6.5X284 V/S 264 Win Mag

S

Scalloper

New member
I have planning on building a accurate hunting/target rifle for about 6 months now. I am looking for a accurate shooter that I can hunt white tail and coyote out to 600yds if the shot presents itself. I ask some questions on here and ,as suggested my other members, I decided to buy a 700 action and go from there. I have been leaning toward something in 6.5-7mm caliber. Yesterday I traded one of my previous bolt guns, TC Venture 7mag, for a 2007 Rem 700 in 264WM that appears as to have never been shot. I had never owned a 264WM and thought if needed I could rebarrel the gun in 7mm Mag as I have a good supply of reloading components in stock. My original intention was to buy a 700 rifel, rebarrel, install a HS Precision stock and have a smith install a trigger and true the action. ? It seems that my 264WM is a 1-9 twist which may not be suitable of VLD 140-160 bullets that I would like to shoot.
I have also been reading about the great success many seem to be having with the 6.5X284 but I don’t seem to see much in terms of accuracy shooting using the 264WM. I understand they are both different cartridges as well as bolt faces, but very similar in case compactly and the 264WM seems to be a bit faster. So what’s the big difference in the two?
 
The answer to your last question is: not much.

My .264 Mag Sako gave me a bit more than 3200 FPS with a 140 grain bullet which is 200 FPS or so more than you will get with a 6.5-284 with a same length barrel. And I never tried anything heavier than 140 grain bullets in mine but I sure would think that a 1-9" twist would stabilize a 160 VLD with no problem. Even if it had trouble with it I don't think that would be an issue. Using the 140 grain Hornady A-Max for example, if you are launching that bullet at 3200 FPS you are still getting almost the same energy at 1000 yards as a .44 Magnum has right out the barrel. Way plenty enough for deer and the occasional yote at 600 yards I would think.

I personally like the .264 Win Mag better than the 7mm Remington mag. Especially if you are going after nothing larger than deer I think that the .264 would serve you well. You would not necessarily need a bigger cartridge than that for larger game because a friend of mine here in town has taken grizzly and polar bear with his .264 as well as an bison. A BIG bison.

I think that you would really like that .264 Mag. A great round and it really should be more popular than it is in my opinion.
 
Originally Posted By: RustydustThe answer to your last question is: not much.

My .264 Mag Sako gave me a bit more than 3200 FPS with a 140 grain bullet which is 200 FPS or so more than you will get with a 6.5-284 with a same length barrel. And I never tried anything heavier than 140 grain bullets in mine but I sure would think that a 1-9" twist would stabilize a 160 VLD with no problem. Even if it had trouble with it I don't think that would be an issue. Using the 140 grain Hornady A-Max for example, if you are launching that bullet at 3200 FPS you are still getting almost the same energy at 1000 yards as a .44 Magnum has right out the barrel. Way plenty enough for deer and the occasional yote at 600 yards I would think.

I personally like the .264 Win Mag better than the 7mm Remington mag. Especially if you are going after nothing larger than deer I think that the .264 would serve you well. You would not necessarily need a bigger cartridge than that for larger game because a friend of mine here in town has taken grizzly and polar bear with his .264 as well as an bison. A BIG bison.

I think that you would really like that .264 Mag. A great round and it really should be more popular than it is in my opinion.
Thanks. I did pick up a set of dies so maybe I should play with it some before I make any changes.
 
Originally Posted By: atdThe 264win mag is a long action. The 284win is short action.

It was designed for a short action - and loaded very short to fit - but that is the exact reason that the 284 failed - to be properly loaded, it needs to be in a long action and bullets loaded out looong!


No one that builds a 284, puts it on a short action.
 
I don't think its possible to live without one of each.

One of my favorite hunting rifles is a Sako L61R in 264 Win Mag. It will shoot both the 140's and the 160's, but if I'm going to hunt with heavier bullets I'll probably take a 7MM Rem Mag and shoot 160 grain 7MM bullets instead.

As for the 6.5-284 Win, for years I have owned a Ruger 77 rifle in that chambering that was an original 284 Win rifle with a bad barrel NIB. I bought two of the same Ruger Model 77 284 Win rifles at the same time. The other one is a very accurate 284 Win hunting rifle. This one would never shoot worth beans with the factory barrel. I've never had problems with bullet depth affecting velocity in the 6.5-284 simply because I never shoot anything heavier than 140 grain 6.5 MM bullets in it, and 130's is the more common bullet I use in it. It's purely a hunting rifle with a sporter weight PacNor stainless barrel that copies the Ruger contour. For a hunting weight rifle it is a tack driver and it's not designed to be a target rifle. The 6.5-284 is a great hunting round.
 
This 264wm is on it's fourth barrel (counting factory tube).It has been run hot and hard it's whole life.Barrel life seems to be around the 1500 mark YMMV.The 8.5 twist Kriegers seem to work well with the 140gr pills.Ignore the load data in this picture it's over "book max" but not hot in this rifle.Start low and use common sense.

 
I have a 6.5-284 1:8 built on a short action Rem. 700 vls for the purpose of long range shooting. I not so long ago bought a Savage Long Range Hunter in a 6.5-284. This rifle has a adjustable muzzle port, long action and in a 1:8 barrel, it is a ideal hunting rifle, one should be a reloader at this time.
Jim
 
Just a note: The 6.5x284 Win is the short action version, the 6.5x284 Norma is the long action version and reloading information is NOT the same. I also have both cartridges, a .264WM in a Ruger Hawkeye and a 6.5x284 Norma in the Savage LR Hunter mentioned above. The Win Mag is more than accurate enough for sane hunting with Sierra GameKing bullets and the Savage will best it's groups by nearly 50% by dint of barrel, trigger, Lapua brass and Berger VLD match-hunting bullets. All components being equal, the Win Mag does have a bit of a velocity advantage, how far does a guy want to shoot?
 
Originally Posted By: RonO.Just a note: The 6.5x284 Win is the short action version, the 6.5x284 Norma is the long action version and reloading information is NOT the same. I also have both cartridges, a .264WM in a Ruger Hawkeye and a 6.5x284 Norma in the Savage LR Hunter mentioned above. The Win Mag is more than accurate enough for sane hunting with Sierra GameKing bullets and the Savage will best it's groups by nearly 50% by dint of barrel, trigger, Lapua brass and Berger VLD match-hunting bullets. All components being equal, the Win Mag does have a bit of a velocity advantage, how far does a guy want to shoot?


The 6.5-284 Win cartridge is the same dimensionally as the 6.5-284 Norma. The only difference, if you want to call it that, is that Norma simply took the 6.5-284 Win wildcat, and in 1999, Norma submitted it to CIP for standardization. It has since been referred to as the 6.5mm-284 Norma. CIP approval gave Norma the right to use their company name along with the 6.5-284 cartridge name for sales purposes.

CIP refers to the Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L'épreuve Des Armes à Feu Portatives (Permanent International Commission for Firearms Testing – commonly abbreviated as C.I.P. or CIP) CIP is loosely the European/international version of SAAMI.

Beyond the name differences, no other difference exist in the cartridge cases themselves. Granted, dimensionally the Norma version chamber has a slightly longer throat in its standardized version than some non-standard 6.5-284 Win reamers have. However, even longer throats than the standardized Norma version uses have routinely been cut for the non-standard 6.5-284 Win cartridge in custom rifles.

Throating length is a subjective issue in non-standard/wildcat cartridges. In SAAMI or CIP cartridges, throating length is relatively fixed for the most part in factory rifles and chambers.
 
Winny Fan, you are correct. I should have said that the 6.5x284 Win "could" be a short action round with a 2.80" COAL. The same OAL as its .284 Win parent The Norma version is, by definition and CIP acceptance, a long action round with a COAL of 3.23". This ought to help:

https://www.norma-usa.com/index.php/prod...e-month-6-5x284

I can use all the help I can get some days!
smile.gif



 
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Originally Posted By: RonO.Winny Fan, you are correct. I should have said that the 6.5x284 Win "could" be a short action round with a 2.80" COAL. The same OAL as its .284 Win parent The Norma version is, by definition and CIP acceptance, a long action round with a COAL of 3.23". This ought to help:

https://www.norma-usa.com/index.php/prod...e-month-6-5x284

I can use all the help I can get some days!
smile.gif




Thanks for the link. The info provided answered some of my questions. But I still have not seen why the 264 WM in most cases is not considered to be as accurate as the 6.5 X 284
 
Originally Posted By: ScalloperOriginally Posted By: RonO.Winny Fan, you are correct. I should have said that the 6.5x284 Win "could" be a short action round with a 2.80" COAL. The same OAL as its .284 Win parent The Norma version is, by definition and CIP acceptance, a long action round with a COAL of 3.23". This ought to help:

https://www.norma-usa.com/index.php/prod...e-month-6-5x284

I can use all the help I can get some days!
smile.gif




Thanks for the link. The info provided answered some of my questions. But I still have not seen why the 264 WM in most cases is not considered to be as accurate as the 6.5 X 284

There is no reason - from it's inception, the 264 was considered a hunting round - in those days there was little long range accuracy shooting and what there was, was handled by the already proven 30-06 and 308. There were no target grade bullets for the 6.5 size bore either.

Then the 264 fell into disfavor cus it ate up the soft barrels of that time (I ate up a beautiful M-70 .264-WM Westerner just playing with it cuz it was so much fun).

Jump forward 40 years, add a premium stainless barrel, some prep'ed 264 brass, and some Bergers, MatchKings or A-Maxes, and it will hold it's own with the 6.5x284 (with equal brass). The big advantage the 284 family has, is high quality brass... but with care in selecting and pep, that can be overcome.

I currently have a Remington .264 Sendero-II, with a 6.5-20x44 Nikon Monarch scope, and it is an exquisite rifle, and very accurate.

 
Thanks Cat this is what I was looking for.
Other then a trigger and stock replacment should I consider a 1-7.5 or 1-8 twist barrle to stabelize longer/heavier projectiles?
 
Originally Posted By: ScalloperThanks Cat this is what I was looking for.
Other then a trigger and stock replacment should I consider a 1-7.5 or 1-8 twist barrle to stabelize longer/heavier projectiles?

Yup...
 
If I reloaded a 6.5-284 in a resized .284 case and reloaded in Lapua 6.5-284 case I don't under stand why the accuracy would matter whether fired from a short action or long action rifle. I have both rifles and reload separatedly by case brand and other than minor case volume I fail to see a difference.
Jim
 
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