F Class 1000yd .260 Remington or6.5 Creedmoor.

H

hoss1969

New member
Ok I'm luck that my club/range as highpower out to 1000 yards but have not tried it for lack of equipment. Well the Dark side has come calling in the form of the guy who runs the high power for the club. He invited my to use his backup to try it out when i had a free Sunday morning.

Yesterday I took him up on the offerand had one of the best mornings at the range in awhile. Disclaimer, Im also a club Range Master and RSO. While the gun wasn't completely fitted to me ( not a excuse just fact) it took only a few sighters to dial it in and the wind was under 5mph with his 6.5-284 with 12 power @1000 yards I was able to keep most in the 10, with a few X and 9's and 8's and a six that I boned on breath control, I was happy for not picking up a rifle in about 6 years for any serious shooting.

I also had a chance to shoot anothers .308 that was absolutely to short in the stock and scope that was way back on the rifle I did shoot two X's and three 10's out of five rounds and while I had did good on both rifles, I have to admit the 6.5 was much more comfortable to shoot and shot basically the same results.

Ok now the question, Of the 6.5 Creedmoor or the 6.5-284 or the necked down .260 from a .308 for f class open which one if your choice for shooting at a high power range out to 1000yds that can have some challenging wind as its in the open and has temp in the 40-50's in the winter and 105° plus in the summer. So reloading recipes are going to change for temps and Im open to your input and ideas.

Thanks.
 
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I personally prefer the 6.5x47 Lapua, but if you are building a rifle for F Open you might look at the 284 Winchester shooting some of the really high BC Berger bullets. That seems to be the cartridge the winners are shooting for the last couple years, or some sort of 7mm magnum.

I reckon once I've burned the throat on my Lapua, I'll rechamber to 6.5x284 and get a couple thousand additional rounds out of it.

I'm sure you will have fun no matter which you choose.
 
The common sense answer used to be get a .308 and learn the ropes then, when it is shot out, re-barrel it to a 6.5 of the newest flavor. That advice has some merit, but I will admit I skipped it and went straight to a .260. Like you, I had shot quite a bit, so was not a complete newbie. I do still have a .308 set up similarly to my .260 and I will shoot it here and there just to extend the time between barrel changes on the .260.

I have shot the faster 6.5s and 7s and to me, the increased case prep and reduced barrel life is just not worth the effort. A few inches here and there is not enough to me to warrant the difference either. With some of the faster calibers, it could conceivably take 1/4 of the barrel life to get a load worked up.

Only way I would go from the .260 to a faster 6.5 or 7 is if I did not want to shoot it as much. It is not really even dollars, just the time to rebarrel once a year and work up a new load would prevent me from doing other things. Maybe if that was my only pursuit in shooting, but it is just one of many things I enjoy with triggers.
 
Here's some barrel life numbers folks winning and setting records get with different cartridges at 1000 yards in rifles shooting near 1/2 MOA tested properly for accuracy:

.308 Win., 2500 to 3000 rounds.

.300 Win. Mag., 1100 to 1300 rounds.

7-08, 2000 to 2500 rounds.

7mm Rem. Mag., 700 to 900 rounds.

.260 Rem., 1500 to 1900 rounds.

6.5x.284, 600 to 800 rounds.

.243 Win., 1000 to 1300 rounds.

6mm Dasher, 1500 to 2000 rounds.

The more recoil one has, the harder it is to shoot small groups at any range. Heavier bullets produce more recoil but buck the wind better. A compromise is needed in some areas. Which is why the 6.5x.284 is a favorite for long range match rifles fired off ones shoulder in prone. In 20 to 30 pound rifles resting on supports and fired in free recoil, the accuracy each can produce is equal for all practical purposes.
 
thank you

Thank you some good information. Im sad to say the 6.5x47 Lapua didnt even cross my mind. Im going to have to look into that. Always best to look at all options Thanks.

As for the barrel life your numbers are on the low end or with a hunting barrel or heavy barrel? My friend said his 6.5-284 gets about 2000-2500 and his .308 goes about 5000. I'm sure reloading skills help increase barrel life also.

So far it looks like while the .308 has the benefit of probably the longest barrel life, the .260, or the different 6.5 family have the nod even with shorter barrel lifes.
 
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A friend who is way more serious about this stuff than I am, reports F-T/R .308 barrel life of maybe 2500 rounds. He thought a M14 or M1A was good for 4500 or more for the bigger targets and no artificial support of "across the course."

Note that Lapua is now making .260 Remington brass. This has to have hurt sales of 6.5 Lap rifles and components. One early .260 user reported sorting RP brass with about 60% good enough for matches. Lapua is nicer.
 
6.5x47 Lapua

Just got done looking up on the 6.5x47 Lapua. Found some interesting reviews which covered 2 years of shooting or more of it in competitions, All said really nothing to point to worth switching over from the .260, They said no real reason to drop one for the other and went back to there .260 with the idea that when a barrel change was needed then mayde swap out but saw no one reason to pick one of the 6.5 versions over the .260.

Also read a unnamed quote " after shooting the .308, shooting the .260 feels like cheating"

Have to say as of Sunday and being a 30-06 and .308 shooter in the past I have to agree.
 
hoss1969, my barrel life numbers are for all barrel sizes that start out shooting about 1/2 MOA at 1000 yards. It's based on when accuracy degrades by 50 to 60 percent shooting almost 1 MOA. That's when it's time to rebarrel to keep getting the best results.
 
I have a question about the 7-08. Barrel life appears to be excellent, less recoil than .308, seems to be a lot of good 7mm bullets, why is it not more popular with long range shooters. Does it not quite keep up during transition or something else. Should I ever have opportunity to take it up for fun I could see me with a heavy barrel savage in 7-08 but I would only bee shhoting b to amuse myself not competing against real long range shooters.
 
barrel life

Thanks Bart.b

Not to be a pest, but you are talking bull barrel or medium target, factory barrel? Thanks
 
And page two http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/?p=2

Is the .260. And where I found the quote on the .308 vs .260. While all have pro and cons
The authors own words in his summary kinda agrees with my findings
The .260 Remington is a solid performer for long-range matches, with good barrel life and 300WM-like ballistics. The .260 is the status quo that 6.5x47 and 6.5 Creedmoor have to go up against and prove their worth.
Click to expand...

and I haven't heard from a shooter say why another is better @1000 yards with exception of a differance in barrel life between the sizes. So far IMHO the .260 so far appears the one that overall scores the highest. While some have a benefit in one aspect it usually has a lower in another specification.

Would still like to hear personal opinions from other using a different set up. But thanks to all who have given food for thought. You may just turn me on to a differnt set up. Like stubbicatt did with the 6.5x47, admittedly that was not even a round I had even though about.thanks again.
 
hoss, I'm referring to aftermarket match grade barrels. Few commercial factory barrels shoot as accurate. Savage barrels in their target rifles are probably the most accurate rifle factory ones.
 
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The 7mm-08 is a very good option, but to get the BCs of the 6.5 140/142s, you have to jump up to around 170 grains and the selection, and price become issues. So too, case capacity and velocity start to limit the 7mm-08 with the long bullets. If you are not going to compete, but just plink and hunt, then the 7mm-08 is a great choice. I had a few 7mm-08s and reluctantly sold them when I tried to caliber consolidate some. Shooting them against each other, the .260s won out by a bit, for less coin.
 
That is a Great Big cartridge and while I am sure you could hunt sheep with it for the rest of your life, it will go through barrels pretty fast on a regular shooting match schedule.
 
26 Nosler

Thanks for the lead. Have you look at the range reports? I just got done reading some range reports on the 26 Nosler and it appears more for long range hunting up to about 400 yards ( which is honestly quite far out) its said to be hard on barrels and 800-1000 rounds apears max barrel life. It also has a drift of 14 1/2 inchs @ 500 yards in a 10mph wind. Probably a ok round for a hunt and few weekends a year at the range but probably not to much more. But for a 1000 yard gun thats not going to collect dust, im looking more for a 2500 yearly minimum barrel life.

For me the barrel life is kind of a big deal as in addtion to the 1000 yard comp range we have a separate silhouette range with steel from 200 to 960 yards, so it going to get extra use other than 15 or so 1000 yard matchs we have yearly. Especially only 15 miles away.

Thanks, It looks like a great possible hard hitting round for hunting out to the 300 yard slightly more for game, but not sure about 500 to 1000 yard target and comp shooting.

I guess it sounds a little greedy with some poeple thrilled to have a 300yrd or 500yrd controlled range to shoot at but if you have the facilities to go long, you might and enjoy them to the fullest.
 
I have a question about the 7-08. Barrel life appears to be excellent, less recoil than .308, seems to be a lot of good 7mm bullets, why is it not more popular with long range shooters
Click to expand...

Actually it is, more than you think. The 7mm bullets have excellent BC's- but best with the heavies; and you need the boiler room to push them to the necessary velocities to give them an advantage. I shoot a 7-08 with the 162 Amax (.625) and Berger's 168 is also a leading choice- but that's about the heaviest the 7-08 can push, though there is a camp that pushes even heavier ones, albeit obviously with less velocity. But, there are more choices in 6.5, which is why our latest rifle was built in .260 Match.

The U.S. F-Class Team switched to 7mm a few years ago (I don't know if that's still the case). The smaller cases/bore sizes do have an advantage being easier to shoot with less recoil- until the wind blows, then many feel they have an advantage with the heavier bullets.
 
Hoss, for my first (and only) dedicated long range rifle, I went 260 Remington. I don't regret it at all. The previously referenced demigodllc article played a big part in that decision, but I did my own research too.

6.5 is a great bullet, you won't go wrong with pretty much any 6.5 chambering. I think the biggest question is availabilty and price of components/powder/loaded ammo you have access to.

Barrel life has been discussed in length.. I'll just mention for me the expected barrel life of 260 Rem was worth the trade off for the lighter recoil and better ballistics over the 308. 6.5/284 barrel life was a real issue for me, so I went with the milder 260 Rem.
 
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