Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting .264 win mag / 140 Amax - load info?

Well, the good news is, hopefully you'll be home for New Years!

Tom, any idea on velocities? My .264 should be here in the next week or two at most and I'm itching to get out. I'll have a brand new FX3 6 X 42 on it, but "only" a 26" barrel.

Let's hope....

Think lots of happy thoughts for the 157 Soldiers/Marines and thousands of US civilians working here after the pull out.

I will. BT/DT in 2004.

I have some good experience loading for the .264 Winchester Magnum as I was "taught" by a great guy who has loaded for it for 40 years. I have loaded for 3 of my own.

To get the most out of the .264, you must use the absolute S-L-O-W-E-S-T powder you can get your hands on.

I have loaded 7 different powders and done the testing with every 6.5mm bullet made.

The powders that have been recommended so far in this thread are relatively "pistol" powders compared on what you should be using.

You'll find the best velocities from powders like US-869 and WC-872. The US-869 may be too fast for optimum velocity even with the 140's. I'm using it with the 130 Swift Scirocco and get 3175 with the accuracy load.

Velocity will really be dependent on how your rifle is throated. If your rifle has little to no throat, the velocity will be low. If this rifle is being built, have your smith put some throat in it so when you seat that A-Max, the base is at the neck/shoulder junction. With the 140's and my last rifle that had plenty of throat, I was able to get over 3250 with the 140 and WC-872.

Good luck.

I take it you are getting ready to mount it.

ha ha ha ha... it wasn't giving any resistance!

it's sitting in my living room now...

thanks man. that deer was a once in a lifetime deer! never seen one that big before or after. horns don't mean much but i did have it mounted.

I've been running 65g 7828 and 140s for a few years now. Shoots great with 140 hornady Sp's and sierra game kings but I haven't been able to get the best accuracy with the amaxes and vld's yet. I need to work on them some more cause the 140 vld at 3200 fps will be a good long range load if I can get it to group well.

Bb

RETUMBO,RETUMBO,RETUMBO!!! about 68 grns with a 140 vld,WW brass fed 210, will make your 264 sing.My 2 love this load.
RS

That is the dumbest thing I have heard all week. The 6.5 doesn't hamper anything. I have great luck with R22, Magnum and Mag Pro, All slow powders and this is only in a 6.5-284.

I don't have a 264 mag right now but if I were looking for a load, I would not try anything faster than 4831. I would try Magnum and Magpro then R22 and 4831.

Well haven't I been stoutly corrected!

Yeah, some load notes show me you are correct...

20 grains more powder and you can get 100 fps or so more out of one with a 140 grain bullet as mentioned by Tom...

Gee Denny... I'll really try to watch my posts, so I don't have to subject you to the 'dumbest thing I've heard all week' statements...

Please accept my most sincerest apologies...

Is that better?

Just had to scratch my head when I first read it is all.

no harm no foul Dennis..

we all look at reloading differently...

H4831sc is my 'go-to' powder in my .264WM. Behind a 129grainer, 67 grains gives 3,163fps in a 24" barrel. 67 grains behind a 140 gives 3,014fps. AR2225 (Retumbo) IMO is too slow and only gave an accurate load at 64 grains under a 129 for 2,881.

HMMMM.... Guess I have to wonder where you landed on that goat.

Antelope, 6.5 140 AMAX, 2750 MV, 280 yards, Impact velocity pretty darn close to yours... in behind the shoulder, out behind the shoulder. FUBAR innards.



Coues, 6.5 140 AMAX, 2600 muzzle and 2599 impact velocity. FUBAR, including offside scapula.

RS Mag is the place to be with 140s in the 264WM, BTW.

Not IME.

I tested H-4831, RL-22, Retumbo, Ramshot Magnum, W-780, T-870, WC-872, US-869 with about every 6.5mm bullet manufactured from 130 to 140 grains.

The first 5 powders listed, considered to have a slow burn rate normally, act as fast burning "pistol" powders when loaded in the .264 Winchester Magnum. IOW, pitiful case fill percentages, unpredictable pressure spikes when working up, and anemic velocity.

The T-870 (surplus H-870 that is no longer produced by Hodgdon and is available at Thunderbird Cartridge Company in Pheonix) acted relatively fast as well when compared to the WC-872. The US-869 (currently produced by Hodgdon) and the WC-872 (a very slow burning surplus powder) will give you the best velocity in the .264. Velocity is THE reason we own .264 Winchester Mag's. It is capable of sending 140 grain bullets with high BC's downrange at 3200 fps. If you want to hamstring the cartridge, by all means load one of the other powders that give a 75% fill, lots of pressure, and around 3000 fps.

I settled on a good hunting bullet with a great BC, the 130 gr Swift Scirocco BC of .571. The BC is as good or better than most 140 grain target bullets and the bullet construction is a pure copper jacket bonded to a pure lead core able to withstand the impact velocites that the .264 Winchester Magnum is capable of producing when loaded to its full potential.

rcamuglia,

Litz measure the BC of the SII closer to 0.49 G1 than the advertised 0.57 G1.

Not close to the BC of the 140g target bullets.

kyre,
I did have to use Litz's G7 for the Scirocco to have reliable data past 1000 yards, but out to 1000 the published BC of .571 was on.

BTW, the G7 is .251 average.

The 140 grain A-Max (which I shoot in the Creedmoor) has a G1 of .585 according to Hornady. Pretty close to the heavily constructed/bonded Swift hunting bullet which is meant for heavily constructed Fur.