Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 264 Win. Mag.

24" or 26" barrel? And I'm thinking about going with a 1 in 9" twist. Plan is to shoot Barnes and Swift bullets. 100-120 grain range. Any advice? I was planning on having another 257 wby built, but wanna be a little different and try this round.

i'd go 26", but i'd also go 1-8" or 1-8.5" to open the option of using the heavies later. 1-9" will be fine with the 100-120 grain bullets, though.

but you will need the 26" barrel to get the most from the .264

What he said.

Agree w/ 26" bbl; mine has this length, is ideal antelope rifle. I like 120 and 130 grain bullets; the Nosler Accubond is a favorite. A 1-9" twist will stabilize them nicely.

.264 caliber 140g bullet is one heck of an elk load though ...

27.5", 1:9 is what I have, and it shoots everything well, but I haven't tried anything over 140.

I have owned 2 264's, I still have a custom that has given me fits, I have found the 264 case to be the most tempermental round I have ever worked with. I wouldn't do one up again. if I had it to do all over again I would go with a 6.5-284, with the new RL 17 you can get some pretty sporty speeds out of it. honestly I think you would be within 100 fps or less of the 264.

with the 6.5-284 you will have much better brass quality, which means you can run higher pressures and have more durable brass. 264 brass sucks from what I have found, my latest is necking down norma 7 mag brass to see if that gives me better brass.

some folks claim 3200 fps from a 140 with the 264, yeah it can be had, but at that speed I haven't found any accuracy in either 264, I have also tried about 7 different powders, so far my accuracy load is with magpro running a 140 at about 3070ish, that is very close to 6.5-284 performance. bottom line in some claim a ton of speed, but don't count on it. if you look at the published data all I have seen doesn't even list a 140 above 3k, there must be a reason for that.

My 257 WBY's have all had and currently have 27.5 inch bbl's. Go with it. 1 in 9 is plenty fast and I predict you will not need over a 120 in the 264 for Elk with the Barnes TTSX's as I have used the 120 in 7mm with perfect effect. A great caliber with not enough love for all it can do. Good choice, do report back!

i see the 1-9" twist in the .264 as a concession, and i have one. it will shoot 140s, but nothing longer. not even the 142 SMK. i do not like to rule out using the 156s (Norma Oryx, Alaska, or Vulkyn) or the Hornady 160. even though i'm a Barnes fan, some of my rifles don't like to shoot them.

i also have 1-8" and 1-8.5" .264s, and three more barrels on the shelf (those are all 1-8")

the .264 does require your full attention when reloading, but 3100 or 3150 with 140s from a 26" barrel is usually do-able without crossing the line. my 28" Krieger 1-8.5" delivers 3200 fps with the 142 SMK, which gets me from 100 yards to 1K with 20 MOA elevation.

If you are looking at something different, maybe look at the 270 Weatherby. Brass can be a touch pricey, but if you keep your eyes open it can be had quite reasonably. Besides you can always neck up your 257 brass if you still have it.

It's a wonderful round - still my favorite today..

1-9 twist will do to 140s - I never felt the need for anything heavier.. If you think you might go heavier some day, then opt for a 1-8 twist.. There's simply no need to hot-rod this round. 140's should be at +/- 3100 out of a 26" tube.. Getting another 100 fps can usually lead to problems with eiather accuracy or pressure or both.. I have an old M70 that still places 'em on the nose using Sierra Spitzers, 140 gr., IMR4350 powder loaded to 2950 fps (24" barrel) and the results are fabulous..

We just got in two of the new Remingtons. One blued, one stainless. Both have 26 inch barrels.

Who needs 140's? A 120TSX @ 3400 or a 125 Partition at 3300 will go end to end thru a WT. Great open country deer cartridge!

Those 120 TTSXs work well on elk too, from what I can tell. And with Win 780 they are doing a little over 3500.

ive got a rem 700 cdl sf in a .264 win mag great gun. i use 140gr sgk's in it.26" barrel is what you want for sure.

What species will you be hunting with that one?

stumpy

sf?

I've had very good experiences with 130gr A-bonds with matte fluted CDL 700. 3275fps through my Chrony and very accurate.

Cool deal. 26" barrel it will be. I was sort of leaning that way, anyways. Now before I call pac-nor, I gotta decide between a #3 fluted stainless barrel or try their #2 stainless barrel. And I'm going to need to get another EDGE from Rick. Good thing for tax returns.

I would gently suggest the #3.. Stiffer is better with that round, IMHO..

remington calls it semi fluted or sf its a limited run from a few years ago.