.264 Win Mag or something similar for Long Range?

[TalusHunterCA]

I am looking at the Classic .264 Win mag a lot. If starting with a new rifle build today, would you choose the same 6.5mm cartridge or a 6.5 PRC or .6.5 RPM or go 26 Nosler?

I have a custom .300 win mag Model 70 for heavier mixed game, 24" bartlein barrel with 1:10 twist and now looking for a rifle/cartridge setup for only Mule Deer, Pronghorn and Coues Deer that has a faster twist that can shoot faster, higher b.c. bullets.

Any ideas or comments are appreciated. I seem to have a liking for the classic .264 win mag, if it's still one of the better choices?

 

[Cahunter805]

The 264 Win Mag is an excellent cartridge. I’d be sure to throat it long for use with 140-156gr bullets and twist it properly. Very fun cartridge to load for. H1000 and 7828 work very well.

 

[amassi]

For what your doing I'd stick with the prc or rpm. The rpm appears to be identical to the winmag capability just using a standard bolt face and no belt.

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[wildwilderness]

Better is relative. Sure the 264 win is a classic but it has a belt and poor shoulder angle and taper. As mentioned the RPM is sort of the modern version, but will it really make a difference? Personally I’m more interested in a 6.5 GAP 4S since I like short actions and feel it’s a super efficient cartridge, but will it really make a difference over the PRC? Probably not...

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Was in a somewhat similar situation but I already had a 6.5x284. I finally relented and sold that rifle to a friend who was wanting to buy it for a couple of years. This meant that I had to replace my Coues rifle so the hunt was on.

For all of them, the commercial ammo offerings are weak. The offerings are also not necessarily well suited to long range hunting. You should go the handload route with any of these guys (more so with the ammo BS going on).

I really really wanted the 26 Nosler. The ballistics are insane and hits 1800 fps at 1300 yards with commercial 142 gr ABLR. Recoil is pretty high and the barrel life is not good.

Hunted with a couple of guys in Mexico this year. They were hunting with Weatherby 6.5-300s. They spoke very highly of them and killed a couple of nice Coues at very long ranges. Same drawbacks as the 26 Nosler. But that is the -300 and not the RPM which I have zero information on.

The 264 Win Mag really was not on my radar as commercial 6.5 CM ammo easily beats the commercial offerings for the 264 WM from a hunting distance perspective. A dear friend and hunting mentor picked up a 264 WM earlier this year. He's raving about his. He handloads so it really opened things up for him. This same guy also grabbed a 6.5 PRC at the same time

Then there's the 6.5 PRC. The ballistics are not as nice as the 26 Nosler nor the Weatherbys (with the right ammo). The barrel life is better and the recoil is not bad at all. They do tend to shoot commercial ammo very well.

I hemmed and hawed between the 26 Nosler and the 6.5 PRC; I finally settled on the 6.5 PRC. It shot commercial 147 gr ELD-M very well; I could have stopped with it and been .5 MOA (grabbed some as a backup). I did go the handload route and the 147 gr ELD-M won out (3050 fps) on accuracy and maximum effective hunting distance. A couple of weeks ago it finally had its cherry popped on a Coues with a 750 yard shot. The entrance wound was small, excellent internal damage, and there was a quarter-sized exit wound. Deer dropped in his tracks and slid. I'm very pleased with its performance. She'll be going with me to Mexico in January for Coues. On a related note, my previously mentioned friend did grab a 6.5 PRC after developing the loads for my rifle. He grabbed a Browning Long Range and that sucker shoots lights out.

I'm very happy with my PRC. It extends my current effective range on deer-sized game and gives me plenty of room for growth (hits 1800 fps @ 1100 yards).

 

[BruinPoint]

I like the .264 Win and I had a Reminton 700 CDL chambered in it for a while, but the rifle was garbage and I eventually parted it out. My gunsmith used the barrel for a tomato stake (not joking). I'd really like to get a .264WM in a Sendero II, but then I started thinking maybe I'll just burn out the barrel in my Sako A7 (7mm Rem) and then build it into a .264WM "Sak-ero" A7 with a a 0.85" O.D. at the end of a 26" fluted tube and bed it into the B&C stock it already lives in. Nothing wrong with the other 6.5s either, I just always liked belted magnums.

 

[TalusHunterCA]

Thank you all. Very good perspectives and information. I will put further thought into this.

I plan to handload for certain. I would also stick with one bullet, likely a 1:7 twist and heavy 137-143 gr copper bullets from Hammer or CEB.

 

[Hunt30]

I’ve been pretty impressed with how well the 6.5 prc rifles I’ve been around shoot factory ammo. Most 1/2 moa

 

[MTSasquatch]

The 264 is such a neat cartridge. My old man has been shooting it since 1964 and swears by it. I wish more manufacturers produced rifles in that caliber these days. I’ve been impressed with its ballistics and effects on target since I was a kiddo hunting with my pops.

 

[fisherman983]

being an avid 264 wm shooter, and having at 1 time 3 rifles chambered and now 2, with 1 of them being my goto semi custom on its 4th barrel, because I shoot that much, not junk barrels I would 100 percent go with a 6.5 prc.

longer bartel life, and way better components are more abundant for the 6.5 prc.

when my barrel goes out in my current rifle its getting turned into a 300 norma and ill build a prc as my goto 6.5.

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[chutinlead]

I wanted to step down to a smaller caliber this year and had an old plain jane savage 110 .270. The barrel being too small at the muzzle to thread, I picked up a 26" 6.5 barrel my buddy had "shot out" and cut 4" off the chamber end and 2" off the muzzle. Threaded and chambered it in 6.5-06, choked all my old one fire 270 brass down to 6.5 and am now pushing 156gr bergers over 2800. It's fun to take an older gun and breathe a little bit of life into it.

 

[DoubleDown]

If you reload why not classic 6.5 Remington. Short action keep weight down, more woop that 6.5 PRC

 

[HuntnPack]

6.5 Sherman Max.

 

[Jmort1754]

Find me good 6.5 anything brass right now you can’t.

Find good 7rm brass right now.

 

[wyosam]

Find me good 6.5 anything brass right now you can’t.

Find good 7rm brass right now.

I don’t have any trouble finding brass, as long as I don’t try to buy it. 6.5cm and PRC brass and a bunch of others are plentiful at my range. Being in a place full of rich people is nice. I have more once fired Lapua (from Berger factory ammo) than I know what to do with. I’m stocked up for several cartridges I don’t even currently own. Pretty sure once you hit 300 once fired Lapua in a given chambering, its just good financial sense to buy a rifle chambered for it.


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[Jmort1754]

You’re one of the few. I’ve found CM brass no
Prc vrass