I am still waiting to have a gun built in 6.5 WSM. Just inquiring of any "real-life" big game stories of quick dispatches with similar chamberings. The .264 Winchester has a very small, but loyal following. Touted as a "lightening rod" by some. Really not much bigger than the .257's but does the ultra high sectional density make that much difference? Let's say 140 Partitions only between 3000 and 3300. Bull elk or Caribou and smaller? All African plains (excluding Eland) or not?

A friend of mine has one of the early.264 win mag's in a pre64 M70 and has killed moose,bighorn sheep,countless elk,deer,antelope and black bear. I've seen him shoot elk with it and it preforms just like the .270. The same guy also has a .270 in the same model of rifle and claims he can't tell the differance between the two.
The accuracy of the rifle in question,is real good and who knows how many rounds have been through it,since he bought it new.

I own a 264 Win Mag, haven't shot any big game with it yet. My uncle on the other hand has a custom Mauser in 264 Win Mag, he swares by it. One such story he told to me, when he was a young man he was hunting mule deer in Ca. He saw a fork horn buck, he decided to shoot it, unfortunately there were two does standing behind the buck. His shot went over the buck's back and killed both does. Now that is what the sectional density is good for; penetration.

Big 17

Not quite what you are looking for but here is a story none the less.
I have a friend that claims day in and day out that the 6.5/06 kills like no other. The 25/06 and the 270 are not even close according to the this fella. So I built one I am here to tell you between those 3 I saw no difference!!! Except the 6.5 seemed to be a bit pickier and had some weird pressure curves.
I've gone back to the 270. Mine will shoot the 150's at 3100 and the 130's at 3300. I put a 25" tube on it, and to me there is not much difference between it and it's mag friends the 264 and the big 7's. Just my thoughts.
Oh yeah by the way I finally found out that the 6.5 fella had never used a 270.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Jessy,

I think that that gun will perform good. Here in Sweden the rather weaker 6,5x55 is a very common choice for moose. 156 grains is the common bullet weight and about 30.000 mooses are killed with that cartridge every autumn. Many, as me, however prefer something stronger than the .264, as there is not power enough for a hit in the heavy shoulder bones on a moose. But for use stalking and with a good, experienced shooter behind the stock it will be sufficient for deers and caribous, which are smaller than the moose.

But the question about using it on African plainsgame, I pass to those experienced in that art.

Best regards,

Fritz

In "Safari Rifles" Boddington mentions the .264 WM as one of the best plains-game rifles. I don't remember if he included eland or not.

I am posting the following quote from a different website. I was asking similar questions, and here is the response I got:

"Elk is a different story for the 6.5X300. We got dam tired of elk shot behind the shoulder and dashing 50 to a hundred yards into some blowdown and making us a ton of work. So we started shooting them through the shoulder. The first one I shot through the shoulder was at 325 yards with a .264. ...I settled on his shoulder, the gun went off and he went down like he was pole axed. The 140 grain Sierra went through both shoulders and was caught by
the skin on the far side. I figured shooting through the shoulder I would limit the .264 to 500 yards, where I figured it could get through the near shoulder, the lungs and at least into the far shoulder. Based on this I figured with the 6.5 sporter I could stretch my kill yardage to 600. I made a one shot pole axe kill at 600 and the bullet passed clear through. So I raised my
max distance to 700. The next one I shot was about 500 yards. Another pole axe kill, but the skin caught the bullet on the far side. Go Figure...."

So there's some anecdotal information... take it for what it's worth. I have heard a bunch of .264 stories, and from what I understand, the physical properties of these bullets allow you to do a little more with a little less. Boddington is pretty hot on the little .260 Rem.

As far as a 6.5 WSM...I could be totally wrong on this, but I think Winchester fears the same fate as the .264 Win Mag. Unless they can make the 140 grainers go 3300 FPS and carve some extreme accuracy out of them, the market is limited. I'd like to see what they come up with. Maybe a slightly shortened 6.5 WSM with benchrest and long-range specialization in mind.

WapiT, I would guess that the reason the Sierras went through elk at such long ranges is that they have slowed down to the point where they are not expanding at all!! The fact that these elk were "poleaxed" is pure good luck!! As regards a 6.5-284, I would expect it to perform a lot like a .270 Winchester with bullets of similar sectional densities and construction. The 6.5mm is a good, and under-respected (in the US) bore size.

This fellow has a special built rifle with a HUGE cartridge, a LOOONG barrel, and the MV he cited was 3400 FPS. This would put the 500-yard velocity at approximately 2480 FPS with approximately 1912 lbs of energy.

I have used my 37-year old .264 Magnum for just about everything from jack rabbits to bull elk. Species taken, in addition to elk, are antelope, whitetails, muleys, feral hogs, and so many coyotes, bobcats, etc. that I've lost count. Most of the shooting has been done with 140 grain Nosler Partitions at just over 3100 fps.

There are better cartridges for elk, but I never lost an elk to the .264. Overall, it is hard to beat for long range deer-sized quary.

In spite of all of the hype, don't expect to match the performance of the .264 Magnum with a 6.5 WSM, although if you put it on a long action so you can seat the bullets out where they need to be, it won't be far behind.

I would regard the 6.5/06, especially in the improved version, as nearly perfect for the 6.5 bore. You can get over 3000 fps with the 140 grain bullet.

Is it vastly superior to the .270? Not really, but then few rounds are.

[This message has been edited by Stonecreek (edited 03-04-2002).]

Thanks for the replies. I agree with some, and am not sure about some others. I would not carry the 6.5 WSM or any .264 as a primary Elk rifle, and realistically we don't have any seasons (NM) that run concurrently where I'd be carrying the 6.5 with chances of shooting a bull elk.

As for the short action, I've gotten hammered several times, but it's going to be a short action gun, and the bullets will be flush with the neck and still function in a 3.00" short action. Barsness had a point in this issue of Handloader how no one bitched about the .300 Winchester (regular) Magnum having encroached powder capacity.

I think the cartridge, set up as I am going to, will tie the .264 for velocity. The 7mm WSM has tied the 7mm Remington Magnum, same case as the .264 Winchester, and the .300 WSM has tied the .300 Full size. Now if you jack up the handloads for the full size cases, it would probably loose everytime, but I am not looking to have the fastest 6.5.

On the long range elk sniper guy, whatever I guess. I fully agree with the decreased bullet speed assisting the penetration, but I am sure that the S.D. helped quite a bit. I can tell you that Sierras wouldn't be my first, second, or third choice in making an elk gun out of the 6.5/.264's

I could start an argument saying the 6.5 WSM would kick a .270 Winchester's butt 6 ways to Sunday in every catagory, but I'll save it. I honestly have never even shot one, or seen any game taken with one.

I have taken 3 nice big Caribou bulls, and 5 meat elk of roughly the same size, with the 6.5x57 and 140 Partitions. I recovered exactly one. Nearly end to end.

Don't know about anything else, but a 6.5-06 with a Sierra 140gr SBT will do a great job on Kentucky whitetails. Only used it two seasons, but three shots = three deer. CSJ

I have used a M-70 in .264 as my primary rifle for almost 30 years. It has never failed me on any game including 1 Eland. I have seen more game shot with a .264 and 140 gr. Noslers or Barnes than all other calibers combined and am truly satisfied that it is one of the best long range rounds out there.

264 Win Mag. 5 cow elk in Ruidoso, two Auodads, several deer and coyotes around West Texas. 140 gr. Nosler 3185 fps. I see no difference in it and my 7mm STW especially at 300-400 yds other than a lot less noise and abuse to the shoulder.(Gave the STW to my Brother). I would not hesitate to shoot a bull elk with it, but I would not use it as a primary bull elk gun,tampoco(no exit wounds when shot thru the shoulders), a 300 or 338 is a better option.

As far as better than a 6.5-06 or 270 win, I really do not think so and have hunted with all three.

Saludos...Frank

Frank, our Spanish is about the same "gringo". Sounds like you've lived over here somewhere, were the Aoudad's New Mexican or Texan. That's another story and primary use of the gun (or was to be this season). I have a .257 STW, but that's a little overbore and I already have 400+ rounds through it. The .264 cal will have a better big game bullet in the 140 Partitions and not be as bad on the barrels

Jesse, Soy tejano de oeste. Yo cac� los auodads en Garza Co.,Tx en el rancho Miller. El rancho tiene bastante auodads y venado y los animales son grandes. Tambien tiene muy buena casa de campo por los cazadores.

Saludos...Frank