I am trying to find a load that will shoot 3100 fps with 140gr bullets out of my 264 with 26" barrel. I have tried a lot of combos and so far 3000 is the best I have come up with without pressure problems.
264 win mag loads
- Thread starter boulderbeardog
- Start date
My gunsmith loads Retumbo in his two 264's for good velocity. The 24" one is at 3100fps, the 30" one is at 3300fps. I shoot 60gr of H4831 in mine for 3000fps from a 25" barrel. Mine is picky and I haven't found anything else it likes as well.
What bullets are you using? I tried bergers and nosler bt. With the same load the noslers shot almost 150 fps faster. I was thinking about trying retumbo, but heard a lot of good things about magpro in a 264. I tried h4831 and didn't really work out so well for me. Are all those guns custom barrels? I beginning to think that I may need new barrel to get up to speed.
He shoots 140gr Berger VLD hunting bullets, I shoot the Nosler 140gr accubond. Both rifles have Mcgowan barrels that have been cryoaccurized. I tried Bergers and couldn't get them to shoot well, but nothing else I tried worked well. With the trouble I had finding an accurate load I'd probably try a Kreiger or Pac-Nor if I was buying another barrel. I'd try Retumbo with your barrel before going that drastic though. The terminal performance of the 140gr accubonds, especially the penetration has been great. I shot a big muley last fall quartering away hard, hit the last rib and found the bullet under the hide in the neck on the opposite side. It penetrated 3ft of muley and still weighed 60% with an impressive wound channel.
I have no problems with the accubonds, I was going to try them anyways, but it helps to hear that they are perfoming well. Are you neck sizing your cases?
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
I shoot 2 belted mags in addition to a lot of high vel stuff. I definatelywould not full length size the brass. First loading...yes, but after you have shot the brass in you rifle, it forms itself to your chamber. You do not need to full length size it again. Full length sizing shortens the brass life and can actually cause problems after you do it a few times. It stretches the brass near the belt and will eventually cause cracks at that part of the brass. I've seen 30-06 cases split and leave part of the brass stuck in the chamber, after the case head pulled off.. This happened to my Dad on a backcountry wilderness hunting trip and he could not get the brass out of the chamber....shot his deer with my rifle!! Inspect your brass carefully at the belt.
You are right. We have been full length sizing so we can interchange ammo on our hunts if necessary. Our loads don't shoot identical but would work fine to 300yds if we needed to trade ammo. We are both anal enough about preparing for hunts that this will likely never happen, but Murphy seems to take a special interest in us we have done it. Truly we should forget about it since we take a spare rifle anyway. The worst we would be out is the walk back to the truck for ammo and the spare rifle.