Thread: What a mission! 260 Load

Well I finally got there but I feel aged from the process. Load sorted for the new 19" Tikka 260.

As we all know, supply in certain areas for ammunition is very bad so ended up grabbing some 142 Nosler Long Range Accubonds and using some powders I had available. Not normally the projectile I would go for due to the price but they look the business.

Teamed up with Peterson brass we got into it. Started with Rel 19 but didn't get the speed I was after. Tried 2209 (I have a very small amount left) same again, speed no good. Tried Rel 17 and ahah good speeds. Tried some groups in my speed ranges and it shot well. Shot them again and they shot poor. Wtf. Scratching head.

Decided to chase down a powder that a few of you have success with, fairy dust Rel 26. Gave it whirl starting low and working up, speeds good, accuracy again looking promising but not convincing. Ran some more loads and got reasonable results but just nothing giving me confidence. Without diving into details I went through a range of tests with seating depth and powder charges to try find what the heck it wanted.

Today after establishing where I think it likes to be seated I once again ran some powder charges starting with what I thought was the good one but included a couple of others just in case. Surprise surprise the one I thought would go well went poor and my very last one went very well! For the sake of "I wonder" I had also included the old Rel 17 charge using the new seating depth and it shot well. Ok, its done this before and I have been disappointed on the follow up confirmations shoots so thought bugger it. Shot home and loaded some more straight away and back to the range. Boomfa she's still on point, Rel 17 shot well again too.

Im usually a low fuss 0.5gr increment sorta guy but in this case 0.2gr both up and down is the difference between shooting outstanding and shooting average (theories on this?). One fussy little combo but just over 100 rounds later (yep you read the right) we have got there (I think). Time to whack some gongs and hit the hills. Final load being the 142 ABLR doing 2700fps in front of 48.6gr Rel 26 at 55 thou jump with the 43.5gr Rel 17 load shooting same POI and speed for a backup.


Cheers to @Kelton , @superdiver and @25 /08 IMP for the 260 advice throughout!

I think the LRAB like a bit of jump from the reading I did, I used the 129 in my 6.5x55 and they killed very well the 142 should be good too.

In my 260 I’m using the Sierra 130gn gamechanger with superformance, I’m very happy with them.

Regarding the charge and seat depth increments, have you watched any of Eric Cortina's youtube vids ? I had never heard of him until some were posted here on the Forum. I am now a convert. From watching Eric. I now understand the what and why.
I have been loading 140 AB's for a 270 recently and increased seat depth from 20 thou to 150thou. for a dramatic improvement. The factory OAL gives a seat depth that is 300 thou off the lands in my rifle. With these hybrid Ogive bullets maybe we are better off at the factory / SAMI OAL

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Regarding the charge and seat depth increments, have you watched any of Eric Cortina's youtube vids ? I had never heard of him until some were posted here on the Forum. I am now a convert. From watching Eric. I now understand the what and why.
I have been loading 140 AB's for a 270 recently and increased seat depth from 20 thou to 150thou. for a dramatic improvement. The factory OAL gives a seat depth that is 300 thou off the lands in my rifle. With these hybrid Ogive bullets maybe we are better off at the factory / SAMI OAL

I hope you didnt test in 3 thou increments to get to 150 thou from 20 thou !!! ��

Shame the projectile choice is so low at the moment, as there are better choices to be had over LRAB's. I've always struggled to get them to the same accuracy as ELD's. They are bloody hard too, good if you like stack a couple of animals together and get two with the one shot

Great looking set up & perseverance to get it working ,are 260's normally finicky to load for ?

Originally Posted by bunji

Great looking set up & perseverance to get it working ,are 260's normally finicky to load for ?

The lrab is notoriously fussy

Originally Posted by bunji

Great looking set up & perseverance to get it working ,are 260's normally finicky to load for ?

Not sako or Tikka I usually load 143 ELDX and they all shoot very well.
The LRAB can be a bit fussy but I got lucky with a couple of rifles I had but silly me I sold them both.
Hodgdon superprofrmance or RL 26 is your friend in .260

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You might also try what seem like ridiculous 'jumps' to the lands. Many a 6.5, I've owned over the years, has liked up to 2mm. I noticed this particularly with long throat-leads, but even tighter-specs liked it around a mil. I got higher velocities with much lower pressures too.

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2020/...elopment-data/

Went straight to 0.050 for my 143gr ELD-X and the 129gr ABLR in two different rifles and to my surprise it gave me the best nodes regardless gr of powder. Should be all good even after some erosion in years to come.

All of the above or you might just have struck what's been bugging me. I couldn't see a pattern of improvement with the 6mm CM I've been loading for.

Borrowed a Concentricity guage and guess what - heaps of run-out. Now past loads I've done for other calibers have shot just fine but this combination of technique, equipment (press and dies) and components (long pointy projectiles) managed to thwart me. I now have some concentric loads to shoot so haven't "proven the pudding" yet but there's no way what I was trying before was going to go well (7 thou plus run-out on quite a few)

Interesting, i’ve picked up some 135 Classic Hunters that I will have a play with sometime in the new year too

Originally Posted by stagstalker

Interesting, i’ve picked up some 135 Classic Hunters that I will have a play with sometime in the new year too

They kill well, although I didn’t shoot anything under a 150yds with them.

Originally Posted by Tentman

All of the above or you might just have struck what's been bugging me. I couldn't see a pattern of improvement with the 6mm CM I've been loading for.

Borrowed a Concentricity guage and guess what - heaps of run-out. Now past loads I've done for other calibers have shot just fine but this combination of technique, equipment (press and dies) and components (long pointy projectiles) managed to thwart me. I now have some concentric loads to shoot so haven't "proven the pudding" yet but there's no way what I was trying before was going to go well (7 thou plus run-out on quite a few)

Do not automatically assume that your problem is "run-out". Test the best first , you may find out your rifle is more forgiving than you think?. Or then again it may just be a fussy bitch after all?. You never know until you try .

Originally Posted by stagstalker

Interesting, i’ve picked up some 135 Classic Hunters that I will have a play with sometime in the new year too

Let me Know if you want to try some ELDX or 129 SP interlock. I could spare 20 or so for you to try so when they are available you will be good to go.

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