Hi BSA,
Sorry I'm a little late in seeing your post and responding. I apologize up front for the following long post!
I think I've mentioned on these pages before that my Dad gave me his .264 WM Westerner a few years ago. I love it! In fact, I've always loved and coveted that rifle ever since I learned what they were and that my Dad had one. I was probably 10 years old when I realized what the 264 WM was. I used to dream of hunting monster mule deer with that rifle before I was old enough to actually go hunting.
Unfortunately for me, my Dad loved that rifle too, and I never ever got a chance to even shoot it. Dad killed many elk and mule deer with that rifle. Then a few years ago, after helping my Dad out with some manual labor, he quietly asked that I follow him down to his gun safe and he took that rifle out and handed it to me and asked me if I wanted it. I told him of course I wanted it but I didn't want to take his rifle. He told me that he wanted me to have it for helping him out so much and because he was getting too old to get out hunting much anymore. I told him that I really didn't need to take a rifle from him that I knew he loved so much but he told me to go ahead and take it. His last words on the subject were, "you better take it while you have the chance before I change my mind." So I took it. You would have thought I won the lottery! My Dad provided me with all of his reloading dies, bullets, and reloading records, so at least I wasn't starting from scratch.
As far as the cartridge goes, I love it, but realistically, it isn't much more than a .270 Win. if you follow the pressure guidelines. As you can see from some of the posts above, you can achieve some impressive velocities if you don't follow pressure guidelines from the bullet and powder manufacturers. I like to live more on the cautious side so try not to push past the recommended maximum loads. If you do that, you will quickly find that the velicites that you can reach aren't much more than the 270 and can't match the 7mm Rem. Mag. However, you can load the 264 for plenty of velocity to hunt most big game in the lower 48. I would only hesitate using it on the big bears of AK.
My Dad claimed he always got better accuracy with the 2-diameter Winchester bullet and that when Winchester quit selling it as a component in the 70s, that he never could find a bullet that would shoot as good. I searched and searched for some of these 2-diameter bullets after I got the rifle and finally found some Remington Core-loks made years ago. I tried them this past summer and was highly disappointed in the accuracy. We're talking 6-8 in. "groups." It was obviously the bullets, since other bullets like the 140gr. Partitions shot in 1-1.5" groups. I used a 140gr. Partition load to shoot my antelope this year using my Dad's rifle. There have been discussions elsewhere on the campfire where people say that Winchester and others still use the 2-diameter bullet in their factory ammo. I'm a handloader at heart, so have never tried any of the new factory ammo.
One last note: I was hesitant to try the new 127gr. Nosler Accubond Long Range bullets in this rifle due to the slower twist rate as compared to some of the newer twist rates on current 6.5 rifles. I asked about this on the Gunwriters forum and Mule Deer (John Barsness) told me that he had no problems when he tried it in his Westerner and at the altitude that I typically hunt in, that I should have even less problems. I was already prepped for hunting season to use the 140 gr. Partition, but on my last trip to the range, on a lark, I loaded three rounds with the ABLR bullet with a powder charge that I thought would work. I shot those three into about 0.5". Not sure that I could repeat that and it may have been a complete fluke, but I'm definitely going to try those bullets some more when I have another chance to load some up.
Bottom line for me, as a hunter and handloader, is that the .264 WM is a lot of fun to play with and it has some panache and nostalgia that makes it even cooler. However, if someone was looking only for an efficient rifle to use strictly as a tool for hunting here in the US, I would tell them that there are probably much better cartridges to get the job done. I hope that helps you out a little bit!
