Well, I took the newest member of my pre-64 Model 70 battery to the range for the first time today. I was shooting the Remington 140 grain Core Lokt Factory Loads, mainly by default since the selection for 264 Win Mag is pretty slim.

I pulled the bolt and gave it a quick boresight at 100 yards. The scope was way off, so I lined it up as best I could, and fired 2 shots, adjusted, fired a 3rd shot, and adjusted again.

Then fired 3 shots into 3/4" right on the bullseye. Took a break to warm up a little (it's finally starting to feel like Fall here).

Fired 4 more shots: 15/16" group, with 3 of the 4 at 11/16".

Decided to call it a day at that. I cannot complain when factory loads throw sub MOA groups for a caliber that apparently is very picky for finding the right load. Also considering that this gun is basically is right from the box and has had no tweaking, I'd bet if I did some reloading and adjustments, it would probably have 'em touching at 100 yards.

Well, this was my first experience with the 264 Win Mag, and I sure can't say anything bad about it.

Might have to take this one for deer this year.

Have a good Thanksgiving, all.

Dan

It was the velocity that did it for you BTO. The bullet got there before you had time to miss :) .
Good for you!


Cheezywan

I bought a new model 700 in 264 about three weeks ago. Took it to the range today and shot three shots that a dime could cover up with room to spare with factory 140 gr remington. Best shooting gun in my arsenal right now.

The .264 WM is a nice little cartridge that got painted with a broad brush years ago. With current powders, bullets and metallurgy, it is a real winner.

It was between my .280 and the .264WM for my most recent purchase. I'm not regretting the .280, but that .264 is yet again getting pretty attractive.

You guys and your 264 are making me jealeous, it's looks like I might have to take my pre 64 M70 out of retirement.

Cheezy: I think you may be right!

Freddy: Here's a pic or two to help nudge you to get your pre '64 out again. I'm not quite driving tacks like kjones, yet, but it's definitely got potential. The pictures do not do the gun justice.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9351/westerner2aj7.jpg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6004/targetdr2.jpg

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9158/westerner1jh2.jpg

Dan

[QUOTE=BTO Rocks]Cheezy: I think you may be right!

Freddy: Here's a pic or two to help nudge you to get your pre '64 out again. I'm not quite driving tacks like kjones, yet, but it's definitely got potential. The pictures do not do the gun justice.

Ok, you have convinced me, when the weather gets warmer I will take the ole 264 out for a shooting session. The only reason I retired it was because it weights more than your average hunting rifle. I purchased it in 1975 from a gun shop, it was being sold on consignment, it has a custom cherrywood stock and weights 10 1/2 lbs. After my last deer hunt in my home state of Nevada and taking it up and down a 10,000 foot mountain I swore that I never take it out again so I went out and purchased a Winchester classic M70 with a laminated stock in 300wsm, this rifle was to take the 264's place, anyway I drew a deer and antelope tag, guess which rifle I took on the antelope hunt? Bye the way those are good groups, best I could ever get out my 264 was 1 1/4" groups.

My father-in-laws Pre 64 30-06 gets the same groups. Amazing what a 48 year old gun can do with 165 core-loks.

If you would like to try some great loads for your .264's Contact Nosler Ammo. The have several loads that shoot VERY well in the .264's. My personal favorite is the 100 grain Nosler bal. tip. A lot of people will try to say that it is to little and won't work on large game animals. That is the standard round for white tail deer in our area. The 120 grain bal. tip also works very well and can be bought as factory loaded ammo from Nosler. Hope this helps give you more ammo choices.

BTO,
Glad you got a great shooter, and that gun looks to be in great shape. I think you should try some 140 gr Nosler partitions in that (if you reload, that is); they have given me good accuracy in my 6.5-06.

Bryant Gun,
I know there's a lot of differing opinion on bullet weights and bullet construction for effectiveness on deer, but I'd hate to see a deer shoulder that's been hit with a 100 grain BT out of the 264 WM! Behind the shoulder, should have quite the put-down effect, but we're not always presented with perfect broadside shots. Just my opinion!

Been awhile since I've looked at the market of pre-'64's. Was at Cabela's in Boise last week and there was a 270 featherweight, and not in that great of shape (had some bright spots on the barrel where looked like rust spots had been rubbed out with steel wool), for $1,100. Another std weight in 30-06 with an old Weaver scope was pushing $900. The "good old days" are gone!

one of the local shops had a NIB pre '64 338 Win Mag they wanted $2700 for... They told me that they sold the twin to it except in .300 Win Mag a week earlier for $2900. Some old guy had passed away with no heirs and the shop robbed his wife, $400 a piece was all they gave her... she was ecstatic to get $400 each... to each his own... I don't do business there, just stop in to peek around once in a while, I just happened to know the guy working there.

Shawn,
You are right, the affect of the 100 gr. BT is very impressive on a white tail. If you shoot them in the sholder. Neck shots work very well with this cal. and load
We have been hunting and shooting with the .264's for several years. I like the cal. enough that I made a deal with Remington to make a special run of them for us. We had 250 rifles chambered in the .264 all in stainless with 26" barrels. Loaded with the 100 gr. BT the hunters and shooter in this area are VERY happy with how this load works in the .264 WM.
Before anyone asks, NO, I don't have any more of them left. They are all sold. We still get calls asking about them from people who have seen one that their buddys were shooting and are hoping to be able to buy one.Sorry, but they are ALL gone.
The 140 grain shoots very well and is very accurate.In my opnion, the bullet is to hard and to fast to work as well as it should on the white tails in our area. I feel that it would be much better suited to mule deer or elk where much larger body mass is involved. With that being said, one of our local hunters took his .264 to Canada and killed a really large black bear with the 100 gr BT and was very happy with how the bullet worked for him. I know of a lot of hunters that have used the 100 gr BT on large hogs and been very happy with them. It is a load that will surprise you if you are willing to try it and see for yourself what the accuracy and results are.

i have been shooting the .264 since about 1978. i tried the ballistic tips for a while, but i find the Barnes 130 gr TSX is a better game bullet. as for using 100 grain bullets on anything larger than deer, not a chance.

For my other calibers (220 swift, 25-06, 270, 30-06, 308), I've always liked the Hornady Spire Points, both for shooting paper and game, as they seem to fly well, kill well, and aren't real expensive compared to others. I'm anxious to try their 129 and 140 grain bullets in this rifle to see how they do. I'll probably eventually try their 100s as well. I've heard a lot of good about the Noslers, so in time, I'll probably give them a try too.

In reality, there's just too many to choose from, really, and add the powder choices onto that, you've almost got a full time job to try it all out. And with my workload, I unfortunately don't get nearly as much range time as I'd like. Right now my goal is to get everything sub MOA, and in time I'll slowly whittle away to see if I can get the one-holers.

This 264 met the sub MOA goal with factory loads, so the main reason I'm already looking to load is the fact that even these "cheap" Remington factory loads I bought were $32.99 a box.

Well, it's all part of the fun.

I'm pretty well sold on the Hornady SST's in my reloading - everything from 6mm to .30 caliber. The 129 gr SST works extremely well in my 6.5's, including the 6.5-06.

Some folks worry about the bullet blowing up, but so far that hasn't been a concern of mine. All game hits have been through and through with no bullet recovery. Innards look like a grenade went off inside with their passing, though!