I just bought a really nice L-61R in 264 Win Mag. Only bought it because it was so pretty and the price was right. I know, the price was right because it was a 264! In any case I need to know what work in this caliber if it's going to see any use. Need some good loads and bullet selection please.

Slowburning powder and partitions. 7828 has always worked well for me as has h-1000. Congrats on a great rifle in a great round. I should have specific loads somewhere at home if you would like them send a shout and I will send them to you.

Same as the fps as a 257Wby-100gr SP-H-4831-66.3grs-at 3500fps--max load 68.5grs at 3600fps.

129gr bullet H-4831-65.4grs-3200 fps-max load-67.8grs at 3300fps. Have split the max load of powder between lower load for both bullets for excellent accuracy in my gun. Hornady Vol#2 book. There is a 140gr and 160gr bullet load also and all loads used Fed-215 primers..I know there is some good loads a little with faster with Imr 7828 but have had these loads work for me-

Dr. Duc, what's the barrel length? Most came with a 24" but a few had 26." If you found a 26 incher you did good; they're much harder to find. Lou

This one is a 26" and never had a front sight. Deluxe sporter with engraved floorplate. I doubt it has ever had a box of ammo through it.
Came with a Weaver V9 with a post reticle-crystal clear.

No front sight! You got real lucky. Since I owned it less than 24 hours, I never developed a load for it - some guy wanted to pay me 2.5 times more than I paid. Lou

Mine is a Winchester Model 70-26"in and a 1 in 9" twist and on second barrel which is also a 26" but S-ST

If anybody wants this one that bad they can have it too! It's in the 50xxx serial range as I remember. I would guess it in the late '60's but I don't know.

I had a 3xx 30.06 that was rechambered for 308 Norma but it kicked worse than my 416 so it went away as I was not hunting elk then.

Ken Waters says the 1:9 twist is to slow to stabilize bullets over 140 gr so I guess I'll stick to that.

Duc: I've been shooting and reloading for a Sako .264 since 1965. As to powders, I can tell you that slower is better. My standby for years was H-570. I found it to be more consistent in my gun than H-870 which was of very similar burning rate, despite the HUGE kernals that required weighing each charge and carefully funneling it into the case. More recently, I have been using WC-872, a surplus ball powder, with excellent results. Despite the implication in the numbering, the lots of WC-872 have seemed just a tad faster than the similar WC-860 and have given me more consistent results.

My .264 has had thousands of rounds through it and has a somewhat eroded throat, the result of which being the need of about 2% more of a given powder than when it was new to achieve the same velocities. Despite this, its accuracy is still excellent (1 moa or better).

My gun, as with most Sakos, needs less powder than the Winchesters with their generally more-generous (sloppy) chambers. Also, I have found the 140 grain bullet, particularly the excellent Nosler Partition, to be preferable to the lighter ones. The 1-9 twist is fully adequate to stabilize them.

For starters I would recommend trying about 78-79 grains of WC872 (but remember, surplus powders can vary in burning rate -- my "shot out" gun will digest 82 grains, a somewhat compressed load) with a 140 gr. bullet. IMR 7828 is TOO FAST for best results, but might be pretty good with 120's or less. The same applies to H-4831 (don't even think about using the faster IMR 4831). VV makes a couple of powders designed for the .50 BAR which may be useful in the .264, but I have had no occasion to try them. The same is true of Hodgdon's Retumbo, but again, I don't know exactly where this relatively new powder falls in burning range. Anecdotal stories I have heard about RL-25 indicate that it is not slow enough to do well in the .264 (at least with the heavier bullets).

Feel free to send me an email if you have any questions, and good shooting!