.264 WM Mountain Rifle

[slickyboyboo]

I am about to start building a .264 WM, and just have a few questions to ask.

I want to build a Mountain Rifle, but I don't want to cut my barrel length way down, since the .264 WM, was designed, and seems to work best with at least a 26" barrel.

Question is, if you were building a Mountain Rifle in a .264 WM, what length, and contour would you use, to keep velocity and accuracy, and still balance the rifle correctly?

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Mine is a 26" #3 Pac-Nor on a Sako action. It shoots very well. I didn't feel like I could go any shorter with the 264 win mag and it needs at least a #3 at that length for consistent accuracy. Two of the best light carry rifles I have built for long range mountain carry rifles were the 264 Gibbs and the 264-300 WSM. They both utilize faster burning powders and retain good velocity in shorter barrels. I did a 264-300 WSM with a 24" #3 barrel and it was extremely accurate. It was very accurate at long range with the 130 Swift Scirroco, 130 and 140 Berger. All three of those bullets have good BC's. This rifle with the 140 Berger would shoot better at long range than the 168 Berger in my 7mm rem mag. Same BC but the 140 was faster with less powder, recoil and noise. Cheaper to reload and easier to shoot. Hope this helps.

 

[slickyboyboo]

Mine is a 26" #3 Pac-Nor on a Sako action. It shoots very well. I didn't feel like I could go any shorter with the 264 win mag and it needs at least a #3 at that length for consistent accuracy. Two of the best light carry rifles I have built for long range mountain carry rifles were the 264 Gibbs and the 264-300 WSM. They both utilize faster burning powders and retain good velocity in shorter barrels. I did a 264-300 WSM with a 24" #3 barrel and it was extremely accurate. It was very accurate at long range with the 130 Swift Scirroco, 130 and 140 Berger. All three of those bullets have good BC's. This rifle with the 140 Berger would shoot better at long range than the 168 Berger in my 7mm rem mag. Same BC but the 140 was faster with less powder, recoil and noise. Cheaper to reload and easier to shoot. Hope this helps.

Great info, thanks! What kind of accuracy are you getting out of that 26" #3 barrel?

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

It will average .5 moa at long range until the barrel heats up. Pushing that much powder down a little hole heats up fast with skinny barrels. Three shots starting out of a cold barrel shoot very well. And that is all you need for hunting. Last time I shot it with the 130 Swift bullet I put three into a 4" bullseye at 600 yards. The group was right at 3" inside the bull. I was just looking at that target over the weekend. There were six 4" circles on the big target with the rest of them testing big 338's. The target next to the 264 winny was one of my 338-300 RUM's and it had three 225 AB's through the bull also with right at a 3" group. The one under it was a 338 Lapua with the 225 AB's into a 2 1/2" group. That was a beautiful target. My wife said lets take the Lapua deer hunting this year and shot a monster mulie with it at 516 yards.

 

[slickyboyboo]

Nice, thats what I like to hear! What part of WY are you from? I did a little work out there for the U of WY when I was in college, worked out in the Pinedale and Jackson areas.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I'm a little over an hour SE of Cody.