.264 Win. Mag. Twist

[pttp]

What are the pros/cons of .264 win mag vs. 6.5 saum?

 

[Edd]

A 6.5 SAUM is for the Lemmings. A 264 Win mag is for the Cool Kids.

 

[25WSM]

Saum is more efficient the win mag will shoot heavies a little faster. More brass options for the win mag.
Shep

 

[Model12boy]

I have 2 264 win mags.. Ruger m77 Tang safety 1:9 factory an a Ruger Hawkeye 1:8 twist factory. Both are 24 inch barrels. Ruger tang 1:9 shoots 129's at 3350 an the Hawkeye 1:8 143 eldx at 3125 awsome cartridges. My Last 2 buck kills was at 396 an 375 with the Hawkeye

 

[Trnelson]

I didn't have any issues with the 130 berger AR hybrid and an 8 twist 264 win. If you are planning to shoot 130g and lighter bullets a 24" barrel will do fine. You'll probably find a good load with either H4831sc or H1000 and get a complete burn. If you intend to shoot the 140g bullets a 26" barrel is as short as I would recommend as you will be wanting to start to utilize something in the similar burn rate as Retumbo. If you are planning to take advantage of the 150-160g bullets I would recommend a 28", or longer barrel to allow you to fully utilize Retumbo or something even slower. I haven't yet tried a 130g bullet yet with the 264 win I recently had built with an 8-7 transitional twist. I have no reason to believe there would be an issue with it.
Honestly, as well as the 160 Matrix is shooting I am not inclined to even try anything else in that rifle.

 

[Left Hand Dave]

I had planned a 26" barrel so I could use use it for sitting or carrying. I have considered a little longer because I don't plan on using a brake on this one. I have wanted a .264 since I was a kid. I would lay on the living room floor reading my uncle's gun books. I remember reading a story about the .264 Winchester Magnum and thought, I should save up and get one of those. Figured I better get to it seeing as that was about 40 years ago.

 

[codyadams]

I had planned a 26" barrel so I could use use it for sitting or carrying. I have considered a little longer because I don't plan on using a brake on this one. I have wanted a .264 since I was a kid. I would lay on the living room floor reading my uncle's gun books. I remember reading a story about the .264 Winchester Magnum and thought, I should save up and get one of those. Figured I better get to it seeing as that was about 40 years ago.

If you don't want the extra length, over 26" is not necessary at all. I am using Retumbo and shooting 147's at 3240 fps, and velocity was up to 3320 before pressure signs showed up in the form of a light ejector mark, but still no increase in bolt lift. So my 3240 load is relatively light. You don't need over 26" to get great performance. If you want to though, it will only help.

The biggest thing that would help a .264 wm is to have it throated properly. SAAMI spec has a ridiculously short throat, see the attached photos. Top ones are the 140 VLD and 147 eld-m properly seated. Bottom photo is the 147 eld-m seated .010" off the lands in a SAAMI spec chamber.

 

[Left Hand Dave]

codyadams,

Do you know what the freebore was on the reamer and the overall length of your finished rounds where you seated the bullets out farther in the first photo is? I would like to compare it to the information on Trnelson gave me.

 

[Hespco]

I have four 264 mags. My first one I still have is a Rem 700 BDL I bought new in 1964 . (Ya been around awhile ). It still wears it's factory 23.5" bbl blue coated stainless Bbl & still will shot an honest 1" group. A custom 26" stainless on a Win push feed action with an "APEX" 26" stainless cut rifled Bbl. 1/8 twist from the early 1980's. . Sam May the old Apex barre owner is now long gone. A factory Win. Extreme Weather 264 26" 1/9 twist. I love this Win. Lastly a Ruger stainless Hawkeye 24" factory 1/8 twist. I have several other 6.5 rifles with 1/8 twist. Shooting every thing from the Sierra 85gr to the Sierra now discontinued 156gr semi spt. All have shot great in both the 1/8 & 1/9 twist. I mainly use these rifles for elk using the Barnes 120gr TSX. Retumbo or VV-24N41 drives this bullet to about 3450fps ( 26" bbl ) with good case life. My son & a good friend use H-US 869 with equal success. We take elk each season & this bullet has never failed us. For deer we use the Sierra 120gr C&C bullet with equal success. Puts mature muley's down with no problem. I live at 7630' elevation & have my own range. I do notice at around 400yds my bullets tend to strike about 2" flatter that the book drop tables indicate. My wife uses a 6.5x308 wildcat ( built long before the 260 Rem came out ) 22" stainless Douglas 1/8 twist.. Shoots any of the previously mentioned bullets into tiny groups. Wish you the very best on your 264 built The years have shown me this to be an awesome cartridge capable of taking mice to moose..

 

[Model12boy]

I have four 264 mags. My first one I still have is a Rem 700 BDL I bought new in 1964 . (Ya been around awhile ). It still wears it's factory 23.5" bbl blue coated stainless Bbl & still will shot an honest 1" group. A custom 26" stainless on a Win push feed action with an "APEX" 26" stainless cut rifled Bbl. 1/8 twist from the early 1980's. . Sam May the old Apex barre owner is now long gone. A factory Win. Extreme Weather 264 26" 1/9 twist. I love this Win. Lastly a Ruger stainless Hawkeye 24" factory 1/9 twist. I have several other 6.5 rifles with 1/8 twist. Shooting every thing from the Sierra 85gr to the Sierra now discontinued 156gr semi spt. All have shot great in both the 1/8 & 1/9 twist. I mainly use these rifles for elk using the Barnes 120gr TSX. Retumbo or VV-24N41 drives this bullet to about 3450fps ( 26" bbl ) with good case life. My son & a good friend use H-US 869 with equal success. We take elk each season & this bullet has never failed us. For deer we use the Sierra 120gr C&C bullet with equal success. Puts mature muley's down with no problem. I live at 7630' elevation & have my own range. I do notice at around 400yds my bullets tend to strike about 2" flatter that the book drop tables indicate. My wife uses a 6.5x308 wildcat ( built long before the 260 Rem came out ) 22" stainless Douglas 1/8 twist.. Shoots any of the previously mentioned bulled into tiny groups. Wish you the very best on your 264 built The years have shown me this to be an awesome cartridge capable of taking mice to moose..

I have the Ruger Hawkeye Matt stainless an it's a 1:8 twist

 

[Hespco]

You are correct. A misprint on my part. My Ruger Hawkeye stainless is also a 1/8 twist. I made the correction.

 

[dok7mm]

Tagging In: I have all my components ready to take to smith, as soon as I figure out what freebore for the reamer. I was hoping the Berger would be available by now, but I guess I'll set up the dummy rounds with the 150 SMK, which looks to be about .186" for freebore.

 

[Hespco]

Be careful on an longer throat. All my 264's have standard throats & handle 140 class bullets with no problem. Make your throat too long & you could have problems with shorter bullets if you decide to shoot them. Even if you were to achieve an extra 100 fps ( doubtful ) that would only amount to a fraction of an inch gain in trajectory say at 400yds. Try the standard throat first & if you feel the need to make it longer that can be done any time in the further. A simple job. If you start with a long throat & it doesn't work out for you it then requires a barrel set back. Just some thoughts to consider.

 

[codyadams]

Be careful on an longer throat. All my 264's have standard throats & handle 140 class bullets with no problem. Make your throat too long & you could have problems with shorter bullets if you decide to shoot them. Even if you were to achieve an extra 100 fps ( doubtful ) that would only amount to a fraction of an inch gain in trajectory say at 400yds. Try the standard throat first & if you feel the need to make it longer that can be done any time in the further. A simple job. If you start with a long throat & it doesn't work out for you it then requires a barrel set back. Just some thoughts to consider.

100 fps isn't really out of the question, especially with the extremly long bullets like 150's or heavy monos. A SAAMI spec 28 nosler vs a properly throated 28 nosler will have a difference of up to 200 fps and sometimes more with 195 eol's. If you throat it, you may be limiting your bullet options slightly, however most of the lighter bullets have an ogive that aren't near as sensitive to seating depth, so a large jump doesn't really hurt. If every bullet shot poorly with a fairly large jump, Weatherby chamberings would have totally flopped. That is obviously not the case. Though I do agree, if you start with a SAAMI chamber, it will be "enough", and throating is always easy, though it will not be optimal for the longer bullets. Setting back a chamber and re-shouldering is much more work if a throat needs to be shortened. As you said, just considerations.