Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Does anyone here like or use their pre 64 westerner?

I ran across a nice all original rifle for a good deal. Ive never had much interest in the 264. Always hearing they are a "barrel burner", kind of turned me off to them. However, after using and shooting my creedmoors lately, i see some advantages to that caliber (6.5). What say you guys that have and use them?

My buddy has one and I did all the load development for it. Tried several powders eventually settled on h4831 ssc with 140 Sierra’s. Magpro gave phenomenal velocity but chit groups. I also bedded it and did the false screw thing like you did to yours as well. With this particular rifle once I got over 2800 plus the groups opened up. I don’t know if it was just a shot out barrel or what. He had bunch of ammo that came with it, most loaded up with 100gr bullets. Which made me wonder if the previous owner took it prairie dog hunting 🤪. I love to find one, I had one yrs ago and was talked out of it. .

Thanks John. I appreciate your info. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

My grandpa had one in 264 Win Mag and he also had a devil of a time to get it to shoot. A guy at the range let him chrono some handloads with 140gr bullets and he realized he got more velocity out of his 270 featherweight using 140gr bullets as well. The westerner went out the door.

I picked up a Cabelas special run, new production “Westerner”. Its an FN70 barreled action with sights, with what looks like a pre-64 straight-comb stock of slimmer proportions. Has the panel checkering instead of the wrap-around too. Shoots awesome. Its a 7mm Rem Mag.

1917, I had a good one when I was about 21.. I had handloaded ammo from the guy I bought it from.. He had used it very little.. It was Horn. 140's with 4831 powder.. With the old Lyman 4x with a post it would easy shoot 1" groups at 100... I let a couple older "friends" talk me in to trading for a 7mm RM..Sako.. It wouldn't shoot worth a hoot.. When they knew I had made the trade, they beat it right down and bought it.. Never could talk them out of it..

A pal has one but not the Westerner, he used it for several years on deer and antelope.. Not sure of the load, but it was fast.. I had a couple on Rem. actions.. I liked the caliber, but none shot as good as the Westerner.. If I did not have a couple custom 7mm Mags I would have one... I know where there is one that is mint, but she wont sell at this time.. I always thought it was one cool round....

I have a 270 and a 264.

I like the 264, there is something about it that is just cool.

But I agree with Jack, the 264 is a loud 270.

I tried H1000, retumbo, as well never tried rl33. I also tried 140 AB, 140 hornady and the Sierras shot the best.. one of the very few rifles that left me wondering.

I bought a beater one in 264 for $200 and sent it off to LRI with a new brux tube and a mcwoody stock. Should ship back any day now and I couldn’t be more excited. Had it throated for 140 bergers at mag length.

I have one I swapped into about six years ago, 1960 vintage, and I love it. MOA was not difficult to achieve. I can push 140 Accubonds up to about 3250 using IMR 7828, but best accuracy seems to come at about 3170. Only killed one deer with it, but performance was excellent. That little buck dropped within 25 feet and the chest cavity was all soup.

If I had to pare down to a single big game rifle, that rifle would be in the top three for sure.

I wished I had a P64 Westerner, but I did find an old Classic 264. With Retumbo and 140 Accubonds it'll knock down 3240 pretty easily and is a peach to shoot. I put mine in a McMillan and just enjoy the rifle a bunch. A Westerner in great condition would be a great addition in my book. I have never seen the few 264's I have loaded for give much drama, either 24" Rugers nor the 26" Winchesters..

Scotty, what's your charge of Retumbo? I have some queued up for my .264 when my 7828 loads are exhausted.

I don't remember my charge off the top of my head and apologize, but when I get back to my notes I will check it out for you.

I appreciate that Scotty. I'm pretty sure I'd stumble on it sooner or later whilst fiddling and floundering, but if you know the shortcut I'll take it!

Love to find me a model 70 classic in a 264 win mag. One of the harder chambering to find.. I was pretty stoked when I finally found a 25-06 in one..

Bsa1917hunter: I have 5 (five) Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 "Westerners" - 2 (two) are Featherweight Westerners and the other 3 (three) are Standard Weight Westerners.
I do "like" them to the extreme (love'em!) but indeed I do not shoot any of these collector quality (minty!) Rifles.
It took me decades to accumulate this little trove of dandies and I wish, along the way, I would have bought one of the many lesser condition 264's I found and passed on.
I have shot several 264's way back when and have seen Deer and Antelope harvested with them - I would "like" to find a user quality pre-64 Model in 264 to wring out and do a little Hunting with.
One of my uncles had a pre-64 Model 70 and shot lots of Mule Deer in eastern Oregon way back when.
I was with him one summer when we went Rock Chuck Hunting and what that 264 did to Rock Chucks (made'em fly!) was something to behold!
Out of curiosity I looked up the production numbers for the pre-64 Winchester Model 70's in caliber 264 Winchester and the total production (all models) was only 21,114 or 4% of the total made.
Long live "the Riflemans Rifle"!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

For sure. The 25-06 is a gem as well. You can’t tell the two apart except for the 2” of barrel.

No Sir, don't have one, but have thought long and hard about them, nearly bought one from JKobe I believe, here in the classifieds a year or two ago.

Damn, didn't know they ever made a Classic in 264WM, another option to be on the lookout for.

Stock trim

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With the McM on its diet

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It’s a good shooting rifle.

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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!

I had one, shot 140 Berger’s and Ballistic tips less than an inch. I used IMR 4350 powder.

Been hunting with mine since my Dad gave it to me in 1974. He won it in a raffle on a $.25 (cent) chance in '63. It's been to Africa and all over North America. Never let me down.
Finally shot the barrel out a few years ago and had Darcy Echols screw a new one on it. Used to shoot the 120 gr Nosler Solid Base but changed in about 82 to the 125 gr Partition. About 1995 I found the 130 gr Acubond and that is my go to bullet ever since. Just took a nice elk with it in Idaho, one shot about 300 yds,, DRT. Big 7x8 bull. My go to load used to be 74.5 gr of H870 but the new barrel prefers about 72 gr. Yeah, I know, I hoard what little H870 I've got left. Next best that I've found is Supreme 780.
I've got several safes full of rifles and like most of them but only 2 rifles have earned a name, the 264 Westener and my Pre-64 Mod 70 in 375 H&H. My 264 is Magic.

i still have these two Winchesters the westerner 26 inch barrel and a lightweight 22 inch barrel ,the lightweight with 100 grain bullets shoots 3/4 groups the westerner i have never shot it. i also have a pre 64 rebarreled too a 257 Weatherby Mag. that rifle shoots 1/2 inch groups. the 264 Win.Mag. is a great cartridge and it might be better than my 257 Weather Mags ?

Great recap. I think the P64 is a 9 twist so it really doesn’t seem too handicapped. I know I’d be okay with working one out if I could find one for my safe.

Cool story. Thanks for sharing. That rifle you have of your dads is a true treasure. It is nice when you know the history of a rifle like that.

Damn, that's nice, hell of a shooter too, I always thought about Retumbo and 140gr NPT's for a 264WM.

It works well for me. 33 is super as well.

10-4 beretzs, bought some 33 for my Mashburn, it likes H-1000 and H-4831sc much better, you or Joel give me a holler on the way through some day and i'll give you the 33.

Sounds like a plan. 33 really does well with the 175’s in my Mashburn right around 3050-3100 with them and so far, it’s been terribly consistent all year round. In my lifelong search of great, the Mashburn with 175’s around that speed has really left me wondering where in Heck I’d ever not like it. It just pounds animals.

Apparently Mr. Warren Page knew what he had, over 50 years ago...