter · #7 04-27-2004, 07:14 AM

Several things to do.

1. Check fired cases for concentricity when they come out of chamber, ie mis aligned chamber

2. Is bore rough in any spot

3. Check crown for damage

try sierra 142 or 140 Amax (both sorted by ogive length) and H4350 from 41.5-43.0 grains. Suggest shooting ladder at 200-300 and see where the accuracy nodes are and then fine tune. Seat bullets just touching the lands to start and then come back at .005 intervals. The above is the accuracy load for guys shooting f class and lr highpower with the 260.

BH