I'd probably get the Browning, that's my personal opinion. After lugging around my sendero for 6 straight days, I grabbed my Browning 270 and it was like nothing was there. Never would have thought 4.5# difference would have made walking that much more enjoyable lol. Get the creed and keep the shots under 300 yards and no concerns of being under gunned.
looking for a do all rifle
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WildRose
Well-Known Member
There are several of the smaller mfg's still making .260 so it's not a worry. Prime Ammunition I can certainly reccommend. Probably the best groups I've shot in the last 10 years are with the Ruger Hawkeye FTW and Rem 5R shooting their factory .260 Rem Ammo. They are actually loaded with what appears to be a hybrid hunting VLD made by Norma.
Best of all, I can't say enough about their customer service. My Granddad's philosophy in business was, "Treat everyone like they're your best customer and they'll try to be", and Prime seems to have a very similar philosophy.
Lapua makes .260Rem brass and if your's will shoot the Federal Premium with the 142gr SMK or 140gr SgK you have a couple of good sources of factory ammo along with as much of the best brass on the market as you want to buy as well as an endless supply (and seems to be growing) of High BC hunting and target 6.5mm projectiles so I wouldn't let it worry me in the least.
In fact, I recently bought 2 .260's, one a Rm 5R and the other a Ruger Hawkeye FTW model both of which are shooting great for me with just very little work. Basically I adjusted the trigger,installed an EGW base, and bedded the recoil lug on the 5R and didn't have to do that much with the Ruger. About all I've done with the latter is to mount a scope and lighten the trigger spring.
If you're worried about future availability of .260 ammo and don't reload there will always be people you can get to custom load for you and if you don't want to mess what that consider the 6.5x55 or 6.5CM. The three calibers are essentially identical triplets when it comes to ballistics.
As for the two I bought there's a considerable weight difference and style difference in them with the Ruger being much more of a carry friendly rifle due to the lighter (although not light) contoured barrel. The 5R stock has a fairly wide fore end similar to the Sendero or Varmint model Remingtons and weighs about the the same as well.
I can't complain about either of them at all.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
The world will never run out of 7.62x39 or .308 for as long as we have centerfire rifle rounds.
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
I have the Tikka T3 CTR in both .223, and .260 Remington. The plan in mind of starting kids on the .223, and transition to the virtually identical .260 has worked well.
The .223 has several thousand rounds through it. Mostly field use 500 round days shooting squirrels. It shoots 0.25"-0.5" with Hornady Super Performance Match
I had the .260 out the other day with Applied Ballistics Ammo, 130 grain AR Hybrid, 0.5" -0.75" is typical. This ammo is currently out of stock, I've got a base of brass so that's not a big issue for me. I hadn't heard Remington discontinued it's line of ammo.
The only downside I've found in either is the magazines suck, and extras are expensive as is, conversion.
On balance $800 well spent.
The .223 has several thousand rounds through it. Mostly field use 500 round days shooting squirrels. It shoots 0.25"-0.5" with Hornady Super Performance Match
I had the .260 out the other day with Applied Ballistics Ammo, 130 grain AR Hybrid, 0.5" -0.75" is typical. This ammo is currently out of stock, I've got a base of brass so that's not a big issue for me. I hadn't heard Remington discontinued it's line of ammo.
The only downside I've found in either is the magazines suck, and extras are expensive as is, conversion.
On balance $800 well spent.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Looking on Remington's site it's a head scratcher because under centerfire rifle they are still showing .260 Ammo. This ammo always shot exceedingly good for me in my .260 AR so it was my first thought when I got the two bolt guns but I can't find it anywhere.
https://www.remington.com/search/ammo?cartridge=357
If the Norma Hybrid that Prime is loading in their .260 Ammo shows to perform well on game I won't worry about it.
I've got 200rds of Lapua Brass for both of the bolt guns and as long as the Prime ammo does well once we start punching deer I'll probably build up at least a 200rd supply of once fired brass for each of them as well.
Federal is still producing it in their premium line as well as the Fusion so it's not like we're out of options.
On occasion I've used Superior Ammo in SD to custom load for me and I'll bet they are still in the business. With the quality they and Prime can turn out I think the .260 has quite the future.
remington site still shows it, but when searched, it's "discontinued" or out of stock, which is probably the same thing.
i found a custom tikka 6.5creed, thats local. bart barrel, and krg chassis. that might be a straight trade for my 308 AR, that i was looking at selling anyway
then buy a ruger american for hunting
just wanted to stick with the 260
i found a custom tikka 6.5creed, thats local. bart barrel, and krg chassis. that might be a straight trade for my 308 AR, that i was looking at selling anyway
then buy a ruger american for hunting
just wanted to stick with the 260
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Give the Ruger Hawkeye FTW in .260 a try if you can find one if you want to go that route and if not if you'll look over at Bud's I think you might be able to find one in 6.5CM. I'm really happy with the one I picked up. When you stroke the bolt it drags a little but that will work out with time and if I feel like speeding up the process a little lapping compound on the rails and bolt would solve that in a few hours.
I like the FTW well enough I'm seriously considering picking up another in .375 Ruger as I'd like one with a bit more length than my Alaskan. If they made it in a 24 or 26" version I'd have probably already bought one.
Bud's has very good prices on them.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Ruger+FTW
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
If you break off from the .260, we've had good luck with a couple of the The Ruger Hawkeye Compacts in .308. Stainless steel, laminate stock 16" barrel. Kids have really done well with them. The 126 Hornady Lite Ammo reduces recoil. They come in 7-08 also.
If I were in your shoes, I would go with a 6mm or 6.5mm. I'm leaning toward a heavy 6mm if recoil reduction without a break is the goal. I would be confident in a short range 100 grain bullet from a .243 on an elk because the shot could be well placed. I don't know many young shooters who can shoot real far and most rifles have enough energy to kill. I keep hearing stories of kids hunting and they shoot all their ammo at a deer and can't hit them so lower recoil means more practice!
SansSouci
Well-Known Member
There's nothing comparable to knowledge gained from experience. I've learned that way that carrying my 10 pound 7MM Rem Mag up-and-down Rocky Mountain ridges ain't fun.
