This project was in the works for about 4 years. Two non-shooting Lothar Walther barrels; back and forth to gunsmiths.

Finally I have a fine rifle with a 26" Brux Stainless barrel 1 in 8 twist, Score High muzzle brake, blue printed Remington 700 action, Jewell trigger, McMillan Stock, Leupold VXIII Long Range model 6.5-20 power with 30mm tube, side focus, target knobs and the Varmint Hunter Reticle, Harris 9-13" bipod notched leg swivel model with pod lock.











I wanted to shoot the 140 Accubond. I went out the first day with some test rounds loaded with the dreaded slow-burning military surplus powder, WC-872. I quickly found accuracy after firing only 9 rounds. The first 3 were inside an inch. At 75 and 76 grains, I had two- .5" groups.

I chrono'd the load the next day and the velocity was disappointing only around 2950fps. I had a feeling that it was partially because of the incredibly long bearing surface of the bullet. With the 140 Game King and the same powder in the other barrels I was getting 3200.

I decided to try another bullet, as I own every fricking 6.5mm hunting bullet known to man (I tried everything attempting to get the LW barrel to shoot). I had some 130 gr Swift Sciroccos. It has a much higher BC, less bearing surface, and better construction IMO.

Went out this morning with some loads to really just test for pressure and velocity on the chrono with loads graduated in full grain increments.





I just shot one of each at a different dot to look at velocity/ pressure. I had no pressure at the heaviest load I brought (81 grains) and 3250 fps. I shot another and it went into the same hole. With a lot of hope, I shot the last one and it went left about an inch.

I then seated bullets into the remaining 2 80 grain cases and shot this group that measures .480"



3178, 3172, 3165

I can live with the accuracy and the velocity. The bullet has a BC of .571

It's amazing when you have a good barrel on a rifle how easy load development is!

Nice shooting. I've got almost 16 pounds of 872 in a couple of jugs. I would be interested to see what Retumbo and H1000 would do in your rifle too. I'm hearing the 264WM is "coming back" and its popularity is higher than ever before, especially among long range shooters.

I've always liked the Scirocco. They are excellent bullets. Too bad they are a bit finicky.

Doc!

Don't forget you promised to save that powder for me!

Good start! Hope it continues to do well. What contour is the barrel?

My LW 264 barrel seems to be improving. It might be breaking in. I think I have about 50 rounds through it now. Going to try to get to the range next week.

Light Palma

My .264 is still in the works....It's shooting but needs a bit of checkering and it's done.

I'm the odd guy here as all I want to shoot is the 120 grain bullets.

I see the .264 as a deer/pronghorn extroadinaire and the 140s are not in the future for me.

My gun is on a push feed M-70 and a #2 contour Shilen.....accuracy is more than adequate....

I read your "story" about trials and tribulations of the "L-W" barrels.....and must confess that I'll never understand why one wants such a barrel when Shilen and Douglas make very fine barrels and at extremely good prices.....I guess that's what makes horse races!!!

Congrats on a very nice looking and good shooting .264.....It's a fine cartridge!

Good shooting rc!

rcamuglia that's a nice gun. You and vapo should take them to Minnesota deer hunting. I hear they are really big up there.

Thanks woods! I think you're right about the Sciroccos! Hmmmm....

Vapo,

I wasted lots of time. If had gone with another barrel in the beginning as you did, I would have years of .264 WM enjoyment under my belt!

Keep me posted on yours. I've got less than 50 shots through the bore. My gunsmith says I've yet to see the best accuracy it can produce. He has the same chamber in his and it's more accurate than his target rifle!

quote:

Originally posted by duikerman:
rcamuglia that's a nice gun. You and vapo should take them to Minnesota deer hunting. I hear they are really big up there.

It's a stick of thin shelled walnut I scrounged up and added a bit of cocobolo to it.

All it really needs is checkering.....

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
Nice shooting. I've got almost 16 pounds of 872 in a couple of jugs. I would be interested to see what Retumbo and H1000 would do in your rifle too. I'm hearing the 264WM is "coming back" and its popularity is higher than ever before, especially among long range shooters.

I've always liked the Scirocco. They are excellent bullets. Too bad they are a bit finicky.

Doc, can you explain the finicky part about the Scirroccos, have heard that elsewhere. What is trick to them?

Jeff

quote:

It's a stick of thin shelled walnut I scrounged up and added a bit of cocobolo to it.

All it really needs is checkering.....

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I survived the meltdown of the ARPF of 2006 and 2010!
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Greed: 1. A word used by liberals because they have no clue about the laws of economics.
2. A word used by people that think others with more money than they have owe it to them...(see #1 above)

Pretty wood Vapo!

If it shoots half as good as it looks, it'll be a winner!

>VD and MC,264 Mag? Hmmmmm ? Nice toy. roger

I sent a mail to some buddies about my .264

Here's one of the replies. It's from a friend who hosts "a major firearms manufacturer's" ESPN TV hunting show. He has killed everything that walks or flys on Earth tenfold....

quote:

First of all Merry Christmas. Secondly  I am a 264 nut I have 7 of them. In my opinion this is the best cartridge ever made for antelope and deer. I have killed over 75 mulie with this cartridge and I love the way it shoots
I will talk to you soon

quote:

It's a stick of thin shelled walnut I scrounged up and added a bit of cocobolo to it.

All it really needs is checkering.....

Nice lookin shooting iron! I LOVE the 264 calibers. I recently had a 264WM but traded it for a 6.5 sweed. both great shooting guns and fun. I've used the 120TTSX's and am pleased with accuracy but have not tried them on game yet.

quote:

It's a stick of thin shelled walnut I scrounged up and added a bit of cocobolo to it.

Vapodog

What barrel length did you end up with?

quote:

Vapodog

What barrel length did you end up with?

I relented on my short barrel addiction and made this one 23".....

I added an inch in honor of Stonecreek!

quote:

I relented on my short barrel addiction and made this one 23".....

Yep you do have a liking for them short ones.

Congrat's the 264 WM will cleanly take Elk. I have a 1962 Rem 700 and it's still a shooter.

Went out on Christmas Eve with the .264 and the WC-872 load with the 130 grain Scirocco to try to find a coyote at long range. I loaded 10 rounds with pulled bullets.

I drove and glassed and never saw anything. I knew a place that had an outcropping of hills right in the middle of a big open area. I 4-wheeled up on top and glassed all around with no luck. As I glassed, I lasered some hills in the distance. 760 yards and 1300 yards. Thought it would be a good opportunity to confirm the data on the program since I had only shot 100 yard groups so far!















I picked out a light colored rock about the size of the palm of your hand at the 760 yard "burm", dialed 13.25 MOA and let it rip. Impacted about 10" right but perfect elevation. Made a hit on the next shot by playing some L to R wind!

Moved to the 1300 yard "burm" that you see in the photo, picked a rock out and dialed what the data said, 32 MOA and let'er rip.

Impact was way low. I held on the rock and dialed to the impact then looked at the turret. 38 MOA.

Let another rip and held right on. Hit!

With the brake and a solid hold from prone it's easy to watch impacts!


The dogs enjoyed it too!

Glad to see people having good results with the .264 Win. I've always thought it was a neat cartridge, but I've had a few friends lose way too much sanity trying to get them to shoot so I've always steered clear. Maybe they just weren't good trouble-shooters.

Looks like you got a spot of good weather for your hunt Rick. We drove through your neck-of-the-woods on the way to visit family a couple days before Christmas and it wasn't quite that nice.

Thanks Kyler,

We had some weather then but it clears up fast! Bracing ourselves for wednesday through Saturday!

I think the load development issue for this and all cartridges goes away when you have a good rifle! I had a 1/2 MOA load in 6 shots!