Youth - 260 Rem or 25.06??

[choprzrul]

Ruger American® Rifle GO WILD® Camo Bolt-Action Rifle Model 36924

ruger.com

Start with these light Hammer Hunters: https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-85g-hammer-hunter/

Load the above with enough fps to match the max distance you anticipate shooting at game. You will end up with about 8 lbs of recoil....then subtract the recoil reduction of the muzzle brake.....and you have a very tame deer slayer.

As the child grows and becomes accustomed to, and better able to handle, recoil; step the bullet up to the 97gr AH. Running over 3200fps with that 16" barrel should be possible. https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-97g-absolute-hammer/

I have this exact rifle on its way to my FFL as I type this for my granddaughter who will be 7 in April. With a flat buttplate, it should be right at 12" LOP and a great platform for her to migrate to once she is ready to graduate from the 22 Cricket I got her.

 

[1raggedhole]

View attachment 328789

Ruger American® Rifle GO WILD® Camo Bolt-Action Rifle Model 36924

ruger.com

Start with these light Hammer Hunters: https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-85g-hammer-hunter/

Load the above with enough fps to match the max distance you anticipate shooting at game. You will end up with about 8 lbs of recoil....then subtract the recoil reduction of the muzzle brake.....and you have a very tame deer slayer.

As the child grows and becomes accustomed to, and better able to handle, recoil; step the bullet up to the 97gr AH. Running over 3200fps with that 16" barrel should be possible. https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-97g-absolute-hammer/

I have this exact rifle on its way to my FFL as I type this for my granddaughter who will be 7 in April. With a flat buttplate, it should be right at 12" LOP and a great platform for her to migrate to once she is ready to graduate from the 22 Cricket I got her.

Second on this one. The 100-grain TTSX could be subbed if HH's weren't in hand. The most important factor IMHO is gun fit. It can be a "make or break" issue.

 

[Swinehunt74]

260, using 120 Barnes TTSX on top of Superperformance-start at 44gr and go up to 46gr. Average velocity out of 22" over 3000fps!!!! You will love this combo.............

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

260, using 120 Barnes TTSX on top of Superperformance-start at 44gr and go up to 46gr. Average velocity out of 22" over 3000fps!!!! You will love this combo.............

This ^^^^. 120 or 127Lrx . Lite recoil.

 

[Hard rock]

This ^^^^. 120 or 127Lrx . Lite recoil.

The only problem with the 260 , most likely it's a 1-9 twist . Im going too say this for one reason only , the 6.5 creed would be a better choice because of the - 1-8 twist which is standard for the creed . If the 260 is a 1-8 then that's a different story . If you are going too shoot bullets that will stabilize in a 1-9 and pay attention too that then the 260 would be my choice. If the 260 would have had the faster twist from the get go the creed might not exist.

 

[98dyna]

I have 2 Savage 260 AI's(factory barrels replaced) and 1 Savage 6.5 Creedmoor(factory), all 3 1 in 8 twist. My loads are as follows, 26 inch barrel 127 Barnes LRX on top of 48.1 grns. of H4831 at 2925 fps, 24 inch 5R barrel 140 Barnes Burner on top of 48 grains of N165 at 2850 fps, and the Creedmoor 140 Hornady SST on top of 46.9 grns of N165, running at 2750 fps. In the last 3 years I have harvested 6 deer(1 whitetail and 5 mule deer) at ranges from 50 yards to 325 yards. Just put good optics on those rifles, you'll need them for longer ranges. My 26 inch barrel rifle was set up for shooting up to 1000 yards in West Virginia when I lived there in 2018-19.

 

[deadidarren]

I know I am way late to the party but for anybody else who trips over the thread ask yourself this question which one of your rifles as the father does he shoot well before you buy him one......
I will tell you this if he is muzzle shy don't get him a 2506

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

The only problem with the 260 , most likely it's a 1-9 twist . Im going too say this for one reason only , the 6.5 creed would be a better choice because of the - 1-8 twist which is standard for the creed . If the 260 is a 1-8 then that's a different story . If you are going too shoot bullets that will stabilize in a 1-9 and pay attention too that then the 260 would be my choice. If the 260 would have had the faster twist from the get go the creed might not exist.

I agree, Rem. again dropped the ball with not changing the twist rate years ago. But now we are getting away from the thread pertaining to 260 or 25-06. And the 25 could be added to that discussion as well. But the lite 120 and 127 shoot great out of the 260. Deadly with lite recoil.

 

[choprzrul]

View attachment 328789

Ruger American® Rifle GO WILD® Camo Bolt-Action Rifle Model 36924

ruger.com

Start with these light Hammer Hunters: https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-85g-hammer-hunter/

Load the above with enough fps to match the max distance you anticipate shooting at game. You will end up with about 8 lbs of recoil....then subtract the recoil reduction of the muzzle brake.....and you have a very tame deer slayer.

As the child grows and becomes accustomed to, and better able to handle, recoil; step the bullet up to the 97gr AH. Running over 3200fps with that 16" barrel should be possible. https://hammerbullets.com/product/264-cal-97g-absolute-hammer/

I have this exact rifle on its way to my FFL as I type this for my granddaughter who will be 7 in April. With a flat buttplate, it should be right at 12" LOP and a great platform for her to migrate to once she is ready to graduate from the 22 Cricket I got her.

Following up on my post.

I had the rifle bedded; and the forearm stiffened by bedding an arrow shaft into it. It helped, but it's still more flexible than I like....but I bet the intended end user will never notice

97gr Absolute Hammer
46.0gr CFE223
Federal GM210M
Nosler brass
2.645 COAL

3110fps averaging 3/4" to 1" at 100 yards. I doubt that any of my grandkids shooting this rifle will ever shoot past 200 yards, so I think this is plenty accurate.....plus Papa doesn't shoot very light short stocked rifles very well....

JBM recoil calculator tells me 12.2lbs of recoil....minus whatever effect the muzzle brake has. I can tell you, there isn't much recoil there. There is another node down at 3050 fps that I can explore if recoil is an issue.

Just for giggles, I shot 5 rounds of factory Hornady 140gr ELDM ammo that averaged 0.48"

 

[VLD Pilot]

I agree, Rem. again dropped the ball with not changing the twist rate years ago. But now we are getting away from the thread pertaining to 260 or 25-06. And the 25 could be added to that discussion as well. But the lite 120 and 127 shoot great out of the 260. Deadly with lite recoil.

I think a 270 can as well.

 

[Trentcamp]

Either are fantastic cartridges And will fill the bill with what you seek splendidly. You could argue valid points in both directions. I have both and have cleanly taken whitetail with them both. That being said I'm particularly fond of the 25. It 'kills' way above its weight class. I generally shoot 100 gr partitions over 53 grains of IMR 4350 for 3300 fps out of my rifle. way sub MOA and the most potent deer medicine I've come across yet. I backed the load down a tick when my boys started out and they had no trouble with the recoil. Bryce Towsley wrote a great article on the 25'06 a couple years ago that is good reading. He recommended the 115 gr partition.

 

[Hoss50]

I chose 7mm-08 for my 10yr old. Seems great so far. My dad had a 260 Remington and that was very nice to shoot. I just wanted the option of the 7mm bullets in heavier grain for elk and such. 168gr or higher is easier to find.

I like 6.5 calibers but wanted a little extra oomph for my sons rifle, so we went to 7mm. It is a Ruger American predator we added a muzzle brake to. It shoots very well and has mild recoil with the big brake we put on it from Axisworks.

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

25-06 was the first rifle I had "of my own". I won campion steer at the county show—my dad let me take 400 dollars of my winnings and buy a rifle. I went down to BB pawn in Abilene Texas and they had a Ruger 77V in a 25-06. The rifle was used had the barrel cut and Re-crowned to a little over 22 inches. Bailey (the owner) sold me a used Redfield tracker 3x9 for $65 dollars until I could get some proper glass and stay with in budget. I shot a lot of deer, coyotes, raccoons, and even my first exotic or two. I used mainly 85-90 grain bullets. Still have the rifle—although I didn't realize how heavy it was—or I'm getting weaker. My two main rifles then were both tang safety Rugers— one in a 220 swift (bought it 2 years later) the other that 25-06… have used either one in about 15 years—since I went all left handed. Both deadly on whitetail.

 

[Mike Matteson]

I witch from a 300 H & H Mag to a 25/06 in the mid 70'. It became my go to rifle for a great many years hunt deer size or smaller animals. Move to hunting elk and more up in calibers.
Both my boy's started out with 25/06's. Gee I don't why? They both took there first deer's with those rifles.
As far as twist rates. Copper bullets hadn't really taken hold. So blame the gun builders about the twist rate. I just now gotten a rifle that is built for all copper bullets. So either you look for rifle being built now with faster twist rates or have a new barrel put on an action. So I don't really see the complaining about the rifle twist rate. Maybe a crystal ball would have work back then. I remember when the creekmore and the 260 Rem came out. Copper bullets weren't the big hit. Now with the copper bullet coming into age. Things are changing.
So and update on barrels would go a long ways.