Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best 6.5/264 mule deer & pronghorn cartridge/rifle?

Oh liar LarryO and his charts!! Haha

Oh LarryO!! You lost your throat!! 😂😂

NO
That's how I set up my M700 Classic , the problem again as I see it is not only expensive and scarce factory ammo that feature low bc, out of date bullet designs. Next they cut the wings off it with less than 26" barrels. Find a nice 270 win with a 24" barrel buy a couple of 8 # jugs of RL-26 and some really good 140-150 hi bc bullets. Should leave the 264 in the dust.plus if you get in an ammo bind it's less than $20 a box at wallyworld when they have it. Way I see it. Mb

My wife and I killed over 200 antelope.. Of the std. calibers mentioned I am with Mag. Bob.. A good .270 will do all that is needed and more.. Most antelope are shot at 400 yards or less.. We have shot them with everything from the .22lr through the 375 H & H and .45-70.. My wife's favorite for antelope and everything else was a custom 7mm Rem Mag.. Mostly with 140 BTBT's and Re22.. You can get by with a std. scope and no range finder.. If you have them fine, but they are not necessary for most antelope shooting..

My wife and I killed over 200 antelope.. Of the std. calibers mentioned I am with Mag. Bob.. A good .270 will do all that is needed and more.. Most antelope are shot at 400 yards or less.. We have shot them with everything from the .22lr through the 375 H & H and .45-70.. My wife's favorite for antelope and everything else was a custom 7mm Rem Mag.. Mostly with 140 BTBT's and Re22.. You can get by with a std. scope and no range finder.. If you have them fine, but they are not necessary for most antelope shooting..

200 "goats" is an impressive number! My total is only maybe 15% of that. Several of them have been with the 6.5x55, but most with the .257 Roberts. I think three or four with the 25-06 and one with the 35 Whelen rounds it out. [EDIT: Also one with the 270 WSM - just remembered that one.]

This year I will be hunting with what might well be the OP's "Best 6.5/264 mule deer and pronghorn cartridge", the .256 Newton. It's got all but one of his criteria, but availability of factory ammo ceased in 1939, so I don't reckon it'll do. He should get a 6.5CM. It's a great cartridge. Doesn't have "a lot of zip" but it has all the zip that is needed for as far out as anybody has any business shooting a deer or pronghorn.

The Newton is over a hundred years old and I have wanted one for 30 years. Finally got one built and will hunt it this fall.

Cheers,
Rex

Show us some photos Rex. It sounds like a pretty cool rig.

I have a Creed, 2, 260 AI's. a 6.5 Rem mag. a 6.5-06 Improved, a 264 mag and a 6.5 SAUM.

I have hunted with all but the Creed and when I leave the house I almost always reach for the SAUM.

Not that it does anything much better or different than the others but I just enjoy shooting it.

It is just pretty hard to find a 6.5 that doesn't preform well on antelope and deer

Came from me as well as others. Most factory 264's have damn short SAAMI spec throats because all the 140 gr factory ammo (WW & RP) were loaded with dual diameter power pts and Corelokts. My Rem M700 has a full length mag so if it had a long throat they could be loaded out mag wise. My model 70 xtr's have mags blocked to 3.34". To get full high velocity values out of the 264 you need a longer throat to seat today's full dia. Hi bc bullets out to decrease the amount of bullet in the case so you don't reduce powder capacity. And to add to that a 26" barrel so you don't have to redline the sob to get 3100fps. Factory Remington 140 gr dd Corelokts have a bc of .384 and the ww 140's aren't much higher. So common ammo with high bc new tech bullets just aren't there to buy. CASCADE said he wanted to get a outfit for his 30 year old son that good ammo was availible for as well as being able to load for it. That spells 6.5 prc to me 6.5 Creedmoor is even less complicated just like the 270. The 264 was screwed out of the gate by false marketing, poor bullets, sbw's and a few other problems. Mb

I owned a CA Mesa in 6.5 Creedmoor, and one in a Bergara B14, both briefly. I wasn't impressed with either, sold them. The 24" Kimber 84L Classic in .270 I replaced them with does wonders with the Barnes 110 TTSX! My favorite 6.5 I hunted UT antelope and Texas Exotics with was a 24" Wildcat (late 90s) in 6.5/284 with both the 120 NBT and 125 PT, both going right at 3200. ( ala 260AI, 6.5/06, 6.5 PRC or 264WM) I used necked down 284 Winchester brass and later, when SAAMI 6.5/284 cases came out ( Nosler, Lapua, Norma) I could not get to 3200, they were too soft. Just saying. Since your son is very familiar with the excellent 6mm Remington, I too would suggest the 6.5 Creedmore if you want a 6.5.

270 Winchester makes all cartridges look silly

The metal work is complete, but I'm still whittling on the stock. This was during the inletting, which is finished now and I'm doing the final shaping.

I have taken it to the range (with a cloth draped over the unfinished cheekpiece to make sure my sweaty face doesn't mess up the wood). This load ened up too hot, so, for the multitude of other .256 Newton users out there - don't copy this one...


Need to finish the final shaping and get the finish on in time for this fall. FN Commercial Mauser (JC Higgins donor action) Dakota safety, Timney trigger.

Ebony tip, still to be shaped




This is how the 143 ELD-X lines up in the case when seated to the OAL it is throated for, which is 3.375", just under magazine capacity of 3.4"


Sorry to hijack the thread.
I stick to the OP getting a 6.5 CM. It'll be just right.
;o)
Rex

6.5x47 Lapua......or 6 5 creedmoor.

Thanks Rex. Looks good. What will you use to finish the wood?

In the past I have been a big fan of Phil Pilkington's and will probably use that - I think the gold-brown tint, versus the red-brown tint. I have some of both left from other projects. It's been so predictable and consistent I have never really used much else, though a thinned, sanded-in spar varnish might be a good choice too.

Cheers,
Rex

Rex - great looking rifle.

My MOS Evolution in 6.5x284 shoots the 140 Berger HVLD pretty good but it really shines with a 156 Berger EOL.

6.5 creedmoore

Don't overlook the .257-6.5 AI. It's a loony's dream because it's three wildcats deep from 7x57, but is easily formed from 7x57 brass. And a Goldilocks, bigger than .308 based cases but not as big as -06 or .284 based stuff. Use a Tikka long/short action hybrid setup and load as long as you like. Only real problem is lack of factory ammo.

(This post is not entirely serious, but not entirely unserious.)

T3x SL 6.5 Creed will get it done