what factory .263 is available these days? I see where Win. and Rem. offer conventional 140 gr ammo, but does anyone offer premium ammo for the round? A client wants to use his .264 on elk this Fall, and he does not reload. ANy suggestions? Thanks

I would have no problem using the factory 140 on elk. I would lean towards the Win.

I don't know of a major that is loading it. But someone like http://www.superiorammo.com/ammo.html
would load what he wants.

The only .264 factory loads I have chronographed were unimpressive in velocity. These were old yellow box Winchester 140 grainers that turned in a tortoise-like 2800 fps from a 26 inch barrel. That same barrel yields more than 3200 fps with a 140 Nosler Partition without unreasonable pressures.

I own two .264's, and have had one of them for more than 40 years. I'll tell you what I tell everyone: It's a great round with great potential, but there's no use in owning and shooting one unless you both reload and own or have access to a chronograph.

The .264 requires extraordinarily slow powders, particularly with the 140 grain bullet, to reach its potential (that is, exceed the ordinary ballistics of a .270 Winchester). IMR 7828 is NOT an extraordinarly slow powder. We're talking AA 8700, possibly the new Hodgdon US 869, or one of the surplus powders like WC 872 (my personal choice, and have your drop tube standing by if you want to get enough into the case!)

I'm not saying that your friend can't dependably kill an elk with WW factory loads, but they will be comparable to hunting with factory .270 Power Points. To my limited knowledge, there are no "premium" loads available in .264. There may be some semi-custom ammunition suppliers who offer Swift A-Frames or some such, but I am unaware of who or where they might be.

Northfork is now making 140 grain bullets.....look around and find someone to handload them for you.....

Like stonecreek said.....it's a handloaders proposition.

50 rounds is a lifetime supply of great hunting bullets!!!!!

The Feb 2005 issue No.233 of Handloader Ammunition Reloading Journal starting on page 34 ( New Powders in the .264 Winchester Magnum )may interest the 264 shooters.

The 264 Win Mag is so easy to load for! IF!! [1]You throat it out to use the available case capacity and the magazine will take the OAL. [2] Use slow burning powder like H-870. I have loaded the old 264s for over 35 yrs now with 73.7gr/H-870--CCI 250 primers-Sierra Gameking 140 bullets and always had excellent accuracy and velocity in the 3050-3100 range from my 23in barrels. Plenty enough for my wants and needs. Same loading for the 129 Hornady and 125 Noslers too. Just a little more speed. The bullets kill clean with little meat loss and that is my main concern. The load above is safe in MY 264 Rilles but might be hot in yours as I use a 1-10 twist and custom throating not the 1-8 or so everyone else uses so work your loads up to YOUR rifle. Not responsible for your loading.
Aloha, Mark

FWIW: I've chrono'ed recent Winchester factory PowerPoints in a couple of 26" 264's and they we right on the advertized velocity of 3030fps...

Happen to notice that Shooters pro shop had Nosler custom 264Wnag ammo for sale.

http://www.noslershop.com/cgi-bin/virtualcatalog/Catalo...Mag&displayNumber=55

quote:

Originally posted by olarmy:
FWIW: I've chrono'ed recent Winchester factory PowerPoints in a couple of 26" 264's and they we right on the advertized velocity of 3030fps...

That seems about right for current factory .264s. The irony of it is that the original published velocity for 140's was 3200 fps, and most 26" guns are fully capable of that; some "fast" barrels will do a tad more. Even my original Sako with it's 24.4" barrel has always been good for 3100+ using H570 or H870, and this is without pushing pressure beyond comfortable levels.

Factories seem content to use about 60 grains of medium-slow powder (a 75% density load) to churn out a modest 2900-2950 in 24" barrels. A .264 is just not going to provide you that much velocity if you use something the relative speed of 4350 in it.