Your choice of rifle will really dictate which cart. If you want a short bolt action round, the .260 is going to be a better fit. If it's a long action or single shot, then i would go 6.5x.284. You can take advantage of the increase in powder cap. by seating the bullets farther out. Barrel length again is a matter of which rifle. On a #1, you can go 28" & still be shorter thana 24" bolt gun. For best perf. I think 24" min.

I went through this same exercise trying to decide what to do w/ my M700SA. The .260AI is just a better fit in that rifle.

SA - get a 260

LA - get a 6.5-284, 6.5-06, 6.5x55 (my preference)

9.3

For what you are seem to be wanting, the 260 Rem. is a perfect match for your needs. It is a legitimate 300 yard deer cartridge. Inherently accurate, low on recoil, and easy on barrels. I have two of them, one a rifle for competing in F class the other one a 24" Krieger 1 in 8 twist barreled hunting rifle. The hunting rife shoots all bullet weights superbly. The F class rifle gets a steady diet of 142 MatchKings so I don't know how it shoots other bullets, but I suspect it would shoot them just fine. Buy one or build one, you won't be disapointed.

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

Whiplash:

Let me be the second after Savage 99,
Thank you for the service to your country!!!!
God bless you and bring you home safely!

As a person who has really embraced and done a lot of testing and research on the 6.5 bore, I can see that some of the " knowledgable" 6.5 guys have piped in.

Not knocking the 6.5 x 284, I looked at it. Even to the tune of having 200 rounds of brass, a deluxe Redding die set, and a barrel with a 1 in 8 twist for it. I also had a 260 Rem VLS at the time and when I compared it side by side with the 6.5 x 284 that a friend owns, I never built it. Her rifle does not give her much more velocity than the 260 gives me, and that is mainly with the 140 grain bullets and up. My 260 did have the throat reamed out some since the factory Remington was very tight.

The barrel ended up becoming a 6.5 x 57 ( or a 257 Roberts necked up) and was put on a Winchester Model 70 action. The barrel was a heavy sporter. It was at 28 inches. I also throated it long to be able to take the long bullets like a 6.5 x 55. With the 28 inch barrel and the long throat, it will give the velocity of a 264 mag with bullet weights from 85 to 160 grains. Like any 6.5 bore it is very accurate.

Compariing the 6.5 x 57 and both of my 6.5 x 55s to the 6.5 x 284 of my friend ( which has a 32 inch barrel, and the barrel is a heavy target barrel, like 1.25 inches in diameter), velocity and accuracies are pretty much the same. She just has to use more powder to maintain the same levels. More powder means faster throat erosion.

The 6.5 x 55 or the 57 mm cartridge seem to be hold about as much powder as you can get efficient burning out of a 6.5 mm bore, before you are just throwing more powder down the barrel for little difference in velocity. That is why I did not build a 6.5 /06 or the 6.5 x 284 and never intended on a 6.5 WSM or a 264 Mag.

Since there is little difference in MV out of the larger cartridges for a handloader, and most people in this argument always leave out the flat trajectory that a 6.5 bullet offers, the need to go bigger than the 6.5 x 57 or 6.5 x55 is diminishing returns at that point.

I use Winchester brass exclusively in the 6.5 bore. For my 260 cases I neck down 7/08 or 308 brass. However the last point to leave you with is: I filled a 260 case up with H 380 and then a necked up 257 Roberts case ( 6.5 x 57) with H 380. The Roberts case only held ONE more grain of powder.
Just thought I would add that info if you were debating between the 6.5 x 55 or the 260. Look on the brightside, there will be no downside with whatever case you get, below the 57 mm case. Just make the throat long, and also get a 1 in 8 twist. Remington uses a 1 in 9 and it will not stabilize the 140 grain and up bullets as well as the 1 in 8 will. Ruger's 260 has a 1 in 8 twist as does their 6.5 x 55. Winchester's Model 70 featherweight also has a 1 in 8 twist.

I couldn;t make up my mind when I was crossing this bridge.
So I have:
Remington 260 VLS
Ruger 260 Rem, stainless steel with Boyd Laminated Stocks ( 2 or those)
Ruger 6.5 x 55 ( wood stock, blue barrel)
Winchester Featherweight, ( Laminate stock from the 1980s)
with a 26 inch PacNor barrel with a 1 in 8 twist done by Kevin Wyatt of Medford Oregon.
Winchester Model 70 with a 28 inch Heavy Sporter PacNor barrel, with a 1 in 8 twist in 6.5 x 57 done by Kevin Wyatt of Medford Oregon

If you go that route, hope you got the wife a real good washer and dryer!

Get home Safely and Soon.! God be with YOU!!

Both are excellent choices. Another note, in 2004, Remington is "re-introducing" the 6.5 Remington Magnum. It is a short case, and generates about the same velocity as a 6.5-06. They will be introducing it in a Model 673 with a 22 inch barrel, bolt action. This rifle is similar to the old Model 600 from the sixties and early 70's. If Remington got behind the 6.5 Remington mag, I believe it to be a great cartridge.

Whiplash:
How rude of me not to thank you for service to this great country. May God be with you and your family during this holiday season. Praying that you and all of your fellow comrades in arms return quickly and safely. Merry Christmas to all of you!

I have a 6.5 X 284 F class rifle as well as the my 260's and there is no doubt about which one I would buy or build for a deer hunting cartridge, the 260. It works well in a short action, and if you want the most out of a 6.5 X 284 you have to build it on a long action or it isn't that much better balistically than the 260 or the 6.5 X 55 or 6.5 X 57. But it is harder on barrels than any of the other three. Don't get me wrong I really like my 6.5 X 284 it is suberbly accurate, and that cartridge pretty well dominates 1K high power competition. But unless the wind conditions are bad when I go to a 1K match, I take my 260, it gets the job done.

Like Seafire said, be sure it is a 1 in 8 twist. And unless it is a 260 build the rest of them on a long action to get the most out of them. And as Seafire said there is no real down side to a 6.5 mm cartridge, enjoy which ever one you treat yourself to, you have earned it!

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

I'll add my 2 cents worth. I would go with the 260 Rem.....but I have a little different take on it. I'll assume you will want it on a short action bolt rifle. Why the 260?

1) It seems the extra capacity makes less difference on lightweight bullets.

2) Heavier bullets are seated deeper in the 284 case reducing powder capacity which takes away some of the advantage of the bigger case.

So there may be less difference between the two than you might guess when used in a short action rifle (2.8" mag).

Where I differ from some of the others is on chambering a long throat to shoot 160g bulets. Why would you want to shoot 160g bullets at deer? A good 140g premium will do anything a 160g can and shoot flatter to boot. 100g Partitions work well for whitetail as would the 129g Hornady if you don't want a premium. I wouldn't use a 140g for deer although I think it would work fine. I would use a throating that will allow 100g bullets to touch the lands and seat the 140g bullets deep (you'll not loose much velocity). I like bullets seated near the lands as it seems there is less chance for things getting out of alignment. This philosophy would probably change for a 1,000yd rifle but works well for a hunting rifle.

A 1:9" twist will stabilize 140g bullets. I'm sure someone can find a bullet that is an exception but the 1:9" twist works. I've seen the 1:8" shoot good groups with the 85g Sierra so no problem there.

Good luck with your decision. Half the fun is deciding what you want!

HogWild