260 loads

[drover]

Looking for 260 loads - I am looking for a minimum recoil 260 silhouette loads for my hunter rifle.  Since it is hunter going to another caliber is not an option.

Since sustaining a neck injury extended recoil becomes painful and distracting over the course of a match.  I am looking for a load that uses the least amount of powder and still gets the job done.  I realize that to an extent it will depend on how the rails are and how the animals are set.  Most of my shoots take place at ranges where the animals fall relatively easy.  I am willing to give up the occasional animal for a little less recoil.

My bullets of choice are Sierra matchking 107 and 140.  As far as powder I am open minded on that subject - I have good availability to most powders.

[dave imas]

34gr N135 and 39gr N150

[shootingpaul]

you have to take under consideration that  every rifle will shoot difrent, depends on the bullet seading depth you will experience different pressure,
I shoot 33 gr IMR 4064 /108 gr Lapua (around 2600 -2650 fps)
43 gr Rel 19 / 139 Lapua (2700-2750 fps)
Lapua is harder than sierra so you should try 139 instead of 140 -
once again: try it in your rifle and you might have a different velocity

[drags]

In my .260 I load 36 grs. varget  107 ser. for c,p,t and 35 grs. varget 142gr. ser. for rams. I also use varget in my 7-08 and 7br.
Joe

[Arizona Jake]

36.0 grains of Varget in Lapua cases primed with Federal 210M caps work well in my .260 with Sierra 107 and 120 grain HPBT Match bullets.
39.3 grains of IMR4350 does the trick with 140 grainers.

Hit 'em hard!

Jake

[Donna]

Hello drover and all,

I just started shooting Rifle Silhouette two months ago, found it to be a blast, no pun intended, and I’m hooked.

Drover I might be wrong here, and if I am please let me know, but is not the designation 260 (.260) or 6.5mm for a caliber? Do you not need another designation to indicate what cartridge within that caliber you are shooting? I.e. 6.5mm Japanese vice 6.5 X 55mm (the Swedish Mauser) and so on.... A load for a 260, in a 6.5 BR will hardly be of any use if you have 6.5 X 55mm. So if I’m correct what cartridge in 260 caliber do you have? And if I’m incorrect please educate me since I am new to the lingual.

Donna :wink:

[dave imas]

Hi Donna,

I believe Drover is actually speaking of a 260 Remington.  It is an actual cartridge.  Basically a 6.5mm bullet stuck in a .308 case.  There is factory brass for the 260 now available but quite afew people are either necking down .308 brass or opening up .243 brass.
dave

[Donna]

Hello dave,

Thanks, I didn't know that, that helps.

Donna :wink:

[drover]

Hi Donna - drover here

Dave is correct in his answer, I was referring to the 260 Remington.  Sometimes us old dogs who have been at this for years forget that someone new may not recognize exactly what we are referring to when we use an abbreviated name for a cartridge.  Around the majority of silhouette shooters when a 260 is referred to it is usually recognized as the 260 Rem.

It would behoove all of us to pay a little more attention in our references and be sure that people are aware of exactly which cartridge we are referring to.

Welcome to the game - I hope that it gives you as much fun and satisfaction as it has me.   oh yeah!! I almost forgot to mention - there will be some really frustrating days also.

[drover]

Thanks for all of the answers - unfortunately most of the loads are right about where I am right now.  I guess I was looking for some "magic" load data that would let me either use a little less powder or a lighter bullet and still be able to knock over animals with some semblance of reliability.  In my heart I knew that it is not going to happen because the laws of physics apply in all cases.  

I was being a bit lazy and rather than going through all of the experimentation myself I was hoping someone else had already done it and had a ready answer.  I think that I will play around with this some and try going down to the 95 gr. bullets and see what happens.

Thanks again, drover

[yankee]

Drover --As you start lowering the amount of powder you will notice your cases starting to blacken first around the neck then the entire case.  This is a low pressure sign and can cause very erratic behavior in your fire arm let alone the bullet that comes out the barrel.  An alternative to keep recoil as low as possible with still having a decent chance to knock the rams down and still maintain the factory cartridge of the hunter might be a different caliber.  A couple to look at are the 7br and the 6 br.  For both of these you would most likely have to rebarrel.  There were very few of the 7 br's made and most of the 6 br's were twisted to slow to handle the 100 grain plus bullets you need for the rams.  You really have to get the bullets  going to work on the rams and you are going to loose some.  But with the other three animals they sure are plesant to shoot.

[bgjohn]

Looking for 260 loads - I am looking for a minimum recoil 260 silhouette loads for my hunter rifle.  Since it is hunter going to another caliber is not an option.

Since sustaining a neck injury extended recoil becomes painful and distracting over the course of a match.  I am looking for a load that uses the least amount of powder and still gets the job done.  I realize that to an extent it will depend on how the rails are and how the animals are set.  Most of my shoots take place at ranges where the animals fall relatively easy.  I am willing to give up the occasional animal for a little less recoil.

My bullets of choice are Sierra matchking 107 and 140.  As far as powder I am open minded on that subject - I have good availability to most powders.

Give rimfire silhouette a try. It's fun too but hard to hit those little critters.
JM

[Mongo1]

Drover,

There is a 95 gr bullet from Hornady that seems light recoiling with a fairly quick burning powder like VV #133 or #135.  It is a bit wind sensitive though.  I have heard that Lapua has a new 100 gr bullet, but have not seen them as yet.  

If the recoil of the 140 gr class of bullets is too much for you there is a 123 gr Lapua (or 120 gr SMK), 130 gr (VLD which will probably jump too far in a hunter rifle) or a 128 gr (10 cal ogive designed to come out of a magazine) that Bob Cauterucio makes.    

In addition to the choices Yankee mentions there are some new cartridges which you might want to look into if you are unable to handle the recoil of the 260.  There is a 6 mm XC which is rapidly growing in popularity in the across the course (paper punching) crowd which can get to the other side of 3000 fps with a 107 gr SMK and 39 or so gr of H4350 and can be loaded down for everything but the Rams either with a lighter powder charge of around 34 gr Varget or even with an 85 gr bullet.  There is factory brass available for this which is properly headstamped and there is a rifle sold with a factory chambering so it should be a "factory cartridge".  

There is a .26 (6.5mm) Grendel which is to be officially unveiled at the SHOT Show in Feb.  It is supposedly a slightly "improved" version of a 6.5mm PPC  and will be offered in factory chambered AR-15s http://alexanderarms.com/ (perhaps others later).  Factory brass, ammo and so on should be available.  There used to be a web site of a fellow who was shooting a 6.5 mm PPC in an AR-15 "spacegun" across the course with 128 gr Cauterucio bullets at 600 yards and lighter ones closer.  I do not recall the specifics of the velocity, but I think he was shooting the 128s around 2800 fps in a 24" barrel.  

You may also have heard of the 6.8 mm (.277") x 43 SPC which Barrett Industries has developed with Remington and a military development team as an upper for the M-16/M-4.  It is to shoot a 115 gr bullet around 2800 fps out of an 18" barrel according to reports   http://www.remington.com/ammo/ballistics/centerfire/comp_ballistics_results.asp

It just depends on how much recoil you can tolerate.

Good Shooting

[Heikki in FIN]

Last summer I tried 100 gr Scenar (Moly) in my Tikka 6.5x55SE. Best loads were 38,9-39.2 gr N135 OAL 2.929" 2875-2900 fps. Speeds below 2870 fps caused vertical grouping.

Heikki in FIN
Overcast, 28F/-2C

[Heikki in FIN]

I forget, Lapua told me the BC of bullet is 0.444.

Heikki in FIN

[Steel killer]

Dover try H 4895, Hodgdon has stated that  (IT GIVES MOST CONSISTANT IGNITION AT REDUCED LOADS) I PLAYED WITH LOADS FROM 2400 fps 2700 fPS WITH LAUPPA 139, AND 2600FPS-3000 FPS WITH 107 LAUPPA . I got Moa with most of the trial loads.
J.D.