.264 win mag

Robinhood21

Member
My interests have brought me to a .264 win mag. Looking to slowly buy all the pieces for a big game hunting rig. I like 6.5s so that's the reason for the caliber.
I would like to hear your personal experiences and thoughts of the caliber
I would also like to see your 264wm builds with detailed description.

This is what I'm thinking.
Walmart 700 adl long action (sell everything but the action)
X-Caliber 6.5 1-9t twist. #4 contour finished at 26"( Should I go 1-8?)
Spiral fluted barrel (shave some weight and aesthetics
thumbup1.gif

Holland .250" recoil lug
Bell & Carlson sporter medalist
Was thinking DBM but will probably go BDL bottom metal to keep weight down
Spiral fluted Bolt body.
Cerakote to my liking
thumbup.gif

Talleys
Scope (undecided maybe VX-2 6-18 AO)

I'm all for critiquing so go for it!!!
 
Last edited:
Somebody just got an early Christmas present on here from Ritch. You might want to look at that thread.

My suggestion from my experience would be to forgo the DBM.

Greg
 
I have shot 264 WinMag for 30 years. 1 in 9 is fine unless you are going to use very long bullets. I can tell you from personal experience do not go with the Rem DBM mag option. Your ADL will have to be modified weakening the action. If you choose HS Precision DBM the
mag will stick out the bottom and will get in the way with some shooting positions. Also as with most magnums I would start seating depth 30 thousand off the lands.
Good luck
 
Originally Posted By: 17freakI have shot 264 WinMag for 30 years. 1 in 9 is fine unless you are going to use very long bullets. I can tell you from personal experience do not go with the Rem DBM mag option. Your ADL will have to be modified weakening the action. If you choose HS Precision DBM the
mag will stick out the bottom and will get in the way with some shooting positions. Also as with most magnums I would start seating depth 30 thousand off the lands.
Good luck

Good to know, thanks!
 
I just got my 264 mag a couple weeks ago. I had Ritch Johnson throw it together for me. I did a very inexpensive build as a buddy of mine needed money and had a brand new Savage 111 laying around that Ingot cheap. I went with a 24" barrel from Blackhole in a 8 twist and muzzlebrake. I wanted to go 26" but with the rifling in a Blackhole and gained FPS I decided to go a little shorter and keep it handy. The action sits in a used Stockade Stock with a Vortex HS-T 4-16×44 30mm. The rifle shoots one ragged hole with factory Nosler Custom 130 AB. I really enjoy the rifle. The main reason I went 264 over a 6.5 GAP was brass and die availability and price.



 
The 264 win mag made a short list for me this year - all of which eventually got scrapped - as a "smaller bore" option on a switch barrel rig. One rifle, 458win mag, 338win mag, 7mm mag, and 264win mag barrels, everything from long range coyotes to cape buffalo (all belted mag cases, just different bores).

Ultimately, I scrapped the "small bore" list because there just wasn't enough gap between the 264win mag or 6.5 rem mag and the 7mm rem mag. A 7mm mag might be too much for coyotes at any range, but the 264 nearly matches it per bullet weight, so it's a distinction without a difference - all I'd have gotten by adding the 6.5 or 264 would have been bills: $500 barrel, $200 in dies, and $300 in brass...
 
I also like the 7mm mag. They both use the same brass but kind of like having odd calibers. Seems like everyone has a 7mag and not many have heard of the 264.
 
I had a m2 ruger .264 wm and ended selling it due to it being way overkill on everything I hunt here in Pa. including whitetails.nice round just impractical for my purposes,oh did I mention lotsa muzzleblast!!good luck and enjoy.Had em all n now hunt w/a boring ol Rem 660.308.
 
Trued up Rem
Krieger 8.5t RVC with brake
HS Precison stock
Jewell trigger

To me the 264wm is a little sporty without a brake.And can be a tad picky to load for.

One of the better groups I have shot with the 264,,certainly not "all day everyday" but you get the idea..

 
I'd get a 1-8 twist so you can shoot 140 grain a max and VLD's. If you wanna go after big game with it your gonna want the best bullet suited for the task and the 140's are the 6.5 bread and butter
 
I always build a rifle around the bullet I plan to shoot and then use the twist rate to accommodate
Seems most guys get a twist then pick bullets. Seems backwards to me
 
I have owned several 264 Win Mags over the years and I currently have two that shoot extremely well with 1-9" twist barrels. One is a 1970's vintage Sako L61R and the other is a New Haven CRF Winchester Model 70 Super Grade.

I am a hunter first and foremost so I'm not interested in the longer VLD bullets, etc. that long range target shooters use that might require an 8" twist barrel. For my hunting needs, the 140 Grain Sierra BTS bullet has worked for years and I expect it to continue to work well in the future in the 9" twist barrels for game such as antelope, Mule Deer, and elk at ranges of 400+ yards or less. Shooting at game animals at further ranges leaves too many uncontrollable variable on the table for me, so I pass on the 500+ shots that many brag about on the internet. For me the internet stories of those feats generally only include the successes and not the failures at those ranges. It's like going to Vegas. Everyone wins according to their stories after getting back home and no one ever loses. But somehow Vegas stays in business taking money from people who "never lose".

Some people only performance test their rifles at 100 yards for various reason such as available space, etc., but for hunting purposes with a cartridge like the 264 Win Mag, you need to know what the bullet you are using will do at 200 yards and beyond which requires shooting at those ranges. More often than not a bullet that gives decent accuracy in terms of MOA at 100 yards will be found to deliver even better MOA numbers at 200 yards and beyond before naturally shed velocity degrades the bullet's flight. All kinds of bullet stabilization theories exist as to why, but it is a very often seen and recorded observable fact with high velocity flat shooting cartridges.

For me, a 9" twist barrel will do all I want to do with my 264 Win Mag rifles, but if long range shooting is your game, an 8" twist MIGHT be needed to stabilize the long VLD style bullets. Probably of greater need might be an extra barrel or two if high volume long range shooting is in your plans with a 264 Win Mag. Or buy a rifle designed and chambered in a cartridge more suitable to that endeavor. Most good target rifles don't make for good hunting rifles at the end of the day.
 
I have a 1965 remmy 700 264 win mag i just reworked. I put it in a gblk and grey laminate. Bedded the action. Had it all cerkoted sniper grey and blk. She is sweet all factory parts but shooting well since bedding and floating
 
Originally Posted By: je4bowhuntinI have a 1965 remmy 700 264 win mag i just reworked. I put it in a gblk and grey laminate. Bedded the action. Had it all cerkoted sniper grey and blk. She is sweet all factory parts but shooting well since bedding and floating

You can't put a description like that on here and not post pictures
 
Iv shot 2 coyotes with mine now both inside 100 yards with 130 gr accubonds. It literally took them off their feet. I didn't build the gun for coyotes but it will probably be my main gun this winter
 
I'm on my third 264WM and barring major life change, this Ruger Hawkeye will be the last I need to buy. The beauty of the .26 caliber is really in the perception that 140 grain bullets are natural. People readily accept a 140grn .264 bullet and often times balk at a 150grn 270, 160grn 280 or 190grn 308 bullet as being heavier than optimal. Being a deer hunter with a 400 yard personal limit, I have settled on the new Sierra 130grn HPBT for deer sized game. I would feel perfectly comfortable shooting an elk or moose with either Sierra's 160grn semi-spitzer or Norma's 156grn Vulkan or Oryx bullets.

I would build one very traditionally so my input there is likely off the mark but, 1-in-9" will work very well, no box mag conversion, floor plate instead, 26" barrel is perfect.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top