.260 accuracy

[Airborne]

For those of you who shoot this caliber, what are your average group sizes? I was shooting 1.25" at 100yds no matter what I put through it. So I sent the gun out and had a Douglas barrel, action trued, stock bedded. Now it only shoots 1 moa. Talk about being ****ed. $600 for 1/4". What gives. Is this caliber accurate?

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Your 260 has the same accuracy potential as any 243,7mm-08 or 308. If the rifle was properly built and you are using quality ammo, I can see no reason why you should not expect to shoot groups that are less than half the size of what you are getting.

My factory 7mm-08 will shoot 1/2 inch with carefully tuned handloads. Almost any load will shoot 1-1.25" in this rifle.

If all else fails, contact the gunsmith to try and isolate the cause of the inaccuracy problem. Be patient but persistent and you'll get there.

VH

 

[P-Steve-E]

Airborne
I have a stock .260 ss mountain rifle
Well it has been pillar bedded and the crown polished!
anyways , when I first got it I was getting .6s with remington premium 120 BTs
They changed bullets and that went to crap--
Now I'm getting .5s with 140 sierra game kings over IMR4350. havent really worked that hard to best that load yet . I will try some 130 TSXs this summer over IMR 4320 and see what happens .
I think I can do much better than that with some tinkering

 

[johnny k.]

I bought the M700 S/S Mtn rifle for my son and it shoots rather well with 100gr NBT's, 43.0gr of IMR4064 and CCIBR2's. I get sub .5's with this load for 3 shots @ 100yds.
He and I have discussed moving up to a heavier bullet; maybe the 120gr NBT or the 130gr TSX.
This is a stock rifle except for trigger adjustment. I don't like the pencil thin barrel for load development and I have seriosly thought about removing the factory pressure point in the forward part of the barrel channel. Will try differnt bullet weights b4 removing this though. Johnny K.

 

[Airborne]

Johnny: I'm not sure I would do that. You were leading to a very interesting question. Should the barrel have a pressure point or not. I started with a Model 700 Mnt S/S. It is now in a HS Precision Stock which has been skim bedded and free floated. The action has been trued and I put a Douglas #3 barrel on it. It doesn't shoot that much better than factory. I am wondering if it needs a pressure point. I wish you luck with your endeavors.

 

[308 nate]

hi Airborne,
Sorry about your frustrations.
my suggestion would be to check your scope and mounts.(even Leupold has put out a bad scope or two)if you have another rifle that is shooting to your standards try taking the scope off that and putting it on your .260 (by the way Leupold does make GREAT scopes)hope you get the problem licked

308Nate

 

[BountyHunter]

Several things to do.

1. Check fired cases for concentricity when they come out of chamber, ie mis aligned chamber

2. Is bore rough in any spot

3. Check crown for damage

try sierra 142 or 140 Amax (both sorted by ogive length) and H4350 from 41.5-43.0 grains. Suggest shooting ladder at 200-300 and see where the accuracy nodes are and then fine tune. Seat bullets just touching the lands to start and then come back at .005 intervals. The above is the accuracy load for guys shooting f class and lr highpower with the 260.

BH

 

[Quarterbore]

before you do all that crap, you better check yourself or have another "marksman" shoot it. When this doesn't work,,,,, Buy a Savage ! SAYL

 

[Airborne]

308WIN:

Another Marksman? I already did that without sucess. I also shoot BR Competetion and am an Ex- Army Ranger that has never qualified less than " Expert ". You have shown your intelligence by your thread!

[ 04-27-2004: Message edited by: Airborne ]

 

[Duff]

Honestly, it sounds like you have all the makings of a sweet shooting rifle. If you have checked all the basics (bedding, scope, screws, crown, ect.) then it almost has to be in the load. Man, that is super frustrating (been there and done that). Some rifles just don't shoot as good as others. As a last resort, have another gunsmith look at it. Sorry that I am of no help. The .260 IS an accurate cartridge.

BTW-did you see the Ranger contest on Discovery last night? Makes me swell with pride

(and turn green with envy) I don't think dad considers himself an ex-ranger. He always will be.

[ 04-27-2004: Message edited by: Duff ]

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Pressure points are just another variable that most rifles are better off without. A 260 with a 3 contour should not need a pressure point.
There are many good suggestions here for potential sources of the inaccuracy problem. If all of them fail to provide the answer than I fall back on my original suggestion - Contact the smith. You put good money into the rifle and have every reason to expect better accuracy than you are getting.

Good luck - VH

 

[RiverRat]

Airborne:
I have a couple of 260's and I have found the 260 to be a very accurate cartridge. My first 260 was built as an F class rifle, I was so impressed with it that I had a hunting rifle built in 260 as well. Both shoot well under .5 MOA. I have found, like a previous post stated, 42 gr. H 4350 to be a very good load with the 140 gr. bullets. And 44 gr. of H 4831SC is a very good load as well with the 140 gr. class bullets. Both loads give around 2740 fps from a 24" barrel with no pressure signs at all. I have had excellent results with IMR 4064 with 90 to 120 gr. bullets. If that 260 won't shoot, something is wrong. Truly I have found the 260 as easy to work with as the 308.

RiverRat

 

[milanuk]

Try a 142gr SMK ahead of 38.0 gr of Varget. Maybe not the fastest load out there, but it does get the job done pretty well. Same charge behind a 120gr SMK ain't too shabby either.

I had a Rem Model 7 Stainless/Synthetic in .260 that was reasonably accurate (3/4-1" for 3 shots) for what I wanted out of it. Current version is a 700SA in 6.5-08 w/ a 30" barrel. Don't have a measured groups size, most of my shooting has been from a sling. Appears to group pretty well (Lapua 123gr Scenar, 48.0gr RE-19) if I could just hold the darn thing still

Monte

 

[Quarterbore]

AIRBORNE, Firing expert in the military is not that hard. I also am a "military expert" however the problem could still be you. If that's not the case, as you say. Then dump alot more money in that rig so it can shoot as good as you can. Now that's intelligence for ya!

sell that piece

[ 04-28-2004: Message edited by: 308WIN ]