Saw a nice Mod 70 for sale in 264 WIN MAG. I like the rifle and have never had a Mod 70 yet. Is this a handy round or is it purpose made for something. I figure speed goats but could it be a varmint gun?

rainman I was just reading in the Sierra manual last night about this cartridge. It was intended to be the ultimate thin skinned game round. According to the book it was just that, good for any North American game from varmints up to elk. No, one really knows why it was not more popular, but it is guessed that the 7mm Rem Mag is what stole it's thunder.
If you have the capability, you might want to check the throat erosion on the rifle.

rainman: if you are a handloader, the 264WM is a wonderful long range deer/antelope cartridge.

If you don't handload, Win and Rem make 140gr loads, but since the cartridge is not very popular, they can be hard to find and don't give much better than 270 ballistics because for unknown reasons they are underloaded.

Is the M70 a pre64 or post 64?

gee many moons ago (when we were still subject to indian attack) I had one that i'd load up these little 77 grain norma bullets. that was the best crat attomizer you can ever imagine. shot the barrel out in about 800 rounds, but it was fun while it lasted

I consider the 264 win mag a handloaders special with factory specs.....much like the 7 X 57 and 280 Remington and a lot of others.

That said, the handloader will be at about the same performance level with the 6.5-06 and somewhat greater barrel life and less consumption of powder.

I had a M-70 classic in .264 mag and liked it as it shot very well but I never liked the 26" barrel and now someone that likes long barrels owns it.

I have been using the 264 WM since the 60's for long range varmints and sometimes bigger game.

Like many other rounds it's good if the gun is made right.

If you don't pay a lot for the gun then your in a strong position to keep it or sell it later after you play with it.

I shoot the 120 BT over RL 22 at 3350 fps. If the gun is made and tuned right it will be accurate just as mine is.

Make sure the throat is not worn out.

Finally I don't use mine much any more as I need lighter guns. For an easy carry however it's a 264!!

If you are a hand loader the .264 Winchester Magnum is about as good as it gets for any animal in the lower 48.

Fred Barnes made one to drive a 190gr. bullet he came up with. Even a well constructed 156 or 160 gr bullet would do a job on elk size game and than some. roger

I have used the .264 for years with great results. In a 24" barrel you are better off with a .270, but, in a 26" it really shines. Our powders today let us do what was not as viable when the .264 was introduced. For years I have used 140gr. Partitions and H870. The last few lots of H870 didn't deliver the veocity of old. I have since rebarrelled my Westerner with a 26" Kreiger contoured for the M70 stock with the sight hump and all including the dovetail and forend screw. I am shooting 130 grain triple shocks into less that .750" with IMR 7828 and Magnum at 3225 fps. I love the .264 gduffey

Well I think I should get it. Now if I can convince myself to buy me another gun for christmas. I don't know, should I...

of course you should - what a dumb question to ask yourself

I've been shooting a .264 for over 40 years. I still have the original Sako I bought as a teenager in 1965. It has "alligator" skin in the first inch or so of throat, but the only effect seems to be that it digests another grain or so of powder to get the same velocities. This barrel has something in the thousands of rounds through it and still places the first shot out of a cold barrel somewhere inside of a fifty-cent piece placed 2 inches above the point of aim at a hundred yards. I've owned or loaded for three other .264's, and they've all been dandy guns.

It is truly a handloader's cartridge. Factory ammunition is woefully anemic (however, this problem is not confined to this caliber alone.) If you buy one, don't even consider owning it without also owning (or having access to) a chronograph.

In terms of powders, buy the slowest you can find, then look for something slower. RL 22, H4831, IMR 7828 etc. are fine for "varmint" weight bullets, but the 140 grain bullet is the serious game bullet, and for it you need something at least as slow as H870. My current favorite is surplus WC 872 which seems to be about 15% slower than H870. It will propel 140 Nosler Partitions from my 24 inch barrel at 3150 fps with boring regularity and consistent accuracy. I recently acquired a 26 inch barrel gun and it appears that 3250 fps is a reasonable expectation. But settle for anything in the 3100 fps area and you'll have one of the finest long range deer-antelope-caribou-sheep rifles you can find. I've killed a couple of elk with mine and recommend it over a .270 and wouldn't hesitate to use it again; however there are better rounds for an 800 pound animal if you happen to own a gun chambered for one of them.

I've tried 120's for deer, and they work fine. But the 140 gives up little in terms of velocity and trajectory, and its great sectional density provides outstanding velocity and energy retention and dependable penetration. In the past I've used the Speer Hotcore, but the Nosler Partition shoots great in my gun and is without peer in performance.

I have always been a fan of the 338, 30-06 and 7x57. My loads with each shoot about 2700fps. I know that's all I need, but those 264 ballistics always had me thinking...

So when I heard that Winchester was going to discontinue that chambering a few years ago, I bought one. It was a standard blued steel/walnut CRF M70 with 26" barrel.

It seemed a little touchy to load for. It was very picky about every component. But once I started loading 140 grain Barnes XLC's with a max load of RL22, I was sold. It shot better than any off the shelf rifle should. If I told you how good, you wouldn't believe me. If I hadn't seen the targets, I wouldn't believe me!

This combination has taken a full range of African plains game including zebra, kudu, gemsbok, wildebeest and more, as well as deer, elk, black bear and more. The combination is deadly. It kills far better than I expected. No matter what I point it at, it dies.

I'm not yet ready to give up my 338, but I find myself using it less and less!

quote:

If the gun is made and tuned right it will be accurate just as mine is.

Truer words were never spoken. I had mine re-barrelled (I bought one that had been shot out for a bargain) with a Lilja 26" and it shoots 1/2" groups as regularly as I can hold them. I use either 125 Partitions or 129 Hornadys. I don't think I would use it as a varmint rifle, though, unless you were talking coyotes and not prairie dogs. Too much powder eating for the purpose.

I took my old Remington to Africa twice and it did everything I needed/wanted it to do. I had a box of [handloaded] H-Mantles loaded but never needed anything but the Sierra 140 Gameking. The H-870 I use wasn`t affected by the heat but of course, I kept the rounds out of the sun. Around here in Or I use the 129 Hornady pretty much all the time. It works fine for the deer-elk-bear [black] and occasional kity-cat. I get just over 3100 fps from my 23" barrel which is a McGowanXX. Wonderful accuracy and great performance with little meat damage. Important thing to consider when you only have one deer a year.

Aloha, Mark

I should have added! The 3100 fps is for the 140 Sierra. I never chronoed the 129s or 125 Noslers.
Aloha, Mark

Bohica:

Sounds like you have taken enough animals with the 140gr Sierra to have an opinion as to its terminal performance. could you elaborate a little?

It shoots very well in my 264, also, but I'm a little leary of it being too soft at high velocity, so I generally use a 125 Partition when I'm "serious". thanks for any feedback

The Sierra 140 doesn't shoot well in my gun so I don't use it, but I have a friend who does. He only hunts deer, for which it is adequate in every way. I can't say how it would perform on larger game.

Well the rifle is still sitting there. It has a 27" douglas premium barrel and it's going for 675. Also has some scope rings and bases attached. Is this good? I also saw a 257 roberts in a new mod 70($580) and a 260 rem in a ruger(495). Any thoughts on these compared to the 264? $$$ is tight and something is coming home for xmas.

If you are a handloader, go for the 264.

For deer try the 120TSX or NF soft and anything bigger the 140NF soft.

They love RE25 in the heavier weights.

The .257 Roberts and the .260 Rem are excellent cartridges, but they're just not in the same class as the .264. Neither will provide the range or the energy of the much larger cartridge. At the same time, either will give you what you need for deer/antelope class game at normal ranges. Buy the gun the meets whatever the need you have.

As to prices, factory rifles always sell better than modified rifles. There should be room for barganing on the rebarreled .264.