.260 - Long action required for 140 grain bullets?

Demaiter · February 22, 2009, 02:17 PM

I was told I should use a long action for a .260 if I wanted to shoot the 140 grain bullets. The reason, was because I would have to seat the bullets too deep so the OAL would fit in a short action. In a long action I could keep them out more.

With the bullets being seated deeper I loose powder space and I'd be loosing power. To gain this power back I could but don't want to create compressed loads as pressures would rise.

As anyone heard of what I'm talking about? Is this an issue? How much of an issue is it? I plan on shooting 140 accubonds or 140 grain partitions.

If it is infact an issue, how does the 7mm08 shooting 140 up to 160 grain bullets work?

hodaka · February 22, 2009, 04:15 PM

Naturally a longer action will allow you to seat bullets longer, but that may not be necessary. The cut of the chamber will determine how long you need to seat them. Actually, your rifle may not like the 140's. I have a 10 twist 260 and a 9 twist 6.5-06. Neither shoot 140's nearly as well as they shoot 120's. I tried every 140 grain bullet I could find with 3 different powders until I gave up. Fortunately, both shoot cloverleafs with the 120's and 123's.

February 22, 2009, 02:17 PM	#1
Demaiter Senior Member Join Date: October 27, 2008 Posts: 242	.260 - Long action required for 140 grain bullets? I was told I should use a long action for a .260 if I wanted to shoot the 140 grain bullets. The reason, was because I would have to seat the bullets too deep so the OAL would fit in a short action. In a long action I could keep them out more. With the bullets being seated deeper I loose powder space and I'd be loosing power. To gain this power back I could but don't want to create compressed loads as pressures would rise. As anyone heard of what I'm talking about? Is this an issue? How much of an issue is it? I plan on shooting 140 accubonds or 140 grain partitions. If it is infact an issue, how does the 7mm08 shooting 140 up to 160 grain bullets work?

February 22, 2009, 04:15 PM	#2
hodaka Senior Member Join Date: April 23, 2006 Location: South Texas Posts: 2,010	Naturally a longer action will allow you to seat bullets longer, but that may not be necessary. The cut of the chamber will determine how long you need to seat them. Actually, your rifle may not like the 140's. I have a 10 twist 260 and a 9 twist 6.5-06. Neither shoot 140's nearly as well as they shoot 120's. I tried every 140 grain bullet I could find with 3 different powders until I gave up. Fortunately, both shoot cloverleafs with the 120's and 123's.