6.5x47 or 260 Rem

Hi

I am busy with a custom build for PRS competitions. I am considering chambering the rifle in 6.5x47 Lapua. I am interested to know what you think of the cartridge vs a conventional 260 Rem.

I currently run a 260 in a Tikka T3 and it does the job. Do you think its worth it going for the 6.5x47 over the 260?

M

Yes. I tried to run a .260 at mag length and was giving up too much. I was having to seat 142 smk's so deep I was limited to less than 44.5g 4831sc.

Loading to mag length, at least for me, took the juice from my .260. I was struggling to break 2700 FPS with 28" of barrel.

You can run a 6.5x47 at 2750 with 140 class bullets all day with Varget.

I went 6.5 creed and wish I would have gone to the lapua. Everything Creedmoor is more expensive. Dies and brass are $20 over the 6.5x47.

I have both. First of all, my experience with 260 has been very different than Schnyd112. Keep in mind that in the world of custom barrels and chambers, there can be a lot of variation in throat length. I have a 27" 260 and I shoot 140 Berger Hybrids in a short action out of an AICS magazine (which limits you to a COAL of 2.88"). Using H4350 or RL17 I can easily push the 140s above 2850 with great brass life and no pressure signs. I have been over 2900, also with great brass life (RL17 only), but accuracy was best in the mid 2800s. I also have room to spare in the case, so the observation that the bullet is going to displace tons of powder simply isn't valid with a slightly faster powder. 4831 is slightly too slow of a powder for the 140 class bullets. Switch to something a little faster (H4350 is the gold standard) and the 260 will shine. Comparing a x47 using Varget to a 260 using 4831 is apples to oranges.

Now, as to whether to get a x47 over a 260: almost every variable is going to be a wash. Both have outstanding Lapua brass, and the ballistics with most projectiles will be indistinguishable. Some might argue that the small rifle primer in the x47 offers minor precision and brass life benefits, but that has not been my experience. 260 brass lasts forever and the rifle is crazy precise.

The x47 has a couple small advantages. The first is if you want to run the really heavy new bullets like the Sierra 150 MK or the forthcoming Berger 155 EOL in a short action. If you are limited to 2.88" COAL with those super long bullets, then the shorter case of the x47 means you can seat the bullet out further and displace less powder while still fitting in the magazine. However, I would argue that neither the 260 nor x47 are ideal for those projectiles from a case capacity standpoint. The second advantage the x47 has is that due to the shorter case and longer neck, it is better suited to seat bullets so that the bearing surface is above the donut. Not a show stopper, but important to some if you shoot the same brass a lot. I solved the problem in my 260 brass by reaming it with a K&M mandrel. You only have to ream it once, typically after 4-5 loadings.

The 260 has a couple small advantages. One, more case capacity means you more velocity potential. I can push the 130 Berger ~100fps faster out of the 260 when running both to the max. Two, you can form 260 brass from 243 and 308, which are everywhere and cheap.

If I were to buy only one 6.5 for PRS, I would get the x47 so that I could remove the donut removal step. But that is really splitting hairs. 260 is an awesome chambering too.

I've been running my .260 for years and haven't really had any troubles with it. It's been as hassle free as possible. 142 SMK's, 140 and 130 Bergers, 140 RDF's - they all shoot lights out in my gun. The 140's I'm running around 2825-2850 and the 130's 100fps more than that. Like stated above, there's really not much difference between the two.

I don't shoot PRS but love my 6.5x47 built by RBROS. I've only shot the load they developed for me, which is the 130 Berger hunting. It runs a comfortable 2975 fps out of a 26" Broughton. As stated I think reamer spec makes a huge difference. I'm sure you'd be happy sticking with the 260 or switching to the x47. I liked my original x47 so much I built a light version x47 for hunting. Such a pleasure to shoot and brass lasts forever. The 130 Berger and 130 Accubond have both been awesome on deer.

For PRS I much prefer the 6.5x47 over the 260 and 6.5CM. Aside from being superbly accurate, IMO, the case design/brass is far superior in terms of minimal/no trimming and very long case life. I run 130 gr Berger Hybrids st 2880FPS.

mosh338 said:

Hi

I am busy with a custom build for PRS competitions. I am considering chambering the rifle in 6.5x47 Lapua. I am interested to know what you think of the cartridge vs a conventional 260 Rem.

I currently run a 260 in a Tikka T3 and it does the job. Do you think its worth it going for the 6.5x47 over the 260?

M

Click to expand...

No. If you got the gun, the dies and probably a few more things, and it's "doing the job", then why mess with it? The 260 has a bit more steam and that can be helpful considering that when finding an accuracy load, it's usually under max.

It's like playing guitar. A very good guitar is going to be more than adequate up to the point that you've archived "Mastery". Mastery tends to require thousands of hours of repetition and practice. Now a 6x47 has less recoil and flys good and that can be a thing but if your 260 is bang'in... just down-load it if you want a 6.5x47. It's like bunt cake and bunt cake lite-sugar. Whatever... The big difference is powder capacity and primer size. That's an economics question and if your worried about economics... give up PRS and get a second job in the evenings. Oh... you'd be a lot further ahead by delivering pizzas than shooting PRS.

6.5x47, 6.5 Creed, 260... they more or less fly the same. Me... I like the 6.5x47. Not because I'm a scientist. I dig things like a good dog with a skip in it's walk, that loves hunting and looks at me like I look at it.

Unless the 260 is some kind of pig... just shoot it and love it.

For a .260 your max throat/freebore on a reamer is going to be around .080 to still be able to mag feed. That leaves a lot of open air above the base of the bullet when you are loading 42-43g of 4350. You may get the speed, but in my experience it just isn't going to be consistent over a competition season where you will shoot 1000+ rounds.

My best loads were with 95-105% fill in the .260 with 4831sc. But I was losing any ballistic advantage of the larger case and actually shooting significantly slower than smaller cartridges. Rl 17 gave me speed, north of 2900 FPS, and es for a day was great, but comparing one day to the next the numbers were just never as consistent as they were with 4831. It just left too much open air and I think that played with the burn rate.

Varget will fill your 6.5x47 case just about perfectly and I have seen one in particular shoot silly consistent numbers. 5 FPS extreme spread over two ten round groups. Shot a week apart.

Thanks for all the responses. Does seem like the 6.5x47 has some advantage over the 260 not sure if its substantial enough to change.

Another option, depending on how serious you are about diving into PRS, is to build a 6x47 Lapua. Light recoil, and superb ballistics. I'm strongly considering this option for my next barrel. Once you get involved with PRS, IMO, you would regret not choosing one of the "47's".

Greyfox said:

Another option, depending on how serious you are about diving into PRS, is to build a 6x47 Lapua. Light recoil, and superb ballistics. I'm strongly considering this option for my next barrel. Once you get involved with PRS, IMO, you would regret not choosing one of the "47's".

Click to expand...

I haven't considered the 6mm as we don't have hit indicators in South Africa so it's difficcult to spot hits on targets over 500 yards. I've kind of limited my range to 6.5mm cartridges.

So, no one has said it yet, but if you really want to make the 260 shine, try loading a stiff charge of RL26. with the longer barrels and 140+ bullets, you'll see more speed and less pressure than ever before. I was using H4350 and H4831sc in my 22" 260 and only got 2750-2800 with a 130gr but had definite pressure at that speed. I changed to RL26 and was able to get a lightly compressed load that shot 3000fps with no pressure signs. It really does open up the field at that speed. With a 26" barrel and a 140, I'll bet it could net you close to 3k if not beat it.

Thanks. Getting 140 gr bullets to shoot at speed is definately an advantage and somthing that is pushing me toward the 260. In my Tikka T3 in currentky shoot 139gr scrnars at 2850 with no pressure issues. Ive managed to push 2950 but the accuracy node wasnt that great so i backed down a bit. I do agree that the 260 is a little finiky to get right and it seems that one of the big advantgaes of the 47 is that less sensitive and easier to find accuracy nodes.

86alaskan said:

So, no one has said it yet, but if you really want to make the 260 shine, try loading a stiff charge of RL26. with the longer barrels and 140+ bullets, you'll see more speed and less pressure than ever before. I was using H4350 and H4831sc in my 22" 260 and only got 2750-2800 with a 130gr but had definite pressure at that speed. I changed to RL26 and was able to get a lightly compressed load that shot 3000fps with no pressure signs. It really does open up the field at that speed. With a 26" barrel and a 140, I'll bet it could net you close to 3k if not beat it.

Click to expand...

Another option to muddy the waters....

I shoot a 6.5SLR. Had a .260Rem too, and they are almost identical capacity-wise.

Since my 6.5SLR is a 15# rifle, and the .260Rem was a 10.5# rifle, I rechambered the .260 into a speed demon 6.5SS for hunting strictly due to the weight, and kept the 6.5SLR for steel and LR varmints/mid-range deer. The .260Rem was fully capable of pushing the 140 HVLD @ 2865 w. 42.0gr H4350 into the .2s @ 2.188" CBTO (mag length) from a 26" 1:8" Bartlein #3b.

The 6.5SLR is basically a .260 case with the neck & shoulder of a 6.5x47L. Best of both worlds. I get 2850 from a light charge of 41.5gr H4350 w. 140 HVLD. My hunting load is 43.0gr H4350 @ 2960fps with no pressure. Both shoot into the .2s and usually less. I have had quite a few 5 shot groups into .0-.1s. I had 3020fps, but not as accurate, and fairly hot. But this rifle shoots most bullets well. 140 HVLD, 140 Hybrid, 142SMK, 127 Barnes LRX, 130 HVLD, 85 V-Max, 139 Scenar L. Only 2 bullets it doesn't like as much that I have found. 142 NABLR & 143 ELD-X. Those shot .5-.75MOA. The rifle has just over 1900 rounds down the barrel, and still shoots in the .1-.2s.

Brass is easy to form. Use Rem or Win .243 or .260 brass, and it is a no-turn neck solution. One pass through the die and you are 95% done. Fire form loads were no different in mine than fully formed cases. I have 8-9 firings on my 200 target load cases. My 100 hunting cases only have 1-2 firings on them.

Use Lapua, Norma, Nosler, Hornady, etc., and you will need to turn necks since shoulder and neck thicknesses in the brass will cause a donut.

L-R: fire formed 6.5SLR, FL sized virgin 6.5SLR, .243WIN (same as .260 Rem except 6mm vs. 6.5mm neck)


And 6CM w. 110 SMK vs.6.5SLR w. 140 HVLD (both at mag length)