264 win mag

[Gordon]

I actually recently bought a VXL 30 mm tubed 4.5x 15x 56 mm with side focus and illumination because it was $500 from a gunstore that special ordered it ( with lens covers) and owner didn't like how it looked when he got it ! I love it, final resting place was my tuned Remington 700 .308 5 R " milspec" . My pre 64 Westerner .264 was a close 2nd but looked out of place to me .

 

[Bbear]

Why not get the 264? Lighter recoil than your 338. I find it easy to reload for. Using RL 33 and the 142 gr ABLR I'm over 3200 fps. Groups near .5". Bullet went through both shoulders of an elk at sub-200 yards and nailed a whitetail doe out at 400 easily enough.
As for a 'barrel-burner', remember, that 'information' came out back in the '60's and continues to this day. Think your 338 or the 'famous' 7 Mag doesn't go through barrels? As was stated earlier, even if you shoot 5-5-shot groups before going hunting, 800 rounds is a lot of game on the ground and in your freezer.
Any cartridge, if shot in fast, 10 shot strings, over and over again, will burn out a barrel. Even a 308 or the 5.56 will do it and they are talked about as surviving many thousands of rounds being fired rapidly. Ever notice how easy it is to swap out the barrel on 30 cal machine guns from days gone by?
The 264 at 3200 will take any animal on the North American continent without beating you up. It's different enough from the 270 and there are better bullets available to reload.
Even the 1-9 twist on my rifle handles the long ABLR I shoot through it quite well.
Go forth and help out your local economy!

 

[Catpop]

I think the old plain Jane standard 270 Winchester with a 26” barrel would serve you well. Mine is a 1903A3 with a 26” Douglas barrel.
Not enough punch, then you can’t go wrong with the old 300 HH. Mild shoulder, feeds excellent, very accurate! Mine is a Rem 721.
I also have looked at the new short magnums, very efficient but hear they do not feed well from the magazine- a consideration with dangerous game.
Jmho
Good luck with your decision!

 

[.308 Norma]

Why not get the 264?

Especially if you want one.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

deleted

 

[Flintknapper]

If your shooting 338 mag you can neck that case down for 264mag or 7mag.

^^^^^ Yep. All use the same parent case (.458 WM which was derived from the 375 H&H).

For a number of reasons...the 7 Mag surpassed the .264 in popularity and the .264 (until just recently) has been all but dead. But with all the fervor over 6.5mm/.264 cartridges these days..you have to wonder if we won't see the .264 WM resurrected. My Brother had a Remington 700 BDL in .264 WM, it was superbly accurate and a good long range rifle. Just a little ahead of its time.

Currently, the 6.5 Creedmoor gets most of the attention (and for good reason) but the .264 WM will leave it in the dust for a hunting cartridge. The .264 WM (perhaps unfairly) got a reputation as a 'barrel burner' early in its life, but that was largely due to folks using lighter bullets and shooting varmints with it (3700 fps in some cases). ANY overbore cartridge is going to erode barrels.

No one squeals about the 26 NORMA and I guarantee you it doesn't last long.

For hunting purposes 800-1000+ rounds is a LOT of shooting. The .264 can still offer a lot to someone wanting to shoot long range. I don't know that I'd go out and buy/build something new around the cartridge...but I'd sure dust off an older rifle and use it.