.264 WM, 260 rem, or what else?

[Coleman 45]

I have an old .270 that I am really wanting to make into a serious longrange rifle. Since the rifle is already a long action, is there any reason not to go with the .264? Or are the other rounds more inherently accurate? Could aftermarket barrel choice be a factor in this as well?

 

[MudRunner2005]

The .264 WinMag uses a magnum bolt face and magnum magazine follower. The .270 uses a standard bolt face and follower.

If you are wanting to build a .264 WinMag (which is an awesome caliber, BTW) I would look for a good used Remington 700 BDL or SPS in 7mm Rem Mag or .300 WinMag to use as a donor.

Since your rifle has a standard bolt face, I would look to the .280 Ackley Improved 40* shoulder. You can pick up the .280 AI dies, reamer, brass, and ammo from Midway USA.

 

[Coleman 45]

I have always wondered why there is no factory long action 6.5 rounds, like a standardized 6.5-06 easily available.

 

[Jud96]

If you are interested in .264s, look into the 6.5-06 or the Ackley Improved version. This is an extremely accurate cartridge and the only thing that would need modified is your barrel of course. The velcity of this round falls right in between the .260 and .264 Winchester and would be a great choice. The 6.5 Sherman is also another option, performance is like the 6.5-06 Ackley. If you're not dead set on a 6.5 you could look at a .270 Sherman or Ackley. Like MudRunner suggested, the .280 Ackley is another great option. You have a ton of choices out there, just have to narrow down what you can get components for, what will be easiest to work with what you have, and what you want the cartridge to do.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I have always wondered why there is no factory long action 6.5 rounds, like a standardized 6.5-06 easily available.

.264 WinMag is a magnum long action caliber. The .260 Rem is a short-action, but uses the standard (.308/.30-06/.270) bolt face.

You could build a 6.5-284, a 6.5 Sherman, or a .260 Ackley Improved on your long action. Which would make a nice hunting rifle, because you could load those long Berger 130 & 140 Hybrids all the way out to the lands, and still have that extra magazine length to shoot it as a repeater and hold a full magazine. Which is where using a short action reciever kind of cripples you, because they have a short magazine box and can't load the 6.5's to their full potential with the long & heavy 6.5 bullets.

I recommend using the long action for any of those calibers. It will be added convenience, and I think you'll like having that extra magazine room for loading them long.

 

[Coleman 45]

The only problem is the fact that I would rather not start handloading yet, as i am just about to start college, and this is probably a project that will happen in a few years from now anyway. I picked a bad time to start wanting to shoot longrange didn't I

 

[Engineering101]

The new king of the hill in 6.5mm as far as commercially available stuff goes is the 26 Nosler. (Check out Nosler's website.) Since a gunsmith would have to install the barrel anyway it wouldn't take much to open up the bolt face and fix up the magazine to hold the fatter rounds which are the same COAL as the 30-06. Disclaimer: It is anticipated that this will be a barrel burner - but as has been said on here before, barrels are like tires, when they wear out just get a new one.

 

[MudRunner2005]

If you're fixing to be a broke college student, forget you ever heard the name .26 Nosler...

That barrel-burner hasn't even been released yet, and people who blindly follow trends think it's a gift from God. I'm gonna wait to see it perform before I pass my judgment on it (however, I am sick of hearing how awesome it is, yet nobody's even owned one), but I do know just from looking at it, that it's gonna burn up barrels in under 1000 rounds...

 

[MudRunner2005]

The new king of the hill in 6.5mm as far as commercially available stuff goes is the 26 Nosler. (Check out Nosler's website.) Since a gunsmith would have to install the barrel anyway it wouldn't take much to open up the bolt face and fix up the magazine to hold the fatter rounds which are the same COAL as the 30-06. Disclaimer: It is anticipated that this will be a barrel burner - but as has been said on here before, barrels are like tires, when they wear out just get a new one.

He's fixing to be a broke college student...Anything that burns up $350-400 a piece barrels isn't gonna be a good investment, IMO.

If you want awesome barrel life, I would look into a .308 Win.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

Well if your not going to reload then forget about the 6.5-06 or any of the ackley cartridges. Unless your going to build now and wait for a long time to shoot But if you do plan on reloading and building off the action you already have then id go 280 Ackley improved. Ive heard thats a nasty round. Other option is you can just keep your 270 and go out and buy another factory rifle. If you were to go that route, read my profile name and you have the cartridge id suggest. You can shoot a Creed' and not break the bank (25 bucks a box or so for hornady match ammo and it shoots lights out). Its a very accurate round with very little recoil and enough punch to take down basically whatever is on this continent(except grizzly bears, wouldnt suggest that).

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

He's fixing to be a broke college student...Anything that burns up $350-400 a piece barrels isn't gonna be a good investment, IMO.

If you want awesome barrel life, I would look into a .308 Win.

+1 on that. The 26 nosler would not be a very good fit for the OP.

 

[Coleman 45]

I do have a .243 remington 788 i may be able to build off of

 

[BrentM]

Well, LR shooting is going to require a lot more than just a barrel if you plan to do anything serious with it. Scope, range finder, ballistics program, wind meter....accurate rifle with high BC bullets. Factory loads? It is possible you will get a rifle that shoots factory ammo well enough to shoot LR but who knows. If that is your only option then stick with a caliber and cartridge you get consistent ammo for. 308, 7mm-08, creed, 260, 7mmMag, 3006, 270, 300 WM. If you go mag go 7mm or 300 for available ammo. Hopefully the rifle will shoot 1 moa or less for you. If not, you are wasting your time trying to shoot LR in my opinion.

You might want to just shoot your 270, if it shoots well now, and get all the other required stuff for LR shooting first. Just a thought.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Well if your not going to reload then forget about the 6.5-06 or any of the ackley cartridges. Unless your going to build now and wait for a long time to shoot But if you do plan on reloading and building off the action you already have then id go 280 Ackley improved. Ive heard thats a nasty round. Other option is you can just keep your 270 and go out and buy another factory rifle. If you were to go that route, read my profile name and you have the cartridge id suggest. You can shoot a Creed' and not break the bank (25 bucks a box or so for hornady match ammo and it shoots lights out). Its a very accurate round with very little recoil and enough punch to take down basically whatever is on this continent(except grizzly bears, wouldnt suggest that).

Why is that? P.O. Ackley deliberately setup his neck dimensions identical to the factory chamberings so the shooter could use factory loaded ammo in a pinch, and to fire-form without having to form cases by hand first, and then fire-form, all while still being fairly accurate.

Look at the neck dimensions and OAL of the .25-06 Rem & .25-06 Ackley... They're the same OAL for the case.

He could own an Ackley and just shoot factory ammo for now, and everytime he shoots one, out pops a newly-formed Ackley brass for him to save for when he DOES start reloading.