Have a spare 700 LA RH and thinking of 264 win mag

[Nathan_Bell]

I have a long action 700 in '06 that I picked up dirt cheap. I have 2 700's in '06 already, so I was thinking of having a 264 win mag tube put on it. Would be used mainly to punch paper or other equally dangerous objects. Some groundhog blasting, and maybe some hilltop WV deer killing. So weight is not a major deal, but accuracy is.

Questions I have.

24" or 26" tube?

SS or CM barrel material?

What is a good stock with a long LOP and a good palm swell?

Do you all think 264 Win would make a good long range hole puncher?

[TimP]

I would go for either 7mm or 260rem. Much better ballistics and very accurate, assuming you hand load.

[Nathan_Bell]

I would go for either 7mm or 260rem. Much better ballistics and very accurate, assuming you hand load.

I handload, which Is why I was looking at the 264 WM. Pushes a 140 graineres around 3000 fps.

7MM is a good round, have one for my TC encore, looking for new territories to play in.

Action is LA would a 260 rem work in it, I thought it was based off of a 308 not an '06 length cartridge

[K.L. Davis]

264 WinMag is a barrel burner... but then given its blalistics that is obvious.

I am sure that you will find most makers will steer you towareds SS for what you want... the length is up to you, I would have to see what difference the 2" makes to see it is worth it, I am not mear my ballistics program right now though.

I really like the 6.5/284... as for that, short catridges can work fine in a LA gun, you have to get the right magazine for it, or you can sled load?

You know... I had an '06 Ackley Improved once and it was a really nice gun... If you want to play with loadings and wildcats and all of that, I bet you could get the barrel reamed out to the AI and have a good season of shooting with a very easy to form case, very forgiving to load, tons of data available and components are everywhere. Unless you just have money laying around that needs spent on a new barrel?

The 06AI is a very "easy entry" into the wildcat world... but there is no turning back

[limaechofoxtrot]

The accuracy and velocity difference between the old 6.5-06 and the newer 6.5/.284 are slight to non-existent. Throat life is much better than the 6.5/.284 and the .264 Win Mag. It feeds great from the Rem LA. The forming brass(.30-05, .270, .25-06) and reloading dies are cheap. Recoil is mild and did I mention the ACCURACY is fantastic! Go with at least a 26-28" tube that has a long shank so you can set it back once and keep on shooting. It will be your next favorite rifle/caliber.
Len

[Aubrey]

Lyrch,

I believe that the .264 Win Mag will require a magnum bolt face, so there is more to the conversion that a simple barrel swap. The .264 is quite overbore in capacity (i.e., necking down a .300 Win Mag to 6.5mm IIRC), so if you go this route you will want as long a barrel as practical. As noted above, putting so much powder behind a relatively small bore will lead to relatively short throat life.

There are much more efficient cartridges that will yield similar if not better external ballistics. The .264 is essentially an obsolete cartridge, so choosing a "wildcat" or non-standard chambering (e.g., .280 Rem Ackley Improved) is not too big a stretch from what you are proposing.

[TimP]

Sorry, I misread your original post.

Now that Hornady is making 280 ackley brass with a 40 degree shoulder, I would just get a 280 ackley barrel, some dies and go at it. My 280 ackley will push a 168gr Berger VLD @ 3050 with a good charge of 4831SC. The BC on that bullet is .648 IIRC Super flat shooting.

For deer I use a 140gr bullet at just under 3300fps. Its a long action

[bgold]

The 264 does take a magnum boltface, and I would probably pick a 26" barrel for it. I really like this round, and will have another one at some point...kicking myself for passing up a pre-64 for $600 a few years ago in 264. I really don't see where it got the barrel burner status except from the earliest examples, just don't expect 308 barrel life.

The data for 264 is pretty dated, and I am know you can get much more out of one now using modern metals and materials. Comparing older 264 data to what my 270 does is comparable...and 270 brass is much cheaper. Just depends what you are after really.

[d'law]

The ol' .264 is often rated as a "barrel Burner", in fact, they are no harder on barrels than the 7mm Remington Mag. The .264 came out before the 7mm and gained a bad rep as being harder on barrels. Like any cartridge.....load 'em as hot as you can get 'em and they WILL burn out the throat. The .264 is a terribly fine cartridge and the 6.5/.264 slug carries well at extended ranges due to it's sectional density. They are well known for accuracy as well.

You stated that weight isn't a concern.....I'd definitely go with a 26" tube and if a custom barrel is in the mix, would opt for a 28" tube. I'd also look towards a heavy barrel...... .950-1.00" diameter. The .264's not bad on recoil (compared to my .300 RUM) but the heavier barrel will soak up a lot of recoil due to the weight, especially on a "bench gun".