260 vs 6.5x55

[13bonatter69]

OK I am in the process of thinning the heard and reorganizing. I have decided a good full house load 6.5 in a light package is about perfect for me. I hate muzzle brakes and I shoot my guns a lot so that I am familiar with the weight and balance of my hunting gun. More recoil than the 6.5 as I get older is just unappealing....
I am wondering what you guys would go with between these two calibers. I see a small advantage both ways. I will have a 260 set up for shooting distance already, so I will be very familiar with the caliber. However the 6.5x55 gets a little extra fps with the 140's for hunting.
Is there anything I am missing? Lapua makes brass for both...
Tikka laminated stainless would be the gun I would get, and both calibers are listed to have a 22.4 inch barrel.....so is either caliber better suited for the short 22.4 Tikka barrel?

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

6.5x284 norma looks sweet if you weren't stuck to those offerings.

Flip a coin probably, I think I'd likely lean towards the 260 for more common brass if another crunch happens. Most of the 6.5x55 swede data is likely loaded to lower pressures right?

I'm not well versed in either though.

 

[13bonatter69]

The gun Im looking at is only chambered in these two calibers. Not looking at any other 6.5 cal other than these two....Thanks

 

[mtswampfox]

very prejudiced here. 243,25-08,7-08,308,338F in my gun safe. Either a 27-08 or the 260 in my future. like to find surplus 308 brass and form my own.

 

[rick irvin]

very prejudiced here. 243,25-08,7-08,308,338F in my gun safe. Either a 27-08 or the 260 in my future. like to find surplus 308 brass and form my own.

Can i ask what kind of game will you be hunting,and what distances are you comfortable with.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

The gun Im looking at is only chambered in these two calibers. Not looking at any other 6.5 cal other than these two....Thanks

I gathered that, I was saying in looking at the 6.5s that norma looked nice. My second comment was my opinion on the two you mentioned.

 

[Mr Drysdale]

I own one in 260 and have three grandsons that shoot the same. I have not owned or shot the 6.5 X 55 but am happy with the 260 caliber. Soft recoil and very accurate. My longest kill is 315 yards with it. Shooting 120 gr Fusions in it now with great performance. Good luck with your decision.

 

[mtswampfox]

Can i ask what kind of game will you be hunting,and what distances are you comfortable with.

not a hunter anymore. used the 25-08 for prairie dog shooting at ranges to 500yds. have used the 308 on deer many times in ga all close range under 100yds. would consider these calibers on deer sized game or speed goats out to 400 or so. am sure they are effective at longer range but that was never in my interest.It was always a goal to get the short action 308 cased rounds to compare close with their 06 counterparts and they will do that.am even more impressed with the 6mm tcu and the nearly 3000 fps with some bullets.

 

[robtattoo]

Big question: Do you reload?

If you do, I'd take the Swede every day of the week.
I went through the same thing a couple of years ago, trying to choose between the .260, CM, x284 & Swede. I don't regret going with the Swede in the least. It pushes a 140gn bullet as fast as most & faster than some at much lower pressure than anything else. I've taken whitetail, hogs & antelope with mine (built on a Savage Axis) out to 360 yds
It's only a 20" barrel & I'm getting right around 2800 out of it with Berger 140s & 3200 with 100gn Amax (hell on coyotes!) I have faster loads, but 2800 is super accurate & enough for anything I'll ever shoot at & it'll put 5 into a ¾" group all day long.
I also have a long range bench rifle I built in x55 that pushes a 140VLD at 3130 from a 32" barrel. That shoots in the sub-¼" range.

The Swede is super easy to reload for (IMR7828ssc is your powder) but factory ammo is very anemic to be safe in the old military Mausers. Factory .260, while not common, is available & far outclass factory Swede.

 

[GKPrice]

a few years back a good good friend of mine won a Remington 721 in 6.5/284 (Douglas barrel) He asked me to work up a load for it - One of the single DUMBEST things I ever did was turn him down when he offered to give it to me .... I'm going to have one before I quit

 

[13bonatter69]

Yes I reload, and I will probably stick with the 6.5x55. I know it has more juice, I was just concerned that it wouldn't be able to get a complete powder burn with only a 22.4 inch barrel. Guess that really isn't a problem though either way.

 

[TBossHSauce]

I'm having the same dilemma myself. I have a Winchester model 70 featherweight in 6.5x55 and a Tikka t3 Lite stainless in .260. I like the idea of more factory ammunition for the .260 so that's why I bought it. I haven't shot it yet but am thinking I should sell it and keep the 6.5. Gotta dance with the one that brung ya!

Ballistics are almost identical twins. My .260 is lighter but not much due to the short action. The 6.5x55 is prettier so she will get the nod for me if I have to choose between both ladies. The problem I have is one is synthetic and stainless (.260) and is better suited for abuse and one is prettier and svelte. The swede is tried and true and is kind of nostalgic to me. Much like a .30-06 or a .375 H&H.

 

[peddler]

Like the old bull said to the young bull dooooo them both!

Keep both of them.

 

[doverpack12]

Other advantage to the 6.5x55 is it's a long action so you can load the heavier Bullets longer which allows more powder and if the bullet likes I close to the lands you don't have to loose all of your case capacity. I have a 260 but when I was looking it came down to what was affordable in my price range in 6.5mm calibers

 

[FURMAN]

Given the two choices I would take the 6.5x55 everyday for hunting. It has slightly more capacity and the longer magazine will allow more bullet versatility.

 

[CLICKBANGBANG]

It wasn't an option and not mentioned yet, but I went with the 6.5 Creedmoor in two different guns. Kills stuff just as dead as the others. I run out to 600 yards with them regularly and have been out to 1k a dozen times. I like the short action and there are lots of factory offerings if I'm too lazy to load.

I'll be out shooting again tomorrow.

 

[GKPrice]

It wasn't an option and not mentioned yet, but I went with the 6.5 Creedmoor in two different guns. Kills stuff just as dead as the others. I run out to 600 yards with them regularly and have been out to 1k a dozen times. I like the short action and there are lots of factory offerings if I'm too lazy to load.

I'll be out shooting again tomorrow.

I too am intrigued by the Creedmor and just the other evening it occurred to me that if a person had a 260 Rem in a rifle he liked it may be quite easy to rechamber to the 6.5/284 .... just food for thought

 

[CLICKBANGBANG]

I think the 6.5 CM and 260 are about the best of the .264s. Has enough speed to reach out to better than a half mile before it drops below transonic. And it stays above the magical 1900 FPS (speed needed for most bullet performance on soft targets) out to 650 yards. But it has a good long barrel life. Short action is a plus. Factory loads is nice for me. I don't like living at my reloading bench.

Sure, you could go with a wildcat and make your own brass if you love to be at the reloading bench. Or even a magnum offering like the 6.5-300 weatherby if you love to change barrels every 500 rounds due to throat erosion. The few FPS you gain by going with the bigger cases are needed for ERL shooting, or when using a .264 on the largest of game. But you lose all of the attractive features of the 6.5 CM and 260 by doing this.

Want to hunt elk with a .264? Or shoot out to 1,500? Yah, go get a long action and push the 6.5x55 as hard as you can, or get a 6.5 mag of some sort. Hunting at normal ranges for medium game, I'll keep my 6.5 CM. I've got a 7mm Rem Mag if I want an overbore LA that will punch my shoulder every trigger pull.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

With the tikka you'd be smart to get the longer action caliber ala 6.5x55

I've always been intrigued with the idea of 160gr round nose loaded long. As always take all old timer stories wih a grain of salt but my good buddy was a culler back in the mid 60's and they'd run husqvarna surplus rifles and file the fmj bullets flat.. kill the hell out of animals big and small. As a do all caliber the swede has a bigger top end and the same bottom end all in the same action. But like all caliber wars there are no clear cut winners. Twin turbo v6 or pushrod v8?

As an aside I always get a laugh when people claim 6.5x55 is light for moose. Best man in my wedding is 8 for 8 on big bull moose with a 22-250. All but one was bang flop. Forced to go 243 now due to laws.