Shopping for a stock, haven't made up my mind yet, but modified the savage tuperware this afternoon.

She is about range ready!

First time barrel swap for me, working out pretty good so far.

Keep us informed on how it does

Will do, have to go shopping for some powder, load up some ammo and try it out.

Some .264 WM Fire contributors swear by RL-33, especially with 140's, It would be interesting to see if it liked the 147 ELD-M.

DF

I


I have read some of those posts, I have about a box and a half of Berger 140 VLD hunting bullets. Figure I am going to try RL-33 and Retumbo, and see what kind of results I get.

My experience with the 140 Hunting VLD in my 6.5-284, pushing it around 3K over 48.8 gr. RL-17, on WT's is pretty good. Usually DRT with lots of chest damage, variable exits of shrapnel, generally not one exit hole.

I don't know how they'll do at .264 WM speeds. They are accurate.

I was working up loads for the 26 Nosler, decided to abandon VLD's and move on to monos and tougher bullets. I think they're a bit expansive for hyper vel. Not sure how fast you plan to shoot them.

DF

At the moment, my thoughts are more for accuracy than velocity. I like sub moa groups. I do not have a chronograph at the moment, so haven't really been to concerned about the velocities of my other rifles. Usually when I load, I find a load that puts 3 shots under a nickel or better yet a dime, and that is what I will stick with. Have gotten lucky so far in my 7mm Mag using Accubonds, under a nickel , my 300 Win Mag using Scirocco II's under a dime. Once I get it under way, I will see what it does, have also looked and 130 Grain Scirocco II's , or Accubonds for it.

I got the VLD's when I bought the barrel from a guy here on the fire. Did a lot of reading on them, watched a few videos, they look promising.

Smart man... Kudos.. At the same time, get (or borrow) a chronograph...Seriously..

[/quote] Smart man... Kudos.. At the same time, get (or borrow) a chronograph...Seriously..
[/quote]


Most likely will have to buy one. I don't know anybody personally that has one.

For 139 gr an on up, I'd strongly suggest US869. I've tried both '33 and 'Tumbo too - it's not even a contest.

As far as velocity , accuracy or both?

I'd agree with that in the 26 Nosler. There are LR .264 shooters, RL-33 fans, here on the Fire who would take issue with that.

Another QL champ for the 26 Nos is Vv N-570. It's a bit faster than 869, but is dense and high energy. Down side, it's a coarse stick, stacks in a powder measure. I had to remove the drop tube in my Uniflow, dump the powder in a scale pan and weigh. That process actually moves pretty fast. I'm thinking N-570 may work well in the .264. If you have access to Quick Load, check it out.

If you gonna buy canister US-869, get some pull down Vulcan WC-872. From what I've observed, both powders give the same velocity with the same charge for the same bullet in the Nosler. And, it's $55/8# jug from Jeff Bartlett. Google him.

DF

Accuracy with mutiple bullets. It will do 3,100 fps in a 25" tube. All of the slower powders I tried (RL-33, Retumbo, H-50BMG) showed pressure signs at 3,100.

I will keep that in mind

My particular rifle is one I load to only 2950 fps (24" barrel) and it's quite accurate.. Always places the first shot in the same place time after time.. I use IMR 4350, but cannot offhand recall the amount.. 140 gr bullets..

I have seen several loads using imr 4350 in my books, and have talked to a few guys that load 4350 in their .264's

I found the same thing, 2950 out of a 24" barrel with a 140 Sierra pushed by IMR4350 grouped quite nicely.

My 26' M70 extreme does 3250 easily with R33 and 140 gr accubond. No pressure signs everything else I tried Retumbo,7828,magnum ect blew primers before I could even get close to 3200fps.

Just out of curiosity, what was your load for Retumbo and 7828?

I am going to load some 140 Grain Speers over Imr 7828 or IMR 4350 to get the rifle close to sighted in first, then will try my test loads.

I'll share my load data using Retumbo but use Extreme Caution because it's about 6 grains over published Max in the modern reloading manual.
The rifle is a commercial Mauser 98 Belgium made with a 24" Ashcroft & Marquardt Barrel, the gun has a long throat and even though the case overall length is 3.328 inches the 140 grain Berger vld Hunter is still off the lands. I checked for the typical signs of high pressure. It wasn't until 72.5 grains of Retumbo that the bolt got slightly stiff, so I backed it off to 71.0 grains. Here's the data.

Unfired cases: W.W. Super.
CCI 250
C.O.L. 3.328
Burger 140 VLD Hunting
71.0 g. Retumbo @ 3200 fps. The chronograph was 20 feet from the muzzle.
70 degrees @ 4500' elevation.
Just a reminder it's 6 grains over Max although it works fine in my rifle. I put 10 Rounds through the bore with no obvious signs of high pressure.

Thanks.

I will keep this in mind.

My 264 parts are on way to smith now. I believe retumbo and h1000 are popular too. Might have to snag some 869 and R33.

What are you having built? I did mine on a Savage 110 action. I bought the tools and did it right at the house. Any other make of rifle, I would not have attempted it at home.

Mine is on a tikka action. Krieger 8 twist barrel.

Never owned a tikka, hope it turns out great for you.

OK, First Range Report. Kind of a frustrating afternoon. Shot this newly assembled 264 and yeah it was ok, but not spectacular. An old redfield scope, that I have had for 25 years on my model 70 30-06 went out on me. Was trying some new loads for my 30-06 as well, and that was cut short.

I am getting movement in my new Hogue stock, but I did make sure everything was tight a couple of times. May have to look into trying to stiffen up the front of the stock and maybe bed the recoil lug. I do not have a chronograph yet, so I have no clue what my velocities are.

I got ok groups with 65 Grains of Retumbo, and 140 Grain Bergers, but not the groups that I had hoped for. However I am getting a sticky bolt on occasion, not every round, but on occasion. I need to drop down under max on this and see what it does, as a couple of the cases are showing faint marks from the extractor. Best 3 shot group out of 3 string was about 7/8" worst was about 2 1/8" 10 minute cool down between stings.

140 Bergers, 70 grains of Reloader 33, very inconsistent groups and very very inconsistent pressure signs. Lots of sticky bolt, to the point that I had to smack the bolt handle with the heel of my hand on a couple of occasions. Extractor Marks on 6 out of the 9 shots I fired with this recipe. I think this is way to hot for my rifle.

Best 3 shot group out of 3 strings was a little over an 1" , worst was about 3 1/4" 10 minute cool down between strings

140 Grain Sierra Game Kings , 59.7 Grains of Imr 7828. ( loaded these to just get on paper) Winner Winner Winner. No sticky bolt at all. Best 3 shot group out of 4 strings 1/2", worst 7/8" 10 minute cool down between strings. Actually threw out one string, and I had 2 flyers that were on me.

Sorry I do not have pictures, as my targets got wet from the carboard back stops that the range provides.

There is more work to be done. The inconsistency made for strange and frustrating afternoon. I would see signs of hope, then have them dashed!