IMO, 26" of barrel is where a 264 win just starts to come together. I've had everything from a 24" barrel to the 32" that recently finished up. If you want to shoot the 150 or 160's adjusting the freebore is another thing to seriously consider.
If you are planning to shoot 130g bullets a 9 twist 24" barrel works just fine and is sure handy in the field. If 140g bullets are more your style an 8 twist 26" barrel will safely get those bullets to 3,150fps. If you want to shoot the 150g bullets with best performance things start to change a bit. the length of the 150g bullet puts it pretty deep in the case and sucks up a fair amount of powder space. A 28" 7.5 twist is where i would be and 3,100fps is safely attainable with proper freebore. If you want to go with a 160g bullet a 7 twist is where you have to be and the more barrel you can give it to accelerate the better. I'm currently working with a 32" 8-7 transitional twist that has the most freebore I've ever used in a 264 win. My best accuracy ended up being just shy of 3,100fps with the 160 Matrix vid.
If you are planning to shoot 130g bullets a 9 twist 24" barrel works just fine and is sure handy in the field. If 140g bullets are more your style an 8 twist 26" barrel will safely get those bullets to 3,150fps. If you want to shoot the 150g bullets with best performance things start to change a bit. the length of the 150g bullet puts it pretty deep in the case and sucks up a fair amount of powder space. A 28" 7.5 twist is where i would be and 3,100fps is safely attainable with proper freebore. If you want to go with a 160g bullet a 7 twist is where you have to be and the more barrel you can give it to accelerate the better. I'm currently working with a 32" 8-7 transitional twist that has the most freebore I've ever used in a 264 win. My best accuracy ended up being just shy of 3,100fps with the 160 Matrix vid.
