I have hunted for quite a few years using the 308 Win. on coyotes, deer, black bear, and caribou as well as shoot 600 to 1000 yard F class matches with. I am totally confident in what it will do. I had a 260 Rem. built to shoot 600 to 1000 F class matches, and I have found it superior to the 308 for that use. And has impressed me enough that I am having a 260 heavy sporter built to hunt with. What has been the forum members experience with this cartridge on game.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight..........RiverRat

River Rat Check with the posters on the European hunting forum. They use the 6.5x55 quite a bit. It and the 260 Rem are very similar.
In the old days the 256 Mannlicher/6.5x53R Dutch& Romanian Mannlicher was very popular for even large game. The load of the day was a 160gr. at 2350fps.

I love the 260. i have a rem 700 titanium. i shot a whitetail and black bear this year. performance was awesome to say the least. I used 140gr sst's on the deer at 250yds. complete penetration, deer ran two feet straight down. i like the sst's in this caliber because they have great sectional densities and open fast, so you get good shock with penetration. i used 140 gr trophy bonded bear claws on the black bear. at 115 yds. again, the bear ran two feet straight down. complete penetration through both shoulders. i load the 140's to about 2700 feet per second. and i have loaded the 120 xlc's to 3000 fps. this is hot, but i wouldn't hesitate to use it on elk.

I've used my 260 Remington on 2 deer and 1 coyote.

First deer was a 8 pt. whitetail at 40 yards. The 140 gr. Nosler Partition @ 2640 fps hit behind the shoulder, wrecked the lungs, and exited. Deer dropped.

Second deer was a 4X3 mulie at 150 yards. Same 140 gr. NP load. Another lung shot behind the shoulder, buck made it 10 yards. Nice exit hole.

The coyote was shot at 70 yards. Bullet was a 100 gr. Nosler Partition @ 3010 fps, and it hit him where the neck and shoulders meet. Blew a fist sized exit.

I really enjoy my 260, and feel it is ideal for game up to 400 lbs out to 300 yards.

I dumped two Bison with the .260rem at about 100 yards. The first one was a shoulder shot and the Bison didnt move from the area. The second was a head shot and it was immediatly fatal. I was very impressed with its performance.

Mike

Dakotakid, what was the load??

I have a rem.700 bdl in .260. I love it! Deer, elk and antelope so far. No recoil and I think it will out shoot a .270 at long range. I load rem brass with rem primer, IMR 4831 45 grains and a 140 grain hornady spire point. I get 2750 to 2800 fps.

For medium game, there's hardly a more efficient killer than a 6.5mm, 140 grain bullet launched at 2650-2800 fps. And, you don't need a premium bullet, either, as those long, slender 140s have a high SD and penetrate like nobody's business. Here in south central Texas, there is no closed season and no bag limit on wild hogs, arguably a good bit more solid and tenacious than a deer. I've long lost count of the hogs I've taken with various 6.5s, but I can say that I've never been disappointed in the terminal performance of a 140 grain Hornady SP, Speer 140 grain Hot Core or Sierra 140 grain BTSP GameKing. I've used other bullets, but these 3 have done the lion's share of work.

Thanks for the replies to my question. Sounds like it works well on game the size I will hunt. After 30 years of using a 308 Win. on game and long range shooting, just looking at the bullet diameter and weight it seems small for the same performance on game. But I know at 1000 yards the 260 beats the 308 noticeably. On a calm day not that much difference is noticed, but let the wind pick up and the 260 is far more consistent. Sure looking forward to hunting with this rifle.

Bison with a 260 gezz. How many follow up shots were required for the bison shot in the shoulder. Was the bullet recovered? How much penetration?
What weight was used? I guess Karamojo Bell killed hundreds of elephants with a 7 X 57. But very few hunters are at his skill level with a rifle either. Would like to hear more information about the shoulder shot bison.

Again thanks for the replies! Sounds like I have nothing to worry about.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight.....RiverRat

karamojo bell, also used the 6.5X55 on a few elephants,

so wouldn't a 6.5 X 284 just be more of a good thing?
a 140gr at about 2900fps should never come down. I'm thinking of building one for sheep.

Thomas the 6.5x284 is the cartridge of choice for 1000 yard any-any rifle matches. No doubt it would be a good hunting rifle too...but I can't help but think that the original 284 would be a better all round hunting rifle. It is hard to beat a 7mm. bullet for "lesser" big game.

Sweet...I'm building a 6.5-06 Ackley Improved, and I can't wait top see what it'll do. What got me thinking on this round was an article that told of it scoring hits on gophers at 872 yards.....well I may not be at that skill level, I sure as hell think it would be a great long range rifle, 500 yards? Must practice.....

I've only taken one big game animal, a large whitetail doe, with the .260 Rem. It was at around 20 yards, quartering toward me from the right. I was using a 160-grain Hornady RN at 2350 fps. The bullet went through the near shoulder joint, hitting both lungs and the top of the heart, and exited in a straight line through the ribs on the far side. The doe made five bounds and dropped dead about 25 yards from where it was hit. Relatively small entrance and exit wounds, but lots of damage in-between.

This past fall I shot a medium sized blacktail buck at about 125 yards though both shoulders. It disappered at the shot. A few minutes later when I got to where it was at the shot, there it was getting cold. I was using R-P brass, 210 primers, 48 grains of R19 and 129 Hornady SP. I was able to shave the shoulders and I have a hard time believing any maga-super-pooper doing any better. That round is a real keeper.

Well, I have been using the 260 since it was standardized by Remington. Ruger brought it out in their M77, and I bought the first all weather to hit my gunstore. It is a typical Ruger, with a heavy trigger (replaced by a Timney).
Every Whitetail I have hit with it has died, all of them except two died where they stood. One I hit on the run, and clipped the liver instead of the lungs, it piled up about 100yds out. The other was a yearling buck I took immediately after dispatching his mother (she was nice enough to die where she stood). He, on the other hand, was really wired at that point and made it 40 yds into a cattail slough ( I really hate to drag them out of those).

This year I shot a very heavily bodied buck at short range. I was between him and the cover he wanted to be in, so He had to come past me on his way home. I put a 120 gr Sierra through his front right shoulder, through the lungs, and out near the last rib. He didn't exaclty "drop" at the shot, it was more of a long "skid", but down he went.

I have alot of confindence in this cartridge. I think it is the perfect whitetail cartridge. Next up it to find a load for the 95 gr Vmax for dem varmints.

CAL9

We have been using a Browning Stainless Stalker in 260 Rem at the ranch with plain Jane Rem 140 Core Lokt factory ammo. Nothing has run off but everything has run a short way. When you get to the deer there is blood everywhere and there is a whole in the off side you can throw your hat thru...well... a fifty cent coin anyway. We have yet to try other ammo as the inexpensive stuff has shot so well in it to start with that we have not changed. Guess you could say we don't want to fix what ain't broke!
It has a 2.5 to 8 Leupold on top and needless to say...what recoil??? Looks like a keeper to me.
We also shoot 7/08 and 243 all the time. When it comes to deer and that size...I don't understand why more are not shooting the 260 as it is so pleasant to shoot and gets the job done.
The two 7/08's get Fed. 140 Nosler Partitions and the 243 gets Fed 100 Sierra. Nothing has run off from them either and they too are great toys and a joy to shoot.