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I built a .260 Rem. for my Daugther some time ago, using a 1950 Mauser 98 action and a Lawrence barrel, 26" long, on a Boyds grey laminate stock.

Jeff L. sent the barrel (no threads) but chambered it some .143" deeper than perfect which meant I needed to cut some from the breech end before turning threads for headspacing to that action. Instead, I simply threaded it up and made brass to fit the overly long chamber by sizing 7x57 brass down for .264" bullets, trimming to length and fireforming - a new Wildcat was born, the .260 CLC (Carol's little Ctg.) - the style in naming curtosy of Layne Simpson, gun writer and wildcatter.

This ctg. deveoped 3,308fps with 120gr. Barnes XLC's - not too shabby. Every bullet eight from 85gr. to 160's shot into 1/2" or better - a good barrel. The 60gr. capacity (same as a 6.5x284) case turned out to be quite efficient, matching my .264 Win. Mag. for speed at that time. This is just to show what's possible with a basic .260 Rem. (or any other where feasable) chambering reamer.

After some testing, I shortened the barrel so it headspaced perfectly on factory RP 260 Rem. ammo - she finally had her .260 Remington, about a 55gr. capacity case.

The .260 does 3,000fps with the same 120gr. XLC's, BTW, and still shoots into 1/2" with about every bullet weight with max. loads. If the stock was 1" longer, I'd be hunting with it myself, when she's at work, up in the frozen North. It's a dandy little ctg., albeit smaller than I normally reach for.

Last time at the range, she made a 10 shot group at 100 meters (109yds) of 1 3/4". 8 of those 10 shots were inside 1 1/4". The target was a flat-black deer silhouette, with no discernable markings. She asked where to shoot it, and I merely said kill the deer. Her groups was perfectly place, to miss the leg bone at the bend, but catch centre of the lungs. Best part, is she shot off her elbows off a table, sitting, of course - no bags, no solid rest - she did have the benefit of a 2.5-10X scope, taped off at 4X.

The second best part of this shooting test, is the light load she shot would only give me 1 1/8" off the bags for 5 shots with good bench posture. The load was easy for her to shoot, as it barely made 2,200fps with the 160gr. 34.0gr. H4895 with 160gr. Sierra - about the same as a 6.5x54 MS factory load. Plenty good enough when you think about it.

All of this is just to show it's a wonderful round and can easily run the gammut from 1900's 6.5mm ballistics to 2011 ballistics yet deliver excellent accuracy while doing it all.

Even a young lass who's fired less than 300 rounds total, in her life, can shoot this round accurately while being powerful enough for anything we've got here.

Is it a ladies or young lad's ctg.? It certainly can be as described and loaded, but in full stride, it's a man's rifle for just about anything you want to hunt. 140's make 2,860fps, with 160's being happy up to just over 2,600fps. A descent barrel length of course, helps in velocity.

Reloader 19 is a great powder for full powered loads, btw, in both the .260 and the .260 CLC. This round is one of the easiest to load for as well, as about any mid range or slow powder can be used - any .308 basic case can be utilized as well, from .358 Win, .338 Fed, .308Win., 7.62x51 Nato, 7mm/08, .260, or .243.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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