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

I bought a stainless M70 25-06 a few years back, shot a couple things with it one season and found I wasn't very enamoured with the cartridge after all (the rifle is good, though). I'm getting rid of it now and am going to replace it with a .264 Win Mag. I've been holding off on the .264 until I found a Ruger No 1 chambered for it, but having yet to find one I've decided that Winchester's current offerings in the cartridge are more than sufficient.
Anyway, I'm just wondering what loadings you guys might suggest. I usually shoot heavy for caliber Accubonds, which would mean 140s in this case. That ought to be pretty sweet for antelope and deer out to 400 yards and a cow elk to 300. I've never been completely sold on lighter for caliber monolithics, however, I'm also intrigued by the ballistic potential of the 120 grain Nosler E-Tip. It has a higher BC than the than the 115-120 grain .257s I was slinging, and has near the same BC as the 140 grain accubond. It also has a flatter trajectory and bucks wind better than the 140 at any range I'll be shooting. Although, I know monolithic bullets have a way higher weight retention than even bonded lead cores, but still...I just don't like the idea of shooting elk with a 120 grain bullet. Or am I just not putting enough faith in modern bullet design. Anyway, what do you guys like?
For powder, I'll want to consult a recent Nosler reloading guide first, but I thought RL22, RL25 or Retumbo sounded like a good place to start. Again, what would you guys suggest?

Thank you

Imr 7828 has always been my favorite powder in 264. The older books had it right. I believe my old load was 65g with a cci250, win case, and a 140g sst. Shot great at 3220 fps. Its higher than the newer books but I got the load from an IMR brochure about 20 years ago.

I started with the 140 interlock and killed 3 or so bucks with it and then moved to the 140 sst after a 140 interlock showed little expansion on a behind the shoulder double lung shot. The BC on the sst seemed better than listed. I think I used a g1 of .580 IIRC.

I still have a 264 CDL SF but have used other rifles the last several years. I used I think 68g of 7828 and 120 NBTs in it one year and they clocked 3470 fps. I was afraid they'd detonate on deer so i shot rock chucks with what i had load. It sent them into orbit.

Bb

Thank you. Maybe I'll have to hunt down a dated reloading guide on Ebay in that case. What's your favorite setup that you've ran the 264 in?

I have a couple of Sako’s in 264. I load 140 Ballistic tips. They do well on deer and pigs. If I was hunting heavier animals I’d go with the Accubonds. The 125 grain Partition shot very well also. I use the 120 Barnes in Creedmoor and 6.5-06 loads. I’ve been thinking about loading some for 264’s.

You will like the 264 I think.

Have been shooting the 264 since 1964. For 140 gr class bullets the very slowest powders are advisable for velocities of 3200 + FPS in a 26" BBl. Powders like VV 24N41, N570, Rel 33 & Retumbo. H-1000 way to fast except for 100gr bullets. IMR-7828 usable but on the fast side for the 264. My personal use of bullets has been for the 120gr mono's like Barnes, Hammer. GMX etc. I have been taking elk regularly with these bullets since 1994 ( Barnes 120 X ), now the TSX. They have proved exceptionally elk capable from what ever angle thru heavy bone.with absolute minimal blood shot meat . We take elk each season with the 120gr mono's in all our 6.5's from 260 , 6.5x55 etc. Years of in the field experience has proven their capability & dependably. Gave up on the C&C bullets , Gave up on the bonded , partitioned or any lead core bullet because of their destructiveness on meat.. Especially when dense muscle or bone is struct. .You don't always get a rib cage shoot. Just like this year I had to place the shot through a window in the brush thru both front shoulders or would have not had a shot. 6.5 121 gr Hammer with complete pass thru & very little blood shot meat. As is said eat right up to the hole.

Do you prefer these very slow powders for the 120 grain bullets as well?
Glad to see someone has experience with these 120 grain monolithics, I'm heavily leaning towards the E-Tip or 127 grain Barnes LRX now.

The slow powders have produced the best velocities for the 120gr & heavier bullets. Rel 33 gives me over 3400fps easy with the Barnes 120gr or Hammer 121gr. . Not the slightest sign or pressure with primer pockets staying tight thru multiple firings. Using VV 24N41 I get 3222fps out of my 26" bbl's & 140gr class bullets if you prefer that weight. IMR-7828 is an excellent powder for the 100gr bullets easily going over 3700 FPS. I have my own range & this side of 500 yds the 100gr bullets @ 3700 + fps & the 120 gr's at 3400+ will absolutely amaze you. You have to shoot them to understand properly. Super flat & super fast time of flight which is a significant help with moving game at ranges beyond 200yds. Elk have a tremendous stride even walking. Speed absolutely makes a difference.

The 264WM likes 140s usually.. The powder I use is IMR 4350... But I keep speeds at or a hair less of 3,000 fps.. Usually 2950-2970..

My 264 Win does super with enough Retumbo to make 3200 with the 140 BT or Accubonds. Both Bullets shoot excellent and accuracy has been really easy. I haven’t tried the 120 weights but it looks like Hesp and few others are doing great with them. Mines an older Classic with a Compact EDGE on it. Pretty portable package.

7828 is my favorite but retumbo works too.

My 264 loves 125gr Partitions and 7828. At 3300fps, it's dandy open country deer gitter.

I use IMR 4350 also with 140’s. It isn’t the fastest, but is very accurate.

I use 75 - 76 gr US 869 with the 140 Accubond for a little under 3,100 fps.

The 139 Scenar is the most accurate bullet I've tried in my .264

Thanks for the advice guys. The 264 is looking even better to me than it did previous.

Bedded my M70 SG and finally shot it today. Definite improvement on both 130 ABs and 129 SSTs, but then I shot some 140 SGKs I bought on a lark--had never shot 140's in it. First group < .700". (Best on 130/129's were a little over 1".) All shot with Re-22. Planning on doing a ladder with that combo.

A timely thread. I just received the reamer for my 264 WM. Hope to get it barreled and stocked in the next two weeks or so. Brass is on the way, so this thread has provided some good info.

I am getting ready to do an overhaul on my loads with my .264WM.

I have several loads that shoot right at MOA but I have always wanted to better that a bit. I am finally giving up on the Partitions for the time being...I have tried all manner of tricks and they are just determined to average between 1" to 1.25" @ 100yds. I'm not hunting elk any time soon so I am going to play with something else.

Also, I am moving on from Winchester brass. Having purchased several lots of Winchester brass over the years, this stuff is all over the board on case / neck wall thickness. Neck turning helped...but I am just tired of fooling with it. Purchasing some Lapua brass for a 6.5 Swede and a .243W has made me realize what good brass can do for a rifle. This also has me wondering now if some of my accuracy issues can be attributed to the crappy Winchester brass.

My first batch of Norma brass came in for the .264WM last night. Night and day difference between it and the Winchester brass. On my Redding gauge, this brass is SOOOOO much more consistent with neck wall thickness. The neck wall thickness on almost the whole batch varied less than 0.001".

I have not assembled loads yet but based off what I am seeing currently, I would highly recommend you pay attention to the brass you plan to use from the start. After I get a chance to see what the Norma brass does, I may circle back to the Partitions and see if things improve with better brass. For the time being though, I see some Scenars and maybe some ABLR's in this rifle's immediate future.

Anyone try PPU 264 brass?

Especially if you are after deer and antelope sized game, try the Hammer Bullets "Sledge Hammer" 117gn all copper bullets. Most people are reporting these bullets are very easy to tune, and have great terminal performance. These will be laser-flat in a .264WM, and will take down the largest mulie with authority.

Haven't tried it in .264 WM yet, but have used it in .30-06, 9,3x62, 7x57, 6.5x55 and .22 Hornet and have found it to be very good. No issues to date and in general much more consistent than say, Federal, Winchester or Remington brass.