260 Build ???

[MudRunner2005]

Appreciate all the replies gentlemen and I did not mean to come across as an ***, if I did I apologize. New to this and I thought there was more pros than cons to going with a long action. don't have a lot in this gun so I can get my money back out of it pretty easily I think. Do you think it would be better to just find a short action and build on it?

I have not read this thread from the beginning, so I am unaware of all the specs you are trying to achieve... But from what I gather, you are wanting to know if you can build a .260 Rem on a LA 700 receiver, correct?

Building on the LA will work just fine, lots of people out there have done so.

The extra length you will have in the mag box will make things a lot easier when seating long heavy-for-caliber bullets closer to the lands, while being able to use the rifle as a repeater for hunting or quick shooting.

Personally, I would build on the LA since you already have it. The other alternative would be to sell the LA, buy a SA, and then buy a Wyatt's extended mag box, and pay the gunsmith to machine everything out, and install it (more $$$).

So, basically, the way I see it (and just simply my opinion), you would be better off, and money-ahead, to just go ahead and build off of your LA.

 

[shortgrass]

For every success story we read about on the forums about using a LA for what's generally considered a SA cartridge, how many more weren't such a 'success'? The only SA rd. I recall doing for a customer, on a 700 LA, was a .22-.243 w/ a tight twist (1-7 throated to shoot 90g VLDs ). He ended up with an extra 3 hrs labor invested so it'd feed 'slick'. "It weren't no "drop-in"!

 

[MudRunner2005]

For every success story we read about on the forums about using a LA for what's generally considered a SA cartridge, how many more weren't such a 'success'? The only SA rd. I recall doing for a customer, on a 700 LA, was a .22-.243 w/ a tight twist (1-7 throated to shoot 90g VLDs ). He ended up with an extra 3 hrs labor invested so it'd feed 'slick'. "It weren't no "drop-in"!

What ended up being the cause of the feeding problem? Longer floorplate with a different angle milled into the ramp?

I'm genuinely curious to know, as I've never heard of anyone having feeding problems using the LA for SA caliber before. I also hear about these dreaded Ackley feeding problems, but I've yet to have any issues with any of my 3 AI calibers. Maybe I'm lucky?

Just thinking out-loud here, but if you were to seat the cartridges all the way to the back of the mag box, the cartridges should be nearly identical in case taper from the head forward, until the SA caliber angles to form the shoulder...Correct? Wouldn't that mean that it should feed fine until it pops up off the feed rail?

 

[shortgrass]

What ended up being the cause of the feeding problem? Longer floorplate with a different angle milled into the ramp?

I'm genuinely curious to know, as I've never heard of anyone having feeding problems using the LA for SA caliber before. I also hear about these dreaded Ackley feeding problems, but I've yet to have any issues with any of my 3 AI calibers. Maybe I'm lucky?

Just thinking out-loud here, but if you were to seat the cartridges all the way to the back of the mag box, the cartridges should be nearly identical in case taper from the head forward, until the SA caliber angles to form the shoulder...Correct? Wouldn't that mean that it should feed fine until it pops up off the feed rail?

The problem was the cartridges were just too freakin' short. They'd pop out of the mag before they had a good start up the feed ramp, thus "loosing control' of the rd. Find a follower that'd fit and work, block the mag to the new follower, open the rails with a file and then stone them smooth. Lots of hand work involved. Stand a .30/06 next to a .308 (.260, 243, 7mm/08 are the .308 case, just necked differently). The shoulder of the .308 is bigger in diameter than the body of the /06 . You can't just run a .30/06 reamer into a .308 chamber and have it 'clean-up'. The different shape of the case body and moving it forward, so that it has the proper start up the feed ramp before the mag releases it and the forward motion of the bolt takes over so that you don't have to perform 'tricks' to have a reliable feed cycle, takes time. Cartridges need to feed fast, slow and at normal normal speed of bolt manipulation.

 

[MudRunner2005]

The problem was the cartridges were just too freakin' short. They'd pop out of the mag before they had a good start up the feed ramp, thus "loosing control' of the rd. Find a follower that'd fit and work, block the mag to the new follower, open the rails with a file and then stone them smooth. Lots of hand work involved. Stand a .30/06 next to a .308 (.260, 243, 7mm/08 are the .308 case, just necked differently). The shoulder of the .308 is bigger in diameter than the body of the /06 . You can't just run a .30/06 reamer into a .308 chamber and have it 'clean-up'. The different shape of the case body and moving it forward, so that it has the proper start up the feed ramp before the mag releases it and the forward motion of the bolt takes over so that you don't have to perform 'tricks' to have a reliable feed cycle, takes time. Cartridges need to feed fast, slow and at normal normal speed of bolt manipulation.

I have not tried it myself (yet), but had always heard otherwise. After doing the measurements, your experience makes sense. Good info, thanks. You are correct about the shoulder dimensions. I just measured 2 of my Hornady OAL gauges, and the .308 Win measures .449" below the shoulder, the .30-06 Sprg. is .441" in the same spot on the case wall. My .30-06 AI is .455" in the same spot. Which explains why my smith was able to open the chamber of my spare .308 Win barrel to .30-06 AI 40-degree without having to set the barrel back any.

 

[shortgrass]

I have not tried it myself (yet), but had always heard otherwise. After doing the measurements, your experience makes sense. Good info, thanks. You are correct about the shoulder dimensions. I just measured 2 of my Hornady OAL gauges, and the .308 Win measures .449" below the shoulder, the .30-06 Sprg. is .441" in the same spot on the case wall. My .30-06 AI is .455" in the same spot. Which explains why my smith was able to open the chamber of my spare .308 Win barrel to .30-06 AI 40-degree without having to set the barrel back any.

There's lots of stuff on the forums that are just not as simple as they're touted to be. Like I said, " for every success, how many that weren't so successfull don't we hear about". Talk is cheap,, making it work right, isn't! And then, there's 'controlled round feed'......

 

[graywolf]

There's lots of stuff on the forums that are just not as simple as they're touted to be. Like I said, " for every success, how many that weren't so successfull don't we hear about". Talk is cheap,, making it work right, isn't! And then, there's 'controlled round feed'......

And sometimes opinions that get presented as facts. The .260 is not inferior to other SA 6.5 cartridges IMO. If you plan to reload, it's arguably superior to both the 6.5x47 (.260 has greater case capacity/velocity) and the Creedmore (Lapua brass for .260).

 

[graywolf]

If you plan to generally shoot within 600 yds, you could save a lot of money and have a great rifle with a Tikka .260 CTR. The semi-heavy barrel is 20" so you give up a little speed but it is a tack driver out of the box with no additional costs. The bolt feed and straight action and crisp trigger are the same or better quality than what you would pay extra for with a REM 700 build. I think the steel TRG mag that it comes with also gives you a little extra length over the standard mag, but I could be wrong about that.