I like the idea of the 260 Remington, especially since 308 and 30-06 recoil kick my ass due to nerve damage, but from everything I've read the 140/142gr bullets need to be set back in the cartridge case because of the space limitation of the short action. After spending a week doing research I decided to go with the 6.5x55, because of increased performance of the round when reloading and most especially since loaded ammo is $3-$4 cheaper a box than 260 here and surprisingly I discovered that x55 brass is .10 to .20 cents cheaper than 260 - and I'm referring to Lapua brass. I want to shoot the occasional bolt match from time to time, I'm a big time bolt gun newbie, and hunt exclusively with it. Imagine my surprise when I contacted the Savage Custom Shop today and was told that I could not get a 5.6x55 made. Really upset over that as really it is just a barrel for Pete's sake, the bolt face is the same as what is used for the 30-06/308.

Dejected, I ended up on the Remington website and was surprised to discover that they have the 6.5x55 caliber listed so I called them in inquire as to how I could get the long range model in x55 caliber, but after listening to the phone ring for 10 minutes I hung up and called the Custom Shop Number. Seems that Remington's Custom Shop has been farmed out to Dakota Arms and a base model custom 6.5x55 would start at approx. $2800.

After doing some more research this evening it dawned on me that since I'm planning on reloading why not get a 260 in a long action so that I can load the 140/142gr bullets further in the neck and not have to worry about being limited by the length of the magazine. This could also fix the loss of capacity in the case due to set back.

Would this be feasible? Any issues that I am unaware of that would affect cycling / reliability of using a short action cartridge in a long action?

Would seating the 140/142gr bullets forward in the case necessitate a different chamber cut as the bullet would be forward a little more or would existing chambers be fine?

Am I wrong in thinking / assuming (we all know what happens when we assume) that moving the bullet forward out of the case may allow for a slight increase in performance - especially if an extra grain or two can be added (only if it does not exceed max loads for safety)?

Am I on to something or do I need to go back to the drawing board?

Thanks for any advice.