264 mag Rel 33 & Barnes 120gr TSX

[Hespco]

Three shots, 100yds.
Have been having trouble with this 264 mag grouping Barnes 120gr TSX. Have tried several powders & every seating depth from .050 to .080 off the lands to no avail. Talking to a local shooter he said he got great groups at .010 of the lands. So working up to 75grs of Rel 33 with the bullet seated no more than .015 off. Not the slightest sigh of pressure. Could have easily gone another grain. Rifle is a Win 70 action with a new Douglas #2 barrel contour .600 at muzzle. 24" stainless, 1/8 twist. Got consistent repeatable groups like above. Temp was 51dg shooting from my shaded bench at 7630' elevation. Use three cases for the work up. Primer pockets stayed tight through out. Sighted 1.5+ at 100 . First shot was at my 235yd target & got a pleasing thunk back. After a couple more I went to my 522yd target with another loud thump back.
You can see in the upper image where the bullet is seated. This is a new case ( 2.500 long ) Well below the first grove.

 

[shinbone]

Looks good! Got any velocity measurements?

 

[Hespco]

Hay there shinbone .Over my Caldwell chrono @ 10'. Four readings from 3454 to 3457 fps. Amazingly consistant. Rel 33 is the most uniformly consistent powder I have ever used in the 264 mag.

 

[shinbone]

Four readings from 3454 to 3457 fps.

A 120gn TSX at 3450 would be hard to beat for elk. You can probably hold on hair out to at least 350yds. Hard to imagine anything better.

3fps extreme spread is darn impressive, as well! Gotta be some good reloading technique in there, too.

RL33 shot real well in my M70 with Sledge Hammer 120gn bullets. I got similar velocity and slighty better accuracy with Vihtavouri N570, though.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Using 6.5 127TTSX I found a load at .180" from lands.

 

[Hespco]

Sounds good. I have been using the Barnes 6.5 120gr "X" since about 1994. Went to the TSX when they came out. Have taken a fair amount of elk with them over the years. Have yet to recover one even when angled or thru both shoulder. Heavy bone is not an obstacle for this bullet. Several elk taken with this bullet & the wife's 6.5x308 , 260 Rem, 6.5x55, 6.5-06 & 264 mag. I was amazed at the uniformity I got with Rel 33 & this bullet. Thru out my work up barrel was never cleaned. Did not notice any build up or pressure problems.