Evening gents
I recently purchased a pre64 m70 in 264WM. The caliber intrigued.
I believe my twist is 1:9" and the barrel is 26" in length.
What has been yalls experience with this caliber and what ar some of your favorite loads.

Perry

I've owned two of them.....both post 64 M-70s and one of which I still have.

I have good news and bad news.....and they are both the same.....it shoots just like a .270 Winchester.

It was the gun I wanted when I bought my first centerfire but settled on a .270 pump.

I now shoot the 100 grain Barnes TTSX in my .264 and it kills deer like lightning. The .264 also comes with some bragging rights and also feaures some "OOOOhHHH and AAAAAHHH" factor. I call it the ego booster factor.(if that's important to anyone) In short, it's a very fine long range shooter of deer and elk size animals.....a great performer.....in long however, it won't do anything one can't do with the old .270 Winny.

The 9 twist barrel is probably best for the 130 or lighter class bullets????

I use an 8 twist and it's great with 130 to 147 slugs in my 6.5 x 280 AI.

The higher BC might help on those longer-ish shots but the gun will have to shoot really tight groups to even worry about higher BC's.

I've not shot the Barnes in that caliber but have in almost all the others. Vapodog has me intrigued.

Like vapodog said, it's sort of a hot 270 with a different case and bullet diameter. haha

Have fun,

Zeke

This is a timely post. I am about to have two .264 WM's to play with. One an FN 98 I am barreling with a 26" 8" twist tube. The other, if the LGS still has it, is a Model 70.

quote:

Originally posted by z1r:
This is a timely post. I am about to have two .264 WM's to play with. One an FN 98 I am barreling with a 26" 8" twist tube. The other, if the LGS still has it, is a Model 70.

You MIGHT want to try some IMR 7977 or some Reloder 26.
Regardless of what you use, have fun with 'em.

Zeke

My very first centerfire was a pre-64 featherweight .264, not the best choice but I had fun. I still have it in the form of a custom .458 Win.
I recently had a chance to pick up a pre-64, 26 inch with an excellent bore. After finding a box of 140 grain factory ammo, a yellow box from the early 1970s, It cronographed at 3060 fps out of the 26 inch barrel.

I'm loading 74.5 grains of us869 with Hornady 140s for a comfortable 3200 fps. As always start lower, your mileage may vary.

Here is some good info.


Warning! Notes: Accuracy is an average of three-shot groups at 100 yards. All the Speer bullets were selected with the use of a Juenke Internal Concentricity machine. A few bullets with a Juenke number over 15 were rejected; 15 is about the average for hunting bullets. At velocities between 3,000 and 3,150 fps with the 140-grain bullet, Reloader 25 provided the most consistent accuracy. It also proved the fastest-burning powder tested, the reason it was chosen for the 120-grain test. In this rifle, Magpro and Magnum provided the best combination of velocity and accuracy with 140-grain bullets, but Magnum loads didn't group well until pressures reached near maximum. In a test with the 130-grain Barnes bullet, Magnum velocities proved slightly erratic, suggesting it's better suited for heavier bullets. All tests were conducted at temperatures between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. (Handloader Issue 233)
Be Alert: Publisher cannot be responsible for errors in published load data.
Wt.
Bullet
Powder Manufacturer
Powder
Charge
Velocity (FPS)
120
Nosler Ballistic Tip
Alliant
RL-25
66.0
3,440
Remarks: accuracy (inches): 1.06
130
Barnes TSX
Accurate
Magpro
66.5
3,326
Remarks: accuracy (inches): .84
140
Speer
Alliant
RL-25
64.0
3,130
Remarks: accuracy (inches): 1.04
140
Speer
Norma
MRP-2
65.0
3,114
Remarks: accuracy (inches): 1.66
140
Speer
Accurate
Magpro
65.0
3,207
Remarks: accuracy (inches): .87
140
Speer
Hodgdon
Retumbo
65.0
3,171
Remarks: accuracy (inches): 1.70
140
Speer
Ramshot
Magnum
69.0
3,240

quote:

The 9 twist barrel is probably best for the 130 or lighter class bullets

Gawdhelpus, when is this "twist" craze going to subside? Winchester designed the .264 for 140 grain bullets using a 1-9" twist back in 1959, I believe. It worked just fine then, and except for internet myths it still works just fine.

I've fired every kind of 6.5mm 140 grain bullet you can find through my Sako .264 since buying it in 1965 and have never had a problem with stability or accuracy. In fact, the poor old throat of this rifle looks like a patch of alligator hide, but it still puts 140 grain Nosler Partitions (not a short bullet due to its midstream partition) into less than 1 MOA.

As to powders, well, if it has a common name you recognize it's probably too fast for optimal velocities in the .264. The obsolete H-570 and H-870 worked well back in the day. Nowadays I use a military surplus powder in the WC series -- and since those powders vary in burning rate from lot to lot I'm not going to mention either the number or the charge. If I were to "break in" a new powder I would first try H-869. The relatively new RL-26 is probably on the fast side, but might be worth a try, but RL 33 or RL 50 is more likely a better choice.

I'm still using up my hoard of H870. It's the best I've ever tested beating all others for both accuracy and velocity. A friend is using RL25 in his with 130 & 140 Accubonds with good results although a bit shy of my 870 loads velocity wise.
Other powders I've tried over the years; Retumbo, H869, 50 BMG, Win Magnum, RL 22, 25, & 26, H & IMR 4831, Hybrid 100, H 1000, IMR 7828, & Supreme 780. When I run out of H870, Supreme 780 will be what I go to.

I bought a few kegs of h870 for my 264 win mag ruger 264 win mag rifles .It works awesome with the 140 grain and the 155 grain lapua bullet I use .I hope to use reloader 25 less powder less recoil .The load I use for my 155 grain with h870 is very accurate with the 155 grain.
I have shot 1.5 inch groups at 300 yards with that load .I don't like the goofy short throat in my rifle but it's super accurate with the right load.I stayed away from less than 140 grain loads in my 264 to make the barrel last longer .I just started using my 260 rem with the same bullet and it's only 200 fps slower and way less recoil !

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

The 9 twist barrel is probably best for the 130 or lighter class bullets

Gawdhelpus, when is this "twist" craze going to subside? Winchester designed the .264 for 140 grain bullets using a 1-9" twist back in 1959, I believe. It worked just fine then, and except for internet myths it still works just fine.

I've fired every kind of 6.5mm 140 grain bullet you can find through my Sako .264 since buying it in 1965 and have never had a problem with stability or accuracy. In fact, the poor old throat of this rifle looks like a patch of alligator hide, but it still puts 140 grain Nosler Partitions (not a short bullet due to its midstream partition) into less than 1 MOA.

As to powders, well, if it has a common name you recognize it's probably too fast for optimal velocities in the .264. The obsolete H-570 and H-870 worked well back in the day. Nowadays I use a military surplus powder in the WC series -- and since those powders vary in burning rate from lot to lot I'm not going to mention either the number or the charge. If I were to "break in" a new powder I would first try H-869. The relatively new RL-26 is probably on the fast side, but might be worth a try, but RL 33 or RL 50 is more likely a better choice.

Internet myth? Twist craze?
That's just silly talk Mr. Stonecreek.
If yours works for you, great! I'll stick with an 8 twist if I'm shooting the longer, higher BC 140's whether it's my 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 x 280 AI or a 264 Win Mag (in the build process as we speak).
I like the .264's. I'll have 5 of them from the Grendel to the Win Mag and I shoot at least one of them every week out to 600 or 900 yards on my range.

Zeke

Those are Speer's data copied from loaddata.com

My pre 64 win 70 26" 264win shoots lights out with 73 grains of Rel 33 with a 140 Nosler AB.....Elk, Antelope and deer out to 600 yards. Great gun...have fun.

quote:

Originally posted by djsmith:
My pre 64 win 70 26" 264win shoots lights out with 73 grains of Rel 33 with a 140 Nosler AB.....Elk, Antelope and deer out to 600 yards. Great gun...have fun.

What kind of velocity are you getting?