264 win mag

[338 Ultra]

Well I am going to be rolling some ammo for the .264 in the next little while so I figured I would come here and ask you fine folks what is working the best for you guys that have 264's? This is going to be a load for long pokes at really large Mulies and Whitetails up here on the Prarie in Canada. I have two methods of thought on this one being the 125-130 class noslers or the 140's. The rifle in question is a mod 70 push feed about 30 years old with 2-1/2 boxes of ammo through it. The bore and throat are pristine but it is that dreaded 24" barrel LOL. Just wondering what you guys are doing powder wise with the above bullet weights?

Here are my musings so to speak

125 Partition (Love this bullet) over H-4831, Rl-22 perhaps 7828. Could also sub in the 130 AB
140 Partition or AB over H-1000, Retumbo or RL-25.

Powder wise I am way good for a long time you name it I got it and lots of it primers too and a good thing cause it is looking pretty bleak on the store shelves. I should be ok for bullets and am on the quest for more as we speak but I am not going to hold my breath. So any pointers you guys might have that may help me working up a load while not exausting my 6.5 bullet supply would put me in your debt.

 

[gerry]

My 264 WM, also with the dreaded 24`inch barrel, did the best with Retumbo and the 130 gr Swift Scirocco and also shot well with the 130 gr AccuBond, 140 gr AccuBond and 140 gr Partition so I would start there. H 4831 sc was very accurate with the 129 gr Hornady but maxed out at around 3100 fps which isn`t bad but Retumbo will give you more. I did some work with IMR 7828 and it wasn`t bad but locked into the first load after it did so well. Even with a 24`inch barrel I had no trouble breaking 3200 fps with a 130 gr bullet and I`m not one who likes to hotrod the loads. Scotty has done well with the Reloader series, I`m sure he will be along shortly with his results.

Hodgdon has some 264 WM data for you for Retumbo and some other powders.

http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

 

[HTDUCK]

Mine has a 28 inch tube.
The only powder I have used is a military powder WC872.
May not be available in your neck of the woods. It's a very slow powder along the burn rate of AA8700 or H870, both of which are discontinued.
I have no trouble launching 130 ABs at 3350 and the last string I shot through a chrony for 5 rounds I had an ES of 9.
130 Bergers launch at 3400 but due to a bullet failure at 150 yards they are no longer an option.

Howard

 

[1Shot]

I also have a long barrel 27 3/4", all that could be gotten from a 28" blank. It really does great with 130 Accubonds. 3350 fps With 66.5 grs Retumbo, WW cases made from once fired 7mm Rem mag cases, and CCI 250 primers. Shoots under MOA and kills deer in their tracks. I have killed 6 WT deer from 80 to 352 yards, all dropped in their tracks. I really like the AccuBond bullet. It flies like the ballistic tip and starts to open up like the ballistic tip but holds together like the Partition and keeps on trucking. The 130 AB also flies better than the numbers say is should. I have only recovered one 130 AB. It was from a big buck that was shot at 111 yards as it faced me with just a slight left shoulder toward me angle. The bullet was placed on the front edge of the left shoulder and smashed it making soup out of the vitals and when cutting up the meat was found against the broken ball joint in the right ham. It was a text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs. That bullet had to still be going at least 3100 fps on impact and went though bone and about 5 feet of deer. That makes a great bullet in my book.

 

[SJB358]

I tried Retumbo in my rifle (26" barrel Sporter Classic). It did well with the 130's and 140's, but it just didn't seem very consistently accurate. I also tried IMR7828 and RL22, neither of those two attained the speeds for which I bought the 264 to work at. Finally settled on RL25 with the 140 AB and BT, and WOW, accuracy is very good. I am running about 3175 with the BT's and right at 3200 with the AB's. Accuracy is excellent out of both. My load is Nosler brass, 67.6 grains of RL25, and a CCI250 primer. Same seating depth and load for both bullets.

Right now, I am getting both great speed, awesome accuracy and my cases seem to be lasting really well. It is a near max load, but it doesn't seem to be overly stressful on anything and since I anneal about every 2-3 firings, I haven't lost a case yet.

The 130 AB and 140 PT shoot excellent as well, but I think I will stick with the 140 BT and AB for now, as I know the barrel won't last forever, with additional load work.

 

[longrangehunter]

I unfortunately had an older push feed Winchester with a 24" bbl also, and it would only shoot the Nosler 120 BT behind IMR-4350 at a meager 3050 fps and the Nolser 125 NP with the same powder a tad slower.

I don't own the gun anymore, it went home to a nice girl that loved shooting it!

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

I had the XTR with a 24" tube as well for a bit but ended up giving it to my dad. Beautiful rifle, new, never been shot, bought from a friend for $750, but I was concerned with the 24" bbl.

I intended to shoot the 140 amax but it never consistently worked out in this rifle, dang it anyways...Twist wasn't the problem but it could have been somewhat borderline as to why they never would group consistently. They were kinda slow to at 3000fps, dang 24" bbls on a 264 anyway...I tried h4831, h1000, rl22, and retumbo all to no avail.

Decided it wasn't gonna do what I wanted so thats why I let it go to my dad. I wanted it for a LRH deer rifle out to 1K with the 140 amax at 3100 or so.

I worked up a load with the 120g NBT at 3200fps with H4831 that does 1/3-5/8 MOA at 100 from a bench consistently. That will still kill deer further then he cares to shoot so he loves it. I just decided to keep using the trusty 7 RM w/162 amax for my deer/elk/bear rig to 1K. I like the 1 rifle do all kinda thing anymore.

This rifle didn't care for the 125g NP at all. They were 5x worse then the 140 amax come to think of it.

Maybe a picky rifle, but the load development with the 120 NBT was quick and simple as I've come to expect with NBTs. Few loads with H4831 the first powder I tried and I had it nailed down pretty quick. I've come to learn if a rifle wont shoot an NBT theres something wrong with it.

The 129g SST isn't a bad bullet either, if you can get it to shoot that is.

 

[JD338]

The 130 gr AB would be a solid choice in your 264 WM.
It shoots very well in my 6.5mm RM and works well on WT deer. This cull buck was hit through both shoulders and dropped at the shot.

JD338

 

[Kodiak]

WOW !!!!!!

Isn't that 6.5RM a nice rifle.

The old .264 Westerners were my all time favorite for antelope and mulies.

Load 'em with the 125 Nosler Partition bullet and you're good to go.

 

[DrMike]

I saw a lovely Model 70 264 WM in the Cabela's in Post Falls today. I was sure tempted to invite it to follow me.

 

[338 Ultra]

Thanks for the replies guys good info for me to start with. I am staying away from the BT's with the 264 not because they are bad bullets nothing can be further from the truth. But Murphy's law is going to come into the picture trust me on that one it always does it seems. You just know that a huge buck is going to show up at short range and with the potential speeds the 264 can put out the BT is just a little bit soft for my liking. Reaching out though it would be fine once it slowed down a bit. I am going to try the 140 Partition first I think and see how it goes Will start with RL-25 like Scotty is using and see what happens. If I can find some 130 AB's will give them a poke too. Seems I have a bit of work ahead of me but that is most of the fun.

Thanks again guys

 

[SJB358]

I think RL25 and Retumbo along with VN570 and RL33 really have the top honors with the 264 and heavy weights. I would like to try a little RL33 in my 264 but for now, 25 does really well. Good luck and hope your load comes together fast.

 

[gerry]

The 125 gr and 140 gr Partition's will be great to try along with the AccuBond and LR AccuBond, Nosler has a lot of options Like I mentioned above if you can find the 130 gr Swift Scirocco they are a fantastic bullet for a 264 WM too, sleek and tough.

 

[338 Ultra]

The 125 gr and 140 gr Partition's will be great to try along with the AccuBond and LR AccuBond, Nosler has a lot of options Like I mentioned above if you can find the 130 gr Swift Scirocco they are a fantastic bullet for a 264 WM too, sleek and tough.

Well the shelves are about emtpy here but I did manage to find 200 140 partitions and some Win Brass. I have to look around some more but it is getting pretty lean round here lucky 6.5 mm is not as popular as 30 and 7mm cause there is nothin around in my usual haunts but I have lots.

Going to go with the RL-25 first I think it will be the winner right out of the gate, if not Retumbo gets the nod. Hey Scotty I think if a guy has the barrel length and is shootin 140's and ain't scared of compressed loads US-869 might be the she ite. The only thing I hear bad about it is it is not the most temp stable powder but in big case small bore cartridges is is getting some pretty sweet results. Perhaps someone could run a quick load on 869 in the 264 just for grins say with a 28" barrel and a 140 grain bullet 215m primer

 

[gerry]

I tried US 869 with some 140 gr Partitions it didn't work that well in my gun, broke 3000 fps easily enough but the accuracy wasn't good. Good choice starting with RL 25 and Retumbo, Magnum is another good powder to try if you don't hit paydirt with those two.

 

[SJB358]

The 125 gr and 140 gr Partition's will be great to try along with the AccuBond and LR AccuBond, Nosler has a lot of options Like I mentioned above if you can find the 130 gr Swift Scirocco they are a fantastic bullet for a 264 WM too, sleek and tough.

Well the shelves are about emtpy here but I did manage to find 200 140 partitions and some Win Brass. I have to look around some more but it is getting pretty lean round here lucky 6.5 mm is not as popular as 30 and 7mm cause there is nothin around in my usual haunts but I have lots.

Going to go with the RL-25 first I think it will be the winner right out of the gate, if not Retumbo gets the nod. Hey Scotty I think if a guy has the barrel length and is shootin 140's and ain't scared of compressed loads US-869 might be the she ite. The only thing I hear bad about it is it is not the most temp stable powder but in big case small bore cartridges is is getting some pretty sweet results. Perhaps someone could run a quick load on 869 in the 264 just for grins say with a 28" barrel and a 140 grain bullet 215m primer

I agree, I think it would be good as well, I imagine it needs to be pushed into the higher PSI in order to really perform. Maybe I'll give it a whirl one of these days with the surplus powder available. I know Howard has really good luck with his. Plus, you can't beat the price of the stuff either.

Good score on the 140 PT's. I gotta think you will have plenty of bullets left over for practice and hunting after you find a load.

Cartridge : .264 Win. Mag.
Bullet : .264, 140, Nosler PART SP 16321
Useable Case Capaci: 75.760 grain H2O = 4.919 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length : 28.0 inch = 711.2 mm
Powder : Hodgdon US 869

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-10.0 98 72.98 2856 2536 43428 12250 89.7 1.562
-09.0 99 73.79 2894 2604 45132 12430 90.4 1.533
-08.0 100 74.60 2932 2673 46911 12605 91.1 1.506
-07.0 101 75.41 2971 2743 48766 12776 91.8 1.479
-06.0 102 76.22 3009 2815 50694 12942 92.5 1.453
-05.0 104 77.04 3048 2887 52698 13104 93.1 1.426
-04.0 105 77.85 3086 2961 54789 13260 93.7 1.401
-03.0 106 78.66 3125 3036 56973 13411 94.3 1.376 ! Near Maximum !
-02.0 107 79.47 3164 3112 59255 13556 94.9 1.351 ! Near Maximum !
-01.0 108 80.28 3203 3190 61640 13695 95.4 1.327 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 109 81.09 3242 3268 64135 13827 95.9 1.303 ! Near Maximum !
+01.0 110 81.90 3282 3348 66746 13953 96.4 1.279 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 111 82.71 3321 3429 69480 14072 96.9 1.256 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.0 112 83.52 3361 3511 72345 14183 97.3 1.234 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 113 84.33 3400 3595 75348 14287 97.7 1.211 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 114 85.14 3440 3679 78498 14383 98.1 1.189 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 109 81.09 3432 3662 78732 13870 99.7 1.193 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 109 81.09 2996 2791 50420 13011 87.7 1.447


Even with a 24" barrel it looks pretty good as well..

Cartridge : .264 Win. Mag.
Bullet : .264, 140, Nosler PART SP 16321
Useable Case Capaci: 75.760 grain H2O = 4.919 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length : 24.0 inch = 609.6 mm
Powder : Hodgdon US 869

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-10.0 98 72.98 2722 2303 43428 14239 87.2 1.442
-09.0 99 73.79 2759 2367 45132 14470 88.0 1.416
-08.0 100 74.60 2797 2432 46911 14697 88.8 1.390
-07.0 101 75.41 2835 2499 48766 14920 89.6 1.364
-06.0 102 76.22 2873 2566 50694 15139 90.3 1.339
-05.0 104 77.04 2912 2636 52698 15353 91.0 1.315
-04.0 105 77.85 2950 2706 54789 15561 91.7 1.290
-03.0 106 78.66 2989 2778 56973 15764 92.4 1.267 ! Near Maximum !
-02.0 107 79.47 3028 2851 59255 15961 93.1 1.243 ! Near Maximum !
-01.0 108 80.28 3068 2925 61640 16151 93.7 1.220 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 109 81.09 3107 3001 64135 16335 94.3 1.198 ! Near Maximum !
+01.0 110 81.90 3147 3078 66746 16511 94.9 1.176 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 111 82.71 3186 3156 69480 16680 95.4 1.154 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.0 112 83.52 3226 3236 72345 16840 96.0 1.132 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 113 84.33 3266 3317 75348 16993 96.5 1.111 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 114 85.14 3307 3399 78498 17136 96.9 1.091 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by ± 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 109 81.09 3302 3390 78732 16646 99.1 1.094 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 109 81.09 2860 2543 50420 15137 85.3 1.333


3100 with that long 140 PT should blow right through anything with hooves. Alot of SD and that bullet is tougher than a 2.00 steak!

 

[338 Ultra]

Thank for the quick load data man looks like it might just work. This is one powder I can get my dirty mitts on pretty easy seems no one round these parts has the cartridges that this powder will work in. Probably would be sweet in 30-378 wish I still had one cause I am sitting on a fair bit of 50 BMG that is left over. I could also use the 869 in my 338 ultra mag with the 300 MK's that are here taking up space in my man cave might be interesting to play with and probably would make my dentist happy too.

Have a lot of load work to do now for a few rifles so I am going to be busy for a while. Have a couple of more rifles I want to pick up so I have a sequence of exact rifles in different calibers.

I will not say yet what they are but I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to find them this year and be able to post a picture of the four of them all geared the same. I already have 2 and my wife says no problem getting the other 2. She never complains about me buying rifle's or shottys and asks me why I am not out hunting when the seasons are going if I am home on a weekend or days off doing stuff around the house that needs to be done.