264 win mag questions

[Gus99]

If have some question about the .264 win mag.
I have been using a Remington 770 .270 for 3 years and it is not accurate so I want a new rifle.
My Papaw has been using a Winchester Model 70 .264 win mag since 1984 he bought it brand new. This past November the accuracy went south and we figured out it had a bad copper fouling. So he got it cleaned and accuracy was back.
So I have been wanting a new rifle. I was dead set on a 25-06 but then my papaw told me I need to get a 264. He told me he would help me buy it.
He has killed a hundreds of deer with that gun out to 450 yards
If I get 1 I will get a model 70 sporter in .264
What is ya'lls opinion of the .264 and ammo availability.

 

[roninflag]

the rifle is more important than the cartridge. get a good one they last a long time. the .264 is a great one. my brother shot his deer at 624 yards with his .264 mag Remington sendero in November. his ammo and gun are awesome. I would get a 700 sendero, a model 70 supergrade or a sako.

 

[Bbear]

I have a Mod. 70 in a 264. It has been a VERY accurate rifle out to 500 yards (farthest I've had the opportunity to shoot it).
Ammo availability is decent but, don't expect to find a box at any Mom & Pop store. Not to mention factory stuff is rather expensive! I reload for mine both to tailor rounds to MY rifle as well as for the fact I enjoy reloading.
I think the 264 is a rather unsung cartridge. I had the 'barrel-burner' tag hung on it when it came out and it's true, they won't last for 1000's of rounds. But, shooting in smaller groups and not necessarily hot-rodding the loads, the barrels will last between 1000-2000 rounds. That is more than 90% of hunters will ever shoot through a rifle.
If you're wanting a rifle for targets or deer-sized game out to 800-1000 yards, it's a great choice as long as the shooter does their part.

I also have 2 different 25-06's. Both are great shooters and have taken whitetails out to 575 yards and two elk (100 and one @ 50 yards). Add to that a couple of dozen mule deer out to 400 yards. Most all have dropped where they were shot.
Past 500-600 yards, they will start losing accuracy mainly due to lack of higher ballistic coefficient bullets. Though I have taken my two rifles out to 700 the one time I went to a range that had that yardage available, I don't get to practice with them enough out past 4-500 yards.

 

[Gus99]

Does your brother reload or use factory ammo?

 

[Gus99]

I have never shot my papaws .264 and i was wondering what the recoil is like.
My remington 770 .270 kicks pretty good but that because it is a light gun.

 

[roninflag]

he shoots handloads. it has a muzzle break so it does not have much recoil. it has krieger barrel.

 

[roninflag]

if you are going to shoot factory ammo and are one a tight budget: sell the 770 as quickly as possible. get a rem 700 long range in either 7mm rem , 25-06 or 30-06.

 

[MagnumManiac]

My 264 is on a Sendero switch barrel, so it's not a rifle I climb up and down mountains with. It's my LR/target rig.
Thar said, my other switch barrel rifle is a Win Model 70 EW, it has barrels in 270Wearherby and 338WM. It is very light to carry, and recoil is easily mastered, the stock design allows a straight back push with little muzzle flip. Any of the Win 70's are a good choice, but, I really like stainless and composite stocks for deer hunting, just me.
The recoil of the 264 is less than most think it will be, it's definitely not harsh or painful, a little more than your 270 really.
I don't use factory ammo, but, I would use the 130gr Accubond load in factory, that's what I load for myself.

Cheers.
gun)

 

[MudRunner2005]

If you do not reload, the 7mm RemMag would worth looking into. It uses the same case as the .264 WinMag, but you can find high-quality 7mm RemMag ammo just about everywhere.

 

[RT2506]

If you will mostly be hunting deer size game inside 500 yards and maybe sometime going after elk I would choose the 25-06. Especially if you are going to depend on factory ammo. The 25-06 with most any 100 to 120 gr bullet easily found at the local Wal-mart will BANG FLOP a deer 99% of the time if you put it in the vitals. The 264 Win mag is a GREAT round IF YOU HAND LOAD. Factory ammo is hard to find and the selection of best bullets is slim with the 264 and it cost a bit more than the 25-06.
As for the difference between the two in effectiveness it depends all on barrel length. If you do not have a 26" or longer barrel on the 264 Win mag real world difference in velocity and on game effectiveness out to 500 yards between it and the 25-06 or your 270 is pretty much the same. The 264 mag has more recoil than the 25-06 and your 270. Where the 264 Mag starts to shine is with a 26" or longer barrel. I have a Rem 700 with a Shilen barrel 27 3/4" barrel, all that could be gotten out of a 28" blank. Using my hand loads of Retumbo powder and 130 gr Nosler Accubond bullets it does 3350 fps average velocity is very accurate and kills deer like lightening struck them. BUT between point blank and 500 yards there is really no difference between the effectiveness of it and my 25-06 shooting 117 Sierra Pro Hunters at 3000 fps on deer. Both kill deer like lightening struck them. The 264 Win mag starts to really shine at over 500 yards because of the better flying bullet going faster with a bit more weight. The 25-06 needs a 24" or longer barrel and the 264 needs a 26" or longer barrel. My experience with both come from 45 years of deer hunting and doing crop damage control on a BIG farm in NC for 15 years where my buddy and I took 100 deer a year. Hope this helps you decide. Good luck and good shooting.

 

[elkaholic]

If you will mostly be hunting deer size game inside 500 yards and maybe sometime going after elk I would choose the 25-06. Especially if you are going to depend on factory ammo. The 25-06 with most any 100 to 120 gr bullet easily found at the local Wal-mart will BANG FLOP a deer 99% of the time if you put it in the vitals. The 264 Win mag is a GREAT round IF YOU HAND LOAD. Factory ammo is hard to find and the selection of best bullets is slim with the 264 and it cost a bit more than the 25-06.
As for the difference between the two in effectiveness it depends all on barrel length. If you do not have a 26" or longer barrel on the 264 Win mag real world difference in velocity and on game effectiveness out to 500 yards between it and the 25-06 or your 270 is pretty much the same. The 264 mag has more recoil than the 25-06 and your 270. Where the 264 Mag starts to shine is with a 26" or longer barrel. I have a Rem 700 with a Shilen barrel 27 3/4" barrel, all that could be gotten out of a 28" blank. Using my hand loads of Retumbo powder and 130 gr Nosler Accubond bullets it does 3350 fps average velocity is very accurate and kills deer like lightening struck them. BUT between point blank and 500 yards there is really no difference between the effectiveness of it and my 25-06 shooting 117 Sierra Pro Hunters at 3000 fps on deer. Both kill deer like lightening struck them. The 264 Win mag starts to really shine at over 500 yards because of the better flying bullet going faster with a bit more weight. The 25-06 needs a 24" or longer barrel and the 264 needs a 26" or longer barrel. My experience with both come from 45 years of deer hunting and doing crop damage control on a BIG farm in NC for 15 years where my buddy and I took 100 deer a year. Hope this helps you decide. Good luck and good shooting.

For what he wants, I agree! I shot a 25-06 from the time Remington first chambered them in 1969 and they are VERY hard to beat on deer. I killed my first elk with a 115 nosler partition when I moved to Idaho in '75 at 450 yards. (dropped him with a shoulder shot).......Rich