Caribou Gear

.257 Wby Mag?

Roy Weatherby has killed EVERYTHING on the planet with a 257 Weatherby Mag. I saw an old video of Roy Weatherby (Black and White) and in it he said... "Had I known that gunpowder enhancement would become such a refined art, I probably would have stopped developing the Double Radius Shoulder calibers after the development of the 257!"...
I don't think there is anything in North america that you couldn't drop with one shot with the 257 Weatherby Mag. I would take advantage of the 26" barrel. Like in all of the MK V's and the newer Vanguard!
I prefer the Barnes Bullets, ie the TTSX! and use them in all of my Weatherby calibers. I like the knock down power that the bullet delivers and I have never had anything take a step nor a breath after getting hit with a Barnes Bullet. What I call DRT! Dead Right There! Ya just gotta keep up with the copper fouling! I reload for all of my calibers; Weatherby 257, Weatherby 300, Weatherby 340 and a Weatherby 338-378. All of them are in a MK V. Wouldn't trade them for anything!
 
The 25s are not the darlings of the bc chasers, but for most hunting situations, they kill just as fine as anything out there. What is the barrel life on the Weatherby? I would think it would be pretty short, with very much range time.
 
sbhooper said:
The 25s are not the darlings of the bc chasers, but for most hunting situations, they kill just as fine as anything out there. What is the barrel life on the Weatherby? I would think it would be pretty short, with very much range time.
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My guess would be 7-850 depending on how they are loaded. I replaced my factory barrel and have kept count on the new PacNor barrel up to 134..
 
noharleyyet said:
Load development and periodical strings to check zero & the occasional bang flop will accommodate longevity in any of the burners...they're not plinkers.
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I do have some inkling to develop a load for the 115 triple shock but is there really that much I would gain from the 115 triple shock over a 110 accubond going 3425fps. I just see myself saving barrel life.
 
I have never been a Weatherby cartridge fan. Problem is the velocity they get can be pretty hard on bullet's. 257 has to be the champ at destroying bullet's. I think if I had a Weatherby cartridge I would seriously consider using either monolithic bullet's or a partition bullet. I'd even shy away from bonded bullet's in the 257. Problem is the velocity of these thing's is gonna treat bullet's badly I would think. And Weatherby got these thing's started with older type cup and core bullet's. Heard one time that Weatherby factory ammo had Hornady cup and core bullet's in it. Don't know if that's true or not. I think at least in larger cal cartridge's bonded core bullet's heavy for caliber might work well but that, to me anyway, seem's to be one place that monolithic bullet's would shine, the other of course, is California!

Velocity is not a friend of cup and core bullet's and seem's to my the velocity from a 257 Weatherby might even bring out the worst in the heavy 25 cal monolithic bullet's, the thing is a lazer! Think of what that thing likely does to most bullet's and I think of something like the old Hornady SX bullet's and current V-Max bullet's, blow up going through a dead leaf! I get the feeling that people developing cartridges are not gonna be happy till they reach a velocity that monolithic bullet's splatter at. can't imagine what that might be but pretty fast! Imagine a rifle zeroed at 1000yds that has a MRT of four inch's! WOW! Even as hard to believe is a bullet that would act right there at the muzzle to 1000 yds!
 
sbhooper said:
The 25s are not the darlings of the bc chasers, but for most hunting situations, they kill just as fine as anything out there. What is the barrel life on the Weatherby? I would think it would be pretty short, with very much range time.
Click to expand...

Agreeing with the BC(Ballistic Coefficient)! It is terrible! Notice I didn't say horrific. It is Aerodynamics 201 here. There just isn't enough bullet length to move the air "fluidly" to create a better BC. To do that you need a longer(therefore heavier) bullet. If you were to have a longer/heavier bullet, you would need to slow the twist rate down to accommodate a longer/heavier bullet traveling down the barrel and then you could start to see a better BC. This is seen by comparing the Weatherby 338-378 to the 338 Lapua. If you compare the SAME bullet weight of the two guns, the Weatherby 338-378 (even the Weatherby 340 developed in 1962) Walks away (With BIG STEPS) from the Lapua.
When you get to at or above 250gr: In order to have more weight you have to make the bullet longer. Therefore slow down the bullet twist to accommodate for a longer bullet and pressures. Hence above 250 gr the Lapua RUNS away from the Weatherbys because of the bullet twist in the barrel. The longer your bullet the more Aerodynamic 'Magic' can be done to it creating a better BC -or- Just flies flatter than gravity will allow it to fall.

As stated above by"'sbhooper" above, it will still get the job done. Example, I took a Cow Elk at 450 yards with my Weatherby 257 using 100 gr Barnes TSX bullet. she just collapsed in a copletely lethargic state. Another words, she was dead on her hooves. DRT (Dead Right There).

"Don Fisher's" post above in the bullet performance discussion. Weatherby actually used to and still does today the Nosler Partition. It is an awesome performing lead core bullet. Not all of them were and are. Speed is a killer for lead core bullets. Why? They weren't made/designed to perform at those higher velocities. If you stick to a solid copper bullet, like Barnes, you can literally eat right up to the bullet hole! I have never had to cut away "shot", "hydro shocked" or wasted meat. The Barnes bullet passes thru the animal 100%. I have never recovered a bullet from an animal that I have shot with a Barnes. I have never had anything take a step nor a breath after getting hit with a Barnes Bullet. DRT!

I have never heard of any of Weatherby's calibers shooting the barrel out and having to change the barrel! Certainly not the 257! They have been around commercially since 1945. Yes it is fast! Not fast enough to shoot out the barrel however. Heck! Go to Gunbroker and look at some of the German Made 24" barrel that were made in 1951. Chambered in the 257 Weatherby, 7mm Weatherby, 270 Weatherby, 300 Weatherby. They all have the original barrel on them!
That will be a game changer with the New 300-6.5 300 Weatherby caliber. I have heard that it is about an 8,000 to 10,000 round barrel. We shall see...
 
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noharleyyet said:
Load development and periodical strings to check zero & the occasional bang flop will accommodate longevity in any of the burners...they're not plinkers.
Click to expand...

My .257 has definitely put more holes in flesh than paper, hands down. Plus I like the confidence of putting the crosshairs on deer hair at 400 without touching the scope. Hands down my favorite caliber ever... even though I rarely shoot it anymore.
 
sneakem said:
My .257 has definitely put more holes in flesh than paper, hands down. Plus I like the confidence of putting the crosshairs on deer hair at 400 without touching the scope. Hands down my favorite caliber ever... even though I rarely shoot it anymore.
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I think if people with fancy mustaches and hybrid vehicles would start talking about the 257 we'd get some traction here.
 
ShootsManyBullets said:
I think if people with fancy mustaches and hybrid vehicles would start talking about the 257 we'd get some traction here.
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it’s plenty popular already, but yes, operating one and discovering Roy’s affinity for pure ballistic joy might nullify the bun compulsion.

....no h-erotic pun intended.
 
I know plenty of people with rebarreled Wby rifles. Some sent them back to the factory for a new barrel.
6.5-300Wby is most likely to be a barrel burner especially if pushing lighter weight bullets. It’s severely overbore and probably will last 1000 rounds if babied and not run to hot or long shot strings.
As a good buddy says barrels are cheap!
 
My brother had to rebarrel his 7mag Wby a few years ago. Had an unknown number of rounds down the tube as a 2nd generation family rifle. My brother also breaks nearly everything he touches so there's that to factor in.
 
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