Author Topic: What bullets does everyone shoot in their 264 Win Mags? (Read 1156 times)

264 WIN MAG · « **on:** December 01, 2003, 07:51:36 AM »

Alright I have a 264 Win Mag and have been bouncing around with different bullets and can't decide on anything. I have tried the Winchester ammunition with the soft point bullets and they seem to work really well on short range and they knock the deer down most of the time but I have not seen the bullets pass through at all (no blood trail). I switched to the 120gr. Nosler ballistic tips and I am impressed with the long range abilities of the round but the gun does not shoot this round as accurate as the 140gr. bullets not to mention it does not have the knock down power of the 140gr. The first deer I shot with the 120gr. Noslers was a true disappointment, the deer took off, left no blood trail, and I was only lucky enough to find it because it tried to cross a nearby creek and it layed down there. The next 3 I shot with this round were all shoulder shots at 100yds. and they dropped in their tracks. The next two were shoulder shots at a little over 100yds. and both ran a pretty good bit. I started at this point doing nothing but neck shots and the 120gr. Nosler is devastating in this area so I kept on. I shot on this past weekend at around 600yds. in the lungs and it ran about 20yds. with a good blood trail. The next day I shot another one at around 400yds. on what seemed to be a good shoulder shot where we found blood, bone, and meat but never found the deer.

If anyone has any suggestions on the kinds of bullets they have had success with in this caliber it would be greatly appreciated. Seems like the 120gr. Nosler ballistic tip is an up and down round that preforms sometimes and doesn't on others. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Zachary · « **Reply #1 on:** December 01, 2003, 08:48:10 AM »

If you don't handload (and I don't) then you will be limited in factory offerings.

One thing you may want to do is look at conelly precision (or something like that) at www.cpcartridge.com. They offer hot handloads as an alternative to true factory loadings. Plus, they offer a variety of bullet weights and styles.

I also own a .264WM but have not shot it yet. However, when I do, I plan on using only premium bullets - like that of Nosler PARTITIONS (not the ballistic tips), Barnes X Boat-tail, or Hornady Interbonds. I would think that these loads, in either 130 or 140 grain weights - should be almost perfect - with higher weight retention and also a much higher ability to fully penetrate.

Zachary

264 WIN MAG · « **Reply #2 on:** December 01, 2003, 09:08:45 AM »

I have not tried to Nosler Partitions yet because they are not as good long range as the other bullets out there but I am thinking hard about going to that style now. The Ballistic tips are pretty good sometimes except that they don't hold together very good when shot over 3,000 FPS. I have seen my father shooting the Barnes bullets with his 7mm mag and swore I will never shoot a Barnes bullet because it doesn't preform consitently and it seems that only certain guns like them. He tried that round in two different guns and one liked them and the other hated them. I am thinking about going with a 140gr. BTSP or the Partition right now but have not decided completely. I know that I am going back to the 140gr. for sure though.

lgm270 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 01, 2003, 04:52:08 PM »

Barnes bullets are very finicky about which rifle they shoot in. I have two .270's. One shoots Barnes X bullets into the same hole at 100 yards and the other produces shotgun like patterns. They worked well in a .308 and .300 Win Mag, but were God Awful in my .30-06 and my .338 Win mag. Give them a try and they might work for you.

Personally, for the .264 mag my vote goes to Nosler Partitions in the 125 and 140 grain weights. Nosler partitions have never let me down and the 125 grainer should be a real screamer in the .264. I read a story by Ross Seyfried in Guns & Ammo several years ago about the .264 and as I recall he praised this bullet as well.

I have used the 125 grain partition in the 6.5x55 at about 3,000 fps and it killed deer equally as well as the .270 WCF 130 grain Nosler Partition at 3,100 fps as far as I could tell. Hope that helps.

taxmiser · « **Reply #4 on:** December 01, 2003, 05:05:34 PM »

I have used the .264 Winchester Magnum since it first appeared in the early 60's and have been reloading for it since then as well. I have tried every .264 bullet that has come dwn the pike and have settled on the Remington 120 gr. 1st reason: shoots well in every .264 bore rifle I've ever fed them to. 2. Never have had a complaint with performance on anything from coyotes to elk. 3. The price in unbeatable! I can see no reason to change now........
Dale

Zachary · « **Reply #5 on:** December 02, 2003, 03:47:51 AM »

Taxmiser,

Are you talking about the plain-jane Remington core-lokt bullets? I would think that a 120 grain bullet out of high powder 264WM would cause the bullet to blow-up and come apart - especially at closer distances, and especially on big boned animals like elk.

Zachary

gunnut69 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2003, 05:40:23 AM »

In a recent article in Handloader the author noted the changes in design of the Core-Lokt bullet from the past and the currently produced versions. The old design used variations in jacket thickness to controll expansion, the newer was a simple cup and core bullet. The 264 mag produces a lot of stress on a bullet, and I'd be less than comfortable with other than a controlled expansion bullet. Also I believe the case capacity of the round is most fully utilized, in any of the larger magnum rounds, by the heavier bullet weights available for that caliber. In the 264 I use the 140 grain Nosler partition. The exterior ballistic difference between it and other 264 caliber bullets of similar weight and style is quite small. At extended ranges, in most cases, the energy of the lighter bullet will be surpassed by a heavier selection due to the sectional density differences of the bullets. Eventually the greater speed of the light bullet looses out to the better retension of the heavier. I call it the pingpong ball effect. You can throw a pingpong ball very fast, it just slows down very fast also..

jdt48653 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 02, 2003, 02:02:21 PM »

i use cpc`s in my 264. 140gr sp hornadys. it has an 1in8 twist,so the 140s
work the best.they retain more energy down range,and they drop less after 300yds then the lighter bullets.i`ve heard that the 120s work best with a 1in9 twist.every deer ive taken has dropped where they were hit.
these conleys leave the barrel around 3,200 in my 26'' win mod70.
with proper cleaning and not getting the barrel hot ,these barrels will outlast the avg deer hunter.
almost all the new short magnums,and the oversized magnums are harder on barrels then this overbore!i have a room full of many calibers
and i would reather use my 264 over all of them for deer/elk sized
game!

taxmiser · « **Reply #8 on:** December 02, 2003, 02:12:13 PM »

My comfort level with the old Remmy's is based on several dozen elk, a 100+ mule and whitetail deer and around 35 antelope. Have NEVER experienced a failure to expand properly. The only time the bullet didn't exit the animal was with a big bull elk. That 120 grain bullet went through both shoulder blades and was lodged under the hide on the far side at approx. 300 yards. Give me Remmy's and I will continue to harvest big game around the west!
Dale

jdt48653 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 02, 2003, 02:40:00 PM »

taxmiser,its not fair getting to live in montana!!!!

264 WIN MAG · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2003, 01:56:50 AM »

I wanted to thank everyone for their input. Seems like most people here use the Nosler Partition for the 264 Win Mag so I decided on that round. I ordered some 140gr. Partitions for the 264 and Im going to see how they perform. I talked to the people at Nosler and told them my problem and before I could even finish the guy knew what was going on. He told me that a ballistic tip fired in a rifle that was shooting over 3200fps just would not work. He said that shooting over the 3200fps velocity causes the bullet to start deforming as it comes out of the barrel and you will never get consistent performance. Kind of sad they make a bullet that performs like this but they openly admitted it to me, but they told me the partition would not do this and it could handle that kind of pressure and this is another reason I decided to go to the partition. My father has been using partitions for around 25 years and recently tried some different kinds of bullets and decided the partition was the bullet for him so I guess it must be a pretty good bullet.

264 WIN MAG · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2003, 01:59:46 AM »

Quote from: taxmiser

My comfort level with the old Remmy's is based on several dozen elk, a 100+ mule and whitetail deer and around 35 antelope. Have NEVER experienced a failure to expand properly. The only time the bullet didn't exit the animal was with a big bull elk. That 120 grain bullet went through both shoulder blades and was lodged under the hide on the far side at approx. 300 yards. Give me Remmy's and I will continue to harvest big game around the west!
Dale

I wish I could say I had the same luck with the Remington core-lokt's. I tried this round when I first got my 264 mag and the round just does not work on whitetail. I could not get the round to expand at all and out of all the deer I shot with this round I can only remember recovering maybe 2 and both of them had a entrance and exit wound that you could not stick a number 2 pencil in to. The bullet just does not expand properly on whitetail so I eventually moved away from it.

taxmiser · « **Reply #12 on:** December 04, 2003, 07:35:03 PM »

That surprises me greatly since I have been delighted with the 120 grain bullets in the following rifles as well as the old tried and true 264. 6.5X55, 6.5X55 Improved, 6.5-06 and the 6.5X284. The 140 grain will shoot through a redwood but I have NEVER had a problem with those old 120s.
Dale

264 WIN MAG · « **Reply #13 on:** December 05, 2003, 01:22:33 AM »

Yea, now that I think about it I was using the 140gr. Core-Lokt. I couldn't remember the grain because it's been a few years but I remember that bullet was horrible for killing deer.

jim21 · « **Reply #14 on:** April 20, 2006, 06:00:32 PM »

I use 140grn core-lock by remington.Had no problems and is on target.