264 WM & 143 gr ELD-X accurate load

[Engineering101]

A buddy of mine has been struggling to find a consistently accurate load for his 264 WM to the point he is going to give up on it. He will get a load that works one time to the range, load some more of the same load and it won't repeat previous accuracy. The rifle is a high quality semi custom that should shoot based on its pedigree and I figure that it will with the right load. So anyone solved this problem with the 143 ELD-X in the 264 WM? Pet loads? Thanks.

 

[Trnelson]

I have been shooting the 143 ELDX from a 264 win mag. A couple of things that I learned may help you out.
1. Sort the bullets.
2. Check that your barrel is not overly copper fouled

They are not as dimensionally consistent as I wish they were. That holds true for weight, bearing surface and even diameter. I start to see noticeable accuracy degradation after about 40 rounds. I very seldom shoot more than two rounds at a time and always wait for the barrel temperature to match ambient conditions before firing again. I'm sending them off at 3,168fps and have similar, but longer interval, coppering issues in my 6.5/06.
When properly sorted I see consistent .3-.5 MOA, when the rifle is clean and I do my part. I have shot the 143 ELDX out to 1,200 yards. They have performed very well on everything I have used them on.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Make sure all screws are tight; including action screws, base and ring screws, and brake if he has one.

 

[Trnelson]

Make sure all screws are tight; including action screws, base and ring screws, and brake if he has one.

Certainly smart to look at the obvious stuff first!

 

[Plinker147]

I tried the 143 EDLX in in a 6.5-06. Never could get good consistence's with them. I would always get a flier or two.

Same gun shoots lights out with Berger 140VLD and LRAB 129's

 

[Gord0]

How many rounds total does he have down the tube?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I'd think of something like the 130 ab for his 264...
Overbore cartridges beat up bullets and I have been having issues getting the eld-x pills to shoot well in my 300rums and 7stw... The only rifle we are currently loaded with eld-x pills with is the 6.5 creed with 143 eld-x..

 

[RT2506]

The 130 Accubond pushed with Retubo really shoots in my 264 Win mag. Kills deer perfectly from 25 to a bit over 500 yards so far. Bullet goes in wrecks the vitals and exits with a quarter size hole and deer are DRT.

 

[Engineering101]

GordO

He has about 200 rounds down the tube.

 

[RAT807]

What is your barrel twist rate? What brass and powder are you using?

The biggest hurdle I had was the Winchester brass was pretty low quality. Neck tension was all over the place and very difficult to seat bullets. Neck thickness variations of .002 and more were common. Same powder (H1000), bullet and primer when using Nosler brass, accuracy and velocity stabilized. I now use Norma brass and it has been shooting better than Nosler with the high spots turned off the necks.

I have heard you should weight sort the ELD-X bullets and then sort by bearing surface. I shot 150gr .284 bullets and did have a couple fliers before hearing about sorting them.

 

[Gord0]

He could have been seeing velocity changes that were putting him out of the barrels accuracy node. Also very well could be coppering as someone else suggested. And if it's a 1-9 twist not a 1-8 it may have trouble stabilizing depending on your elevation.

 

[Engineering101]

The rifle has a 1 in 8 twist and he is using Nosler brass. All the obvious stuff has been done, actions screws and scope screws are fine. He anneals every time he fires the brass so neck tension is not the issue. He indicated that it had been about 60 rounds since he last cleaned the barrel - and he just cleaned it in case that is the issue. We will find out when he gets back from the Seattle to Alaska cruise he is on at the moment. Several of you mentioned getting copper fouling so that could be an issue. I do know it isn't the shooter. I saw him put 4 shots into 3 inches from 600 yards with his 300 WSM a month back. Then he knocked over a monster black bear (a super cruiser for those of you who know what that is) on a guided hunt in Wyoming. He shot the bear in the same basin that Len got a good one a few years back. He shot the bear from 530 yards using sticks. It went about 80 yards - shot right through the boiler room with a 200 grain ELD-X. He tends to run Nightforce, McMillan and Benchmark and the gun is put together right. So... given all of that new info any ideas come to mind? I'll let you know if the cleaning worked or not. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Bear Camp]

Tagging in.

 

[257Tony]

I had the same issue with the 143 in my 264 WM, I'd load 6, shoot 2 3 shot groups both around .75, go home and load 50. Next trip to the range they'd shoot 1.5-2" groups. I've switched to the 140 ELD-M and am getting much more consistent results with those. YMMV , of course.