260 build

[the shotty]

Alright guys, Im kind of new to this but here it goes. First some background, I hunt elk, deer, and coyote mostly in western WA but some eastern as well. I have done minimal long range stuff but am very interested and have been following this site and playing around for a few months now. I currently shoot a tikka t3 in 300wsm so my large bore needs are satisfied for the time being. I have been doing most of my long range shooting with a semi custom bushmaster NM ar15 which I have put together and does well out to the 600 yard mark if its not too windy with my personal handloads.
That being said, I am looking to sell the AR to fund a build. I have been reading a lot of different reviews and I think I have settled on a 260. I want something thats light recoiling and fun to shoot since I'm giving up my AR for this. I currently have two options for the action, a stevens 200 action currently in 7mm, an old savage 110 action in 270. I would like to use the gun for deer/coyote out to 700/800 yards and I have a bushnell 3200 elite to top the gun. I'm not worried about walk around weight too much, thinking somewhere around 11lbs and a #7 fluted barrel, this will be more of a spot from the truck or carry short distance kind of tool.
What I haven't found is what I will have to do in order to change the bolt face to .260. Also, I am mechanically inclined but is putting this all together something that should be attempted by a beginner? ( keeping in mind that I have built an AR15, though slightly different concept)
What would be optimum barrel length? I would like to pull high 2700s to mid 2800fps range with 140 gr. pills. Any recommendations on barrel brand for a Savage action? I would like it to be ready to be attached and not have to deal with reaming or threading or crowning. I have been on douglas, pac nor and kriegers websites but I don't understand all the jargon on the pricing and how the barrels come.

I'm sure I will have more questions to come but thats all for now. My budget is in the $700 range to get barrel and stock, eventually a trigger but I don"t think I can afford that right now. Thanks for the advise to follow.

 

[backwoods83]

If i were you id use the 110 270, same boltface as 260 but if you want those speeds without excessive case pressure and wear your better off with a 6.5x284 norma. McGowen is a good company to get switch barrels from, i got mine in 3 weeks mine was a 28" 10 twist 270 wby .800" taper polished stainless and it was only 330 after shipping and its very accurate. you can get a matte black 26" for 280 shipped. id go with a 26" 8.5 twist and use 130 grain scirrocos, accubonds, or 140 partitions for big stuff. even the 140 partitions have a .490 bc. if it doesnt have an accutrigger get a Timney it'll go down to about 22 ounces, use a bell and carlson stock, and get you a wolff extra power firing pin spring (32lb). with that said you will have an awesome rig, personally i have different scope opions but that one will do, so you would be just under 600$ then you could order 2 boxes of Norma ammo and have some break in and toy rounds and 40 good cases! The same will work for a 260 but its no where close power wise.

 

[Terry Scott]

Good Choice with the 260, but I would personally have Pac Nor and 260AI
Easy to load, light recoil.26 to 27 inch sendero contour. Im getting honest 3000 Fps with 140 gr Berger VLDs, in a gun that weighs in @ 11 lbs.
While I was at it I'd have Pac Nor set your Chamber up for a specific length to give you a little more room. I am familiar with them, they will be happy to accomodate you.
You are welcome to email me with questions [email protected]

 

[liltank]

Just finished a Savage build. I used a Lothar Walther barrel. They do everything you need to get it ready for your build. I have been very impressed in the break in period so far. I only have 3 shots down the tube and it cleans up in half dozen patches using both carbon solvent and copper solvent. Going to move into my three shot groups quickly. They are very knowledgeable and willing to offer advice if you ask for it. They are to the point and about accuracy.

I to agree that the 260 will do the trick. It will be easier on barrels than the 6.5-284. 1-8 will do it for twist. You will need a nut wrench and head spacing gauges. I like the idea of using the 110 action. Just make sure you get the right shank size. Small shank or standard, the barrel nut measures 7/8" and the Large Shank is 5/8". You more than likely have the small shank.

Tank

 

[Joaquin B]

I have a Tikka 595 in .260 Rem. with a Pac Nor 26" carbon steel barrel which has polygonal rifling and a 1 in 8" twist rate. Contour is "Sporter". 0.650" dia. at the muzzle.

The rifle uses the factory stock with the action screws tightened to 6.5 N (~55 lbs.-in.) torque and procudes 1.5 inch 3-shot groups at 300 meters using sorted and prepped Remington brass, Federal 210M primers and H4831 powder. Bullets are Hornady 129 gr. SST's.

The load, 47.0 grains is not maximum and generates 2925 fps. I have tried heavier loads, but this is what the rifle likes. I use the same load with Nosler AccuBond bullets and Nosler brass. It deliver a muzzle velocity of 2875 fps and produces 2 inch groups at 300 meters. Well below MOA.

For long range hunting, something like this will deliver the precision and velocity necessary to make kills out to 1000 yards. Ironically, I took this rifle on a Coues deer hunt last October and took a nice buck at the outrageous distance of 60 (sixty) yards with it. The 130 grain AB bullet entered behind the ribs on the deer's left side and lodged itself under the hide, in the neck, about 3 inches from the skull. True to the bullet's design, there was no bullet/jacket separation. The lungs had been turned into mush.

 

[the shotty]

Thanks for the replies guys, my local shop just had a Remington tactical model 700 xcr lrt in 300 win mag come in for $950. Right now I'm kinda thinking I may pick this up and trade my t3 for one in .260 as to have a nice light pack rifle, there's part of me that says the .300 is going to be the better lr piece for when I really want to start pushing the distance out to and past 1k and still have knock down power. I'm torn though, for $950 would I be better off building or buying?

 

[liltank]

Thanks for the replies guys, my local shop just had a Remington tactical model 700 xcr lrt in 300 win mag come in for $950. Right now I'm kinda thinking I may pick this up and trade my t3 for one in .260 as to have a nice light pack rifle, there's part of me that says the .300 is going to be the better lr piece for when I really want to start pushing the distance out to and past 1k and still have knock down power. I'm torn though, for $950 would I be better off building or buying?

$950 will get you a Savage Target Action or whole rifle to build on, tools for barrel swap and headspace guages, barrel, and stock. Then you can put as much money as you want toward optics, base, and rings.

Tank

 

[the shotty]

hmmmmm......... decisions....... this is the part I hate about this hobby!

 

[diriel]

Lothar Walther, and Shilen would be my two choices hands down for a pre-fit Savage. I have a Pac-Nor on my savage 111 swede and it definitely will be the last Pre-Fit I *EVER* buy from Pac-Nor!! The camber was cut crooked, when I called them telling them that the absolute best I could do was 1 MOA at 100 they basically said "Congrats you are doing good!" I paid big bucks for a super select match barrel and I get that ****!!! F-That !!! On top of that, the 3groove barrel happened to be "A bit on the slow side", and my sisters Savage 10FP with oem barrel on it cleaned up in Half The Time with over twice the rounds down range between cleanings!! Ya know, I have held my silence for years on this **** barrel and Pac-Nor now...but I am not about to let some poor sap get F-ckd like I did and not at least Tell Him About It.

I will say that *AFTER* I had it converted to AI, it suddenly shot bug holes, and continued to shoot them for the better part of 1500 or so rounds. I had over 1k rounds down the tube just trying to break into some real accuracy. Know what? The 140gr Gamke Kings at Exactly 18 thou off the lands on well prep'd Win brass with Wolf Primers and H4831sc was THE one and only load to EVER break below 1MOA, that load printed .2 / .3 with great regularity. Oh, and the bullets were sorted by weight and ogive and Sorta Tipped for conformity. That load was the absolute biggest pain in my *** in over 20 years of reloading! Then I go and roll it up in an AI and that barrel shoots **** near anything in 1/2 inch or less with very little effort.

You may have great and/or awesome luck with Pac-Nor on NON-PRE-FIT barrels, but watch out for their Pre-Fit! This is why I advise Shilen for sure, and LW by what I have heard several times now. If you call Shilen and tell them "Hey I want a Savage Pre-Fit with a Dead-***-Square chamber, they will deliver to you just that and if for any reason it is NOT they WILL make it right. Real good CS on Shilen. Is every barrel perfect? Nope! But they are great folks to deal with.

By the way, this is the first time I have broke my silence on the forums on this particular issue. After the re-chamber by .... Afterwards, it shot great and with ease. It still cleaned like ****, but shot great. I have never Wanted To BURN Out a barrel so bad, ever! I am very glad it is basically dead now, and time for a rebarrel on the Savage. But I am waffling bad on what I will choose. Having hell deciding between a 280 Nosler AI and a 25-06 AI. Heh.

Now as for barrel length, over on the hide Dar I think it was cut a 260 back quite a bit and was surprised at how little velocity loss he had. After reading about his experience, I would be tempted to roll with about 22" heavy fluted barrel myself. Give up some velocity, sure, but gain in Handi-ness.

You may find that $700 puts you on a bit of a tight budget. I would keep your stock for now, and stiffen the fore-end, "fill" the butt, and bed it. Now if you get a couple of rods you can finesse them into the fore-end and then fill over them with something like marine tex and you will gain pretty reasonable stiffness. Enough to get you by until you can save up for a Manners or some other of the truly excellent stocks out there. There is another thread here where many stocks were listed, most all of them real good choices.

Bolt Head, you just have to order the bolt Head kit and change it. Do a bit of reading and go for it, it is pretty easy if you are at all mechanically inclined (you are).

Remember to get some Go-No-Go gages when you get your action wrench. Also, you will need some kind of action vise. I was lucky enough a friend machined a block set out of aluminum that I put in a regular vise and clamp down. The barrel change is easy.

Good luck,
Gary

Good luck.

 

[the shotty]

So in light of the responses I have gotten in terms of the Remington and price, wondering what about doing a savage model 12 lrp? if I'm not mistaken this would be a savage target action and hs precision stock in the .260. Do you guys think I would come out ahead in doing this again for $950. Also, if I decide that I do want the extra power can I have the barrel reamed in either 6.5-06 or 6.5-284?

cant get exact link but here's a start...
Savage Arms > Firearms > Browse Models

 

[liltank]

That would be a step in the right direction in my opinion. I just built a .308 on their low profile action. The only thing is that you are going to have to buy the barrel to get what you want. That is why I suggest you look into buying the exact same action for less, put the barrel of your choice on it, and buy the stock of your choice.

McGowen Barrel: $300 Lothar Walther Prefit $350 in Savage replacement

Stocky's stocks sells the H-S Precision for I believe $299

Savage LRPV action $450


That comes out to $1050 plus or minus (Not including tax and shipping) depending what you go with (barrel manufacturer). You can get a Stockade stock unfinished and finish it yourself for around $235 (depending what model you get, and any extra's you may want). You'll pay $50 extra to have it drilled for the three stud Savage action. My cousin has one of his bench stocks on order. Can't wait to see it.

That is my suggestion for a Savage build. You can pick up tools and gauges for barrel swaps for about $150. It's very easy to do. Just did it myself a few weeks ago. Skies the limit with caliber selection when you can do it yourself.

Tank

 

[spiaailtli]

You can buy several models from Savage chambered in 6.5x284, some noted as being sub .25MOA out of the box.

 

[liltank]

I forgot to answer your other question, yes you can then chamber it to a bigger 6.5 on the same barrel. If you want to go magnum, then you will have to get a bigger bolt face.

Tank

 

[Scot E]

I forgot to answer your other question, yes you can then chamber it to a bigger 6.5 on the same barrel. If you want to go magnum, then you will have to get a bigger bolt face.

Tank

Not the 6.5-06 though on that action right? Aren't the current ones all short action?