[westpointranger]

A friend of mine told me I should sell my Rem. 700 (.30-06) and buy a .264 Win. Mag. I was just wandering what everybody thought about this idea. I really want to know about the availability of the ammo and what the recoil is like. Does it really have any advantages over the 7mm Mag?

 

[Jeffvn]

.264 has less factory loaded hunting ammo (I think the 7 Mag is the No 1 magnum chambering of all time);

Faster muzzle velocity (due to shooting substantially lighter bullets),

Flatter trajectory than 7 Mag (higher BC bullets that are substantially lighter than the 7 Mag high BC bullets)

burns barrels/throat faster (barrel life somewhere from 1,200 to 1,500 rounds),

kicks slightly less than the 7 Mag (lighter bullets).

These two chambering essentially share the same 82 grain belted shell casing. With the 6.5, you have a tighter bore and throat, so it burns that surface area faster than the 7 Mag. With the 6.5 you're also shooting lighter bullets from the same shell casing which leaves more room for powder, when combined with the lighter bullets you get faster velocities but more throat burn.

I looked really hard at the .264 as a 1,000 yard+ paper puncher - but ran into the barrel life issue and stopped dead in my tracks. I mean pushing the 142 Sierra MK at 3,100 fps prvides unreal ballastics and virtually eliminates the wind as a factor. Stated another way you could eat 6.5x284s for lunch for 1,000 yards.

The .264 has a big hunting following, as they tend not to shoot too many rounds each year - they are amazing for their knockdown power and have serious penetration (large number of elephants killed with the .264 Magnum - NO BS).

JeffVN

 

[westpointranger]

Awesome .

I've got the beginings of a reloading kit, so all I need to do is have someone help me get hte rest and show me how to use it and I could make my own.

It would prolly take me forever to burn through that much ammo (yea, I know, I need to shoot more), so barrel life wouldn't really be a problem.

Well, this thing is starting to look pretty interesting. Keep your thoughts coming.

 

[cody221]

my dad used to hunt with one all thetime, i have wathed one take the head completely off more than one doe before

 

[cody221]

my dad used to hunt with one all thetime, i have wathed one take the head completely off more than one doe before...what it is is the .338WM necked down to a .264 bullet,same as the 7mm rem mag

 

[JRP3]

As has been stated before by many people, you will always take a hit when you sell a gun. If it all possible it is better to keep the ones you have. If you have absolutely no use for the rifle and will never shoot it then I can see selling it. I personally would still keep it, but that decision is obviously up to you and your financial situation.

J

 

[madgunsmith]

The .264 Magnum is a noted barrel burner. You may have to rebarrel after 500 rounds or so.

Mad

 

[westpointranger]

As has been stated before by many people, you will always take a hit when you sell a gun. If it all possible it is better to keep the ones you have. If you have absolutely no use for the rifle and will never shoot it then I can see selling it. I personally would still keep it, but that decision is obviously up to you and your financial situation.

J

Actually, I have two options, both of which are very good.

There's a man I know that said he may be willing to trade me his 700 in 7mm Remington Mag.

OR

My brother has been wanting to buy my 700 from me. I could sell it to him and put the money towards a new rifle. That way we both win--he gets his rifle and I get a new one--and I still get to keep the '06 around. 8)

 

[Jeffvn]

On a what should you do with the gun basis, I think I can speak for Mel when I say that you should strongly consider keeping the gun and simply having it rebarreled to a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser (you shouldn't have to do anything to the bolt, as the 30-06 has the same bolt face as the .308 which I recall as being the same as the 6.5x55).

You can load the 6.5x55 to run the high BC bullets to 2,800 - 2,850 fps out of a 26 inch barrel (5.1 moa flatter to 1,000 than the 175 SMK running at 2,600 - with a 600 yard zero) and the lighter Lapua 123 runs roughly 2,890 fps from 26" barrel (this little guy is 8.0 MOA flatter to 1,000 than the 175 SMKs at 2,600 fps). Not only do you pick up lots of great match ammo from Norma and Lapua but you also increase your barrel life span by about 200% over the .264 Mag.

JeffVN

 

[westpointranger]

Well, my brother wants to keep it in .30-06 I think. If I sold it to him, that would have to be his decision.

I have been looking at building a Mauser, though. I origenally wanted it in .30-06, I think I'll probably do it in 6.5 Swede. Idk, we'll have to see. If I do this .264 thing, I might not be able to do a Mauser for a while.

 

[Scopes]

Call me old fashioned

I like the .30-06 for its versatility, reputation and ability. You need to do what you want, but since you asked for opinions, I'll throw my $.02 in.

First, you have nearly 100 years of information and history. With the .30-06, you can go from a 110gn bullet to a 250gn bullet. You didn't say what you wanted to do, whether you just want to punch paper or hunt, do tactical shoots, whatever.

Barrel life. With a good quality SS barrel, you are looking at thousands of rounds with a .30-06. Now if you are not going to shoot that often, that may not make a difference. However, if you are, then it is something you should consider.

If you are going to strictly punch paper, and you are going to sell the rifle, have you considered the 6br? Check out http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html That is accuracy and a proven track record for paper punching. If I'm correct, the world record high power was shot with a 6mmbr. That is if you are looking for an entirely new platform.

Another thing about the .30-06 is you practically cannot go into a store that sells any type of rifle ammo and not find .30-06. Plus match ammo is readily available.

I am not against any other calibers, so I am not arguing about which one is "best". I am only sharing my opinion that-in your shoes-I would build the .30-06 into a rifle that you can do anything with.

The only question I have is what Jeffvn said about the 7 mag being the number one magnum chambering of all time. In his defense he said he thought but I wanted to bring up the .300wm. I believe this is still king of the magnums due to the fact that it is used by the some aspects of the military.
Hope this helps. And if you decide to sell it and your brother falls through, give me a call. I'll give it a good home

 

[westpointranger]

$.02 worth huh? I don't think I've ever gotten anything that big for $.02 .

I agree that the .30-06 is one of the best cartridges ever designed. That's the thing, if I sell it to my brother, I'll still have it around . Of course, he is talking about putting a wooden stock on it instead of my cammo synthetic :evil: . If some of ya'll would send me emails telling me how bad a decision that would be, I'd be much abliged :wink: .

About the .300 Win Mag, I take you back to your own statement:

Another thing about the .30-06 is you practically cannot go into a store that sells any type of rifle ammo and not find .30-06. Plus match ammo is readily available.

The same is almost true with 7mm Rem Mag. Just about any store that sells '06 ammo also sells 7mm Rem Mag (at least around here). I used to want a .300 WM, but after diligent searching, I came to the conclusion that ammo was as rare as chicken's teeth. The only places I could fine it was in magazines and it was very expensive.

 

[Scopes]

WPR,
That's a heck of a bargain for .02

First, with the wooden stock, here's the thing. Is a wooden stock, even pillar bedded, going to be as accurate as a synthetic?-No. However, the difference MAY be negligible. With that being said, there are some incredible wooden stock makers out there that are crafting very nice looking pieces. http://www.accurateinnovations.com/
And addressing the accuracy issue, let's not forget that prior to the M700 coming into play many Vietnam snipers were using M70 rifles in .30-06 with wooden stocks in horribly humid conditions and they hit there target pretty frequently, so it is not as if accuracy is going to degrade that much, if at all. To give you another thought, there is an old hunter here that has a M70 in .30-06 that I am trying to take off of his hands, it's old and probably shot out but the action is good. If he sells it to me I'm going to retro-restore it to one of the Vietnam era type of rifles and see what I can do with it. I'm willing to bet that with a good SS barrel and handloads I'll be able to keep up with just about anyone.
With the Magnum issue, that must be a regional thing because I can buy FGGM in .300wm here for <$22.00.
I think that you if talk with a good gun store and plead with them, they'll see that they are going to get a consistent business and will order it for you. It's no skin off of their teeth. Find a good internet price, find out what the shipping charge will be, cut the shipping charge price in half, add that to the internet price and negotiate with them. This worked for me for .308 FGGM at a local store. He orders it for me and I pay $17.00 a box. He knows I'm good for 2-3 boxes a month except for the few months that I'm shooting one of the other rifles, then it sits there until I buy it. Or, I'll buy it anyway and tell him to not order anymore until I call him.

 

[muzzleblast]

Same here, Scopes...Had to order 300 WM Federal match at the local store...They know I'll actually buy everything I order though, and not let it linger on the shelves like some people do, so they're pretty good at getting me what I want. Never seen a shortage of 300 WM ammo here though...I think its our most popular magnum

 

[Scopes]

Where in 'kaybek' do you live? I lived in "mount royal" for a couple of years. Great town.

 

[westpointranger]

The problem with wooden stocks around here is that the weather is unpredictable during hunting season. It can freeze one day and the next you won't even need a jacket. It can be so humid that you can hardly breath and the next day be as clear as glass.

The problem with ammo is that I don't have a gunstore within 30 miles of where I live. There are feed stores and such here that carry ammo cus its such a popular deer hunting town, but the chances of them special ordering ammo for one person are very slight (if they're even there at all).

But now it's time to get back to the topic--the .264 Winchester Magnum.

 

[Scopes]

So back to the .264.

Do want opinions on the .264 vs. the 7mm or only how does the .264 compare to the 7mm?

Back on track

 

[westpointranger]

Uh, idk. Both I guess.

I'd really like to hear Mel's comments when he gets a chance.

 

[cody221]

srry about teh double post.. it said there was an error so i added something else to the end and clicked submit and it somehow posted both

 

[westpointranger]

Ok, bringing back an old discussion. I talked to a friend of mine who is a hinting guide and a crack shot to say the least. I told him about the barrel-burning problem and he said it was total bull and that you'd have to fire 1,000 rounds a day to get that kind of quick burnout.

Also, I'm still waiting on the compars-to/Vs. on the .264 and 7 Mag. :lol: