264 win mag loading questions

[winchester85]

i picked up a model 70 classic a few months back, a used gun that i traded a motorcycle for. i have finally gotten around to loading for it.
i have trimmed, chamfered, and deburred the brass, primed with winchester large rifle magnum primers, and have charged them with imr 4831 while doing an OCW test. my hornady book says 3.340 for a max COAL. i seated the first one to that length and then checked it in the rifle, the bolt would not close. the bullet was hard into the lands. so i seated deeper and deeper until the bolt will close. i was down to 3.205! 1/4 of a turn on the seating stem longer and they will not close, and i can see rifling marks on the bullet. 1/4 of a turn on a 1/4-20 thread should be about .013 in seating depth. so without proper tools to measure exactly, i am estimating that i have them seated about .015 off the lands.
i have read that one of the factors that lead to the 264 having such a speed reputation way back when, was the amount of freebore. it seems odd to me that a factory rifle of recent production would have such a short throat. i wonder what overall length the factory ammo is loaded to? also makes me wonder about pressures if the factory ammo is loaded to 3.340"?
i will try my test with the above mentioned specs, but if i dont have much luck, i wonder if i should have the throat lengthened?

[Reloader06]

The original .264 WM loads had a 2 diameter bullet. The front part of the bullet was basically a bore rider and the back part fit into the grooves. I don't know if any of the manufactures make 2 diameter bullet. There are recomendations out there to lengthen the throat so single diameter bullets can be seated out farther without being jammed into the lands. You might want to measure the exposed bullets on some factory loads.

YMMV

Matt:drinks:

[Lloyd Smale]

My ruger has no freebore.

[flounderman]

you don't want any freebore. If you shoot the rifle enough, it will make it's own. The different b ullets have different shoulder shapes. I use the 129 grain and 120 grain. I never heard about the 264 being freebored. I understand weatherby did this, or at least someone told me that a long time ago. seat the bullets to just clear the rifling. don't worry about what somebody wrote about some other rifle. all barrels are not the same, all bullets are not the same. seat a bullet so the rifling engraves it and back the seating die off to where the bullet clears the rifling and that is your seating depth. don't full length size if you don't have to, partial neck sizing is more accurate than full neck sizing. if you start getting split necks, the brass needs annealing. My favorite 6.5 bullet is the 129 grain.

[Wayne74]

I agree that you don't want free bore. I have used 264 Win mag for many years and my favorite bullets are 140 grain and I use H-1000 powder. For target shooting I seat the bullet touching the lands and for hunting .010 off the lands.

Wayne

[Barstooler]

I don't own one, but I load 264 Win Mag for 2 friends. One is an original Win pre-64 and the other is built on a custom Mauser 98. Both are not free-bored in any way and I have to seat bullets inside the case to keep bullets off the lands. Have had less problems with Hornady interlocks because of their secant ogive shape.

Have not tried Bergers, but they would also be a good option because of their shape. but you would likely need to seat them into the case. If you go Berger, the 130 gr would be a good compromise between getting a good bullet shape, a good BC bullet, and not having to seat it too deep.

Barstooler