Been contemplating a Tikka CTR for awhile now, found a deal on one in 260 remington, any reason for concern with the cartridge? NO. I am not a reloader at this time.

If you're not a reloader then go 6.5 creed for the ammo.

^^That's right.

What if u do want to reload and 260 fits very neatly with 308 reloading equipment (such as trimmer and thinking about buying go/no-go gauage for savage homesmithing)?

Is there any particular reason 260 ain't as common?

The 260 like other great rounds by remington was f'ed up by Remington. Think 244 remington, 6.5 Rem mag (bbl length). In fact the 6.5 Rem mag was the first true 6.5 short mag wayyyy before Gardner made his gem the 6:5 gap. Problem was from the get go remington butchered twist rate. If I recall the original 260 made by Rem was a 1-11 or 1-12 twist. Tried loading for an original TI and turns out all it could handle was 100gr. That's the biggest reason imo. Also, no good ammo company backed the 260 like the Creedmoor got from the onset. They are very similar some even say ballistic twins. They are both easy to load for and find the 260 to be easier due to broader range of powders that work well.

Jorge covered it well. I do call them ballistic twins. I went from .308 to .260 to 6.5 Creedmoor handloading for all of them. The .260 and the 6.5 Creedmoor each shot a 140 gr bullet at 2800 fps, but the .260 required almost a grain more powder to do it. No big deal.

Hornady was genius in developing the 6.5 Creedmoor when they also built plenty ammo, and made it widely available.

If you don't reload, you are much better off with the 6.5 Creedmoor. The ammo selection is large and growing. You will like the CTR. It's a great rifle.

1. Buy the .260 since it's a good deal
2. Buy handloads from Chad for about the same price as factory
3. $$$ profit.

Good idea. This will also give you time and a reason to start reloading if you’re interested in that.

If the rifle is a good deal, I'd certainly not buy just because it's a 260 Rem. The 260 is a great round. It will outrun the Creedmoor by a little bit. It's easy to load for and is not a finicky round for accuracy. I shot a 260 for years and burned up a barrel with it. The CTR is a great rifle and I wouldn't hesitate to get one in 260 Rem.

I got my first 260 because a buddy sold it at a price i couldn’t turn down. It wasn’t going to be shot much, since it was to be the wife’s hog shooting gun. But, once i bought it, she never wanted to shoot hogs, so i tinkered with handloads and claimed it for my own. Like Chad said, if it’s a good price, buy it. You can bet that it’s very accurate, and the Tikka 260 i now have is great.

What i can’t speak to is factory ammo availability for the 260. I haven’t shot a factory round in a centerfire rifle in 35 or 40 years. Surely you can find ammo, or you can get Chad to load you up some ammo that’s better than factory. Or you might join us reloaders. It adds another level of enjoyment and satisfaction to load your own ammo.

One handy thing about a .260 Rem, is you can size .260 brass out of .243, and I would bet, 7mm-08.

I've noticed the Tikka CTR 308 and 260 are generally about $100 less than the 6.5 Creedmoor. Just saying if it's only a little less for the 260 you are likely to lose that money quickly when buying factory ammo. If you were a reloader, it would be a different story.

I can't believe I'm trying to pimp a Creedmoor.

I have a .260 CTR and its my go to hunting rifle. It doesn't kick and you can target shoot with it no problem.