Originally Posted by
jpdown
After playing with the 308, 30-06 and 7mm RM over the years, I settled on the 6.5-284 as my long range hunting rifle and the 260 as my light weight hunting rifle. The ballistics and down-range performance of the 6.5mm bullets in these two calibers is hard to beat. I started with the 260 and Remington brass. But the primer pockets were done after only several firings with MAX loads. Laupa brass is more expensive, but requires little initial prep work and it holds up under multiple firings. You can purchase 50 cases by the piece with a few extra's for replacements and have plenty to use for load work-up and hunting. My 6.5-284 26" CBI LV contour barrel really shines with 140 gr Bergers (BC .612) and RL-17 (MV 3050) with H4350 a very close second. Best I can tell, the performance is comparible to the 7mm RM factory loads without the recoil. IMO, barrel life is not a issue if it's intended use is for hunting and not competition.