20" barrel 260 Remington Need help!

[wareagledg96]

I have a great pet load for my 24" barrel so I started there but my new gun with a 20" barrel HATES it. The gun is a 20" Steyr Pro Hunter that I put together for my kids to use. I have also been using 140's with my 24"barrel so I may need to go with a lighter bullet as well although I would prefer to stay with the 140's. My end goal is to try to get a good load for the kids to shoot with the side thought of using this as a 300 yard point and shoot gun for myself when scouting. Any advice or information would be appreciated.

DG

 

[motown]

Whats the twist? I have found 120 grn ballistic tips to be fairly accurate out of a couple 260's ive had.

 

[Shortmagman]

The fact that your 20' Steyr Pro Hunter does not shoot the 140 grain bullets probably has very little to do with the fact that the barrel is only 20 inches. It probably has to do with the fact the twist rate is not correct for a 140 grain bullet. You need a 1 in 8 twist rate and your gun has a 1 in 9 or 10 so it does not shoot the 140's well. Of course it could be that the Steyr just does not like the particular 140 that you are shooting. You could try some different 140s and see if your gun also hates them. It it does the answer would be to try some 120.

 

[wareagledg96]

The twist rate is the question that eluded me initially. I can't find published data on the 260 steyr pro hunter. The rifle I bought was "new" old stock that someone never bought and I figure it is left over from around 2005 that is the last time I am aware they were sold but it was still in the box packed in original grease. When I check the twist the old fashion way with a rod and patch I a getting 8.6 as the twist. I have checked on a half, a full and two rotations and get the same number. It threw me when I first checked it because I rushed through it thinking it was something I have done a hundred times so on the first run it was slightly over 8 so i thought 8 and the patch was not tight enough. So to verify i ran a slightly tighter patch and it was just short of 9 on the second pass. Then it caught my attention so I slowed down and made sure everything was correct and ended up with the 8.6 which I can repeat anytime I check it now. I have never heard of 8.6 as a twist rate but that is what it is. So I am hoping the 140s will be stabilized by the 8.6 and I need a different powder COL combination. Again any advise or past experience shared is appreciated.

DG

 

[benchracer]

I have a 26" barreled 6.5 Swede with a 9 twist that shoots 140g Berger VLD's VERY accurately. Your 8.6 twist should be just fine.

An old timer on another board once told me that he believed the 6.5's gave better accuracy with lower muzzle exit pressures. That is why he recommended a 26" barrel even with the smaller cased 6.5's. I don't know if that is true, but I thought I would throw that out there as food for thought.

One thing to consider is that the problem may not be your existing load per se. Before completely re-working your load, try the Berger Seating Depth test in your other rifle. It may simply be that the other rifle prefers a different COAL.

If you have to change bullets, I have found the Nosler Partitions to be very forgiving. I have used the 140g version. I have also heard good things about the 125's.