260 rem for varmints?

[dayzmagnumhunter]

Now I was looking at buying another centre fire rifle and was wondering if the 260 rem is too much for varmints like-
foxes
feral cats

and if it is a suitable calibre for-
roo
wild dogs
pigs
and deer
thanks for the help!

[MeccaOz]

Mate I'd say it would be on the money, not sure if it's deer legal in some states, but 25-06 seems to be gaining ground for all you have mentioned above ( At least in my part of the country ) Plus I have to admit a nice .260 Would be mighty fine to have *Drools*

[yoshie]

That's what I'm using, its great on fallow and reds too. As long as your not keeping pelts

[Chronos]

IMHO the .260 is a great hunting round filling the gap perfectly between the high velocity .243 and the big hitting .30cals but I don't think its flat shooting enough to make it a varminting round.

With the huge volume of fast expanding varmint .22, .25 cal and 6mm bullets I couldnt go past them for a 6.5

That said the 6.5's and 7mm's make a good case for selection over the .308 when chasing heavier game such as the middle weight deer and pigs.

Looking at your list all but the last two species could easily be taken with a .223 at less cost, less noise, less recoil and less barrel wear


Chronos

[teekay0]

I have a Tikka Super Varmint in .260 Rem .

It's great on all of those game (foxes, has long as you don't want the skins)

Have shot Pigs n goats so far with mine and my mates Ruger 260 Rem .

Love the 260.

[Seconds]

Expect pelt damage on foxes with a .260, but if you don't want to take pelts then no worries.

Double checking SA's requirements for deer hunting as .270 is required in some states for the larger species.

No worries for the chital deer, fallow and hog though.

[yoshie]

100g and 120g bullets will shoot nearly as flat at 55g out of a 223.

[Chronos]

100g and 120g bullets will shoot nearly as flat at 55g out of a 223.

maybe close but a 100gr bullet in 6.5 will have much worse ballistics than say a 140gr bullet and will cost at least double the .22 cal bullets (55gr Zmax can be had under 20c, a 100gr vmax in 6.5 is around 60c), i'd like to sit down and play with a ballistic program and look what can be achieved but to be honest i cant see the 6.5 ever getting close to a .243 for drop

Chronos

[teekay0]

Doesn't a 22-250 shoot flatter than a .223?

And a .260 Rem shoots flatter that a .300 Win Mag?

Also, it's a shame that some states in Australia have min cal .270w for deer beause the 6.5x55 has taken some of the biggest deer in Europe for about 100 years.

And the .260 Rem is just about par with the 6.5 x 55 SW.

tk0

[Westy]

Not to rain on anyones parade but have you thought about buying a 6.5x55 in a Tikka or a sako???? Hell of alot cheaper to feed than the 260 and will do any varmiting your heart desires with a 85Grn-160Grn. Just a thought!!!!

[Redwood]

Also, it's a shame that some states in Australia have min cal .270w for deer beause the 6.5x55 has taken some of the biggest deer in Europe for about 100 years.

They had to draw the line somewhere I suppose.

So close though, literally a hairs width between them.

So close!

[dayzmagnumhunter]

thanks for all of your help I think that I have made my choice

[Westy]

So What did you Get?????

[chacka]

Yeah, spill the beans

[Jorge in Oz]

Also, it's a shame that some states in Australia have min cal .270w for deer beause the 6.5x55 has taken some of the biggest deer in Europe for about 100 years.

They had to draw the line somewhere I suppose.

So close though, literally a hairs width between them.

So close!

Hi guys my first post here on Enough Gun.

That's a bug bear of mine moving from Qld to Vic and having a restriction like that when you can hunt Reds in Qld with a 6.5x55 and no one will bat an eyelid. Now they have omitted the restriction on the length of the cartridge (which was a minimum of 2 inches) which technically means you can hunt Sambar with a 44 Magnum as long as it has a pill greater than 130 grains. Doesn't make sense. I hunt Sambar with a 303-270 at the moment (also have an 8x57 Mauser sporter) and I think I'm under gunned but it is still legal. I would take a 6.5mm Swede over my 303-270 any day. But that is the law and it must be complied with. Still annoys me though.

Cheers

[Bark]

Welcome Jorge

Mmmm, annoying after the move. At least you had calibres that were still above board after you came to VIC.

I know a few guys moved and their existing guns were not longer 'legal' so had to replace their kit for no real reason

Oh well. Better shooting in VIC than QLD anyway, hey?

[Norton]

G'day Jorge.

Welcome to the forum.

[Member-Deleted]

Has anyone here ever been stopped by any type of authority's to check there kill?

[Lorgar]

Yep,

A pair of my mates where hunting in North Vic and when they drove back into town (with a deer in the back) they got approached by a couple of rangers.

Checked their licences, game permits, calibre requirements etc. The whole nine yards.

I wasn't there personally, but from the way they tell the story the rangers were working quite hard to pull them up on something.

Not the case for all of them I'm sure, but they got a pair of hard-cases for their one encounter.

[dayzmagnumhunter]

I got a tikka t3 super varmint in 260rem
yay

[Turkle]

Awwww yeah

[Jorge in Oz]

Cheers Bark & Norton.