Rebarrel Advice

[ldg397]

I have a remington 700 mountain rifle (700LSS) in .260 remington. I was going to have rebarreled.

First of all I wanted a little heavier barrel than stock to make it a little less tempermental, does anyone know what would be the biggest barrel profile that would fit or the laminated stock could be modified a little to accommodate??

Second, from what I have read I would prefer Krieger but Shilen is only about an hour from my house so I could go talk to them directly. Has anyone had shilen rebarrel something, opinions? I could also drive a little further to hillcountryrifle and get them to put on a krieger barrel. Any thoughts? If shilen, is it worth the money to go to the select match grade over the standard match grade?

Third, stay with the .260 or go to the 7-08?? I tend to shoot shorter range below 300 and tend to favor the larger bullets like the 140 in the .260 wondering if the 7-08 might suite my hunting a little better. I have never had or shot a 7-08 but I have no complaints regarding the .260 either.

 

[FOTIS]

The 7mm-08 will do you very well. Elk at 300 yards with the right bullet is easy. Shilen barrels are great!

Ask Bobcat he has a Shilen barrel on one of his 7mm-08. Very nice rifle indeed. I handled it when we met up for pig hunting in Texas.

 

[JD338]

Your pick on the barrel, both are very good.
If you are hunting deer, either the 260 Rem or 7mm-08 will get the job done.
If you prefer the 140 gr in the 260 Rem, you would be at 150 gr in the 7mm-08. Either will work at much longer range than you are shooting.

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Shilen barrels are button rifled, where Krieger barrels are rifle cut. Rifle cut barrels are considered the best there is, but that's also refelcted in the price.

If you are just going to be shooting game at under 300 yards, the shilens standard match barrel should be fine. But if you wanted a rifle that could double in and f-class match or something of that nature, the select match grade, Krieger, or Lawton might be nice.

For a while Krieger was backup pretty bad on everything except .30 caliber in military twists.....hmmm...wonder why.....I'd make sure they had cleared it before I went with them. I would probably call Lawton if I desired a rifle cut barrel.

With Shilen just an hour down the road, I'd walk in and talk with them, see what kind of deal they had for the locals, and what suggestions they had on profiles ect. Besides, It's nice to support local business.

 

[old #7]

Stay with the 260.
How does your current rifle shoot.

 

[louielouie]

I recently had a Shilen barrel in 260 Rem installed on my Rem Model 600 (was a .308). Standard Match #3 contour with the 1:8 4-groove rachet rifling. Now that the barrel is 'broke in' there is hardly any copper fouling after a 10-rd+ string. The clover-leafs with Nosler 140 HPBT, H4831SC are starting to appear - just gotta tinker with seating depth.

My hunting partner uses a 7-08 in a Winchester and he's quite happy with it - when he pulls the trigger a deer falls.
If you don't have any investment in reloading the 260 Rem then I'd say the 7-08 ammo & components is going to be easier to find most anywhere you go. I can't find 260 Rem brass (none of the online retailers have it at this time) so I'm using 7-08 brass (not my hunting partners). Necking up 243 brass is troublesome.

 

[ldg397]

To answer some of the questions.

It currently shoots anywhere from just under an inch to inch and a quarter with reloads, sad thing is it likes the remington core lokt factory 140's better than anything elase so far. I had a gunsmith borescope it and he said the chamber and just ahead of it are pretty rough even for a factory remington barrel. The toughest thing is the inconsistancy when the barrel starts to heat up a little after just three rounds. Makes for a long day at the range waiting on the barrel to cool.

I do have all the equipment for reloading the .260 already including several bullets and brass. I will probably keep the .260, my other rifle is a 30-06 sako 85 greywolf. They compliment each other pretty well in range of bullet weights.

Just curious why you went with the 1:8? I think my current one is 1:9. I have never heard of that rifling before??

 

[Ol` Joe]

Just curious why you went with the 1:8? I think my current one is 1:9. I have never heard of that rifling before??

The 1/8" is becoming the prefered twist today from what I hear others are useing. I have one on my Hart barrel 6.5x55 and it is a shooter.
The original 6.5 twist used by the Swedes and other early 6.5 military cartridges was 1/7.5" Remington when to a 1/9" with the 260 probably to help keep pressure down. The slower twist though doesn`t seem to shoot the 140 gr and up bullet wgts as well as the faster, and that is where the 1/8 shines.

I have also rebarreled a couple rifles useing Shilen and Walther barrels and like both. The Walthers appear to clean up better and shoot a touch tighter but, others may find different. Pac-Nor is getting a lot of praise for hunting/varmite rifle rebarreling lately and are reasonable in price. I would take a look at them too, if in the market for a new tube.

 

[Powerstroke]

To switch to the 7-08 would be an easy swap. I own both ( 2 ) .260's and one 7-08. Both Rem 700 Varmiters are tack drivers... the Model 7 I understand completely what you say about the heating issue and then walking bullets all over the place.

I've taken elk with both rounds and the only reason I'd go towards the 7-08 has already been mentioned... availability of brass / bullets / loaded ammo if your not into a lot of hand-loading.

If it's only deer your hunting....a 24 or 25 inch barrel with 100 through 130 grain bullets and your set.

 

[louielouie]

Just curious why you went with the 1:8? I think my current one is 1:9. I have never heard of that rifling before??

The 1/8" is becoming the preferred twist today from what I hear others are useing. I have one on my Hart barrel 6.5x55 and it is a shooter.
The original 6.5 twist used by the Swedes and other early 6.5 military cartridges was 1/7.5" Remington when to a 1/9" with the 260 probably to help keep pressure down. The slower twist though doesn`t seem to shoot the 140 gr and up bullet wgts as well as the faster, and that is where the 1/8 shines.

...

I had loaded a ballistic calculator on my Palm phone and the recommended twist for the Nosler 140gr HPBT is 1:7.95 so I would imagine the the VLD's & 160gr might need it & more...

 

[Guest]

I know you didn't mention it, but what about a lilja barrel? My neighbor just had a 280 ackley barrel put on and it shoots real well. I would stay with your 260 rem and look at #4 or 5 contours.