Rem mod7 in .260 Remington

[DakotaMike]

Just got the wife a Rem mod7 for deer and antelope hunting and was wondering if anyone had any good handloads for the .260 Remington cartridge.
Dakotamike

[leverfan]

It's hard to beat a 125 grain Nosler Partition, or a 129 grain Hornady, on top of 47.0 or 48.0 grains of Reoader 19.  The 125 grain Nosler is my favorite bullet for the 260, and it's what I use for most of my hunting (deer, elk, and bear).  If there's any concern about recoil, try the 100 grain Nosler Partition with 49.0 grains of H414.  It makes the .260 feel like a .243, and the 100 grain Partition is plenty for deer and pronghorn.

The heavier 140 grain Partition failed to expand at ranges of 200 yards or more when I tested it in a T/C Encore 24" .260.  The tip expanded very little, and unevenly, causing the bullets to tumble in wet newsprint.  They all ended up going backwards, and then shedding the rear cores.  The rear cores actually held together and penetrated a little more, even mushrooming a bit.  I think the 140 grain Partition needs to be launched from a round that has at least the case capacity/velocity of a 6.5-06 or .264 mag.

All the other bullets that I tested did great in the .260, although the twist in the Remington barrels is a little slow for the real heavy 160 and 162 grain bullets, so 140 grain bullets should be considered a practical maximum in a Remington M7.  140 grain Speer Hot-Cor, Remington, and Hornady IL bullets all worked great in both my .260s.

For varmints, I like the Speer 90 grain TNT with 50.0 grains of Hodgdon H414.

[davem270win]

I've been using 44.0 H4350 with a 120 gr BarnesX with good results. You could also try RL19 at that weight.

For 140's, try either 4831 or RL22.

[Steve P]

T/C uses too slow a twist to stabilize most 140s or above.  They work great with 120s or less.  

If looking to keep recoil low and energy up, I agree a good 120-125 grain bullet with RL19, H4350, H414, or VV N135 should be about perfect for you.

Steve  

[leverfan]

T/C uses too slow a twist to stabilize most 140s or above.  They work great with 120s or less.  

Steve  

My T/C Encore barrel makes a tightly patched cleaning rod do one full revolution every 7.625".  That's plenty fast to stabilize bullets up to 160 grains, as far as being accurate.  

The tumbling I experienced was AFTER impact, with a single 140 grain bullet design that was simply too tough to expand evenly at .260 velocities when ranges exceed 200 yards.  140 grain bullets from Speer, Remington, Federal, and Sierra were very reliable performers.  160 grain Hornady bullets worked like a charm in my .260 Remington T/C barrel, both accuracy and expansion were excellent.  Folks should always measure the twist in their own rifles for themselves, I guess.

Now, my Remington 700 really does have too slow of a twist for the heavy weights, and limited magazine and chamber space, too.