260 Remington for Whitetail Deer. Max Range

[stomp442]

Here is a couple scenarios from the past couple years for me. 1st is my buck from last year that we found feeding toward the top of a ridge the next mountain over. It had been a long hunt and this being the last day I decided to take this small buck. He was feeding up and away from us and we only had minutes to find a shooting position and get a range before he fed over the top. Range was taken at 1243 yards elevation was dialed and the shot was made. First one went right over his back and he froze the next one entered his last rib and came out about four ribs forward on the offside with a nice nickel sized hole. Shot was not perfect but he only took about three steps before he rolled down the mountain. This was done with a 6.5-284 shooting a 140 Amax at only 2840fps not any faster than my 260. This past December my friends wife was able to take a buck in a very similar fashion at almost 700 yards with a 120 Amax entering and exiting both front shoulders producing a very clean and instant dirt nap. I don't see how the big 30 cal magnums are doing anything different.

[yobuck]

well certainly that should answer lonewolfs question.

[yobuck]

I know other hunters who swear by MK's as well--but what are these bullets doing on impact? As far as I know they more or less vaporize and turn tissue to blood-shot jello--but that is apparently the attraction of them at longer ranges--a large area of traumatized meat being preferable to a "one that got away" having not quite hit the mark.

i cant honestly answer those questions. im sure they arent vaporizing as there is always an exit hole. is tissue damage caused by
the bullet or the energy induced by the bullet? there are seemingly many experts on this subject. how many have first hand experience
could be a different matter. hitting the "mark" can be challenging at any distance for any hunter so im not sure thats a good assesment
of the situation. i would suggest you make notes of your own experiences with your own guns. also make note of other information you
find. at some point you will be deciding whats best for you based on all youve gathered.

[thermaler]

i cant honestly answer those questions. im sure they arent vaporizing as there is always an exit hole. is tissue damage caused by
the bullet or the energy induced by the bullet? there are seemingly many experts on this subject. how many have first hand experience
could be a different matter. hitting the "mark" can be challenging at any distance for any hunter so im not sure thats a good assesment
of the situation. i would suggest you make notes of your own experiences with your own guns. also make note of other information you
find. at some point you will be deciding whats best for you based on all youve gathered.I've been reluctant to try MK's as a hunting load mostly because of the thin jacket issues and "franging" charateristics that other hunters have told they encountered--maybe that's an issue only at higher velocities and/or if hitting something hard. I get your drift though.

[stomp442]

I prefer the fragmenting type of bullet myself. I like them to dump as much energy as they can into the animal not the ground behind it. If they do leave exits they are rather large and internal damage is still excessive. I prefer the bergers over the matchkings because they offer slightly higher ballistic coefficients for the long range shooting that I do. Every little bit helps.

[thermaler]

... I like them to dump as much energy as they can into the animal not the ground behind it. .That's the basic reason other hunters tell me they like em.

[yobuck]

That's the basic reason other hunters tell me they like em.

well we also do extensive shooting and testing of various bullets. as ive mentioned we can do that without leaving our front yard.
i will admitt to not having tested bergers in all calibers. we have not tested the new version 338 for example. i also havent tried them in 30 cal.
i feel all of them will give good results. i also feel there is a certain ammount of berger mania
going on at this point. ive been being told for several years now im using the wrong bullets in my 7x300 weatherby. a guy i know in n. dakota even sent me a handfull of 180 bergers so i could convince myself. i used those up then paid about 50 bucks for another box. after a couple days i decided im going to use up the 1600 162 hornadys i have. this stuff can drive you nuts if you allow it by listening to everything you hear.
ill just give you an example of how nuts it can get. a few years back i became aquainted with a guy from kansas
ive yet to meet personaly. he contacted me about aquiring a set of big eyes and i hooked him up. since then we talk often and have become friends. he had/has a 338x378 custom gun built by somebody in i think wyoming. the gun has a 28" barrel which isnt enough for max velocity. about 2850 is what he gets with a 300 gr. about 2 years ago he decided he wanted another gun larger than the one he has with a longer barrel. i hooked him up with a pa smith who told him a year wait for the gun. about 6 months later i saw the smith and asked
how jakes gun was coming. he said well i had the barrel but was told to ship it back due to a bad steel issue going around that industry.
it took jake about a year and a half before he had the gun. he had it about 6 weeks before the season with the new nightforce sitting on top. i called him to see how he was doing with load testing as its the same gun i have. he said i havent shot it yet because i cant find bullets anywhere. the gen 1 bergers he had were known to come apart with velocity which led to the discontinuance of them.
i said jake ill send you some of my smks. he said no i wont shoot those. so the new gun he waited so long for sat this season and he used his old one because he didnt have bergers. you call that what you want and ill call it what i want. berger mania and thats being kind.

[thermaler]

well we also do extensive shooting and testing of various bullets. as ive mentioned we can do that without leaving our front yard.
i will admitt to not having tested bergers in all calibers. we have not tested the new version 338 for example. i also havent tried them in 30 cal.
i feel all of them will give good results. i also feel there is a certain ammount of berger mania
going on at this point. ive been being told for several years now im using the wrong bullets in my 7x300 weatherby. a guy i know in n. dakota even sent me a handfull of 180 bergers so i could convince myself. i used those up then paid about 50 bucks for another box. after a couple days i decided im going to use up the 1600 162 hornadys i have. this stuff can drive you nuts if you allow it by listening to everything you hear.
ill just give you an example of how nuts it can get. a few years back i became aquainted with a guy from kansas
ive yet to meet personaly. he contacted me about aquiring a set of big eyes and i hooked him up. since then we talk often and have become friends. he had/has a 338x378 custom gun built by somebody in i think wyoming. the gun has a 28" barrel which isnt enough for max velocity. about 2850 is what he gets with a 300 gr. about 2 years ago he decided he wanted another gun larger than the one he has with a longer barrel. i hooked him up with a pa smith who told him a year wait for the gun. about 6 months later i saw the smith and asked
how jakes gun was coming. he said well i had the barrel but was told to ship it back due to a bad steel issue going around that industry.
it took jake about a year and a half before he had the gun. he had it about 6 weeks before the season with the new nightforce sitting on top. i called him to see how he was doing with load testing as its the same gun i have. he said i havent shot it yet because i cant find bullets anywhere. the gen 1 bergers he had were known to come apart with velocity which led to the discontinuance of them.
i said jake ill send you some of my smks. he said no i wont shoot those. so the new gun he waited so long for sat this season and he used his old one because he didnt have bergers. you call that what you want and ill call it what i want. berger mania and thats being kind.My impression is that in general most hunters will swear by whatever brings the meat home. I learned a long time ago the folly of "just because I can't/won't do it" doesn't mean someone else out there can't successfully. I guess you could say I'm a "timid" shooter and tend to stay well within manufacturer's recommendations. : )

[yobuck]

bringing the meat home is one thing. having opinions based on opinions is something else.
id be learning to be listening to your gun and be using other data as a starting reference.
thats the one reason i sold my 6.5wsm. my gun was telling me i was pushing it hard.
if i pushed it less could i do with less gun?

[thermaler]

[QUOTE=yobuck;240424]...having opinions based on opinions is something else.
QUOTE]Isn't that the purpose of the Internet? : ) I do tend to pay attention to what more experienced shooters tell me.

[stomp442]

I was a big match king, game king guy forever until the bergers started becoming readily available around here. I was more than happy with what the sierras were doing for me but when the opportunity arose to apply more energy flatter trajectory and less wind drift at long range I jumped all over it. I shot them side by side in a 308, 270, 250 savage and a 260 ackley. The bergers provided night and day differences at 800 yards as far as wind drift and trajectory and has proved to be absolutely devastating on game. Call it mania if you want but they are consistently better performers for me and why I use them. In regards to your friend not shooting his new gun this year because he couldn't get some bergers is a little fanatical but to each his own.

[chukarmandoo]

I know this thread is old but I really didn't see an answer to his question. Deer season is just around the corner and this year I'm headed again to Montana to hunt upland birds. But this year I will be adding deer to the mix and I think my shot could be a long long one. I haven't decided yet what rifle I'm taking but it will be a 6.5 and 140 VLD Bergers. The 6.5-284 runs them out at 3000 fps at 200' above sea level and the 260 is getting 2825. The 260 is set up a lot better but the 6.5-284 will still do the job at distance a lot better. I thinking ether at 1000 to 1200 yards with the hunting vld's. At the end of October I might know. Everyone can rest assured that I won't take the shot unless I know I can make it.

[stomp442]

Either one is more than capable on deer at those ranges. Putting the bullet where it needs to go is the most important thing. I would use whatever one I could consistently shoot better with.

[chukarmandoo]

Ya, It should be an interesting hunt. Hope to spend a little over 3 weeks there. Almost all of that time will be bird hunting with my dogs, then trying to get a nice buck the last couple of days.

[yobuck]

So what area are you headed to Chuck, im assuming since birds are involved probably eastern?

[chukarmandoo]

Ya, Yobuck, Headed almost to North Dakota. About 70 miles west of the state line. Been going there the last few years. Love to hunt Sharpies. I think its a tossup between Sharpies in Montana and Chukars in Oregon. Thus Chukarmandoo! This year going to try a little deer hunting. Last time I went got a nice whitetail fork, but it was with my truck! First deer I've ever hit and it messed things up pretty bad!

[Apex-Predator]

Little late to the party but being a 6.5mm nut let me run some basic numbers for you, with low drag bullets like the 140gr VLD hunting in my 6.5x55 I can retain ethical deer killing speed and energy (using the 1,000 ft/lbs and 1,800fps standard) out to 750 yards in my 6.5x55, and the 260 is hardly if any slower with the 140s, Nosler lists loads up to 2830fps with is actually slightly faster then what I am running in the Sweed. While I am a darn good shot I try and limit myself to the 400 yard range so I cannot tell you from experience what they do at 750 but the speed for proper expansion and kinetic energy are certainly there, no reason they would not work. 700+ yard range in a very light recoil rifle with exceptional external ballistics and wind bucking capability, I call that a real winner. Despite what some of the magnum junkies and 30 cal fanatics say 6.5mms are highly effective on game, with my 140gr SSTs and 120gr BTs I get wider wounds then with my rather fast 7mm-08, no idea why but there is no mistaking it.

[basshawg42]

I will be shooting a 6.5 creedmore for the first time this year it's a Savage LRP trigger is set at 10 ounces. I plan on taking a whitetail at 5/600 yards. Can't wait!!!!!