The winds are howling, its cold and they're forcasting snow here in Northcentral PA today. Thinking about warmer days and woodchuck hunting. I need some imput on your favorite varmint loads for the 260 Rem. Between my sons and I we have 3 Remingtons with the 1 in 9" twist. I have many Hornady 95 gr V-Max and Sierra 85 gr bullets. Basically chuck hunting and an occasional coyote. Any accurate loads out there?

Deer or Varmints; 43.5 grains of IMR 4064 and 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip or Partition for Deer. Velocity, 3350fps.

Accurate as hell in both of my Rugers and Remington 260 VLS.

Cheers and Good shooting
Seafire

22Win, My favorite load in the .260 is 100 grain Nosler BT ahead of 43.0 grains of VARGET and a Federal 210Match primer. My 24" barrel gives 3205fps and the load has dropped 2 deer for my 14 year old daughter in their tracks.....I told her they all don't fall like that but she has yet to see a deer take a step after shooting!!!!Her first was 271 yards and her second was 197 yards! That rifle has done .352@100 yards, 5shot group with that load and .807@ 200 yards. Also for the Sierra 85 or the Sierra 100 grain HP, try 48.5 grains of H414, same Federal primer. 85 Hp show 3303fps and 100 grainers show 3249 with accuracy being .8-.9...not bad for that light barrel! GHD

The boys shoot 20 grs SR4759 with the 85gr Sierra HP, is a no recoil load with good accuracy. I did not chronograph it. I had the chance to buy 8 boxes of 85gr bullets at a gun show a few years back for $6.00 a box. This was a good starter load when they were first starting to shoot their 260's.

I use 100 Sierra with imr4064 or 120 Noslers and r19 for varmints. If I want to save pelts I go to a heavier big game hunting bullet.

It seems that with good rifles there are lots of accurate load for this cartridge. I am using RL 15 in the 260 with the 95 gr VMax. For a while the load was 43.5 grs and now it's 43 even. I use Rem brass and CCi Br's and velocitys run about 3200+ out of a 22" barrel.

The 100 gr Hornady shoots very well also with the same loads.

From the testing I have done and what I heard about a coyote that got away I would not go hunting with the 107 MK. It's accurate of course.

Try IMR 4064 behind the Speet 90 gr. TNT. I use a load of 45.0 gr of IMR 4064 in Remington brass with a Federal 210 M primer for sub .5 MOA accuracy @ 3460 fps. As always start lower and work up, some where around 43.5 gr and go from there. That load hits varmints hard.

Gary Veit

Rat,

I concurr 1000 % with that suggestion. Speer's 90 grain TNT is a far better bullet than Hornady's Vmax in my experience.

I have also found IMR 4064 as a great powder for light bullets in the 260 and 6.5 x 55s.

Cheers and Good shooting
Seafire

I don't know how a bullet could shoot any better than the 95 gr VMax in my 260. But each rifle is an individual so maybe you did not have a good experiance with it. Keep in mind that the 90 gr Speer HP has a ballistic coefficient of only .281 while the Hornady Vmax 95 gr is .365! That's quite a big difference. Wind drift does matter and hollow points that can expand don't do all that well.

The only thing I have shot with the 95 gr VMax has been small varmints and it blew them to pieces. It has not been tested on anything big yet. But it's a varmint bullet and quite a big one at that for little pests.

What have you found wrong with the 95 Vmax?

Savage,

You know I respect your opinion on her old friend. (Old is being used affectionately here, LoL).

I have just not been able to get them to shoot accurately in any of my 6.5 mm rifles. Of course all but the Remington VLS in 260 have a one in 8 twist. Even the Rem VLS has not liked them.

Hard to judge on game performance when you can't get the bullet to hit the target! Then I use the 90 grain TNT or the 100 grain Ballistic tip and they are as accurate as they are deadly.
So I just use them.

Cheers and good shooting
Seafire

I personally haven't tried the 95 gr. VMax out of my 260 so I certainly can't say anything bad about it. The 90 gr. TNT shoots so well that I doubt I try it. I just ran the 95 gr. VMax @ 3225 fps and the 90 gr. TNT at 3460 fps (that is what the velocity averages out of my rifle with a 24" Krieger barrel) on an exterior ballistics program and they are virtually identical in trajectory and wind drift out to 300 yards. The 90 gr. TNT @ 3460 slightly beats the 95 gr. Hornaday VMax @ 3225 fps in MOA required to get a 300 yard zero, the 95 gr. VMax @ 3225 slightly beats the 90 gr. TNT in wind drift, so it is a basically a wash. Seafire told me about IMR 4064 and the light bullets in a 260. He knows of what he speaks. As far as the expansion of the 90 gr. TNT, it blows windows through coyotes I know that for sure. I have yet to have one take a step after being hit by that bullet. Getting reliable fragmentaion is not an issue with this bullt from what I have seen, at least in the 1 in 8 twist on my 260. Again not saying anything bad about the 95 gr. VMax, I just like the 90 gr. TNT because it works for me.



May I be half the man my grandson thinks I am.......RiverRat

RiverRat,

Why the 235 fps spread between a 90 and 95 grain bullet?

I just started with the VMax as they have the new, to me, plastic tips that seem to improve form. I have used Sierra HP bullets for varmints and match shooting and they are outstanding peformers but now with the new tips and having a laser rangefinder I feel that it's the way to go.

Sabage 99:

In your post you said that you were shooting the 95 gr. VMax at 3200 or a little more out of your rifle. In my 260 the load for the 90 gr. TNT gives 3460 fps. So I just compared what you said you were shooting the VMax at from your rifle and what I am shooting the 90 gr. TNT at from my rifle for a comparison of trajectory and wind drift at the stated velocities from the your rifle and mine. Yes I agree that the plastic tipped bullets do add ballistic coefficent and they look good. By all means if the 95 gr. VMax shoots well in your rifle stay with it. I just happen to like the 90 gr. TNT. I have tried the Hornaday 50 gr. and 60 gr. VMax out of my 223 and they just don't shoot very well for me, but the Sierra 50 gr. BlitzKing and the 60 gr. Sierra HP Varminter did. And I tried the 129 gr. SST from my 260, it was the worst shooting bullet I have ever tried. I was disappointed. Matter of fact that is the only bullet that didn't shoot well in my 260. I really wanted to shoot that bullet. So I went to the Sierra 120 gr. ProHunter for a deer bullet and the 140 gr. SBT GameKing for hogs and they both shoot sub .5 MOA. So when I started to develop a coyote load for my 260 I didn't even consider using the 95 gr. VMax. I tried the 85 gr. Sierra HP Varminter first and didn't get quite what I was looking for so I tried the 90 gr. TNT and found exactly what I was looking for, a sub .5 MOA load at upper end velocity. Again if the 95 gr. VMax is working, stay with it, don't fix something that isn't broken.



I guess what I was trying to show is that sometimes higher velocity for a bullet with a lower B.C. can equal or over come a bullet of higher B.C. that is going slower. Assuming it shoots accurately. Like Seafire says, it don't matter what bullet you are shooting if you can't hit your target it is of no use. Good shooting!



May I be half the man my grandson thinks I am....RiverRat

There must be a bad batch of 129 gr SST's as that bullet did not shoot well at all in my 260 or 264.

RiverRat, Tell me about your 260 rig. What action with that Krieger barrel?
Savage99, What 260 do you shoot?

I like:

95 gr. Hornady V-Max
44 grs. RL15
WLR primer
~
3150 fps (22")

&

100 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip
43 grs. RL15
CCI BR-2 primer
~
3000 fps

22win:
My rilfe is built on a trued 1967 Remington 700 action, Rifle Basix trigger, bedded in an H.S. Precision stock like the one used on the Remington 700 PSS. The Krieger barrel is a 1 in 8 twist #6 tapper barrel finished at 24" that has been fluted and cryo treated. Topped with a 1" tube Luepold 4.5 X 14 X 40 Tactical scope. The rifle weighs in at 9 3/4 lbs. Not a light weight but one that carries and handles well. It is a favorite of mine.

May I be half the man my grandson thinks I am.......RiverRat

22Win,

Here is a thread on my 260.

http://www.accuratereloading.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB38&Number=589970&Forum=,f38,&Words=&Searchpage=1&Limit=25&Main=589970&Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=6199&daterange=1&newerval=&newertype=w&olderval=5&oldertype=&bodyprev=#Post589970