.264 Win

AllenJ, note that a 30 caliber, 200-gr. SBT bullet's SD of .300 and BC of .555 trumps all those others you listed.

That said, a 26 caliber bullet with the same SD and BC of a larger diameter one with the same numbers will have less recoil. It'll be easier to shoot more accurate. But it'll have less energy down range.

It's a three-axis compromise for any choice made.
 
As Mike said, the 264 was pushed by Winchester as the ultimate flat shooting western plains rifle. The later introduction of the 7mm Remington Magnum pretty much sunk the 264. BTW, if the rifle you are looking at has a 24" barrel, you might as well get a 270. The 264 needs a 26 inch barrel to reach its full potential.
 
Gman3, the 7 Rem Mag, .264 and .270 will shoot a bullet even faster with a 28 or 30 inch barrel. There's easily a 20 to 25 fps gain per inch of barrel.
 
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Bart B. said:
That said, a 26 caliber bullet with the same SD and BC of a larger diameter one with the same numbers will have less recoil. It'll be easier to shoot more accurate. But it'll have less energy down range.

It's a three-axis compromise for any choice made.
Click to expand...

But how much energy is needed and at what range? That's the big question IMO. I can only relate to hunting, because as far as target shooting goes energy doesn't matter much (unless knocking over steel). Where hunting is concerned I find energy doesn't matter as much as most think it does. Don't get me wrong energy does matter as that is what is needed to make your bullet work and this is where proper bullet selection makes all the difference.

You need to make sure you have a bullet that works in your velocity/energy window, since energy is a direct byproduct of velocity and mass. I know at slower speeds I prefer the standard cup and core over premiums, but prefer the bonded or partitioned bullets over the mono's when I must compromise. I like Nosler pictures as they show you how their bullets performs at different speeds. I wish more companies would show this performance as well.

Ballistic Tip Hunting
Expanded-BT-hunting-bullets.jpg


Partition
Mushroom-Partition-for-web.jpg


Accubond
Accubond-mushrroms.jpg


E-Tip
E-Tip-Mushrooms.jpg


As you can see below 2600 fps the energy just isn't there to open up the E-tip as well as Nosler's other types of bullets. So unless you're hunting an area that requires all copper, or when you're using a high velocity cartridge at close range these bullets aren't always the best idea. With a .264 Win Mag you'll be below 2600 fps by 400 yards with most bullets regardless of weight.

I think that with proper bullet selection you'll never have an issue with not enough energy to ensure a fairly quick kill on a game animal way beyond normal hunting ranges. While I won't say it's universal, I imagine these pictures will give you a good idea as to how other manufactures bullets of similar construction will perform. With proper bullet selection I don't think energy numbers are really all that important.
 
But how much energy is needed and at what range?

That depends on what you want the bullet to do down range and the amount and density of the target enroute to some vital point.
 
As a preamble

I shoot and reload for a 6.5x284 old school rifle that got barreled. Commercial Mauser single shot, etc. Also a Win. FN with iron sites 264 win mag. Both rifles have 26" barrels. With 120 gr. bullets the 264 has a 400-450 fps advantage. Accuracy between the two is about even.
Now the barrel burner aspect. I have no idea so I will accept 800-900 rounds until bench rest target accuracy begins to deplete.

My 6.5 caliber rifles are for hunting. As with several other over bored hunting rifles I have or have had I doubt I will shoot over 300 rounds in a lifetime.

For me and probably every other hunter/shooter, to worry about wearing out a target accuracy barrel in 8-900 rounds is ridicules.

On the other side of the coin. One day in a small gun store in the middle of a whole lot of really big cow ranches I spied a pre 64 in 220 swift. Stock worn, metal shinny, it was showing it's age. Gave the impression of a rifle that had been in a scabbard on a horse or in a rifle rack in a pick-up. Maybe for 65 years and no doubt fired at a whole lot of critters. I asked the sales guy to shine a light down the bore, I was nervous about the barrel being "shot out" 220 Swift had a reputation of doing that. It wasn't. The gun shop guy knew the now dead original owner. It still shoots MOA or less.
Get the 264, sight in factory or reloads, fire a few before hunting season and hunt with it under full power.
 
Yeah, the .264 Win Mag burns a whole lot more powder to do the same thing the .270 Winchester does. Historically, the .264 has had a long range advantage due to the quality of bullets offered in .26 vs. .27. Today the bullet playing field is close to equal and that advantage has disappeared. My .264's are pretty much safe queens. I still hunt bean fields with one of them just because it and its 28" Lilja barrel are so accurate.
 
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