January 04, 2011
By Greg Rodriguez
Favorite Loads.
By Greg Rodriguez
Like many great cartridges, the .260 Remington is the product of wildcatters who saw the value of the short .308 Winchester case necked down to accept those long, pointy 6.5mm bullets for long-range shooting. And 6.5-08 wildcats enjoyed an excellent reputation among target shooters for many years, but this fine cartridge was not really "discovered" by hunters until it was legitimized by Remington in 1997.
With 120-grain projectiles, the .260 Rem. is a fine deer and pronghorn cartridge. With 130- and 140-grain bullets, it will do the job on elk-sized game. Long-range shooters favor long, heavy bullets like Berger's 140-grain VLD and Lapua's 139-grain Scenar. Regardless of bullet weight, the soft-recoiling .260 is a great choice for women, slight-of-build hunters, and young shooters.
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My favorite powder for the .260 Remington in Alliant's Reloder 19.
The SAAMI Maximum Average Pressure (MAP) for the .260 Rem. is 60,000 psi.
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Greg's Favorite Loads Starting Load Max Load Powder Velocity Powder Velocity Cartridge Length Bullet (Type) (Grs.) (fps) (Grs.) (fps) (inches) Comments Speer 120-gr. SP Benchmark 37.0 2768 40.0 2935 2.780 Good whitetail load. Barnes 130-gr. TSX IMR-4831 39.5 2514 43.5 2754 2.705 Low recoil and Barnes 130-gr. TSX Reloder 19 41.0 2598 45.0 2758 2.705 Compressed. Accurate. Nosler 130-gr. AccuBond H4831SC 43.5 2628 47.5 2818 2.800 Compressed. Nosler 130-gr. AccuBond Reloder 19 43.0 2649 47.0 2887 2.800 Extremely accurate. Lapua 139-gr. Scenar VV N560 39.6 2311 44.1 2586 2.800 Very accurate. Berger 140-gr. VLD Reloder 19 38.0 2395 42.5 2680 2.800 Accurate. Berger 140-gr. VLD VV N550 36.0 2419 40.3 2685 2.800 Favorite long-range load.
Better Late Then Never
