I'ld go 7-08 for deer & .260 as a heavy varmint/target rig. That's why I am having a .260AI made up on a M700SA w/ heavy 27"bbl. Both are good rounds for deer/antelope but there are do many good match bullets in 6.5 that it makes more sense for target work.

I was looking at the factory loads and ballistics for these 2 calibers in my shooters bible. I am looking at bullet energy and trajectory at 400 yards. It appears that the 7mm-08 has a slight edge in both areas, at least with the published factory data. The idea of a light recoiling deer getter on a short action is very appealing to me, that is what piqued my interest in the 260. I really like cartridges based on the 08 cases. I would think those sleek 264 bullets would really fly when the distances stretch out. So whats your opinion of the 2 calibers which is better and why.

7mm bullets are sleek as well. The two cartridges are quite similar. For game hunting the edge goes to the 7mm. For target shooting the opposite.



There are some nice varmint bullets in 6.5 also. In the 7mm the 120 VMax is good but kind of heavy in terms of richocet concerns.



The 7mm-08 is quite popular and well distributed. The 260 is new and may never be as avaiable.



Personally I feel the 260 is kind of special. Just a feeling.

I feel that both of the above listed cartridges are excellent for deer. That said, I also believe that taking deer sized animals at 400 yards with these calibers is asking a lot. Not that it can't be done, it's just that beyond 300 or so yards you start to give up a lot in retained energy. Both of these calibers struggle to attain 1000 ft/lb of energy at 400 yds. which is commonly agreed to be the minimum needed to "reliably" dispatch deer sized game. Don't get me wrong, my favorite caliber is 6.5x55 mauser(essentially same ballistics as the .260) it's just that I feel that 300 yards is a more realistic range for these two calibers. Of course killing deer reliably at 300 yards is pretty darned respectable IMO.

Geronimo

Bullet selection is the key. You have a variety of fablous target bullets from 107-142grains and good hunting bullets from 100-160 grains. The 6.5 tends to have very high sectional densities and also very high Ballistic coefficients. I too am a lover of the 6.5x55 and have been considering getting a very nice one and living the rest of my days in bliss. Of course the .260 wouldn't be to bad either.

The "260" name ends with REMINGTON and the 7-08's name ends with Win!!!! Enough said!!! This ought to fire the natives up!!! So I may as well elaborate!!! 222REM,223REM, 222MAGREM, 22-250REM, other source choices....225Win!!! End of discussion! 244REM, 6mmREM, 243Win nickel of one, 5 cents of the other!!!! 25-06REM...nobody has topped that one!!!! 260REM..I guess we could be a little overbore and shoot the 264WinMag!!! Did we gain a lot? No !!! Just have to visit the gunsmith for barrels more frequently!!! 7mm-08Win....Back to the 308 for this reply.....unpleasant little SOB for what it can do!!! Neck it down to .264 and enjoy the day at the range!! Will either one kill varmints and deer.....yes!!! Is one more reloader freindly than the other......probably not!!! Is one more common than the other? Definitely!!! Makes more brass available to load the more "user friendly" case!!! .260 all the way!!! This post was probably influenced by outside pressures!! If y'all know what I mean!!! Will stick to them tomorrow though!!! GHD

groundhog, not sure what you were trying to say?
It is the 7mm-08 Remington, not winchester.

Ive owned both, I'll take the 260.

Either caliber is more than capable of taking a deer at 400 yds, Don't get hung up on energy figures and foot pounds.

Any good 6.5 mm ( 100 grains and up) or 7 mm ( 130 grains and up) bullets will easily take any size deer at 400 yds.
The variable is if the hunter can place the bullet in the right spot at 400 yds. It is not the caliber that is normally the limitation, but the hunters shooting ability.

The 260 vs 7/08 debate is a wash, like comparing the 280 and the 270 on abilities.

Energy figures don't kill any where as near as well as plain old shot placement with a proper bullet.

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

GD:

When did the 7/08 name end in Winchester?

Or was it just part of the humor?

Or to see if anyone had the lights on a home and was paying attention?

I know you are knowledgable enough to know that one!

Cheers and Good shooting
seafire

Interesting thread. I've been debating the .243 vs .260. Finally went with .243 as it's meant as a light weight varmint rifle. My 15 yr old daughter shoots a 708. So far 3 elk and 2 deer, all at 200 yds or closer. It works well for her.

Not a great deal of difference between them but I think the 7mm-08 has a slight advantage so thats the way I went & i'm very happy with my tikka.

I alsothink you will have a much wider bullet choice with the 7mm-08,I also think that it 270 & 7mm bullets are better than 6.5mm,for some reason people rave about the fantastic sectional densities & balistic coefficients of the 6.5mm where as 270 & 7mm have simular & in most cases better SD's & BC's than the 6.5

In all reality as someone else has already said in the real world you will be hard pushed to tell the difference between the two.

yava and 2ndtimer, Must have been the MillerLite!!! I was just trying to have a little fun with the 260 vs the 7/08 deal. I'd still pick the 260!!!!! GHD

Pretty tough to tell the difference between these two I would bet. I have a 708 and sure like it. When I bought my 708 a few years ago I considered a 260 as well. My 708 will shoot 120, 140 and 150gr bullets just about equally well so it seems to be, at least with my limited sampling (rifle n= 1), an easy caliber to load for.

Fun stuff...

I read the foregoing comments with interest and a small amount of wonder. So Remington have made a system based on the 6.5mm pill in a 308 case. Whoopee, or maybe "ho hum". It's been done before, the .263 Express for one and there are a couple of similar wildcats with high-faluting names which worked real good with bullet weights up to 100gns. The 308 case has; to now, been notoriously inefficient in handling smaller calibre bullets over 90gns at acceptable velocities hence the success of the 6mm Rem. Let's see where the Rem 260 is in another ten years.

BTW I like my sons 7/08 almost as much as my swede and IMHO is even superior to the original cartridge.

My reloading data on my .260 puts it in the same category as a .270. I prefer it over a .270! It is the long sleek 6.5 bullet I quess. The lack of recoil and flat shooting 6.5 works great on deer and I have shot an elk with it. 140 gr. Hornady, 4831 Imr.

preference is the correct questions..

which do you like, blondes or redheads? tall or small?

in MY opinion, the 708 is THE light round and the 264 should be a 6.5x55.. and just as valid, another fella may say the 7 should be a 7x57 and the 260 is the right 264

pick which ever you like.. i've got a savage pistol and a mexical mauser in 708

jeffe

I gotta agree dont worry about which bullet has more energy shot placement is the key.. That whole 1000ft.lbs of energy is bogus.. Look at the 357mag. It ahs no where near 1000ftlbs of energy wit a 158gr. bullet and I killed deer from 25yds-100yds with it!! Im not trying to compair this to the 260 or the 708 im just saying you dont need to worry about energy!

Now between the 260 and the 708 its personal prefrence.. Both are easy to load for both will do the job @ 400yds and beyond... If ya dont reload I would opt for the 7mm08 only because 260 ammo isnt always easy to come by.

6.5 Bandit

A more real world look at the 260rem. with factory ammo is probably closer to this. Not that it won't nock any deer in the woods off it's feet. For what it is, it is efficient, I will give it that.

.260rem 140gr Seirra btsp (bc .533) (at 2650fps mv)
Range Vel. Energy
100yd 2491 1929
200yd 2337 1698
300yd 2189 1490
400yd 2046 1302

Well I sure say it. The 260 is in the same catagory as the 270 and not only does my loading data prove it my rifles do
as well. I have a couple of decades of trigger time with the 270 and of recent picked up a 260. I can honestly say,
I wish I had found the 260/263 first.
To be fair the smaller bored 6.5/120 or 125 grain bullet should be compared with the 270/130. NOT the 140. Even then the 6.5
has a better BC and SD than the 270.
In taking my favorite brand of bullet; Nosler, for comparison sakes (and its fun to do)

6.5/125 Partition with a 200 yard zero and working JBMs
ballistics. The 125's have a BC of 449 and SD of 256.
With a muzzle velocity of 3,000 fps and a 200 yard zero.
The 260 virtualy matches the 270 with its muzzle velociy of
3,100 fps. The 130 Partitions BC is 416 with a SD of 242

At 400 yards the 260/125 drop is 19.4"
The 270/130 is 18.6"

For all practical hunting purposes,
nobody in their right mind can say 1" is a factor in the field.

The 6.5/140 should also be compared to the 270/150. Again,
the results show that both cartridges are the equal.

I'll take the short action, lighter, with less recoil 260
and do everthing in the field a 270 can do. Period.

I havn't seen too many .260's that will give an honest 3,000 fps with a 125gr bullet. If you have one that will, don't sell it.

Mark, My Rem 700 Ti with its 22" barrel will give me

3,000 fps shooting 120s and 125s with at least 3 differ powders. No, I dont have any plans on selling it.



But, I do have plans on selling the 270, dont need it anymore. I found something better for "my" hunting purposes.

OK, WHATEVER

I think in all fairness if you are going to load the 260 to the raggad edge ie 3000fps you should also compare the 270win the same ie 130 grains at 3200fps. I looked at the recent nosler reloading manual and compared the 260 to the 708 and in the reloading book they are more closely matched with very very little difference. they used different barrel lengths for the tests but taking that out there is very little difference. I think trying to trump the 270win with the 260 is a loosing battle it just can't be done in terms of performance, in fairness you need to compare bullets of similar BC and SD and compare at similar pressures. the 270win will out do it every time, although what gets my interest is something that performs closely to the 270 has less recoil and fits in a short action bascially I am looking for things to like about the 260.

Thats fine, load the 270 to 3,200 with a 26" barrel. And, what factory even makes a 26" barrel in 270? Thats
five inches of weight and ergonomics to add with it as well.
For all practicle purposes, like hunting and killing game to 400 yonder yards, the 270 holds no mojo over the 260.
I sure never said the 260 could trump a 270, but as far as bullet drop, it comes within one inch(s) and Energy,if that matters, 100 ft lbs. In the killing fields it will match it and thats where it matters.
The 260 with its smaller bore, 120's should be compared with
130's in the 270. Not the 6.5/140, that is not apples for apples.


btw, The 260 with it rating of what 60,000 some psi keeps
up pretty good with the 270 and its 65,000 psi.

Like I said, Ive been shooting the 270 for 2 decades, I just
found a better tool to use. Better in the sense its lighter and shorter with less recoil. Some may not care, thats fine.

Yavapaiapache, my sentiments exactly. .270 kicks harder and sharper, is a long action and is overated. The .260 will shoot right with a .270 and in long range, even better. Another fact is wind drift. My hand loads, over a chrony with a 140gr. hornady, will hit 2950 with out blowing out the case. .270 fans have had to many wet, Jack O'Conner dreams!

The .270 win is underated, the .260 rem is overated!

I can get about 2850fps out of my 22" barrelled .260 with 129 gr. handloads before cases get hard to extract. I get about 2650fps with 140 gr. slugs without flattened primers and hard extraction. If you guys are getting 3000fps with 140's out of a 22" barreled .260 please warn me should you shoot from the bench next to me, I'll go somewhere safe before you shoot. Are you chronographing these accurately and how long does your brass last? I find my .270 sighted with the same point of impact at 100 yds with 150gr. slugs has more range than my .260 with 129 gr slugs sighted the same. If I use 140's or 130's in the .270 the 260 dosen't even come close. The closest i can come to the trajectory of the 270 is with 120 or 107 gr MK's but then I wouldn't use them for hunting.

don't take anything personal, I am a 270 fan, but I must say If I needed another deer gun I would prolly go with the 260rem I just wanna justify it with #'s. why is the 270 rated at a higher pressure than the 260?? I thought the 308 cartridge was always loaded to really high pressure compared to some of the older rounds.

Mark,

If you can't find someone who can load a 260 to give 3000 fps with a 125 grain bullet, you know a lot of guys who handload conservatively then.

All 3 of my 260s will break 3K with a 125 partition.

seafire

We started put on this thread with 260 vs 7-08 then it degenerated into a 260 vs 270 thread!! One question(and I know a lot of you are "meat hunters" not BR types, how many 7-08's or 270's will you find at the 1000 yard matches this year compared to the 260 or 263whatever it was called originally? If you haven't shot one, don't know what you're missing!! As far as the one post asking about 3000fps....I'll live with 3204 and .391 100 yard groups and .801, 200 yard groups out of a LIGHT BARRELLED BDL with a 24" barrel!!!!(The SS/SYNTHETIC that was only offered in 1998 or 1999) that the 15(then 13 years old) dropped a 17" 8 point at 271 yards in his tracks with and then at 14 dropped a heavier 8 pointer at 197 yards...in his tracks with! I've told her that at some point they are not going to fall that dead!!! She has yet to see a deer take a step after the trigger pull!!! This is my opinion and opinions are like a....... everybodies got one(except for a few unlucky ones) the 260 is the cat's meow!! Not much powder, short action, neglible recoil and accurracy out the butt!!! End of discussion!!! GHD

What are you shooting to get 3204fps??

What are you shooting to get 3204fps in the bdl