Big Brother

[mtn_shooter]

After a year of waiting for free time and parts I finally got this gun together earlier this month. I wanted something that could push up to and past 1000yd a little better than my Grendel. Past about 800yd I have a hard time with the Grendel. Spotting impacts and getting blown around by the wind.

specs:
DPMS LR-308 upper & lower, bolt carrier and various other small parts
Krieger 26" 1:8 twist SS barrel in .260 remington
JP Enterprises brake, FF tube, gas block, and bolt
Jard trigger
Magpul MOE stock and LR20 magazines
Larue LT-158 15 MOA mount and NF NXS 5.5-22x56mm scope. HS turrets, no ZS.

After some load development I arrived at,
43.3gr H4350
R-P .260 case
CCI #200
140gr Hornady Amax @ 2.805" COAL

And it hums along at around 2880fps. I tested 10 rounds over a chrono and got less than 20fps ES. That load is sub-MOA at 600yd, which is the farthest I've tested it on paper. .6-.8 MOA 10-shot strings at 100yd. I was able to ping up a 2x1 ft rock at 1188yd pretty easily a few days ago out in the desert as well.

Here it is next to my old 18" 6.5 Grendel build.


And .260 vs. 6.5 Grendel (120 MPT)


Unfortunately my month of leave ends this week, and I have to check in to my new duty station. It's clear that I need practice shooting in the wind (3/4moa vertical spread and 2 MOA lateral on a couple of targets shot at 600-800yd with crosswind) but it will have to wait. I'm looking forward to the holidays to get some more trigger time in.

[JohnOD]

Very nice build mtn_shooter. Any Idea on the guns finished weight? I've been wanting to build a 260 Rem or Creedmore setup for hunting but it just isn't in the cards due to cash flow restraints. I keep looking at the bolt guns in the safe that I haven't shot for years and think about selling a few to finance a large frame AR...

[mtn_shooter]

Heavy. I don't have a scale to weigh it on, but I'm going to guess around 15lb as pictured above. I'd guess most of it is in the barrel and that big ole scope.

If a guy were to do a 18-22" light(er) profile barrel, you could probably get it to around 8-10lb unloaded without optics. I wouldn't put a muzzle brake on a hunting gun either. You'll lose some velocity with the shorter barrel but I think it would be worth it. You could still whack about anything short of moose to around 600yd assuming the accuracy was there. With 130gr Swift Siroccos that could be a pretty deadly set up.

[LRRPF52]

Very nice. That load you're using is normal for guys with bolt guns. I also have a cutom-built .260 Rem AR on DPMS receivers with a 22" Bartlein barrel, the work done by GA Precision.

I get 2860fps with the 130gr VLD on top of 41.0gr of H4350, but the load is too hot I'm afraid. Primers crater more than I'm comfortable with after the last trip. Mine is a .4-.6 MOA 5-round gun quite consistently.

You must have a very heavy buffer, turned down adj gas block, or something else going on to get 2880fps with the 140gr AMAX, in addition to the 26" pipe. That is high velocity from a gas .260 Rem. What does your brass look like after that?

Here's mine:

[mtn_shooter]

nice looking rig!

My Brass looks fine. Minor ejector marks, round primers and a slight crater, but I got craters from 41.0 all the way up to 44.5gr when testing pressure. There is almost no stretch after FL sizing (redding bushing die set to bump .002"). Trimmer just kisses it. Around 44.0gr of H4350 the gas system started choking, even turned way down.

I am likely going to find a slower load this winter. My chrono said it was averaging 2795fps but actual dope says otherwise.

I am running an adjustable gas block, too. Anyway my goal was 2750-2800 fps, so knowing now that I'm well over that, I'm going to back off some and use the chrono just for ES/SD. IIRC, 41.5-42.5 was about where I want to be, considering a 70-90fps offset from chrono to real-world.

[Whelenon]

Great looking rifles guys. The 260 or Creedmore are kick-ass rounds(Grendels big brothers). I'm thinking a Creedmore in Ruger No. 1.