Question - Rem 700 Classic .264 WM

[OR_98]

First-time poster, long-time lurker...

I'll get right to it - I have an opportunity to buy a mint (<20 rounds) Rem 700 Classic .264 WM for $850. I believe it was manufactured in 1986.

I've been wanting a .264 WM for as long as I can remember (literally decades...don't ask why it's taken me so long) and I grew up in a Remington 700 family. As far as factory rifles, I think right now a Sendero SF II or one of the Model 70 offerings are my only options, and neither one really floats my boat (I'm aware of the well-documented Remington QC issues in recent years and I've never been a Model 70 guy).

A custom job is out of my price range right now.

I'm thinking about buying this rifle, immediately replacing that factory 24" 1:9 with a high-quality 26" 1:8. This would be a Western (I live in Southern Oregon) deer and elk gun. I'd like it to be a tack-driver, but I'm not looking for some 1,000-yard monster.

Thoughts? Is my plan a reasonable one or are there better options I'm not recognizing? This just seems like a fairly unique opportunity and I don't want to pass up a good thing (if that is in fact what it is).

Happy to be here (officially) and looking forward to the wise input of this board. Thanks!

 

[dok7mm]

Sounds like a good idea!
Use a good smith in case primary extraction needs fixing. Also, check on having it pillar bedded to enhance accuracy.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I've wanted a 264 win mag for years and for some unknown reason ive had just about everything else but one. If you do indeed plan on rebarreling immediately, you can buy a 700 in 7mm rem mag or 300 win mag for possibly cheaper and have it barreled to 264 win mag no problems at all because the bolt, magazine & everything is the same on all three of those. Barrel is the only difference. But either a way it will be no problem for you. You may have a gunsmith nearby that you plan on using but if you don't there's several options. Bruno's shooter supply, bugholes.com and Redhawk rifles all have barrels in stock and can get them shipped out to you quickly. Long rifles inc in Sturgis has very quick turnaround for rebarreling. Spend sometime looking on their website and follow their instructions for shipping and they will have it back to you in 2--4 weeks. There's a lot of good gunsmiths that will do the job for you but I can attest to LRI having a very quick turnaround .

 

[Texanjohn]

Buy it, shoot it, THEN decide if you need to rebarrel it, I bet you won't have to.

 

[ButterBean]

Buy it, shoot it, THEN decide if you need to rebarrel it, I bet you won't have to.

That's what I was gonna say, I'm betting its gonna be a shooter with just a little tweaking

 

[crystalgayleguy]

the classic are collector items I'd keep.it like it is or buy a 7 mag and rebarrel.to 264 wm they only made it one year you don't see alot of them if it is like new it's worth the price he is asking for it

 

[dogz]

Buy it, shoot it, THEN decide if you need to rebarrel it, I bet you won't have to.

There you have it, can't imagine replacing a unknown barrel prior to shooting it to see if it'll perk or not. If it's just to pick up 2" of barrel and or 60-70 fps total speed is a no for me.

Shoot it, then see

 

[OR_98]

Appreciate all the input from everyone. I'm probably falling a little too easily for the whole "a .264 WM can't live up to its true potential without a 26"+ barrel" line of thinking.

The new barrel idea probably had as much - if not more - to do with getting a 1:8 twist as it did with picking up a little speed. But I think it's great advice to get it, shoot it, and then go from there.

Thanks again.

 

[1894C]

There you have it, can't imagine replacing a unknown barrel prior to shooting it to see if it'll perk or not. If it's just to pick up 2" of barrel and or 60-70 fps total speed is a no for me.

Shoot it, then see

Missed the point of the rebarrel in my mind. 60 FPS is nothing. 2" of barrel is meaningless. A faster twist however is very meaningful. A 1:9 is going to struggle to stabilize anything over 140s. 140s being marginal.

 

[Stef-han]

Having owned 8 Classics, all shot sub MOA. I disliked to too short barrels in Magnun calibers, never owned 264.
That's a good price if it passes bore scoping.
Collectors value is a joke, in the same league with pot metal 94 commemoratives.
Buy it, put a proven scope on it, shiit it with premium ammo and see what you have.

 

[dogz]

Missed the point of the rebarrel in my mind. 60 FPS is nothing. 2" of barrel is meaningless. A faster twist however is very meaningful. A 1:9 is going to struggle to stabilize anything over 140s. 140s being marginal.

You could well be right that it might struggle with the longer big bc 140 bullets, but I bet not with the standard 140's and they can do a lot of good work. Let alone, a 129 Horn sp or a 130 Accubond. In the day to day real world of hunting those are darn tough to beat.

 

[CVCOBRA1]

I agree with the others, buy it if it is still available then shoot it. Don't get all wrapped up in the 156 gr hype. A 130 at 3000 fps will work wonders.

 

[dogz]

Speaking of the 264 Winnie, anyone recall what Doug Burris used many moons ago to take the world record typical muley?

 

[OR_98]

I've wanted a 264 win mag for years and for some unknown reason ive has just about everything else but one. If you do indeed plan on rebarreling immediately, you can buy a 700 in 7mm rem mag or 300 win mag for possibly cheaper and have it barreled to 264 win mag no problems at all because the bolt, magazine & everything is the same on all three of those. Barrel is the only difference. But either a way it will be no problem for you. You may have a gunsmith nearby that you plan on using but if you don't there's several options. Bruno's shooter supply, bugholes.com and Redhawk rifles all have barrels in stock and can get them shipped out to you quickly. Long rifles inc in Sturgis has very quick turnaround for rebarreling. Spend sometime looking on their website and follow their instructions for shipping and they will have it back to you in 2--4 weeks. There's a lot of good gunsmiths that will do the job for you but I can attest to LRI having a very quick turnaround .

I had no idea it was that simple to "convert" a 7MM Rem Mag or 300 WM to .264 WM. I feel stupid for not knowing that.

So there's literally nothing else to it? Buy one of those guns, remove the old barrel and have a 6.5MM barrel installed, and voila, you can shoot .264 WM?