Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles .264 Win Mag load data

Finally got my hands on some of the 140g Nosler Accubonds!

I've got some IMR 7828, and that's what I want to try first, but the available data isn't real clear.

The Hodgdon load book says 65g at 3115. Can that be right?
Sounds awful high to me.
The Nosler book doesn't list it with the 140.

The Speer manual lists the 140's with 7828 52-56 grains.
That's a pretty big difference.

The Hodgdon website lists the 140g Partition with 7828 as 54.5-58 grains.

I was really wanting to get some loaded today since it's too dang windy to hunt, but sounds like I need to make a call to Hodgdon tomorrow.

Anyone got any other data they'd like to share here?

Thanks guys.

Hodgdon has their on line data for the 264WM messed up. I believe what they have done is switched the loads for the 160 grains with the 140 grains. If you look at the loads carefully you will see all of the loads with the different powders goes up from the 140 grain loads to the 160 grain loads. It has to go down, not up. If you interchange them, then it starts to look right. So that would mean a max of 62.3 for the IMR 7828SSC.

I e-mailed Hodgdon about it, and they have never responded or fixed it. So if you do call them, remind them again they have interchanged the 160 and 140 data. If somebody actually loads a 160 grain with those high charges they could get into real trouble.

Hope that helps some,

From a previous post...

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4127922/1

Thanks, Ny, and Ron,
I actually remember that post when it was new.
Looks like the load book must be right and the website wrong.
I'll still call Hodgdon tomorrow and see what they say.
I'll post my results.
Thanks guys

Hodgdon #26 gives IMR7828 with 140 gr bullet at 59 gr starting load at 2762 fps and a top load of 63 gr at 2994 fps and 51,000 cup.

I tried H4350, IMR4831, H4831, RL22, H1000, RL25, Magnum, and H870 in my 26 inch Winchester mod 70 classic.

It far and away preferred H1000 with 140 gr bullets. Hodgdon's #26 says to load it from 63 gr to 68 gr for a top velocity of 3019 fps. 66 gr H1000 gave me 3145 fps and decent groups with the 140 partition.

Groups got even better when I switched to the Sierra 140 spitzer boat tail. But it took me 67 gr H1000 to make 3000 fps with that bullet.

I agree the prime powders for the .264WM are H4831, H1000, and Retumbo.

I've worked with h1000, magnum, and imr7828 in two different .264's. I gave up on the h1000 as I couldn't get the velocity I was after. Ramshot magnum is where I start with 140 grain bullets and imr 7828 for 130 grainers.

I tried JBs loads for 140g bullets using magnum and achieved 3250 with a 28' barrel. I can't remember the load off the top of my head.

With the 120 gr ttsx I am getting 3290 with 68 gr of Ramshot magnum, 62.5 gr H4831 gets me 3230 with the 125 gr nosler partition. I am using winchester large mag primers with these loads.

I called Hodgdon today and had a pretty good chat.
I pointed out that the 2008 Hodgdon load book lists 65 grains of 7828, while their website lists it at 58.
He informed me that the 2008 book was the data they inherited from IMR and they went ahead and published it.

He said they re-tested all the IMR powders using PSI instead of CUP, and didn't feel like the 65g load was a safe load.

Take from that what you will, but I told you guys I'd report back with what I was told. I know alot of people shoot that 65g load, and every rifle's max is different, but that big of a jump in a magnum case kind of spooks me.

I'm gonna give RL25 and Retumbo a try.

Good luck with RL25. My load experiments with RL25 and 140's was scary stuff. Especially the 140 partition with its extra long bearing surface. I would see gains of 200 fps from the first to the third shot in a string, and this phenomenon was repeatable. Apparently as the barrel temp increased over the shot string, the burn rate increased substantially.

I got more expanded primer pockets and pierced primers with that endeavor than with all the rest of my entire history of thirty years reloading.

Retumbo, much like H870 was far too slow to perform in my rifle.

Did you ask them why the 140 grain is listed at 58 grains of 7828 while the 160 grains is listed at 62.3 grains? I've never seen powder charge go up when bullet weight goes up...

By the way I had used that 65 gr IMR 7828 load in my gun. But that was before I owned a chrono and knew enough about reading pressure signs. All that brass was shot, could not seat a primer back in it, but I hadn't tried that until later. What really clued me in was the 3500 fps chrono reading with 140 Nosler Partitions!

Ron, I did mention that to him, but he read it like it was correct. It doesn't make any sense to me either, but I don't think he was "getting" what I was trying to point out.

I even said, "...so you think that 160 data is correct?"
His reply was yes, but I don't think it can be.
He said something about the round nose bullet. I have no idea if the bearing surface of a regular bullet vs. the round nose bearing surface comes in to play here, but that is what I felt he was eluding to.
I was on my lunch break, and I'd been on hold for 10 minutes already.

3500fps!

Rl-25 gave me problems,every loading in a string of three really increased velocity. I think it doesn't like chamber heat. It worked great in my 6.5-06

In the past we have had entire threads devoted to the "spikiness" of RL25.

My custom barreled M70 shot this group. H1000 is a good powder.

H-1000 is spikey,if you notice on the factory data the pressure is below max,whereas H-4831 is at max pressure.

One thing to watch in your .264's is barrel twist. I have been struggling to get a Browning that used to belong to my father to shoot. Have been using 140 grain Sierra Boat Tails and some Nosler 140 grain partitions. It does not shoot well -- 2-3 inches at 100 meters. Then the other day when I went out to shot the Sierras, the temperature had dropped to 20 deg F or so. My group size went to 6"! So, on the way home from the range I began to wonder if they were unstable. I used the program at the link below, which I think is one of the best ones available to check stability. If you enter your twist it will produce a graph showing stability vs velocity.

The Sierra came out with a stability of 0.95 and the Nosler at 1.02. This gun is a 10 twist, and really does not spin these 140 grain bullets fast enough. In fact even a 107 grain Sierra match is not much better. Something to check...

Border Barrels Twist Calculation