308 vs 260 vs 7mm08

[FALshootist]

I'm looking for a bolt action rifle for boar hunting. I have an fal in 308 and was thinking of that or a 7 mm o8 Winchester. Now the hot round seems to be the 260. I need advice from experienced hunters as to the best round.

From what I read individually about each round the 308 has the most loading data for it. However i don't reload. The 7mm 08 may be the best but now the 260 seems to be getting alot of press. is this just a fad or is this round as readily available as the 308, for that matter is the 7 mm 08?

Thanks, sorry for my lack of experience with these rounds.

[Andrew Wyatt]

the .308 is pretty much stocked everywhere, whereas 7mm 08 and .260 aren't.

.308 is more versitile than both of those rounds, and you can get ball for much less than either one of those rounds cost.

i'd stick with a .308.

you really don't need to get another rifle to hunt with, since you have an FAL.

[Mannlicher]

Interestingly enough, nothing you shoot with either of the three would know the difference. I would go with the best deal you can get on the best quality rifle, used or new, in any of these calibers.

[Nodakmarine]

Personally, I prefer the .308 Winchester. It's more common, while I haven't checked prices on the others, I'd be willing to bet it's just as cheap or cheaper in civilian loadings and a lot cheaper in military surplus loads as well. I'm also more of a fan of the .30 caliber loads in that you can use 168 grain match ammo for longer ranges that also handles wind drift better than the lighter 7mm calibers (is there such a thing as .260 or 7-08 match ammo made by anybody?), 150 grain ammo for thin skinned game and heavier bullets for heavier game. Yeah, the gun rags have been giving the new .260 a lot of press these days mainly because it's newer. The .308 has been around for a while and there's not much for them to write about that hasn't been written already. Just look at the loading manuals information between the calibers you mentioned and see the number of loads for the .308 versus the 7-08 and .260 loadings. Like it's been said before, I doubt anything you are going to shoot with either of these calibers is going to know the difference but as far as the shooter is concerned, there's a lot more things you can do with the .308 than the other calibers.

[BusGunner007]

Just buy a shorter FAL and be HAPPY!!!:p

Thus ends the caliber controversy!;)

[BusGunner007]

I forgot to put in the photo:

[pilon]

How about recoil, blast...?
Witch is the least hard to the shoulder?
I'm talking about light rifles here (undre 6 1/2 pounds sans scope)

[P-990]

Pilon,
If you calculate the numbers, the 260 has the least recoil. IMO all three of your possible choices have very minimal muzzle blast. But, IF you can find .260 ammo on the shelves, it will most likely be at a dedicated gunshop, and the prices do seem rather high compared to the others (until you realize that most of the .260 loads available are loaded with premium brand bullets). Sunday I made the decision for a new deer/medium game rifle and selected the 260 in a Remington Mtn Rifle. Accurate, low recoil, light weight, and the reloading stuff will soon be on order! BTW, two boxes of ammo (Remington Partitions and Federal Premium) cost me $47.00. Although I have absolutely NO experience with boar hunting, I suspect that I would probably grab my other rifle (a 96/44) before the Remington. ;)

[Peter M. Eick]

I shoot the 308 out of my m1a's and the 7-08 out of a rem-700bdl.

The 7-08 has a great selection of bullets and is a good accurate round.

The 308 is available everywhere.

I do not know much about the 260 so no comments.

I view it that the 7-08 is a good hunting round, slightly better ballistics then the 308 and there are many good 7mm hunting bullets.

It is a judgement call, I do not think you would go wrong with any, but I stopped and the 7-08. I wanted more performance, but still a hunting rifle so I got a 25-06rem instead of a 260.

[TaxPhd]

The .270 beats all three of your choices handily. The only downside compared to the ones you listed is that .270 requires a long action.

[FALshootist]

Thanks I appreciate your input. I'll probably stick with the 308 but I'm in no real hurry to make a decision so I'll see. There seems to be a ton of good information on this board.

[Biathlonman]

People always slam the .260 because "you can't get ammo for it" but just last week I saw .260 ammo at Wal-Mart...there goes that theory!

Guess you know what my vote would be for.

[-Yo-]

For bore hunting, I'd probably go with the 7-08 or .308. But personally, I prefer the .260 because I shoot paper 90% of the time. The 260 is very forgiving... loads aren't real critical, and the 140 bullets have a very high BC which helps in long range shooting.

If you reload, 260 is actually cheaper than .308 because premium bullets are a little less. For hunting though, you'll have a bigger selection in 7mm or .20 cal.

[Sam Norton]

I have a stainless Model 7 in 7-08. It is my favorite of the 11 guns I own. If you reload I would get the same. If not I might go for the 308 for the cheap practice ammo. If you get the Model 7 I would recommend you recrown it. Mine had .003 of the lands rubbed off about 1/8 deep form their crowning tool. I gained an 1" in accuracy once I found and fixed it. Also I would remove the recoil pad, throw it in the trash. It looks 3/8 or thicker but only has 1/8 of pad. Tape the stock and fill it s 3/4 full with spray foam. Trust me it will expand. Cut off the excess when it dries, then put on a good recoil pad. The foam will fix the noise problem you won't notice until the first day of hunting season.

Best
Sam

[JohnKSa]

Every shooter I've heard or read who's actually used a .260 or a 6.5x55 (ballistic equivalent of the .260) on game has been VERY impressed with its performance.

I just spoke with a friend from work today who commented that the two deer he shot last year with his .260 went down like he'd hit them with a 7mm Mag.

Also, there's a very vocal proponent of the .260 who regularly posts successful hog hunt results with his .260 on another forum.

I think there are a few reasons for the .260s unusually good performance on game.

1. It's a very accurate round--which is very confidence inspiring to the shooter.

2. It recoils very little which means that the shooter doesn't have to think/worry about recoil either consciously or subconsciously. Also, he's more likely to practice with it since it's a joy, not a chore, to shoot.

3. For some reason, the traditional bullet weights for the 6.5 (.260) caliber tend to be quite long in relation to their diameter resulting in bullets which penetrate very well, even on tough game.

4. The moderate velocities tend to cut down on problems with bullet failure.

I wouldn't have any problem using it on hogs as long as you use good quality ammunition. I'd think I'd use something with a 140 grain bullet.

[glock glockler]

Does anyone know of any empirical data of the effectiveness of the 260 for anti-personel use?

[Mannlicher]

glock glockler,
in the absence of imperical data, you can interpolate from the data involving virtually any similar caliber. Remember, that military data most likely will involve the use of FMJ bullets, so your best choice for data would probably be hunting accidents.

It does stand to reason, that a high velocity expanding bullet from a .260 would be fairly emphatic in it's effect on a human being.