second choice bullet? 260

[airstream]

The choice has been made to go after elk with our new 260. I am currentaly getting 3 inch groups at three hundred yards with 140 grain VLD Bergers .I am rounding out my first 100 rounds through the new cooper, so hopfully The group will tighten up a bit, but might not as the gun is 1-9 twist.

If I end up not being happy with the accuracy or terminal performance of the bergers could I get some suggestions on a back-up bullet.

Accubond is second choice but I am worried about my wife to be, slapping a bull in the shoulder instead of behind it.

should I rule out 130's as to small?

we will limit our max range to an ethical yardage, If we can wade through the wolves.

I am coaching her on the impotance of bullet placment.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Berger is my first choice Accubond, JLK and Sirraco could be considered? Have you done a seating depth test with your rifle and Bergers?

 

[bcdeford]

It is a little unorthodox but I used a 140 gr. out of my 6.5 creedmoor to take an elk at 370 last year. the bullet performed very impressively... took out the heart and lungs went through the opposite shoulder blade and stopped just inside the skin on the far side. The elk dropped in mid stride. i was getting 3 inch 5 shot groups at 500. it has a decent bc as well.

 

[airstream]

Yes,first starting at min and working up to max in half grain intervals, all loads pretty much shot 1 inch , I settled on 37.5 grains of IMR-4350, QUESTION: WOULD MAXED OUT SPEED HELP STABALIZE THIS BULLET? max is 40plus grains
I loaded
2.835
2.850
2.860
2.870
2.892
AOL
JUMPING THE LANDS SEEMED TO SHOOT BETTER IN THE RIFLE AS OPPOSED TO JAMMING THEM.

But to tell you the truth all loads shot at about an inch at 100 yards, rangeing from .940 to 1.400.

I have only loaded about 1200 rounds in my handloading career, but I do believe that this " limmitted" accuracy may just be that the long bergers dont like the 1-9 twist.I am just learning about that .

tommorrow I will try AOL test again. this time taking extra care, also i will perform this test at 200 yards to help magnify group size. I believe the gun will end up shooting 2.5 moa at three hundred yards. I can live with that, we will see.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Your describing a ladder test, I asked about a seating depth test? Good powder choice. I use H4350 in my 260 loads and I got the best groups at the high end of the scale I got 2950 FPS from a 140g AMAX she groups 1/4" at 200 yards.

Read this artical and test your loads at 200 yards minimum. Remember its a hunting rifle so dont get to fast on the trigger and get your barrel hot I try and keep the final load tuning under to under 2 shots in a 10 min peroid.

Optimizing Precision And Accuracy From VLD Bullets

 

[airstream]

well the first 100 Bergers are gone and nothing to write home about.

I have Hornady 129 Interbonds on the way. Will be using reloader 19.any suggestions on starting load?

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

I would stick with the H4350 or H414. I had the best groups with Fioccoie primers but BR2 could not group under an inch at 200.

Did you do the seating depth test?

 

[airstream]

seated bullets from 2.835 to 2.895. none of them shot bad, none of them shot good.
When jamming the lands should you feel the added pressure on the lands, WHEN CLOSING THE BOLT? I do not. Further more I had a hell of a time finding were the lands touch on the bergers. the ogive starts like 1/8 inch from the brass. I do not have any experience jamming the lands, as I am self taught and no-one I know jamms the lands.

 

[trebark]

seated bullets from 2.835 to 2.895. none of them shot bad, none of them shot good.
When jamming the lands should you feel the added pressure on the lands, WHEN CLOSING THE BOLT? I do not. Further more I had a hell of a time finding were the lands touch on the bergers. the ogive starts like 1/8 inch from the brass. I do not have any experience jamming the lands, as I am self taught and no-one I know jamms the lands.

Are you shooting threw a factory barrel? if so, even at 2.895 you might not yet be on the lands. I had a Remington 700 in 308 and it had the longest throat I've ever seen.

Depending on how deeply you jam into the lands, you might not feel it. In order to measure at exactly what length a given bullet's ogive touches the lands of your barrel you need two things...

Hornady Lock-N-Load Overall Length Gage Bolt Action - MidwayUSA

and the modified case...

Hornady Lock-N-Load Overall Length Gage Modified Case 260 Remington - MidwayUSA

In terms of bullets, look at the 140g Accubond.

Are you really dead set on going after elk with a 260? typically people shoot them with a cartridge with a bunch more power. I have a 260 and a 300RUM. For elk, they would feel the RUM. I'm not saying you can't take an elk with a 260, it will just limit the shots you can take.

 

[airstream]

Yes The 260 is going to be the choice to take to Idaho.When I was looking for a rifle , I wanted somthing that had limited recoil female friendly, also I really wanted somthing I would get some use out of back home. Do you think that the 140 ACCUBONDS will have any problem out of a 1-9 twist barrel? if a bad shot was placed with the accubonds , on a elks shoulder, in your opinion would the accubonds penatrate or blowup like a BT. I have seen my friends loose many deer with balistic tip ammo with questionable shot placment. I hunt white tails with soft tip bullets and place the bullet rite on the shoulder or neck.

 

[airstream]

trebark, do you know about the 1000yard range that is beeing built in WV?

 

[trebark]

Yes The 260 is going to be the choice to take to Idaho.When I was looking for a rifle , I wanted somthing that had limited recoil female friendly, also I really wanted somthing I would get some use out of back home. Do you think that the 140 ACCUBONDS will have any problem out of a 1-9 twist barrel? if a bad shot was placed with the accubonds , on a elks shoulder, in your opinion would the accubonds penatrate or blowup like a BT. I have seen my friends loose many deer with balistic tip ammo with questionable shot placment. I hunt white tails with soft tip bullets and place the bullet rite on the shoulder or neck.

Forgot about your 1:9 twist...might not be enough to stabilize the 140grain bullets. Nosler does make a 130grain Accubond. As I said before, I don't think the 260 is an optimal cartridge for elk. With the 130grain bullet going 3000fps you will probably want to keep your shots inside 400.

Although I've never used the accubond, my understanding is that their performance on elk is outstanding. They are a bonded bullet (core is bonded in some way to the jacket) so you don't get the explosive expansion that is often associated with ballistic tip bullets.

trebark, do you know about the 1000yard range that is beeing built in WV?

Yes. I applied for membership a looooong time ago. It is schedule to open in August. https://peacemakernational.com/Home_Page.html

 

[sp6x6]

I shot a 6 pt. bull, about 6 '' up from shoulder joint, 1/4 away , short timber shot. He went down quick, and I recovered bullet on far side, opened good but retained about 75%. This was a 200 gr. out of a 325 wsm. I mostly hunt elk and this is lightest set up I use. Al though I learned on 243, I use 338 for elk. I have hunted N ID and it is very thick in spots, with large alder patches

 

[airstream]

66 what was your track record with the 243, my gun of choice back home? Thank you for the info. EVERYONE is sold out of Accubonds even NOSLER. I will be in central Idaho. I believe from what I read that I mostly will be seeing wolvesgun) where Im going. So it will prolly just be a beautiful camping trip in a region that I have never been.

I will only take shots within my range and realize the impotance of threading the needle behind the shoulder.

also any help that would make me succsesful in wolf country would be great. middle fork unit 27. fish and game told me that the tags did not sell out because of the economy . They forgot to tell me that the wolves had taken over.

In you honest opinion what are the odds of a hard hunting in shape man finding a bull in the middle fork ?