What kind of shooting would it take to do so? Also, could you guys give me an idea on the velocities of your favorite hunting reloads in the following calibers:

264 Win Mag
6.5/06
260 Rem
6.5x55

Please also list the bullet type/weight, primer, powder, and brass if possible.

With modern steel and a little discretion on your part, the .264 will last a lifetime.

You can the read the manuals,look at the charts but unless you talk to someone who uses it ,you don't know if works or not.I am looking at a 264,so I read everthing I could find on it.still .Barrel burning is a result of high heat,lower pressure, lower temperature,real slow powder.If you use a real slow powder you need a long barrel.

Wow Pecos, what brought that on? He's looking for some "real-world" feedback is all.

Nebraska-

The 264 WM was my first centerfire rifle. 20+ years later, it's still in my safe, and when I get it out, it still shoots good as ever. Granted, it doesn't get shot much. But with some care, I agree, they will last a long time. It's not the type of round that you're gonna shoot a bunch anyway.

I think it got a bad rap early, and once the idea is planted, it's hard to shake. Get some influential gunwriter who likes or hates something, and he can make or break it's future. (O'Connor & the 270 Win...). Some guys see something in print & it becomes the gospel. Brush bucking bullets, etc...

As for your list above, I have the 264 WM, and plan on building a 6.5-06 shortly. The 6.5mm bullets just have great ballistics. I'd love to have a 260 Rem, but with a 7mm-08 already, they're just too close to justify getting one. For some reason, I've never had an interest in a 6.5x55. Strange, don't know why.

The .264 Win mag is a great cartridge. Once thought to be "obscenely overbore", it's fairly conservative compared to some of the STW cartridges and the like. Interestingly enough, you don't hear gun rag writers complaining about Lame Simpson's "obscenely overbore" concoctions like they did the .264 Win Mag, and even the 7mm Rem Mag when it came out a few years later.

I love my .264 Winnie. If'n you don't like the idea of burning 74 grains of H870 with every blast, load the thing down with some faster burning powder (H4831 is a good one), give up 200 fps, and you've still got a 140 grain bullet flying out the bore at 3,000 fps.

If you know what you are doing, you can send a 95 grain Hornady V-Max out the tube at almost 4,000 fps! Jackrabbits literally disintigrate when hit with that bullet at that velocity. Great fun.

If you let the barrel cool between firings, and clean her every thirty or so shots, you'll no sooner burn out that barrel than any other.

Nebraska, I believe the answer to your question depends upon your definition of "barrel burner". Also, one could ask "compared to what"? The 7mm Remington Magnum will do in a barrel about twice as fast as a .30/'06, and the .264 Win. Mag does this even sooner. However, for the kind of shooting I do these days, firing no more than 40 or 50 rounds from any of my various rifles in a year, Ricciardelli's statement that, with proper care, the .264 will last a lifetime, is indeed correct. If you use it as a woodchuck or prairie dog rifle, it might need rebarreling a little sooner!!

Like Coldbore, a .264 was my first (serious) centerfire rifle, but that was over 35 years ago. I still have and still shoot that Sako regularly. In the early days, I would shoot it at everything from jack rabbits and ground squirrels to whitetails and elk.

After thousands of rounds, it does exhibit some erosion in the throat, but is as accurate as ever (I did in a proghorn at 400+ yards on my last antelope hunt with it).

With a 24" barrel and VERY slow powders, expect 3100 fps or a little better with 140 grain bullets. I also have a .264 with a 26" that I can get more than 3200 out of.

Nebraska,
I can appreciate your questions and will try to offer some info. I don't currently own a 264 Winny but have owned 2 in the past. The first was a Winchester push feed I bought used from someone who had reportedly "abused" it. The throat looked a little gray,but I was able to touch the lands with loaded bullets. I don't know the velocities I got with that one, but it took about 2.5 grains more powder than my second and would keep 140 Sierra's in 1.2". The second was a Ruger 24" barrel that averaged 3020 fps & groups around 3/4" with 140 sierra's. Nosler 140's did around the same velocity (I didn't keep the greatest records at that time) and grouped around 1.25". I got rid of both because I was dissapointed with the velocity I got for the powder burned. I am considering trying one again with a 26" barrel and using some of the better slower powders. As others have said, I don't think it's any worse than the STW's & ultra mags out now.

As far as other 6.5's go. Here is some of my experience. These are "hunting" loads - Not just top velocity loads.

6.5x55, 22" barrel (1-8 twist) 140 Sierra, 2742 fps; 140 Nosler, 2712 fps. I have gone as high as 2840, but brass doesn't last!

6.5-06, 24" barrel(1-9 twist) 140 Nosler, 2930 fps; 129 Hornady, 3080 fps.

6.5 Gibbs, 26" barrel(1-8 twist) 140 Nosler, 3068 fps; 140 Sierra, 3020 fps

I'm finishing up a 260 now and should have load work done by fall. The 6.5x55 is on it's second barrel and is everything it's made out to be. The 6.5-06 is a great "all-around" deer cartridge and easy to load. The 6.5 Gibbs is easy to load as well and gives the same velocities I was able to achieve with the 264 Winny.

If I were to build one 6.5 it would probably be a 6.5 AI. It will match the Gibbs in velocity and give me a little more neck to work with. But, I think I'll keep all the 6.5's I have and just add to them.

Hope this helps. Good Luck, John

Is the .264 a barrel burner? Of course it is! Does it matter? Maybe.
Using the average CM barrel I would estimate a top accuracy life of around 750 shots. A 6.5/06 will manage around 1200 as will the 6.5/284. The 6.5x55 is usually good for over 2000 and I would expect the 260 to be much the same. As a hunting cartridge this is not much of a concern since you are not likely to fire more than 100 shots a year and not likely to be too hard on the barrel. Keep in mind as well that even at these levels of use the barrel will still be giving good hunting accuracy. I think the 264 is kind of a neat cartridge for the go fast crowd. Regards, Bill.

Thanks for the replies so far. I appreciate the info very much and I hope it keeps coming!

A friend of mine bought a pre64 M70 in one of the first production run .264mag offerings. He's killed at least a hundred animals with the rifle and I've seen him kill dozens of deer and elk with it.
Even after all those years and thousands of rounds,the rifle still averages 1-1/2 inches at 100 yards.

The only complaints he has about the .264mag,is basically the .264 is nothing but a .270,that costs more to shoot. After seeing its performance on game and the figures it produces on a chrony,I'd have to agree. I've yet to see it kill anything in deer or elk size animals,any better then a .270 and I've owned and still own .270's that will compete with the .264 and 140 gr bullets in the velocity department.

Since I am a Winchester pre-64 modle 70 collector and seller, I get sevral 264 and 220 swifts a year to sell. Usually the barrels are fouled pretty bad when I get them. Remember that before the new super cleaner solvents came out there was a great following for Hoppies No. 9 as a barrel cleaner. Hoppies isn't in the same class as the ones we use now, therefore, barrels that were thought to be shot out merely had not been cleaned properly. I have never seen a pre-64 modle 70 in 264 Win Mag that had a shot out barrel. That doesn't mean that there aren't some out there, but after going through more than 30 of them(by ledger) I haven't found one yet. That 264 crack when fired really gets your attention! I also agree that you can get the performance out of a 270 Win. which keeps up with the 264 and is kinder on barrels and ears.
lb404

.270 vs. .264, the never-ending argument.

I have both, in identical pre-Garcia Sakos. They are so much alike that I have to look at the barrel stamp in order to know which one I'm picking up. So I guess that I'm able to make as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as anyone.

The .264 will give you slightly more velocity with the same bullet weight, which will also have slighly greater sectional density. Therefore, the .264 will have a slightly better trajectory, slighly less wind drift, and hit with slightly more energy.

That being said, while I have made some impressively long shots with my .264, last fall I made a shot with my .270 which was longer by 75 yards than the longest .264 shot.

I think what this says is not that the .264 is not a worthwhile and excellent cartridge, just that the .270 continues to be an oustanding long range round despite its age.

I just recieved the wonderful news from my gunsmith that he is about ready to ship my new 264 Winchester. I have tried the 6.5-06, I still have a 6.5-06 AI, I sold a 264WM Remington Classic. To me now is the best time ever to have one of the overbore type rifles with all the new powders to play with, the 264 Classic was tried with RL25 and 120 Nosler Ballistic Tips and the max load was giving 3450 fps out of a 24" barrel, I bought one of the special run Remington Stainless BDL`s and It had a slower barrel so I sent it to Dwight along with a reamer I had JGS make with a throat that will allow all the case to be used with 120 NBT and Sierra 140`s both bullets will seat at the neck shoulder junction with this throat length. He also is sending another barreled action on another reamer I had JGS make based on the 338 RUM necked to 7mm, a friend had one built on the shortened 404 Jeffrey case that was pushing the 150 gr NBT at a tad over 3500 fps. My case is slightly larger than his. I have an elevated box stand on a powerline with a green field that is 280 yds to the near side and 450yds to the far side. I hope the load developement goes well.

Most of stories you hear about burned out barrels,regardless of caliber only happen on the net. The average guy simply isn't going to shoot out a barrel in his life time and there are still a shitload of people out there that don't fire a full box of 20 in the course of a year. Hell its tough to find varmint rifles that are shot out,and the ones that you do find,are the result of being mistreated and over heated on a prairie dogs.