264 Win mag Vs 7mm rem mag

If I wanted 1 rifle to do everything I wanted a gun to do in North America it would be a 7 mag. I've had several and had no complaints about the performance of any of them. I find that the recoil of a 7 mag bothers me after long practice sessions unless I load down to about 3000fps with a 140gr bullet. That is plenty of punch for anything around home, which leads me to why I LOVE the 264.

My 264 is a custom gun with a Limbsaver pad fit to me which eases recoil. She is not particularly light at 10lbs 6oz loaded with the heavy scope and sling I went to but she really shoots with her favorite loads and does so at a recoil level that my flinch seems able to ignore. I've found that 60gr of H4831SC and a 140gr AccuBond or Berger is her favorite recipe. She pushes the AccuBond at 3000fps and the Berger at 2950fps, try to speed her up and the groups start to open. It still makes a darn flat shooting rifle at these speeds, and is great for the high winds I encounter all the time. The long 6.5 bullets penetrate extremely well for me on game and ring the 600yd gong more consistently than my other rifles under varied conditions. I've also taken most of my game, especially the trophies I have mounted with the 264 and it has just worked. On a side note, the majority of the mounts that didn't fall to the 264 fell to the 7 mag.

The 7 mag is more versatile. The 264 really doesn't beat the 7 mag at anything except flinging an extremely high BC 140gr bullet at pretty good speed. That just happens to be exactly what I want it to do.
 
FOTIS":2p0hlzs9 said:
I went back and forth between the 2 for years. Then I found this and never looked back.

HJZdJ.jpg



Sako 75 Deluxe 7mm RUM.

160's at 3300 fps.

That is a really sweet rifle. To pretty to hunt with! I love those ballistics but knowing me I'd burn the barrel out trying to find my perfect load.
 
Took me 1 day.
160 AB
162 SST
162 Interlock

All with 93 grain retumbo at 3300 fps. They all do this and then the barrel warms up quickly and throws out the third shot but never more than 3/4" away. I figure if the first 2 always go in the same place I am good....NO?

7mmrum160AB.jpg
 
FOTIS":1guozkv4 said:
Took me 1 day.
160 AB
162 SST
162 Interlock

All with 93 grain retumbo at 3300 fps. They all do this and then the barrel warms up quickly and throws out the third shot but never more than 3/4" away. I figure if the first 2 always go in the same place I am good....NO?

7mmrum160AB.jpg

It is hard to imagine that you would ever need more than two shots, and when the one thrown is no more than that, it is game in the freezer.
 
One of these days I have to completely cool that barrel before the 3rd shot. Just for S&G
 
FWIW, I've worked up loads for several 7RUMs; each acted the same as you describe. Once I was locked in on a load, I did allow them to cool completely just to have targets to show the owners what was possible. Few of us have the patience to allow that barrel to cool sufficiently to reveal its full potential. Should we need that third shot, we would likely be in trouble in any case. They can be very accurate, that's for certain.
 
RogueRiver":3w4dpgto said:
264 wm, just because I like odd cartridges- like 35's and 6.5's

It does possess the "cool" factor, contra the pedestrian for the 7RM.
 
Oh yea Fotis, that is a beauty. A real flat liner for sure.

JD338
 
Fotis you have a real winner there. A 160 AccuBond at that speed is one wicked customer. Any plans to play with the LRAB in a 150 or 168?
 
Of course, the 168gr as soon as I get them.
 
Agree. The 168 gr ALR at 3250 fps will be a death ray laser.

JD338
 
Nice Fotis!...7 mag all the way :twisted: ...Yes, I just love sako rifles too :wink: ...Lou :twisted:
 
FOTIS":84e08lpa said:
One of these days I have to completely cool that barrel before the 3rd shot. Just for S&G

I think you'll be good buddy! :lol:
 
Very nice Sako Fotis, in the 75 action no less. 3300 FPS with a .531 or higher BC ought to make elk in a couple zip codes nervous.

I personally favor the 264 over the 7mm Rem mag, but have enjoyed the "Thunder" factor of the STW and would like to play with the RUM chambering too. I don't see a 264 being an all around gun, but for long distance, medium sized deer or a coyote you are particularly intent on taking, it is really in its element.
 
Hmmm any guesses where my feelings lay?? Lol. My reasonings may differ from most and doesnot lean towards ballistics, bullet choices, or marketing from yesteryear . My reasoning goes back to a kitchen table and a story my uncle told about the elk hunt him and my dad , another uncle went on. I was young old enough to listen and remember the story. Dad had traded his ol 303 Brit for a decent 308 Norma mag, but the stock design and power of the Norma was akin to being kicked my a mule. And somehow he made a deal with the local taxidermist/ gun nut to trade his Norma straight across for a Belgian FN Mauser , in 7mmRM. With my dad and his 2 BIL 's hot on the trail of a cow elk they just never seemed to be in the right spot , on the last day dad took a cow at a distance my 1 uncle swears was 1/2 a mile. With the 2 of them packing a 270 win and a 300 savage this shot was according to them unfathemable. To this day dad figgures it was somewhere between 4&5 hundred yrds but with the terrain and a steep up hill shot it was defintly a good shot. He has packed that rifle since the early 70's to present day. So as a kid I swayed by the awesomeness of the 77mm, hey I was a kid.
 
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