this time would be no different. Along with the bullet change I also dropped the powder charge from 43 to 42 grains of Ramshot Hunter and H4831SC and adjusted the seating depth to 0.025" off the lands. The results were astounding! My groups shrunk in size from nickels to dimes, with the H4831SC load shoot- ing a slightly tighter group at 100 yards. I was extremely happy with this load but like most shooters I can’t leave well enough alone and decided I needed to tinker a little more. I wanted to see how the slower
powders would perform in my rifle so I loaded a few rounds with Retumbo and Magpro with varying seating depths just like before and headed back to the range. Forty-two grains of Retumbo with a Sierra MatchKing grouped just under an inch at 100 yards and the Magpro Loads were not very consistent at all, with the best group measuring an inch and a half at 100 yards. Seems this rifle prefers powders with a faster burn rate. With this in mind I went back to the bench to see what else I had on hand to try. I had a couple of pounds of IMR 4064, AA2520, and H4350. I loaded 10 rounds of each powder, and since the magic number seemed to be 0.025" off the lands I loaded five rounds with a 140-grain Hornady A-Max and five rounds with a 140-grain Sierra Match- King just for comparison’s sake. The Prairie Dog MaTch At our local range here in south-
eastern Arizona there is a group of guys who participate in what we call a Prairie Dog Match. It is held once a month dur- ing the cooler months, usually between September and March. The match con- sists of 10 steel plate targets 4" wide and 8" tall which we call dogs. We have two sets of dogs, one red and one black, to allow for two shooters at the firing line at a time. Each shooter has a spotter, 15 rounds of ammo, and a 15-minute time limit. Two dogs of each color are placed at the 200-meter berm and three dogs of each color are placed at the 300- and 400-meter berms. The last two dogs are placed at the 500-meter berm. The shooter at the end of the match with the best score, i.e., 10 for 10 or 10 for 12, wins bragging rights until the next match. It sounds easy enough but it is quite a bit more difficult than it sounds. As some of you may know, the winds in southern Arizona can be very strong
and very tricky, always gusting rather than a steady breeze, and the 400-meter berm for some reason always seems to be the most difficult for shooters. The range is situated just north of the Gila River at the base of the Gila Mountain Range, with the shooting positions located at the south end and shooting berms stretching to the north, 800 yards toward the mountains. I built this rifle specifically to
compete in this competition and I think it’s going to perform very well as a match rifle. The high B.C. of the 6.5mm 140-grain Berger VLD is perfectly suited for this game, and it was time to start developing loads with this bullet. I decided to load a few rounds with the 42 grains of H4831SC load since it shot so well, and set up a target at 200 yards. In my experience with Berger Bullets they need a little distance to stabilize because of the VLD Design, and group much better at 200 yards. The range conditions were less than desirable at the range, as usual, and I had to deal with a left wind at 15 mph. Luckily, the wind was steady and not gusting, allowing me to shoot a great group at 200 yards. The Bergers shot beautifully
and I was able to put five rounds into a group that I was able to cover easily with a nickel. In the table below are the author’s
various loads tested during develop- ment. Each load shown shot 1" groups or under at 200 yards, with 42.0 grains of H4831SC proving to be the most accurate and consistent, with groups measuring in the 0.7s at 200 yards. In the end I am very happy with
how my rifle turned out. Although the 260 Remington may not be every shooter’s choice, and definitely not the best cartridge to benefit from improv- ing the case, it does benefit just enough to shoot the 140-class bullets very well, and that’s all I wanted. Some shooters may pass it over for other cartridges, such as the 6.5x284 Norma with similar performance, and that’s OK. I wanted something different and exciting, and nothing is quite as exciting as building your own cases and doing your own load development and seeing it all come together. The 260 Ackley isn’t for everyone, but it is for me, and now I get the rewarding satisfaction of shooting an accurate custom rifle. Nothing could be better!
Ballistics Data Bullet 120-gr. A-Max
140-gr. Berger VLD 140-gr. Sierra MK 140-gr. A-Max
140-gr. Sierra MK 140-gr. Berger VLD 140-gr. A-Max
260 Remington Ackley Improved Powder Charge 40.0 gr. Varget
42.0 gr. H4831SC 43.0 gr. Hunter 42.5 gr. Retumbo 43.0 gr. Magpro 42.0 gr. IMR 4064 39.5 gr. IMR 4064
Velocity 3,285 fps
2,840 fps 2,780 fps 2,620 fps 2,720 fps 3,155 fps 2,973 fps
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