260 rem or 308 win

[varmint1911]

I am new to the LR game. On a tight budget; am considering a Savage Long Range Hunter in either 260 rem or 308 win. w/Vortex Crossfire II 6-18. I have about a zillion pieces of 308 brass; have read several articles about necking down 308 so should not be a big consideration. I will use this rifle to mostly to hone my skills; do not plan to hunt with it. For you more experienced guys; would you go 308 or 260?lightbulb

 

[Nomad]

260 would be a good thought several high BC bullets.......

 

[stomp442]

The only saving grace of the 308 is less barrel ware. The 260 shooting a 140 berger or Amax at 2800-2850 just leaves the 308 in the dust in most categories. The name of the game in long range shooting is wind drift and the 260 is very hard to beat. Run the 260 with a high b.c. bullet through a ballistics program vs the 308 with any bullet and weight and compare them. The only one that gets close is the heavy 200-210 grain pills.

260 brass is easily formed from 308 but will also need to be neck turned for uniformity.

 

[bill123]

Another saving grace of the .308 (for your purposes) is that it is more susceptible to wind. Therefore as a learning tool, you would gain more experience dealing with wind. Shoot the flattest most wind resistant bullet you can find and how much are you really going to learn? Once you gain more skill, you can always rebarrel it in .260.

 

[Gary Kaney]

Or split the difference and go with a 7mm/08.

 

[MudRunner2005]

.308 Win, 7mm-08, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5-284, or 6.5 Grendel......Any of those will be great short-action LR target calibers.

 

[stomp442]

Another saving grace of the .308 (for your purposes) is that it is more susceptible to wind. Therefore as a learning tool, you would gain more experience dealing with wind. Shoot the flattest most wind resistant bullet you can find and how much are you really going to learn? Once you gain more skill, you can always rebarrel it in .260.

Learning to dope the wind is a skill that is learned regardless of caliber. The nice thing about the 260 is that it allows for more forgiving results when the wind dope is wrong. Why learn to shoot a 308 wind hold then relearn a 260 wind hold. At 1000 yards there is about a 30" difference between the 260 with a 140 berger and a 308 with a 168 berger.

 

[varmint1911]

I was thinking 260 but some people swear by the 308. 7mm-08 is not available in the Savage I want (can afford). I have a 6.5 Grendel which i have been practicing with (needs a better trigger), but am partial to bolts. I shoot a lot of A-Max and SST's and some Sierras in my guns with pretty good results; haven't tried VLD or Ballistic Tips are they considered more accurate? Thanks for your insight.

 

[stomp442]

I like the berger vlds first and foremost because they offer the best bc available for a mass produced bullet and they are held to extremely good tolerances. The other main reason I love them is because my match bullet is also my hunting bullet. I also like the way they perform on game. The Amax and sierras are also great bullets and work well. Either of these will get you where you want to go it will all depend on what your gun likes.

 

[Greyfox]

I would go along with the 260 for the ballistic advantages stated in the previous posts. Owning both a LRH and the LRP which is chambered n 260, you might consider the LRP instead. My LRH used for hunting is chambered in 6.5x284. Being priced pretty close to the LRH, the LRPhas quite a few advantages, particularly since you don't plan on using it for hunting. The LRP is a few pounds heavier but this serves to make a very stable shooting platform for long range shooting. The HS precision stock is substantially better, it has a longer, heavy fluted barrel, and the "target" Accutrigger. Most importantly, it is exceptionally accurate. The fit and finish is very good. Mine, along with few other shooters that own them at egg shoot competitions shoot right along with customs. I have on several occasions shot as many as 100 rounds out of a hot barrel with no change in it's typical .25MOA or better group size or POI. The LRH is an accurate rifle that makes a good hunter due to it's weight and will certainly serve your intended purpose, but you may find the LRP better suited. IMO

 

[RT2506]

You mentioned that you had a ton of 308 cases and could neck them down to 260. If your 308 case is trimmed to the suggested trim length then keep in mind that you will come out with a 260 case that is a bit shorter than a standard 260 at trim length. I have found that 243 Win cases make perfect 260 cases.

I would go with the 260 Rem over the 308 also.

 

[bill123]

Learning to dope the wind is a skill that is learned regardless of caliber. The nice thing about the 260 is that it allows for more forgiving results when the wind dope is wrong. Why learn to shoot a 308 wind hold then relearn a 260 wind hold. At 1000 yards there is about a 30" difference between the 260 with a 140 berger and a 308 with a 168 berger.

My point here was just that if you take a shot w/a .260 and the wind puts it off by 3", you may call that good. If you had taken the same shot w/a .308 and the wind puts it off by 6" (just an example, not sure if thats even a realistic scenario), you might conclude that you need to learn to read the wind better.

 

[varmint1911]

Thanks. You have certainly given me food for thought. If nothing else I have learned the emphasis you place on BC. I think I'll put off buying a new rifle for now, and upgrade some of my exiting equipment. Right now I am limited to about 400 yards in both hunting and shooting range distance. But our land is being logged and both the distances available for my shooting range, and hunting opportunities will expand. I have taken deer and coyote out to 400 yards with both my Mod 70 270WSM and my 6.5 Grendel AR ( both sub 1 MOA and can be improved), and fill confident at that range, but not beyond. I hope to learn to shoot at longer distances-I have a thousand questions-thanks for helping a newbie along the way.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I am new to the LR game. On a tight budget; am considering a Savage Long Range Hunter in either 260 rem or 308 win. w/Vortex Crossfire II 6-18. I have about a zillion pieces of 308 brass; have read several articles about necking down 308 so should not be a big consideration. I will use this rifle to mostly to hone my skills; do not plan to hunt with it. For you more experienced guys; would you go 308 or 260?lightbulb

If you want to 'hone' your skills, you need trigger time. The 308 will offer you a lot of good consistent life. Throats don't get eaten nearly as fast and heat checking is minimal, carbon rings are virtually non-existent. It all leads to one consistent shot after another, day after day...year after year. The difference in windage with the right bullet is barely more than the 260, equal to with others and if you can deal with the recoil using the heavies, can beat the 260.

Both are excellent and both will do what you want.

M