.264 Winchester Magnum
Encyclopedia
The .264 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. Apart from the .257 Weatherby Magnum
, it is the smallest caliber factory cartridge which uses the standard length (2.5 in (63.5 mm)) Holland & Holland belted magnum case. It was introduced together with the .338 Winchester Magnum
and the .458 Winchester Magnum
as one of a series of short-cased (2.5 in (63.5 mm)) belted magnum
cartridges developed by Winchester
. It was officially introduced to the public by Winchester in 1959.
for use in their .257 Weatherby Magnum
, .270 Weatherby Magnum
and 7mm Weatherby Magnum cartridges. While the Weatherby cases had been based on the Winchester's .30 Super
cartridge, these new series of shortened Holland & Holland cases were based on the .375 Holland & Holland case which was more plentiful and hence more available. The advantages of the shortened case were two fold: the cartridge could function through the easily available standard length rifle action used by the .30-06 Springfield
and the .270 Winchester
and was close to the efficiency limitations of powders available at the time given the case capacity of the cartridge. Using the longer, full length .375 H&H case would not have produced a great performance benefit given the powders available. This was also the reasoning behind the shortened cases used by Weatherby as DuPont's IMR 4350 had been the slowest burning powder available at the time.
The .264 Winchester Magnum is a cartridge which was standardized by SAAMI, which published recommended specifications for the cartridge. SAAMI recommends a six groove barrel with a rate of twist of one revolution in 9 in (228.6 mm), a bore diameter of 0.256 in (6.5 mm) and a groove diameter of 0.264 in (6.7 mm) with each groove having a width of 0.09 in (2.3 mm). The recommended maximum pressure for the cartridge (pizeo) is 64000 psi (4,412.6 bar).
At present, only Remington and Winchester produce ammunition for this cartridge and then only in their non-premium economy line, Express and Super-X respectively. Both manufacturers offer a 140 gr bullet at 3030 ft/s (923.5 m/s). This ammunition has a maximum point blank range of 299 yd (273.4 m) when sighted in at 249 yd (227.7 m). Double Tap Ammunition offers premium 140 gr Nosler Partition and 125 gr Accubond bullets driven at 3100 ft/s (944.9 m/s) and 3250 ft/s (990.6 m/s) through a 24 inch barrel. However, Double Tap is available only through mail order and select dealers.
While readily available factory ammunition for the cartridge is for the most part fairly basic, the handloaders can gain a step up in performance with bullets with better ballistic coefficients and weights to extend to performance of the cartridge. For this reason, this cartridge is better suited for shooters who are willing to make their own ammunition rather than those who purchase over the counter ammunition.
, .270 Weatherby Magnum
, 6.5mm Remington Magnum and the .257 Weatherby Magnum
cartridges in North America and the cartridges such as the 6.5x68mm in Europe. Due to the over crowded nature of the market for which the cartridge competes in, popularity has been on the wane. In particular, the 7mm Remington Magnum release in 1962 lead cartridge's poor reception by the shooting public. The 7mm Remington Magnum shoot almost as flat as the .264 Winchester Magnum but launched a larger diameter, heavier bullet generating more energy than the .264 Winchester Magnum. Furthermore, the 7mm Remington Magnum benefited from a vast range of compatible bullets due in large part to the popularity while the .264 was somewhat of an oddity and a rather "new" caliber in North America.
Ballistically, it is almost identical to the 6.5 x 68 (also incorrectly known as the 6.5 x 68 RWS, 6.5 x 68 Schüler or the 6.5 x 68 Express Vom Hofe) and the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum.
The .264 Win. Mag. is an excellent, potentially accurate, very flat-shooting cartridge capable of taking any game in the lower 48 US states, and one of the most powerful of all 0.264 in (6.7 mm) cartridges. When loaded with 140 gr bullets at a muzzle velocity
of 3100 ft/s (944.9 m/s) it is an adequate round for deer out to 500 yards (457.2 m).
, have extended barrel life considerably, with the .264 Win. Mag. and many other cartridges.
While very few production line riflemakers currently offer the .264 Win. Mag. as a factory chambering, the caliber remains popular with some enthusiasts using custom built rifles and handloading their own ammunition.
The introduction of Remington's 7 mm Magnum
in 1962 almost immediately eclipsed the .264 Win. Mag., even though the 264 Win. Mag. has a bigger cartridge, it never fully recovered from the competition of the slightly larger-bore cartridge.
In Europe, two of the .264 Win. Mag.'s champions were George Swenson of John Wilkes gunmakers, London, and David Lloyd
of Northampton, England. Lloyd built a number of his deluxe Lloyd rifle
s in .264 Win. Mag. calibre, mainly for sportsmen seeking a calibre that would give high velocity performance with bullets heavier than the 100 grains fired by the .244 H&H Magnum
.
.257 Weatherby Magnum
The .257 Weatherby Magnum is a .25 Caliber belted bottlenecked cartridge. It is one of the original standard length magnums developed by shortening the .375 H&H Magnum case to approx....
, it is the smallest caliber factory cartridge which uses the standard length (2.5 in (63.5 mm)) Holland & Holland belted magnum case. It was introduced together with the .338 Winchester Magnum
.338 Winchester Magnum
The .338 Winchester Magnum is a .33 caliber belted rimless bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester. It is based on the blown out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .33 is the caliber at which medium bore cartridges are considered to begin...
and the .458 Winchester Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express...
as one of a series of short-cased (2.5 in (63.5 mm)) belted magnum
Belted magnum
The term belted magnum refers to any caliber cartridge, generally rifles, using a shell casing with a pronounced "belt" around its base that continues 2-4mm past the extractor groove. This design originated with the British gunmaker Holland & Holland for the purpose of headspacing certain of...
cartridges developed by Winchester
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...
. It was officially introduced to the public by Winchester in 1959.
Design & Specifications
Winchester had been manufacturing the shortened Holland & Holland cases under a contract for WeatherbyWeatherby
Weatherby, Inc. is an American gun manufacturer founded in 1945 by Roy Weatherby. The company is best known for its high-powered magnum cartridges, such as the .257 Weatherby Magnum and the .460 Weatherby Magnum...
for use in their .257 Weatherby Magnum
.257 Weatherby Magnum
The .257 Weatherby Magnum is a .25 Caliber belted bottlenecked cartridge. It is one of the original standard length magnums developed by shortening the .375 H&H Magnum case to approx....
, .270 Weatherby Magnum
.270 Weatherby Magnum
The .270 Weatherby Magnum was the first belted magnum based on the .300 H&H Magnum to be developed by Roy Weatherby. It has the characteristic double-radius shoulders and is necked down to accommodate the .277in bullets. Being a proprietary cartridge, the .270 Weatherby has no official SAAMI...
and 7mm Weatherby Magnum cartridges. While the Weatherby cases had been based on the Winchester's .30 Super
.300 H&H Magnum
The .300 H&H Magnum Cartridge was introduced by the British company Holland & Holland as the Super-Thirty in June, 1925. The case was belted like the .375 H&H Magnum, and is based on the same case, as also is the .244 H&H Magnum. The belt is for headspace as the cases' shoulders have a narrow...
cartridge, these new series of shortened Holland & Holland cases were based on the .375 Holland & Holland case which was more plentiful and hence more available. The advantages of the shortened case were two fold: the cartridge could function through the easily available standard length rifle action used by the .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
and the .270 Winchester
.270 Winchester
The .270 Winchester was developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54. The cartridge is based upon the .30-06 Springfield...
and was close to the efficiency limitations of powders available at the time given the case capacity of the cartridge. Using the longer, full length .375 H&H case would not have produced a great performance benefit given the powders available. This was also the reasoning behind the shortened cases used by Weatherby as DuPont's IMR 4350 had been the slowest burning powder available at the time.
The .264 Winchester Magnum is a cartridge which was standardized by SAAMI, which published recommended specifications for the cartridge. SAAMI recommends a six groove barrel with a rate of twist of one revolution in 9 in (228.6 mm), a bore diameter of 0.256 in (6.5 mm) and a groove diameter of 0.264 in (6.7 mm) with each groove having a width of 0.09 in (2.3 mm). The recommended maximum pressure for the cartridge (pizeo) is 64000 psi (4,412.6 bar).
Performance
The .264 Winchester Magnum gained a reputation as a very flat shooting cartridge. When introduced, it was first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 Westerner rifle, which was intended for longer range shooting more common in the Western United States.At present, only Remington and Winchester produce ammunition for this cartridge and then only in their non-premium economy line, Express and Super-X respectively. Both manufacturers offer a 140 gr bullet at 3030 ft/s (923.5 m/s). This ammunition has a maximum point blank range of 299 yd (273.4 m) when sighted in at 249 yd (227.7 m). Double Tap Ammunition offers premium 140 gr Nosler Partition and 125 gr Accubond bullets driven at 3100 ft/s (944.9 m/s) and 3250 ft/s (990.6 m/s) through a 24 inch barrel. However, Double Tap is available only through mail order and select dealers.
While readily available factory ammunition for the cartridge is for the most part fairly basic, the handloaders can gain a step up in performance with bullets with better ballistic coefficients and weights to extend to performance of the cartridge. For this reason, this cartridge is better suited for shooters who are willing to make their own ammunition rather than those who purchase over the counter ammunition.
Reception
The .264 Winchester Magnum main competition comes from the various 7mm cartridges such as the 7mm Remington Magnum, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, the .270 Winchester Short Magnum.270 Winchester Short Magnum
The 270 Winchester Short Magnum or 270 WSM is a short, unbelted, magnum Cartridge created by necking down the .300 Winchester Short Magnum and fitting it with a .277 caliber bullet...
, .270 Weatherby Magnum
.270 Weatherby Magnum
The .270 Weatherby Magnum was the first belted magnum based on the .300 H&H Magnum to be developed by Roy Weatherby. It has the characteristic double-radius shoulders and is necked down to accommodate the .277in bullets. Being a proprietary cartridge, the .270 Weatherby has no official SAAMI...
, 6.5mm Remington Magnum and the .257 Weatherby Magnum
.257 Weatherby Magnum
The .257 Weatherby Magnum is a .25 Caliber belted bottlenecked cartridge. It is one of the original standard length magnums developed by shortening the .375 H&H Magnum case to approx....
cartridges in North America and the cartridges such as the 6.5x68mm in Europe. Due to the over crowded nature of the market for which the cartridge competes in, popularity has been on the wane. In particular, the 7mm Remington Magnum release in 1962 lead cartridge's poor reception by the shooting public. The 7mm Remington Magnum shoot almost as flat as the .264 Winchester Magnum but launched a larger diameter, heavier bullet generating more energy than the .264 Winchester Magnum. Furthermore, the 7mm Remington Magnum benefited from a vast range of compatible bullets due in large part to the popularity while the .264 was somewhat of an oddity and a rather "new" caliber in North America.
Ballistically, it is almost identical to the 6.5 x 68 (also incorrectly known as the 6.5 x 68 RWS, 6.5 x 68 Schüler or the 6.5 x 68 Express Vom Hofe) and the 6.5 x 63 Messner Magnum.
The .264 Win. Mag. is an excellent, potentially accurate, very flat-shooting cartridge capable of taking any game in the lower 48 US states, and one of the most powerful of all 0.264 in (6.7 mm) cartridges. When loaded with 140 gr bullets at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 3100 ft/s (944.9 m/s) it is an adequate round for deer out to 500 yards (457.2 m).
Background
The .264 Win. Mag., like many magnum rounds, can wear out barrels more quickly than other rounds. This was particularly true in the 1950s to early 1960s, with the chrome moly steels then almost universally used for barrels. But recent advances with stainless steel barrels, especially when cryogenically treatedCryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
, have extended barrel life considerably, with the .264 Win. Mag. and many other cartridges.
While very few production line riflemakers currently offer the .264 Win. Mag. as a factory chambering, the caliber remains popular with some enthusiasts using custom built rifles and handloading their own ammunition.
The introduction of Remington's 7 mm Magnum
7 mm Remington Magnum
The 7mm Remington Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced as a commercially available round in 1962, along with the new Remington Model 700 bolt action rifle. It is a member of the belted magnum family that is directly derived from the venerable .375 H&H Magnum...
in 1962 almost immediately eclipsed the .264 Win. Mag., even though the 264 Win. Mag. has a bigger cartridge, it never fully recovered from the competition of the slightly larger-bore cartridge.
In Europe, two of the .264 Win. Mag.'s champions were George Swenson of John Wilkes gunmakers, London, and David Lloyd
David Lloyd (riflemaker and sportsman)
David Llewellyn Lloyd was an English deer-stalker, metallurgist, ballistician and sporting rifle maker, of Northamptonshire, England and Glencassley in Sutherland, Scotland. After service in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, extensive deer stalking, and frequent rifle shooting visits to...
of Northampton, England. Lloyd built a number of his deluxe Lloyd rifle
Lloyd rifle
The Lloyd Rifle was the 1950s brainchild of English deer-stalker, rifleman, metallurgist and engineer David Llewellyn Lloyd. His objective was to create a high-quality, scope-sighted, magazine-fed sporting rifle capable of dependably high accuracy at long ranges, of retaining its zero despite...
s in .264 Win. Mag. calibre, mainly for sportsmen seeking a calibre that would give high velocity performance with bullets heavier than the 100 grains fired by the .244 H&H Magnum
.244 H&H Magnum
The .244 Holland & Holland Magnum cartridge was created in 1955 in Great Britain by deerstalker and rifle-maker David Lloyd of Pipewell Hall, Northamptonshire and Glencassley in Sutherland, Scotland, and is not to be confused with the smaller-cased and much milder 6 mm Remington...
.