It's funny you should ask fisherman983, I think I got lucky with my Winchester brass for the 264, compared to the shitshow that I got with Winchester 300 win mag brass. (And despite my low opinion of the 300 win mag brass, I ended up at some pretty low ES and SD numbers with it) There were only a few cases out of the 400 or so of 264 brass I bought that were questionable, (neck deformity) and those promptly split when firing them the first time. (Thought I'd give them a chance). I thought they were pretty consistent in weight, got over 100 each in the 238, 239, 240 gr weight range (Primed) and less than 50 on either side of that at different weights. Everything else visually and measurably checked out great with them. I honestly couldn't believe it came from the same company.
I Haven't quite dialed in any specific load with them yet, but when I do load up a group of them for accuracy testing, (I always start with the outliers by weight for this) ES and SD seem to be pretty much in line with everything else, without trying too hard. Usually low tens and teens for the small sampling.
As far as brass prep, I like the work (Psycho, right? LOL!) so I probably do more than most.
Visual inspection for anything noticeable.
Run them through Hornady Custom Grade expander ball sizing die to round necks. (I don't lube them for this, but this is the only time lube isn't used)
Inside primer flash hole debur with Lyman debur tool.
Measure lengths for uniformity.
Inside and outside Chamfer necks, primer pocket uniform with Frankford Arsenal case station.
Prime. (Fed 215M)
Weight sort cases chronologically in 1 grain lots.
Then, it's start load development with all the culls. Really, I guess the only reason to do this is to make sure I use them up, or at least get some use out of them even if it's just one firing. That way I don't end up having to track a bunch of misfits.
Guess I like things as orderly as I can have them.
Now I will say that I didn't just get lucky with the 264 brass, I also got lucky with the 220 Swift brass, the 30-06 brass and the 308 brass, all by Winchester.
What I won't or can't say is if your consistency issue is with the brass. Like I said earlier, I turned some of my best ES and SD numbers with 300 WM brass I thought was crap. Talking like ES 8 and SD 4, ES 10 SD 5, for Winchester brass, and the real wow was with PPU brass, ES 4 SD 1. Go figure! Lol!
I don't anneal, just shoot them until the primer pockets loosen, that usually happens before I split a neck, and sometime around 5-6 loads.
What kind of consistency issues you having anyway?
