264 Win Mag - Y would anyone want one?

[royinidaho]

Some of the old 264's were throated for a very specific bullet that had two diameters which makes them shoot awesome with a short conventional bullet but suck with any bullet that is interesting.

In it's youth the old Mod 70 shot 100 grain bullets exceptionally well.

Jim has two of them. One is definitely shot out. The other has only a couple hundred shots through it but the bore is ruffer than a cob. I think the bullet loses a large portion of its weight prior to exiting the muzzle.

 

[royinidaho]

Rooster721,

What's your rig. Action/barrel etc.?

 

[rooster721]

Rooster721,

What's your rig. Action/barrel etc.?

Nothing over-fancy really.. guts are all factory. It's a model 70 action, 26" factory 1:9 twist barrel (approx 7/800 rnds thru it) But getting tough to clean. We scoped it recently, some firecracking and such, however even-so "smith" gave me the nod to keep shooting! Rifling it-self was good.. nothing extreme, no need to re-barrel (yet.) My last group was 3-shots into 4.75" at 725 in-fact. Took 12 to re-foul after a thorough scrubbing to have it group like it "can" But the barrel gives me about 50 (like the 725 group I mentioned) before over-fouling and my groups open noticeably... So I "know" my rifle!! ..the way we all should*
(I wish I could figure out why my attachment-link disappeared.. I'd attach pics showing groups and these dent/differences I wrote about*) ...maybe Len changed something regarding attachments ?? Used to attach no problem. I don't know what happened.

...anyways, action is glass/pillar bedded into an MPI silhouette thumbhole. Loads are obviously my own handloads*

 

[royinidaho]

Yep, you know your rifle.
I agree that it is a must.

 

[lloydsmale]

I see comparisons like this all the time on the internet. Take one round and load it to the point primers are flattening and then take a more powerful round and load it to 50k and compare them. Load both to the same presssure your loading that 270 to get those kinds of velocitys and if you still have your eyesight see what your chronograph says then. Guys do this all the time comparing the 308 to the o6. Show 60k loads for the 308 and 50k loads for the 06 and claim there equal. Bottom line is a 264 loaded to the same pressure as a 270, using modern slow powders and 140 grain bullets and the 264 will spank the 270. Just as you would suspect it should using over 10 or more grains of powder. Its no differnt then claiming a 280 is equal to a 7mag. I had a #1b ruger 280 with a 26 inch barrel that would push a 140bt to 3200 fps with a (warm) load. That was about the same velocity i got out of the 7mag bdl i had at the time with factory 140s. Does that make the 280 equal to the 7mag? hardly. Add two more inches to my bdl and load that 7mag to 60k plus pressure and see what happens.

 

[Railroader82]

Hey Guys I've got a 264 wm my grandpa gave to me Rem 700. It's sweet. It needs better optics but a nice rifle. I also have a 6.5x55 swede but the rifle is a Mauser action with a sporting arms of Clackamus, Oregon. It shoots well but I'd like to know more about this Sporting Arms. The rifle definitely needs a trigger upgrade. It's got the ol'military style. Any info would be great!

 

[LouBoyd]

The 264 Win mag cartridge has a 2.5" case and a 3.34 SAAMI cartridge length. That's how factory ammo is built and that's how Winchester
(and USRA) made the Model 70 over the years. That's only 0.84" of space for ogive. It's not a suitaable cartridge for shooting modern heavy VLD bullets in a SAAMI chamber or magazine. A 3.6" magazine allows shooting VLD bullets comfortably and that changes the cartridges performance. I built a 264 WM 1000 yard target rifle on a Rem 700 LA with a 28" PacNor barrel. It has very low wind deflection yet moderate recoil.

The 264 Win mag has about as much case capacity as is practical with a 6.5 MM bore. It certainly out performs a 260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, or 6.5 x 55 Swedish, or 6.5-06. The downside of the 264 Win Mag is barrel life. The OP says his friend got 900 shots worth of hunting until the barrel went bad. That's excellent in my opinion. When I built min if figured it might only get 500 shots. I won't wear it out in the rest of my shooting life so I don't consider that a problem.

I n my opinion the OP should have the old rifle rebarreled and not look back. He has the choice of another 264 WM chamber or easily converting it to 7mm Rem Mag or 338 Win Mag for shooting factory ammo. The SAUM or WSM series are practical choices for that rifle to allow shooting heavy VLDs. That's only a good choice for handloads.

My advice would be to ship the rifle to Hart or PacNor who can do a complete rebarrel and ship it back with no middleman. The last one I had done was about $600. With inflation that may be $1000 now but worth it.

 

[Rustystud]

I personally know of three .264 Win mags that are shooting 120gr Barnes bullets running 3,400 plus fps with IMR 7828 SSC sub .5moa.

Nat Lambeth

 

[Daveinjax]

Maybe a better question is why would anybody build a belted magnum anything when there are much more efficient and easier to load for chamberings ? 264 wm , 300 wm , weatherby anything , 7mm rem mag , all technologically obsolete. It's like going down to the chevy dealer and buying a brand new 1976 corvette because you want a fast car and passing up a brand new modern Ferrari. If you are nostalgic then find a vintage corvette not a 2014 car packed with 1976 technology. Just my opinion of belted magnums.

 

[Railroader82]

That's just awesome!

 

[Railroader82]

Not the sports car analogy. The thread before.

 

[lloydsmale]

another question would be why someone would pay 3k for a custom rifle in a custom chambered 264 rouind to maybe gain 200 fps over a 600 dollar 264mag or better yet pick up a sendero in 264 and at 1200 bucks youll not be able to outpace it by much or out shoot it by much for 3 times the money. Belts might not server a purpose but the dont hurt a thing either.

Maybe a better question is why would anybody build a belted magnum anything when there are much more efficient and easier to load for chamberings ? 264 wm , 300 wm , weatherby anything , 7mm rem mag , all technologically obsolete. It's like going down to the chevy dealer and buying a brand new 1976 corvette because you want a fast car and passing up a brand new modern Ferrari. If you are nostalgic then find a vintage corvette not a 2014 car packed with 1976 technology. Just my opinion of belted magnums.

 

[shedhead]

WIND!gun)

 

[Iclimb]

I'm about to pick up a mod. 70 featherweight crf in .264 wm.

Can't wait. IMO they rule the 140 class