.260 vs 6.5x47 Discuss...

[CZ Varminter]

Hi guys I am up on my renewal and have sent it in but am still undecided between the two cals. Any personal experience or advice is greatly appreciated and will be noted gladly. To be honest from what I know there isn't a great difference between them, am certainly interested to know if one is more expensive than the other.

Note to admin I did use the search before posting and couldnt find anything.

 

Many thanks

CZV

[jcampbellsmith]

http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/ is a good article on the subject. I am a little biased as I am on my third 260 Rem and it's on its second barrel. However if I was starting afresh today, I am not sure would be the short answer. Regards JCS

[Ronin]

James

 

 

main difference is the 260's ability to use 140g bullets.

 

Both offer excellent accuracy.

 

"47" has expensive brass - trade off is its good for 10 + loadings.

 

Both offer excellent barrel life (260 a little better than the 47)

 

Ballistically very close to each other (up to 130 g bullets)

 

both short action, both will feed from most (almost any) magazine system

 

The question you need to ask, is will a 10g heavier bullet perform better ....in your shooting

 

 

Do a search on Snipers Hide - theres plenty of info about both (Zac Smith has done a load of research into both calibre for tactical use) and on 6mmBR.com

 

Zacs main article;

 

http://demigodllc.com/articles/6.5-shootout-260-6.5x47-6.5-creedmoor/

[Ronin]

Great minds John.....

[CZ Varminter]

Hahaha I thought you may see this Andy. I will have a read guys many thanks. And Andy I'll have the tikka action. Let me know how much via normal comms channels. Lol.

[jcampbellsmith]

Great minds John.....

Indeed. Thanks. Going back to James' question, I don't think there's an easy answer, and I could at some point in the future see me trying a 6.5 x 47. However, 243 Ackley to sell and a 6XC itch to scratch first. Regards JCS

[Laurie]

I'll say what many others have said about the small 6.5mm trio (6.5X47L, .260 Rem, 6.5mm Hornady Creedmoor) in that they're all ballistically similar, all capable of very fine precision, generally not hard to get good results out of.

 

They will handle 140/142s in suitably throated barrels, but my own growing conviction is that they're at their best with 120-130gn bullets.

 

The pros and cons are:

 

6.5X47L: Lapua brass (at £1 a time mind you). Small primer and flash-hole used - suits the powder charge well which should improve precision and reduce velocity spreads, but has the downside of cratering badly, even piercing in some factory actions where the firing pin is large and is a relatively slack fit in the bolt-face. This can stop you using maximum loads. (It's also just possible that the small primer will struggle to provide proper ignition with some powders if it's really cold.) It has a shorter case than .260R, so 123 and heavier bullets do not have to be seated very deeply inside the case if magazine operation is needed.

 

6.5mm Hornady Creedmoor - similar design to 6.5X47L with a short case, so 120-140gn bullets aren't seated too deep. Bit more capacity so marginally more performance. Large primer which can be seen as a plus or minus compared to the 6.5X47L depending on your point of view. Has really taken off in the US - a massive hit there, not very well known here. Easy to load for and tune. Biggest downside is Hornady brass only, which was available easily 18 months ago when I got mine, but the current US shooting buying panic will likely see it virtually unobtainable for a while. Early Hornady brass allegedly had some problems, but seems to have been sorted. Lapua or Norma .22-250 Rem can be re-formed but ends up short of the minimum SAAMI case-length. It looks like it's a very good design and if its present US success continues, we'll see brass from other companies in due course I reckon.

 

.260 Rem. Similar capacity to the 6.5HCM so very similar performance. A really good proven design. The only downside is that heavier bullets are seated deep in the case if you need to load to magazine lengths - this doesn't seem to impact adversely on accuracy though. Very good brass available including Lapua. A proven performer, lots of components, lots of data, very flexible and accomodating. What more can you say?

[John MH]

I pondered for a while with the same question, the introduction of Lapua brass at the time made my decision to go with the .260. Not regretted the choice as the results have shown.

[jcampbellsmith]

James

This is my current 260 Rem - http://www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk/gallery/member-galleries/p2948-remington-700-sa-in-260-rem.html

The key bit of the build is the Wyatt's Outdoors Extended Magazine Box fitted by Russell Gall. This allows me to load the 140 A-Max and 142 SMKs a bit longer ~2.9 inches.

Regards

JCS

[Jagged 77]

Good write up and summary of the calibers Laurie.

 

I was in a similar position to the OP, deciding on a '47 or 260 - went with the 260 in the end but could have easily gone with the '47.

 

I shoot with a friend of mine who has the '47 - he's got a great load with the 123 Scenar whilst I use the 140 SMK - both of them are extremely capable chambering for the type of shooting we do - McQueens, F-Class type comps. However I've noticed an edge with my set up when I take him out to shoot steel at ranges out to 1300 yards.

 

Only one comment I have on my particular .260 - I found it finiky to load for and also have had terrible problems with loose primer pockets in Lapua brass. Could be me wrecking them during load development (never done it before), could be the brass (first lot Lapua made I believe). Just an observation, I wouldn't let it deter you.

[DaveT]

260 rem for me .. I have three

[P3T3R]

6.5x47 for me, although I do firmly believe it is just a personal preference.

[Brillo]

Laurie has said it all really. I can only add my two pence worth (or is it three) by giving my personal experience.

 

I was in the same dilemma but jumped right in and bought a custom 6.5x47L from Mik at Dolphin Guns after seeing the performance of that cartridge shot by a friend on my home range.

I am not disappointed with the rifle and calibre. It is easily capable of 1/4 MOA groups and it shoots 120 - 139 grain bullets in equal measure. Admittedly using the 139'ers at less than 200 yards is a waste of expensive copper (I use Lapua Scenars) but the performance of 120 and 123 grain SMK's or 123 Scenars is awesome. Get the load right and it's spot on.

Contrary to what I've read I did find it tricky to get the right load with some powders but that was because I started with my shooting friends load data and my barrel is 4" longer. I just dropped the charges by 1 grain and....bingo!

 

HTH

[tackb]

now lapua brass is available for the 260 i think it just pips the 47 and creedmore but to be honest you won't be dissapointed with any of them?

[DRYHUMOR]

I have also pondered the question.

 

With 2 260s, I was more curious if the 6.5x47 might be "something different" that might be interesting to play with a bit. But, I've decided to stick with the 260, as it seems to do what I ask of it.

[Si-Snipe]

No experience with 260 but use my 6.5x47 every week. 140g Amax are doing av of 2830 fps with good accuracy that enough velocity for a bullet with a 0.299 G7. Some of my cases have had 20+ firings with no observed drop in accuracy. Primer pockets still as tight as day one (compared to new brass recently). Very nice cases.

[ChrisF]

the two issues I have with the 47mm is that you really need to have a normal 308 bolt face , firing pin hole bushed smaller 7 firing pin dia reduced as well , also cannot run std small rifle primers , need much stronger/tuffer primers .

So to me , 47 is much more tinkering , donot like having to mod the bolt face , and all the catered primers some get with this round .

 

Also I think the 260 runs heavier bullets better as well .

 

 

Later Chris

[Chris-NZ]

There are two easy solutions on your doorstep Chris- a Barnard action and CCI 450 primers.

 

Chris-NZ

[ChrisF]

Maybe , maybe not , at the moment ALL my bolt guns are repeaters , most with a 5-10rd mag .

I class most of the Barnards as single shot actions ie target grade , as thats what they where designed for , my rifles are more field grade .

 

And what i was trying to say RE : primers is that you need to basically only use CCI450 and no others that makes running it more of a hassle , ie when you cannot get the special CCIs you are buggered , and even IF you can get fed or Win small rifle primers , you are still buggered .

 

As to primers ,I am hearing that primers in NZ are in very short supply , heard NO primers where shipped recently from the US , as they sold all inside the US , and maybe a 6-8 mth wait on primers .

And at the moment , it seems guys in NZ cannot get any CCI BR2 primers , it seems now that due to eratic source & supply , you need to buy all you can , when you see them , ie 5-15k at a time , and buy 1-2 yrs ahead for your own needs to guarantee constant supply , due to panic buying in the US .

 

Later Chris

[Si-Snipe]

There are two easy solutions on your doorstep Chris- a Barnard action and CCI 450 primers.

 

Chris-NZ

I'm there man. Barnard SM action. Just a pure LR varmint rifle for me. Tolerances are such that I've never had any issues feeding or bolting in the field in strong dusty environments to snow and severe ice. Many think they are too tight for field work but I can only speak as I find.

[Brillo]

My 6.5x47 is a Barnard SM action and it works OK with any small primer I've tried, albeit I get best performance with CCI BR4's.

[Laurie]

The Barnard actions, whether 'S', 'SM', or 'P' are all fine with the small primer / cratering situation. The problems usually arise when a mass-market factory sporting or tactical rifle is rebarrelled to the cartridge (and 6mm BR). You sometimes get away with it, sometimes not. I've had both results, an untouched Remy 700 working OK in 6BR, although I can't run the really hot loads you see in the 6mm BR section of the AccurateShooter website; an FN SPR (modified Winchester 70 WSM action with 308 pre-64 bolt) originally chambered for .308 Win being simply disastrous piercing BR and SRM primers at 1-1.5gn above starting loads. A rechamber to the large rifle primer .260 Rem cured that problem.

 

One or two people on the forum have mentioned problems with Accuracy International tactical rifles in 6.5X47L. I don't know if it's model driven or down to individual bolts, the manufacturing tolerances making off the shelf examples marginal. Generally speaking, a true military / tactical or law enforcement rifle like the AIs and FN SPR should be more likely to give problems as they're built and toleranced to provide 100% ignition in adverse conditions way outside of those of normal target shooting and range use. Yet again, the AIs seem to perform better in target shooting than any out and out milspec design ever should.