264 win mag

Joined
Nov 12, 2020
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1,142
I just got a 264 win mag. Looking for some suggestions as far as powder and bullets. I don’t care about chasing my tail and burning the barrel up. Rather use something temp stable. Probably stay in the 140gr range. Use 7mm brass and neck down.
 
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Pickettpuncher
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Nov 12, 2020
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1,142
Following. Finally getting ready to work up a load for the .264 I picked up several years ago. Going to try 143 ELD-Xs and H1000 first. I’ll post what I settle on.
Please do. May try the eldx as well. Finding h1000 or retumbo might be a struggle. Might use h4831 as I have 8 pounds
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2022
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Western Montana
As much horsepower as the 264 has, check out the Hornady 153gr A-Tip. It is nowhere near as popular as the ELD X or M, but it works well. If you’re a Berger fan, the 156 would be a mule deer/elk killer as well.
My uncle was born and raised in S ID during the heyday of S ID mule deer hunting and he shot a 264 for decades.
I could go on a rant about the 6.5 fad and the fact that the best 6.5 actually pre dates the 7mm Rem Mag and the 300 Win Mag… but I won’t. The 264 simply never took off because the barrels of the late-50s/early-60s sucked.
Good luck on load development guys. If you are hard up, I have an unopened pound of Retumbo in MT I’d off load for what I paid this spring. I grabbed some because it was available. Gave a couple pounds to my buddy, traded a couple for H1000.
 
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Pickettpuncher
Joined
Nov 12, 2020
Messages
1,142
As much horsepower as the 264 has, check out the Hornady 153gr A-Tip. It is nowhere near as popular as the ELD X or M, but it works well. If you’re a Berger fan, the 156 would be a mule deer/elk killer as well.
My uncle was born and raised in S ID during the heyday of S ID mule deer hunting and he shot a 264 for decades.
I could go on a rant about the 6.5 fad and the fact that the best 6.5 actually pre dates the 7mm Rem Mag and the 300 Win Mag… but I won’t. The 264 simply never took off because the barrels of the late-50s/early-60s sucked.
Good luck on load development guys. If you are hard up, I have an unopened pound of Retumbo in MT I’d off load for what I paid this spring. I grabbed some because it was available. Gave a couple pounds to my buddy, traded a couple for H1000.
Having the correct twist is gonna be the issue with the atip. My gun was a custom build in 63. Not sure what twist it is but I’ll check it out.
 

Wolfe78

FNG
Joined
Apr 17, 2022
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7
Following. Finally getting ready to work up a load for the .264 I picked up several years ago. Going to try 143 ELD-Xs and H1000 first. I’ll post what I settle on.
Did you get a chance to shoot the 143 eld xs with your .264 yet ?
 

gerry35

WKR
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Jan 16, 2021
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564
Location
Skeena Valley B.C.
When I had my 264 WM Retumbo worked the best for me. With bullets from 130-156 gr it was always at the top for accuracy and speed combined. I tried 129 Hornady's with H 4831 sc that was really accurate but you do leave a bit of speed on the table.
 

Puppy

FNG
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Jan 19, 2023
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Location
E TN
I know you stated you wanted to use heavier bullets but my Encore 264 WM Bullberry barrel really likes 120 gr TTSX and 124 gr Hammer Hunters with N570, also if you have a 1:9 tw it will stabilize this wt range much better. If I was working up a load for 140 gr bullets I would still start with N570 or RL33 for the power.
 
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Pickettpuncher
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Nov 12, 2020
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1,142
Powder being hard to find, I found 5 pounds of imr 8133 a few weeks back for a good price. It’s supposed to be comparable to retumbo. Probably start there. Currently waiting on getting the scope base screws rethreaded since one was stripped out.
 

RCMSTER

FNG
Joined
Mar 25, 2023
Messages
4
My 264 with IMR 7828SSC and swift sciroccos is absolutely death on whitetails as far as you’d ever need to shoot. Almost always groups 3/4” or less @ a hundred out of my Ruger 77 Hawkeye. H4350 also was very good, producing 3/8” groups with 140 grain Hornady a-max’s. Just for fun, I loaded up a few 156 Norma Alaskans using an old Lee loader using H4350, just to see what happened, and I was pretty surprised at a 1” group at a hundred.
 

2muchhp

WKR
Joined
Oct 26, 2021
Messages
378
Good stuff. 👍 Anyone have a load they want to share for a pre-64 in 264 WM?
My old mauser is a 1:9 twist. I'm running 129gr interlocks and 59.5gr of imr4831. I finally found some H1000 I'm anxious to work a load up with that.
I should note, I'm not a fan of the interlocks, but at the time they were the only thing I could find. They do shoot good in my gun though. It stacks them right on top of each other at 100 and under 1" at 300.
 
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tracker12

WKR
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Jan 29, 2016
Messages
994
I have a can of H1000 if anyone is near Maryland and needs some. H1000 was all I used in my .264s.
 
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