George Caswell once told me that he thought that the 264Win mag was as fine a plains game round as could be had. He has a custom 264 that is to die for and by Roger Green I think.

Does anyone here have experience using a .264 Winchester Mag in Africa? How well did it work? I ask at least partly because of the recent reports on this forum about using a .270 Weatherby -- or its velocity equivalent -- and the .264 Win Mag is even higher in velocity than the .270 Weatherby, depending on the loads used in the two.

I used my 40-yr. old M70 .264 for 10 of 11 critters I killed in RSA in 2003. Shot Winchester factory 140-gr. Power Points. The only thing I didn't kill with it was my zebra, and I likely could have done it with the .264 just as easily as I did with a .300 Win.Mag.

The list for the .264 included:

Two springbok
kudu
nyala
bushbuck
blesbok
blue & black Wildebeest
warthog
gemsbok

-TONY

I'm not an expert, but any premium 140 grainer shot from a 6,5 mm caliber, at good velocity, kills a lot.
L

lb404,



I've used my .264 on everything from a wallaby on up to a 60" Canada moose. I've lost count of the total of the javelina, deer, caribou, elk, pronghorns, exotics, etc. in between.



Funny story from the African hunt:



I was on the East Cape hunting with John X Safaris. After a day or two, the owner's son became aware of my using a .264 there. So one night in the bar, we started talking about it. He told me a hunter had left him a .264 rifle a couple years back and he loved using it for all the plains game. BUT...he had run out of ammo a year ago (before I had arrived) and couldn't find any to buy in RSA.



Of course, I assumed that was a hint of sorts. So when my hunt was over, I left him what I had left out of 50 rounds I had brought with me. For him, it was like Christmas. The very next day he took his .264 out and killed a warthog.



My PH also got a gift since his main rifle was a .300 Win mag -- my second rifle, too. So I left him the remainder of 50 rounds. -TONY

FWIW - I used various .264's from just after the introduction of "The Westerner", on to about the late sixties. It was all great fun but there are things you should know before opting for any of the overbore numbers. You'll need a 26" tube to eek out what it has to offer and you'll need to avoid prolonged shooting sessions or risk damage to the throat of the barrel, for which this round is notorious. So much so, that Winchester promptly offered it with stainless barrels. Bottomline, I never made a hit or a kill that the .270 Winchester could not have duplicated. I've used, at one time or other, about all the barrel strainers of my day, enjoying every minute but came away with a preference for more diameter and bullet weight for game such as elk or moose at home and later, the medium to large antelope of Africa. I'd not care to use less than 7mm with 160 grain bullets and would prefer a .30 caliber, with 180 grain bullets. As it now stands, I can't say I've ever felt overgunned in using a .375 with 270 grain bullets, for such game.