260 pistol project

[yorke-1]

I've been talking about building this gun for a while and I finally got around to doing it. The goal was to build an SP to compete in long range rifle matches which would require fast follow up shots. Follow up shots are a little slower with the pistols though because I run most of them as single shots. The idea was to build an SP which could run a 5 or 10 round box mag to make for quicker follow ups and reloads.





Here are the specs:
- Savage Left hand action
- 19" McGowen Varmint contour 1-8" twist 260 Rem barrel
- McRee Precision stock
- MDT polymer AI compatible magazine
- Killer Innovations muzzle brake
- Sightron S III 8-32x56 LRMOA scope

Total cost to build was about $800 without the scope.

Somebody asked me to try the polymer magazine so I picked one up. For less than half the cost of an Accurate mags of AI mag I think it works pretty well. I did need to sand down the corners a little so that it fit into the stock a little better though.

I took it out today and test fired it a few times to see how well the brake works. I don't typically like muzzle brakes and this caliber doesn't really need one. The problem with these guns though is that the muzzle jumps quite a bit when shooting off of a bipod, making it hard to stay on target. I installed one of the Killer Innovations brakes on both this 260 pistol and my beloved 284 Win Striker. I've only fired 5 shots out of the 260 and 3 shots from the 284 so far to test them. The results are very impressive so far. The bipods hardly leave the ground at all. I may actually be able to spot my own hits as close as 150-200 yards with the brakes on there. :tup:

It will be a few weeks before I get out to work up a load and really stretch it out a bit. I'll try and get some video with and with out the brake to give an idea of how the gun handles.

Andrew

 

[Rogue Hunter]

Andrew,
That's a nice rig.
Which bullet do you plan to use for the .260?

-Mike

 

[Ernie]

I've been talking about building this gun for a while and I finally got around to doing it. The goal was to build an SP to compete in long range rifle matches which would require fast follow up shots. Follow up shots are a little slower with the pistols though because I run most of them as single shots. The idea was to build an SP which could run a 5 or 10 round box mag to make for quicker follow ups and reloads.





Here are the specs:
- Savage Left hand action
- 19" McGowen Varmint contour 1-8" twist 260 Rem barrel
- McRee Precision stock
- MDT polymer AI compatible magazine
- Killer Innovations muzzle brake
- Sightron S III 8-32x56 LRMOA scope

Total cost to build was about $800 without the scope.

Somebody asked me to try the polymer magazine so I picked one up. For less than half the cost of an Accurate mags of AI mag I think it works pretty well. I did need to sand down the corners a little so that it fit into the stock a little better though.

I took it out today and test fired it a few times to see how well the brake works. I don't typically like muzzle brakes and this caliber doesn't really need one. The problem with these guns though is that the muzzle jumps quite a bit when shooting off of a bipod, making it hard to stay on target. I installed one of the Killer Innovations brakes on both this 260 pistol and my beloved 284 Win Striker. I've only fired 5 shots out of the 260 and 3 shots from the 284 so far to test them. The results are very impressive so far. The bipods hardly leave the ground at all. I may actually be able to spot my own hits as close as 150-200 yards with the brakes on there. :tup:

It will be a few weeks before I get out to work up a load and really stretch it out a bit. I'll try and get some video with and with out the brake to give an idea of how the gun handles.

Andrew

Sweet!!!

 

[yorke-1]

Andrew,
That's a nice rig.
Which bullet do you plan to use for the .260?

-Mike

I'm going to start with some of the 140 grain bullets just because that's what I have sitting around. I think the 130s might be ideal though. From the 19" barrel, I think I can get the 130 grain bullets to almost match 6.5x47 Lapua velocities with the same weight bullet. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Andrew

 

[Rogue Hunter]

Andrew,
The 130's should perform as you expect.
I have a 18-1/2" 6.5-.284 XP-100 with a 1-8 twist McGowan barrel. It shoots the 130 gr Berger Target VLD's extremely well. Drops and drift very similar to the 140's/142's out to 1500, and they remained stable when they went trans-sonic (75 Deg. @ 4300 ft elevation).

-Mike

 

[yorke-1]

Andrew,
The 130's should perform as you expect.
I have a 18-1/2" 6.5-.284 XP-100 with a 1-8 twist McGowan barrel. It shoots the 130 gr Berger Target VLD's extremely well. Drops and drift very similar to the 140's/142's out to 1500, and they remained stable when they went trans-sonic (75 Deg. @ 4300 ft elevation).

-Mike

That's good to hear! I was worried about how well it's going to perform after going trans-sonic. I run the 168 Berger VLD out of my 284 Win Striker and they stay relatively stable most of the time after going trans-sonic. Every once in a while one will wander off though.

Andrew

 

[quigley257]

Very cool rig. Looking forward to seeing how it performs.

 

[tinkerer]

Very nice.

I wonder how difficult it would be to convert my Choate Ultimate Sniper stock to a mag feed? Anyone know how?

Larry
Tinkerer

 

[yorke-1]

I got out today to test the 260 again. I haven't done any load work yet, just picked a powder charge behind the 140 Berger VLD to get it zeroed and start shooting. It's hanging around .75 MOA at 475 yards where I shot it today. I'm not disappointed with that at all. The gun shows a lot of potential.

The shooting conditions weren't great. I was shooting down hill while lying prone and just couldn't get a good rest under the pistol grip. So I just shot it off of a bipod (which had to be WAAAAYYYY too high) with a rest under my right wrist. Not ideal, but it worked. The muzzle brake was very impressive. With a more solid shooting position I would have been able to shoot nearly full field of view and spot my own hits.

[ame]http://youtu.be/0yKrO3o5zbE[/ame]

Very nice.

I wonder how difficult it would be to convert my Choate Ultimate Sniper stock to a mag feed? Anyone know how?

Larry
Tinkerer

Pretty easy. You can just have it opened up to take the CDI bottom metal. I think that CDI will do it for about $30. I have a short action CF CDI bottom metal sitting on my bench. Send me a PM if you're interested in it.

Andrew

 

[Rogue Hunter]

Andrew,
Looks good. The brake performs well too.



I usually use a small "squeeze" bag, or brick bag on a wedge under the pistol grip while shooting prone in the field off the bipod, or the bipod / portable shooting bench.
Well done,gun)

-Mike

 

[Ernie]

Nice Video!

 

[yorke-1]

Thanks guys. I normally have a rear bag that I use under the grip but I forgot it at home this time. I will say that the AR style grip isn't great when trying to use a rear bag. I may try to come up with something that works a little better.

I'm really happy with the performance of the brake. I put one on my center grip Striker in 284 Win as well with excellent results. The downside is that it had a dramatic impact on grouping in my 284. I'll need to work up a new load to get my accuracy back. The 168 Berger load that was shooting under .5 MOA doubled in size! The good news is that my hunting load with the 120 BT went from a .5 MOA load to a .3 load!

Andrew