260 Rem/ 6.5-08

J

Jeffreytooker

My gun is teal blue
I have been looking into 6.5 cartridges for 1K yards. My 6 BR does fine, but I would like to try a 6.5. I have looked at 6.5 X 47 Lapua, and it does not do well with 142 gr bullets at 1K. The 6.5-284 is hard in barrels. In looking around I have come across the 260 Rem/6.5-08. The numbers seem to work. I find very little info on this cartridge being used at 1K yards. Can some of you learned gentlemen enlighten me?

Jeffrey Tooker
 
Hi Jeffrey

I have started shooting a 6.5-08 AI recently in 1000 yard f-class. I also have been shooting the 6.5x47 Lapua for the past year. Observations I can make is that 6.5-08 AI will push the 139-142 bullets at velocities that the 6.5x47 L will do with the 130 VLDs. So far, I have not seen an accuracy advantage or disadvantage of one over the other.

While most people using Lapua brass form the 6.5-08 using standard 308 W or 243 W brass. I have been forming it using the 308 Palma brass with the small primer and small flash hole. So far no ignition problems using H4831SC and Wolf SRM primers.

Barrel life on the 6.5x47 is excellent and you don't have to do any case forming. I weight sorted 2000 pieces of 6.5x47 brass and had a extreme weight range +/- 1 grain with the bulk of the brass falling into a +/- .5 grain weight. The neck wall thickness on the 6.5x47 is about .0002" less than the 308 W brass and because of chamber, I am turning necks down to .0120" thickness on the 6.5-08 AI. Too soon to tell what the barrel life will be on the 6.5-08 AI shooting 48.4 grains of H4831SC. The 308 Palma brass is definitely less expensive than the 6.5x47L brass.

The 6.5-284 does work and is well proven. How much life you get out of a barrel really depends on how your chamber is designed to begin with. If you start with a chamber designed around the Sierra 142 hung out,,, once the throat walks out, you have nowhere to go. If you start with a shorter throat designed around a VLD, you can start with a JLK or Berger VLD, switch to something like the 139 Scenar as throat moves and continue on to bullets with lower caliber ogives.

Arne
 
TXPPC65 said:
Hi Jeffrey

I have started shooting a 6.5-08 AI recently in 1000 yard f-class. I also have been shooting the 6.5x47 Lapua for the past year. Observations I can make is that 6.5-08 AI will push the 139-142 bullets at velocities that the 6.5x47 L will do with the 130 VLDs. So far, I have not seen an accuracy advantage or disadvantage of one over the other.

While most people using Lapua brass form the 6.5-08 using standard 308 W or 243 W brass. I have been forming it using the 308 Palma brass with the small primer and small flash hole. So far no ignition problems using H4831SC and Wolf SRM primers.

Barrel life on the 6.5x47 is excellent and you don't have to do any case forming. I weight sorted 2000 pieces of 6.5x47 brass and had a extreme weight range +/- 1 grain with the bulk of the brass falling into a +/- .5 grain weight. The neck wall thickness on the 6.5x47 is about .0002" less than the 308 W brass and because of chamber, I am turning necks down to .0120" thickness on the 6.5-08 AI. Too soon to tell what the barrel life will be on the 6.5-08 AI shooting 48.4 grains of H4831SC. The 308 Palma brass is definitely less expensive than the 6.5x47L brass.

The 6.5-284 does work and is well proven. How much life you get out of a barrel really depends on how your chamber is designed to begin with. If you start with a chamber designed around the Sierra 142 hung out,,, once the throat walks out, you have nowhere to go. If you start with a shorter throat designed around a VLD, you can start with a JLK or Berger VLD, switch to something like the 139 Scenar as throat moves and continue on to bullets with lower caliber ogives.

Arne
Click to expand...

Arne:
I agree that the 6 X 47 Lapua with 130 VLD's is in the same class with 260 AI with 142's. The loss is wind drift. The 6 X 47 L 130 drift will be about 1/2 way between 260 AI 142 and 6 BR 107 SMK at 1000 yards. Actually the 6 X 47 with 123 SMK will drift about as much as the 6 BR 107 SMK at 1000 yards. So the benefit of the 260 AI is less wind drift. That being said with the same quality of equipment the advantage goes to the best wind reader.

I am glad to get some info about brass made from Lapua 308 Palma. If I do this project, I will use Palma brass. I have found Lapua brass to be worth the money. I will however turn the necks to get uniformity.

I started this whole project to see if there was a cartridge which would be an equivalent to an improved 6.5 X 47 and drive the 142 SMK at 1000 yards. I came down to 260 Rem. I see people saying barrel life is better with the 260 than with the 6.5/284, but I have found no solid numbers.

It still comes down to why so few 260 Rem's are used at 1000 yards.

Jeffrey
 
Jeffreytooker said:
Arne:
I agree that the 6 X 47 Lapua with 130 VLD's is in the same class with 260 AI with 142's. The loss is wind drift. The 6 X 47 L 130 drift will be about 1/2 way between 260 AI 142 and 6 BR 107 SMK at 1000 yards. Actually the 6 X 47 with 123 SMK will drift about as much as the 6 BR 107 SMK at 1000 yards. So the benefit of the 260 AI is less wind drift. That being said with the same quality of equipment the advantage goes to the best wind reader.

I am glad to get some info about brass made from Lapua 308 Palma. If I do this project, I will use Palma brass. I have found Lapua brass to be worth the money. I will however turn the necks to get uniformity.

I started this whole project to see if there was a cartridge which would be an equivalent to an improved 6.5 X 47 and drive the 142 SMK at 1000 yards. I came down to 260 Rem. I see people saying barrel life is better with the 260 than with the 6.5/284, but I have found no solid numbers.

It still comes down to why so few 260 Rem's are used at 1000 yards.

Jeffrey
Click to expand...

Jeffrey,

At least in f-class, there a number of 260 Remingtons that appear on the line. However, I think the real reason you see more 6.5-284's and 6.5x47's is simply a matter of Lapua brass being offered in those cartridges and people can avoid having to form the case from 243 W or 308 W.

There are a lot of 6.5 recipes out there including versions of the 6.5-06 that do very well at 1000 yards. In the end, if I can develop a load that will drive 20 plus shots into the x-ring in a zero wind condition, reading and holding off for the wind is all on me and my skill.

Arne
 
TXPPC65 said:
Jeffrey,

At least in f-class, there a number of 260 Remingtons that appear on the line. However, I think the real reason you see more 6.5-284's and 6.5x47's is simply a matter of Lapua brass being offered in those cartridges and people can avoid having to form the case from 243 W or 308 W.

There are a lot of 6.5 recipes out there including versions of the 6.5-06 that do very well at 1000 yards. In the end, if I can develop a load that will drive 20 plus shots into the x-ring in a zero wind condition, reading and holding off for the wind is all on me and my skill.

Arne
Click to expand...

Arne:

Your comment about the availability of Lapua is probably correct. I had really never thought of it. Making brass to me is just part of the normal order of things. My requirement is that I be able to make my brass with Lapua brass.

When you made your 260 brass from Lapua 308 Palma brass did the necks lengthen enough to make case length trim for the 260? 260 is about .020" longer than 308.

Later.

Jeffrey
 
When I got down to a 260 Rem by running the brass through a 7mm-08 die and then my 6.5-08 AI die, I didn't bother to measure the neck length because I immediately went to blow out the body and shoulder to the 6.5x08 AI and neck turning.
 
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