The .264 Winchester Magnum was the first magnum in the United States to be based on the 6.5 calibers. It was introduced in 1958 and was meant to compete with popular Weatherby rifles and ammunition for roughly half the price. The .264 Winchester Magnum was introduced in the Model 70 Westerner rifle with a 26-inch barrel and rapidly garnered a loyal following. Unfortunately, its popularity faded almost immediately when Remington introduced the 7mm Remington Magnum. The 7mm Remington Magnum offers additional adaptability due to a wider range of bullet weights, particularly heavier rounds appropriate for larger animals.
Since then, the .264 Winchester Magnum has become something of an oddball, revered among 6.5mm devotees but mostly overlooked in popular hunting circles. Its demise was sealed when hunters began to complain about significant throat erosion caused by the high chamber temperatures caused by the overbore cartridge. Winchester stopped producing rifles chambered in .264 Winchester Magnum some decades ago, although numerous guns in good condition are still in circulation, along with bespoke rifles that arise from time to time.
The .264 Winchester Magnum is a powerful, fast killing, highly effective medium game cartridge and does so out to long ranges. Countless Elk have been taken with the .264 Winchester Magnum and a game of this size should be considered the common-sense upper limit when working to the strengths of this magnum. Killing performance with controlled expanding projectiles generally falls off at ranges of between 325 yards (140-grain bullets) and 400 yards (130-grain bullets). Beyond these ranges, the hunter must use either extremely careful shot placement or utilize a soft match bullet, specifically, either the 130 grain Berger VLD, the 140-grain A-max, or the 140 grain Berger VLD.
