260 Custom Build

J

joshf303

New member
Have my mind made up to put together a 260 Remington. Looking for suggestions from yall guys that have one or built one. Would like to build it off a Rem 700 action and keep it a light, carry type rifle. Should I go with a long action or keep it on a short? How about barrel length, am thinking 20-22 in.

Im open to any suggestions, first rookie build.
 
Josh,
I would suggest a Stevens 200 in .308 for around 300.00, then call Sharp Shooter Supply and get a DouglasXX barrel from them for around 300.00, I did the same and changed the barrel myself, no mag box changes or anything, just change the barrel, the new one is .260 AI, still shoots factory .260 very well(sub MOA), but really sings with the AI.(right at .5 MOA)
Apex
 
Would I benefit using a long action to be able to seat the long 6.5's out a little farther, and not use up case space? What twist 8 or 9, and what kinda bullet and weight you throwing out of the AI?
 
I am slinging 140 and 142gr. pills, 1-8 twist, and yes, long action helps with long bullets, but I have not had any trouble with the short action feeding from the magazine, but the heaviest I am shooting is the 142gr. If you go long action, you want the 30-06 length 200(same price as the .308 short action and same head diameter) I already had the short action, so that is what I used, but your logic is sound with the long action and case capacity. If you go long action, you could also go 6.5-284.
Apex /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Josh, I did a semi-custom build in .260 Rem. I used a Rem M7 SS short action, but the only reason I used the M7 over the 700 is because I had the M7 on hand. Like you, I wanted a lighweight, well balanced rifle, for the long hikes and something my boys could shoot and hunt with low recoil. The standard Rem M7 barrel was 20" and too muzzle light in my opinion, so I went with a slightly longer 22" Lilja #2 SS 1-9 twist barrel for the 100-120 grain bullets I planned on using. I had the M7 action trued and bedded. For the stock, I used a McMillan EDGE in Remington Mountain Rifle pattern. The package came out at just under 7 lbs. ready to hunt and still balances well with just a slight bit of muzzle weight.

My twelve-year-old shot it most all this past summer and it worked very well for him.

Here is the results of his first day he could legally hunt big game with the .260 Rem. Sorry you can't see the rifle better:

JaredDeerHunting2008001.jpg
 
The 6.5mm bullet has a great balance of high ballistic coefficients, bullet weight, and velocity, all out of a short action, low recoil gun. Bullet selection is excellent, as are the many chamberings for the caliber.
The 260 Remington is an excellent choice for overall ease of loading and shooting.


If its going to be a everything gun, I would start just as you had originally posted. Trued Rem short action, 1-8 or 1-8.5 barrel twist chambered in the original 260 Rem, finish the barrel at 24 inches and a HTG stock. If you plan on running the 130 grain and heavier bullets you are going to want at least a 24" barrel or you will lose a significant amount of velocity. The 120 grain and under bullets would be fine at 22"

I have a 260AI,an I absolutely love the caliber. Mine is built to be a long range light hunting rifle.
Remington Titanium action, Shilen 1-9 twist, 24" barrel carbon wrapped by Christensen Arms, Leupold vx7 with B&C Reticle and turnouts to 1000 yards, and a carbon stock. The whole package weighs in at 7.5 lbs. I shoot 139 Lapua Scenars at 2850Fps and Berger 130VLDs at 2900.
All that said my next gun that I'm in the process of building is a standard 260 Remington built off of a Surgeon action with a 25 inch barrel AICS stock and Leupold LR/T Glass. It will be more of a practice and shooting gun rather than a hunting rifle. I have found that on my 260 AI the amount of velocity gained is only about 50-100fps in my 24 inch barrel not a huge gain, but velocities vary from barrel to barrel.

Fire-forming the AI case is an added step for preparation before you have your final loads. My fire-forming loads are about 100fps slower and about 1.5 MOA different poi FWIW. But fire-forming isn't all that bad and shouldn't deter you from the benefits of the AI caliber if you want to mess with a wildcat cartridge.

Here is a pic of my hunting rifle.
DSCN2643.jpg
 
Nice guns there! IdBob...I had eyed both of those rifles for a bit, and did find a Rem 700 Mountain LSS in a 260 in a local shop, but someone had swiped that one by the time I went back in there. I dont have anything against Remington, but the ones I do have are all older models and I know there has been lots of debate about their quality in recent years. Thats the only reason why I thought about building my own if I could find a decent deal on a donor action.
 
I would suggest going with the 6.5 creedmoor and use a short action. The 6.5CM was created to replace the 260rem and tofix any flaws the 260rem may have had. Example being- Like you already mentioned. You said you are worried about not being able to use the long bullets in a short action. With the creedmoor you dont have to worry about that. I dont know if you reload, but if you do not the creedmoor offers good quality affordable match loaded ammo. Another thing some complain about is the brass situation with the 260 rem. Not much to choose from. You can go with Remington (witch i like think is fine) or Norma, but it is EXPENSIVE!! With the 6.5CM you dont really have a lot to choose from either but the new Hornady brass is supposed to be harder than older batches, and many would claim that the Hornady brass to be superior over the Remington. I like both chamberings but i when with the creedmoor as i feel the case design is superior. Balistically they are almost twins! Lee
 
That was the same problem I had with finding a factory .260 I liked. The LSS with the 22" barrel was hard to come by and the 20" barrels on the rest of the Rem stuff didn't thrill me, and I already had an action that would work, so I went the semi-custom route to get exactly what I wanted. If doing it again though, I might just go with the 260 AI.
 
There is an ENDLESS supply of 260 brass in the world, considering it is based on the 308 case. If they started running 6.5 Creedmoor brass now non-stop until we were all dead, there would still be more brass available for the 260.......
 
Josh what exactly are you planning hunting and what weight do you want the rifle all scoped up and ready to hunt to end up?
 
Rem 700
Pac-nor #1 @ 22" twisted 1-8"
McMillan Edge Rem mt.rifle pattern-glass bedded
Talley lightweights
Leupold 3-9x40 with M1 elevation turret
Factory bottom metal
Tuned factory trigger

Right about 7.5lbs scoped.......
 
Quote:
""There is an ENDLESS supply of 260 brass in the world, considering it is based on the 308 case.""


Kinda what I was thinkin?

I'll be hunting deer, hogs, coyotes with it, and whatever else ends up in the crosshairs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif. I'll pack it out west if I ever find the time to get back out there, reckon its adequate enough in the right hands for elk. My 6 yo old girl loves hunting, and has a few hogs and other critters under her belt and am sure this one will go to her when she's old enough to handle it and I get through playing with it. Would like to keep it around 7.5 lbs to 8lbs scoped.
 
Rest assured, the above blueprint is tried and true. You could go with a #2 contour, and have the bolt fluted and still come in under 8lbs scoped no problem......
 
Josh, for deer, hogs, coyotes, etc.. A lightweight .260 will be perfect.

You can easily make the 7.5 to 8 lb mark with the blueprint 2mg listed. Like I said, mine hits the scales at 7 lb. with the 3-9 VX-II, Talley LW's, sling, and four rounds in the belly. My 12-year old packed it all over the hills this fall with no trouble.
 
I never said anything about there not being any 260 rem brass. My point was the quality of the brass at an affordable price. It makes me no difference what this fella does as long as he is happy. I researched this very same thing a couplemonths ago and i came to the conclusion that the 6.5 creedmoor was best for ME! Good luck with your build, they are always fun to plan and finally get everything together! Have fun! Lee
 
Quote:
Josh, I did a semi-custom build in .260 Rem. I used a Rem M7 SS short action, but the only reason I used the M7 over the 700 is because I had the M7 on hand. Like you, I wanted a lighweight, well balanced rifle, for the long hikes and something my boys could shoot and hunt with low recoil. The standard Rem M7 barrel was 20" and too muzzle light in my opinion, so I went with a slightly longer 22" Lilja #2 SS 1-9 twist barrel for the 100-120 grain bullets I planned on using. I had the M7 action trued and bedded. For the stock, I used a McMillan EDGE in Remington Mountain Rifle pattern. The package came out at just under 7 lbs. ready to hunt and still balances well with just a slight bit of muzzle weight.

My twelve-year-old shot it most all this past summer and it worked very well for him.

Here is the results of his first day he could legally hunt big game with the .260 Rem. Sorry you can't see the rifle better:

JaredDeerHunting2008001.jpg





Nice pattern, and nice pic also.........
 
I've two light rifles that seem to get the bulk of my hunting duties. Do have to admit the only 6.5 I've ever owned was a Winchester 264 mag.

My favorite go to the woods deer rifle is an older Rem 700 280 Mountain Rifle and it wears a lightweight compact Simmons AETEC 2.8 to 10 scope. Gun and scope together come in about 7.5 pounds ready to go the woods.

280Rem-1.jpg


The other rifle I use is a Rem model 7 carbine in 308 with an 18.5 inch barrel and a fixed Leupold 4 power scope. This guns goes right at 7 pounds scoped and ready to go. I initially bought this rifle for an extra deer gun for one of the grand daughters. It's sure a handy little rifle and I doubt that any deer out to 300 yards could tell a bit of difference between the carbine barrel and one 22 to 24 inches long. This is my little model 7 carbine.

Model7308.jpg


I don't know about the quality of the new Remington's, but was at Cabela's a couple of months ago and got to look at some of the new CDL's and was very impressed by the fit and finish.

They look like a clone of my Mountain Rifle. I do understand the new X mark trigger is even better than the old Remington trigger which I've found very good.

So far I've also heard a few rumors about so-so accuracy from new Remingtons. All of my Remington's are older except for one pre mark X trigger VLS j lock rifle in 243 and all including a 1998 Classic in 8mm Rem mag shoot well under an inch at a hundred yards. Many of the guys I talk to here and on the Beartooth Shooters forum seem to be having pretty good luck with the new Remingtons.

If I were going to build a semi-custom 260 I'd probably pick up a used 700 in 06 or 270 to start with and either just rebarrel or in case of a rifle for a youngster rebarrel and restock with a stock that would fit and set the original stock aside for when he was ready for that. If you don't want to put a bunch of money in a stock Richards Micro-fit sells seconds that are perfectly good stocks at very reasonable prices. This would allow me to seat those longer bullets out a little further giving maximum powder capacity with say some of the 6.5 160 grain bullets.
 
Thanks 2MG. I am real pleased with how the project came together on the .260 and how it shoots. Fortunately for me, there are a few guys like yourself, who been down this road and give out solid advice on rifle builds.
 


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