should i build a 264 win mag

[pjeffreys]

i have a remington 700 mag action that is currently a 7mm rem mag. i'm thinking about ordering a barrel from douglas in 264 win mag since i have another 7mm rem mag in a browning abolt that i hunt with. i've never had one of these nor have i ever shot one. who on here can tell me the pros and cons of the 264 and is it worth the conversion?

[Lloyd Smale]

I like the round. As a matter of fact its become my favorite rifle for long range deer. Bottom line though is that i have two 7mags and they will do anything the 264 will but the 264 just has a bit more cool factor.

[shot1]

Don't worry about the old "it is a barrel burner and will be shot out in a 1000 rounds" stuff. A 264 Win mag barrel will last just as long as a 7mm Rem mag used under the same conditions. With the modern SS barrels as a hunting gun it will last you and your grand kids a life time. Get at least a 26" barrel, longer is better. I have a 27 3/4" Shilen on my Rem 700 action. It is as long as the smith could get out of a 28" blank. I got the rifle from my buddy and he had a 9 twist barrel put on it. If it was me I would go for an 8" twist that way you can shoot any bullet up through 140's gr and not have to worry about stabilization.  I shoot 130 gr Nosler Accubonds at 3350 fps with 66.5 grs Retumbo. Retumbo seems to be THE POWDER for the 264 Win mag. I like it much better than the 7mm mag for deer. I have only hunted with the 264 for two years and killed 6 deer with it. All were BANG FLOP from 80 yards to 250 yards. If you still have once fired 7mm Rem mag cases all you need to do is run them into a 264 Win sizer and you have 264 Win mag cases. I use WW 7mm Rem mag cases myself. One thing to keep in mind is chose you bullet wisely. The 264 mag really is a speed demon and most of the .264 bullets are designed for under 3000 fps impact velocity. I can run a 120 Nosler ballistic tip over 3600 fps with great accuracy but am afraid to use it on deer in my situation because I am apt to get a shot at 50 yards as hundreds of yards away. A 120 BT impacting at 3400 fps and above will most likely evaporate on the hair of a deer. I shoot them at 3000 fps out of a 6.5X55 and know how they act. The 130 Accubond is the perfect bullet. I recovered one from a deer shot at 111 yards on the edge of the left shoulder as the deer slightly quartered faced me. Bullet smashed the shoulder made soup out of the vitals and was found in the right ham when cutting up the meat. It was a text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs. Impact velocity had to be in the 3200 fps range.

[pjeffreys]

thanks shot1, i think i'm going to get a douglas barrel already chambered and turned so all the smith will have to do is basically screw it on. i have a friend that has a 264 and he had some of the rounds in his car the other day. that is one "mean" looking cartridge. i think santa will be bringing me a barrel for christmas.

[Lloyd Smale]

Shot1 ive killed at least a dozzen deer this year with my 264. All using the 120 nos ballitic tip and its preformed flawlusly. Ive shot deer at ranges  between 150 and 450 using it. I dont remember even once not getting an exit hole and the only time it tore !!!! on a deer was one small doe that i hit right in the backbone at a 150 yards. I though it was a bigger deer at about 300 and aimed a bit high. that combined with being sighted in 2 inches high at a 100 put the shot right on the backbone. It cut that deer right in half. but even then i lost half the back straps and that was about it. Another thing ill say about that bullet is i dont recall any deer even taking a step. they were all drt! Now im running them in a 24 inch barrel so there probably going a tad slower then out of your gun with a full power load. They run 3350 out of mine. Ive heard that the 120 bt in 7mm is built a little stouter then most bts. I have to wonder if the 6.5 version is too.

[roper]

thanks shot1, i think i'm going to get a douglas barrel already chambered and turned so all the smith will have to do is basically screw it on. i have a friend that has a 264 and he had some of the rounds in his car the other day. that is one "mean" looking cartridge. i think santa will be bringing me a barrel for christmas.

This may not be a concern to you on Douglas barrel twist but this from Douglas site

NOTE:   Our twists are at the whole inch (i.e. 9,10,11, etc.)   and tolerance is plus or minus 1/2".

[cwlongshot]

I like the round. As a matter of fact its become my favorite rifle for long range deer. Bottom line though is that i have two 7mags and they will do anything the 264 will but the 264 just has a bit more cool factor.

I completely agree.... Years ago I truned down a beautiful 660 in 6.5 Rem mag.. I STILL kick myself for saying no....
 
Now I have a 6.5/06 IMP and also shoot the 120 BT bullet. Mine gets me 3200 + fps and is a lightning bolt on whitetails... My longest shot was on a small Moulflon ram at just under 300 yards.. Bang, step, flop. I was very impressed as it was a hi heart/lung shot!
 
I say go for it!
 
CW

[shot1]

As I stated my concern with the 120 ballistic tip is close in. INSIDE 100 yards. If you are starting it out at 3350 fps by the time it gets to 150 yards is has slowed down to around 3000 fps which is the upper threshold of impact velocity that the bullet is designed to handle. I would be starting it out at 3600 fps or a little better and it would not be down to 3000 fps until it passed 200 yards. I have killed a number of deer with it in my 6.5X55 Swede at 3000 fps muzzle velocity. Yes it kills like lightening struck but at close range, between 50 and 100 yards it usually really comes apart and I find the jacket only either in the offside shoulder or just under the hide on the offside. If the impact velocity was 400 fps faster it just may not make it into the vitals through the onside shoulder where I shoot my deer if possible. I really like the 130 Accubond at the high speeds of the 264 mag. It kills like the ballistic tip DRT, and it exits even on close shots and the ballistic coefficient is sleek so it shoots flat and retains velocity great and the wind does not mess with it as much as other bullets.  First deer I ever killed with the 264 mag with the 130AB was 250 yards away in a huge GREEN soybean field. He came out of the woods past a tree that was 300 yards away into the field fast walking trailing a hot doe so quick and I got on him so fast with the scope and he stopped for just a second and I squeezed one off on him. I heard the bullet pop hitting him before the rifle reach it's full recoil height, and this rifle does not recoil that much. He was on the ground so fast that I like to have never found him. It took me an hour of walking back and forth in those green waist high soy beans to find him. 

[BBF]

Had one many years ago, if you remember the first style Nosler PT's that were turned on a lathe you have the right time period. I used the PT's in 125 gr and some standard style 140 gr. and the powder was H 870 for the heavy bullets and H-4831 for the lighter if I recall.

[Drilling Man]

  I had a 264 Win. Mag. for a time, shot some big game with it, includeing one brown bear.  Actually, i wasn't too impressed with it, and went to a 7mm Rem. mag...  I found the 7 mag. to be a MUCH better big game cartridge, and i never looked at the 264 mag. again.
 
  All of these cartridges are waaaaaaay more than is needed for deer sized animals, so i'm sure if deer in on your menu, it will work very well for that purpose.
 
  DM