Building a new 260 rem for long range

[dgr416]

I am building a long range 260 rem ruger 77 tang rifle .I am going to use a lilgia stainless barrel up to 27 inches .I want this rifle mainly for shooting long range 300 to 600 yards .I want it to be faster than my 22 inch barrel 260 rem rifles .I think a sporter barrel 27 inches or 26 inches will be my choice have not decided yet .I have not decided to flute it yet and I do like fluted barrels .I think this rifle will equal my 264 win mag ruger 77 which has a 24 inch barrel .I like the less kick of the 260 rem to practice and way less powder and way easier on brass .I just switched from the 338 win mag uses it for 35 years to the 260 rem .I want this new rifle to not be too heavy to tote .

 

[Barrelnut]

I'm thinking you might get ~100 FPS with the extra inches on the barrel. Not so sure it will catch up with your 264 WM.
Have you ever tried Alliants RL26 powder in the 260? Folks get 100 FPS plus with the same barrel length in 260 and 6.5 CM. RL26 would help you keep the rifle weight down and the shorter barrel will be somewhat stiffer.
Maybe a 24" barrel and RL26 would be a sweet spot.

 

[coyotemaster]

I'm guessing your using a 140 gr. bullet? Varget works extremely well with the lighter bullets.
39.3 is go to with 123gr. bullet.

 

[S.B.Actual]

Tag

 

[dgr416]

I want to use the 155 grain lapua and 156 grain Berger bullets .I have not tried the burgers yet but heard they were awesome .I wish lapua would make a heavier long range bullet .I swear they hit way harder than the 120 and 130 grain bullets.The barrels also last longer I had that with my 338-378 and the 264 win mag .I am trying to replace the 264 win mag rifles I have and get the same performance without the heavy recoil and using so much powder .I want to try to make this rifle around or under 9 pounds with a scope .

 

[lancetkenyon]

Try the 150SMK. Higher BC than the 156 Elite, less drop & drift. Crazy accurate too. Or even the 144 LR Hyb. Get way more speed than the 156, and BC is very close (.655 vs .679). Outruns the 156 out to about 1400 yards with the added speed. If you have to run the highest BC Berger, the 153.5 LR Hyb is your bullet.

No way a 27" .260 Rem outruns a 24" .264WM though. But still plenty for 300-600, which is not that far.

 

[belldar]

Although you won't get to 264 velocity you will be good out to 600 for sure. I run a 260 AI and that dose not even get close to my 264W in a 26 inch barrel. I run a 3B Bartlien on my 260 AI fluted and she is still pretty heavy. If you want a little better velocity maybe look at running a 140/130 grain bullet.

 

[Barrelnut]

.I am trying to replace the 264 win mag rifles I have and get the same performance without the heavy recoil and using so much powder

These is no free lunch. You will gain on barrel life and a fair chance to gain on accuracy as well.

 

[dgr416]

My 22 inch 260 rem is only 200 fps slower than my 264 win mag with the 24 inch barrel using the 155 grain bullet . The 264 win mag is a pain in the butt it splits the necks every time unless you annual them every time .The 260 is super easy to load too not as picky .I thought the 5 extra inches of barrel would put it very close to the 264 win mag loads .I can get 2600 fps with the 155 grain in the 260 with 22 inch barrel and only 2800 fps with the 155 grain in the 264 win mag with the 24 inch barrel .I know the 264 needs a 28 inch barrel to be worth fooling with .I may try some r25 in the 264 but I have not seen anything that beats h870 in it yet .The 260 rem and 264 win mag I gave are super accurate I just like the way less kick of the 260 these days .i just about stopped using my 338 win mag ruger 77 338 win mag that I used 35 years just too much kick to be fun any more .

 

[dgr416]

I was wondering if r25 would work in the 260 with these heavier .I have lots of it .I have not seen any in a while .I was pretty shocked to see how slow the 264 win mag were and they are max loads with h870 powder .I tried wc867 powder in the 264 but it split the necks and was way too hot and it's suposs to be close to h870 .I may just put a 26 inch barrel on this 26 a 24 inch barrel starts to be a limb grabber in the timber .My 260 and 264 both shoot clover leafs at 100 yards and I have shot a fewb1 inch groups with the 264 at 300 yards .If I was younger I would build a 28 inch barreled 264 win mag but I am 58 and want a fairly light rifle to shoot 300 to 500 yards max .

 

[lancetkenyon]

Try something like RL23, RL26, H1000, N565 in the .264WM. You should be up around 3000-3100+ w. 156s in it. But, if it is a factory 1:9" twist, I wouldn't even bother. Run a 140 fast at 3200, and be super happy.

 

[VLD Pilot]

My .260 using H4831 in a 25" barrel is hitting 2900 fps with .3 accuracy. That's pretty much max velocity with 4831. Haven't tried RL26 in it but guessing it'll push it to 3000. Hard to change from 2900 and .3 for a little more speed. I'll have to give it a try with a little heavier bullet than the 140. That Berger 144 is an impressive bigger for sure. I think for the .260 case capacity, the 140 class bullets are ideal.

 

[TAZMAN]

My match gun is a 22 inch Hart barrel 260. I run H4350 and the 142smk at 2790FPS. 43.2 grains works in my rifle but may be over pressure in yours so don't start there. I am getting ready to test the 144 bergers and RL26 along with RL16 just to see what I can get from them. My 6.5 Creedmoor 26 inch Hawk Hill barrel runs the 140 Berger at 2978 with RL26. Both guns will shoot .3 or better. My 260 picks up about 10 FPS with the suppressor on it.

From my experience, for what it's worth, is that RL26 really shines in a 24-26 inch barrel. I didn't see the velocity increase in my 20 inch barrel that I see in the longer barrel but if you use a magnum primer it does help some with the shorter barrel. That's just from a little testing I did.

 

[twister]

I have a 26" 260AI lilja barrel. running around 140's 2900 with h4350 but was over 3000 with other powders, about 100 rounds down the tube so far.