264 cali Hunting Rifle

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nafiul15

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I received a 264 caliber hunting rifle. This was re-barreled due to which there is no witting on it who was the rifle manufacturer. Unfortunate part the owner is deceased and I don't know who re-barreled it.

I received reloading supplies and a lot of ammunition data sheet for this rifle. Past owner was pretty cautious about his reloading and recorded in details about his experiences with different powder different primer.

Now my concern is how great as a caliber 264 is? If someone has past experience with 264 please share. I was told a few years back the last factory ammo producer stopped making 264 ammo, so my only option is to reload myself.
 
So, 264 wm? Several manufacturers still make it. Winchester for sure, I believe Federal.

Ammo might be more than say 7 may or 30-06, but you could offset that by selling brass here.

Great long range deer caliber. I would use it for most of NA, exclusions for Grizzly, Polar Bear, Bison.
 
Yes, first determine what cartridge it shoots.
Then don't worry, the 6.5/264 caliber is one of the best all around for anything we encounter, save for the bigger bears.
Take some pictures of the cartridges if you don't know what it is and we can figure it out.
 
If it's a 264 Win Mag then you have yourself a great open country rifle. I always thought it would fill the gap between my 257 Weatherby and 7mm Weatherby nicely.
 
Its a 264 Win Mag
I have the same stamp like the picture from the link below on some of hand loaded ammo and factory ammo that I got with the rifle.

search
 
nafiul15 said:
Its a 264 Win Mag
I have the same stamp like the picture from the link below on some of hand loaded ammo and factory ammo that I got with the rifle.

search
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Since the rifle is not stamped for its chambering, don't assume that the ammo you were given is for that rifle... first, confirm that a round chambers properly (use safe muzzle control), next confirm the bore diameter.
 
Good for everything except big bears. Excellent open country cartridge. Don't shoot it too much though as it very prone to throat wear with too much shooting.
 
264 Win Mag is one of the finest sub 30 hunting cartridges to ever be invented..........120s for antelope, sheep, goat and smaller deer and 140 Parts for any ungulate and black bear except bison, and I'd have no issues popping a bison behind the ear with it either. Mine shoots both weights well under the magic inch when I'm having a good day. The 130 AB might be the all around answer but I haven't tried any yet...........so many guns, bullets and powders ............... so little time............
 
BigUglyMan said:
If it's a 264 Win Mag then you have yourself a great open country rifle. I always thought it would fill the gap between my 257 Weatherby and 7mm Weatherby nicely.
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No it dont ! :rolleyes: its too close to either to be different - i own them all and i " THINK " if you want to shoot lighter bullets use the 257 WBee if you want heavier bullets use the 7mm Wbee - ! :d JMO RJ
 
remington jim said:
No it dont ! :rolleyes: its too close to either to be different - i own them all and i " THINK " if you want to shoot lighter bullets use the 257 WBee if you want heavier bullets use the 7mm Wbee - ! :d JMO RJ
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Nah, there's plenty of room there. A person probably should have a 264WH and a 270 Wby to truly fill the void.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Nah, there's plenty of room there. A person probably should have a 264WH and a 270 Wby to truly fill the void.
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This post reminded me of a fellow I used to work for and became hunting buddies as well. He had a Weatherby collection of Mark V's and Lazermark's in every caliber( he had one box of unopened factory ammo for each) they were chambered in...and every one of them was unfired...his hunting rifle of choice was the Parker Hale 30-06 he learned to hunt with in northern Manitoba, as well his "birdgun" of choice was an old 3" chambered Rem. 870 (he used it on a duck & dove hunt in Argentina when he was "invited along" by the CFO/President of Caterpilar Tractor Company).
 
fingers284 said:
This post reminded me of a fellow I used to work for and became hunting buddies as well. He had a Weatherby collection of Mark V's and Lazermark's in every caliber( he had one box of unopened factory ammo for each) they were chambered in...and every one of them was unfired...his hunting rifle of choice was the Parker Hale 30-06 he learned to hunt with in northern Manitoba, as well his "birdgun" of choice was an old 3" chambered Rem. 870 (he used it on a duck & dove hunt in Argentina when he was "invited along" by the CFO/President of Caterpilar Tractor Company).
Click to expand...

Interesting story, but kinda weird too !
 
OP, that is a great cartridge. It is basically a 6.5-06 in a shorter, larger diameter package.

As mentioned, the throats on these do tend to show a lot of wear, especially when loaded to full potential. Like the 6.5-06 IMHO it is slightly overbore capacity unless you have a 26+ inch barrel and are using slow powders. As with all rifles with small diameter bores and large cases, pressures can and do rise very quickly.

You don't mention twist rate. The 264WM really shines with a fast twist, say 1-8 with long/heavy for caliber bullets from 140-160 grains over slow powders such as IMR7828SSC over magnum primers.

Give it a go. Lots of reloading data out there in all of the manuals.

Make sure you clean out the copper fouling. Long bullets have long bearing surfaces and they tend to leave a lot of jacket residue behind. This will cause accuracy to deteriorate after a point. Some of the CFE powders available today are supposed to either eliminate or slow down this condition. IMHO it's mostly in the mind of the beholder. Keep it clean and find its sweet spot between the initial shots and cleaning.

One other thing, the 264WM cartridge wasn't designed to take to the range and put a lot of rounds down the tube. As mentioned, bore lifespan is relatively short depending on loads.
 
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