Llama Bob
member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2016
- Messages
- 2,258
As most probably know, the .264 win mag was introduced in 1959 and has never been a very successful cartridge, although it's never been in serious danger of dying either. But it's always lingered in the shadow of the 7mm magnum - the same case necked up from 6.5mm to 7mm. This had mainly to do with three things:
There are now some remarkable bullets available that weren't historically. For example, the 160gr Woodleigh Weldcore protected point is a legitimate elk/moose bullet with a BC of .51. It will stabilize in the 1:9 twist factory .264 barrels. SD is a whopping .328 - giving similar penetration to a .308 220gr. There is no analogous SD hunting bullet in the surrounding .257, .277 and .284 calibers due to their slower 1:9.5 and 1:10 twists - another good reason to be in the .264.
There's a lot of nonsense around long range hunting these days of course, but one nice feature about the .264WM is that it improves the two unavoidable problems with long shots on game: unpredictable wind (including top-of-flight-path wind) and unpredictable animal movement during long flight time. Both are factors that can messily wound game and which cannot be eliminated by any amount of shooter skill or weapon accuracy. But they can to some degree be eliminated by a faster, higher BC projectile and the .264WM offers the best combination of the two in a factory chambering. You can ethically shoot farther with it than any non-wildcat cartridge. And who has a 6.5 STW anyways?
Recoil is remarkably light - the elk load has the same recoil in a featherweight that a 175gr 7mm mag has in a heavy sporter. The deer and predator loads are downright tame. It may not be a youth round exactly, but most shooters won't have a problem.
The barrel burnout issue is real, but with a 1000-2000 round life for reasonable hunting accuracy and generally the option of one barrel set-back, it isn't an issue for a pure hunting rifle. If you want to shoot targets, well, replacing barrels is part of the cost of doing that.
For all NA game between predators and elk/moose for the reloader, it's hard to argue there's a better cartridge than the .264 WM and its wildcat ballistic twins (6.5 Leopard/WSM and 6.5 SAUM).
- A shortage of 6.5mm bullets in the 1960s
- A lack of reloading powders slow enough to take advantage of the small bore and large case
- Concern about barrel life
- 85gr 3800+ ft/s
- 100gr 3600 ft/s
- 120gr 3340 ft/s
- 130gr 3230 ft/s
- 140gr 3120 ft/s
- 160gr 2960 ft/s
There are now some remarkable bullets available that weren't historically. For example, the 160gr Woodleigh Weldcore protected point is a legitimate elk/moose bullet with a BC of .51. It will stabilize in the 1:9 twist factory .264 barrels. SD is a whopping .328 - giving similar penetration to a .308 220gr. There is no analogous SD hunting bullet in the surrounding .257, .277 and .284 calibers due to their slower 1:9.5 and 1:10 twists - another good reason to be in the .264.
There's a lot of nonsense around long range hunting these days of course, but one nice feature about the .264WM is that it improves the two unavoidable problems with long shots on game: unpredictable wind (including top-of-flight-path wind) and unpredictable animal movement during long flight time. Both are factors that can messily wound game and which cannot be eliminated by any amount of shooter skill or weapon accuracy. But they can to some degree be eliminated by a faster, higher BC projectile and the .264WM offers the best combination of the two in a factory chambering. You can ethically shoot farther with it than any non-wildcat cartridge. And who has a 6.5 STW anyways?
Recoil is remarkably light - the elk load has the same recoil in a featherweight that a 175gr 7mm mag has in a heavy sporter. The deer and predator loads are downright tame. It may not be a youth round exactly, but most shooters won't have a problem.
The barrel burnout issue is real, but with a 1000-2000 round life for reasonable hunting accuracy and generally the option of one barrel set-back, it isn't an issue for a pure hunting rifle. If you want to shoot targets, well, replacing barrels is part of the cost of doing that.
For all NA game between predators and elk/moose for the reloader, it's hard to argue there's a better cartridge than the .264 WM and its wildcat ballistic twins (6.5 Leopard/WSM and 6.5 SAUM).
