Right Bullet for Deer

[Clay Target Guy]

I am new here (as far as being a member) but have looked around for several years.
I have just bought a Remington 700 SF 257 WBY mag and it will be used for deer and speed goats only. I am planning to use 100 gr bullets. I am working with R22, IMR 7828, and R25 powders and getting approx 3600-3650 FPS.
I am starting to load for it right now and have some Barnes TTXS, and Nosler Partitions. The TTXS have not really shown anything yet (but I will admit I am just starting). I called Nosler and they said that the Part would not stay together very well at that speed. I am getting around 1.5" @ 100 groups out of the TTXS with R25 (which is the best to date). Like I said, I have just started and only have approx 25 rounds total down the barrel.

My question is this, IF the TTXS does not want to shoot, and the Part will not stay together, what have y'all (I am form the south) found that will work for what I am wanting to do?

Thanks for the help

John

 

[MudRunner2005]

I have a Weatherby Accumark .257 Wby Mag, and I shoot the Nosler 110 Accubonds and Berger 115 VLD's. I have had great luck with both as my rifle has a 1:10 twist barrel so it likes the heavier bullets. I have worked with RL19, RL22, and H1000 so far. I have 1 lb of IMR 7828 SSC sitting on the bench, but haven't loaded anything with it yet. I need to do that this weekend and go test it out.

I will report back my findings.

If you would like load data for the 110 NAB's and Berger 115 VLD's, I can post it up when I get home from work.

 

[Clay Target Guy]

What kinda vel are you getting with the 110's?

 

[MudRunner2005]

With the 110 NAB's, right around 3,426 fps muzzle.

With the 115 Berger VLD's around 3,300 fprs muzzle.

Believe it or not, alot of the Weatherby factory ammo is designed for blistering velocities, which is not always the most accurate. My .257 used to shoot the factory Weatherby ammo loaded with the 110 NAB's, and it was about a 1-1.5 MOA (1"-1½") group gun @ 100 yards. Since reloading, I have turned the speeds down, and gotten MUCH improved groupings. Like ¼ to ½ MOA (¼" to ½") groups @ 100 yards, which means you will get much tighter groups further out, as well.

You should see what the 110 NAB's do to a full water bottle @ 100 yards.....It's pretty cool to see what it essentially does to a deer's insides when it passes through. After seeing that display, I think ALOT more people will be believers in the "little" .257 Wby caliber's capabilities.

I've had mine since 2008, and I love that caliber. So much so, that I'm turning my .338 WinMag into a lightweight .257 Wby, since my Accumark is a rather heavy rifle to tote around the woods.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, anytime. And I'll try to answer them as best I can.

 

[barnesuser28]

CAUTION, BLOOD AND GORY PICTURES BELOW!!!












How far off the lands are you seating the 100 grain TTSX? I would try everything imaginable to get that bullet to shoot well. Why? This is the entry into the rib cage of an antelope doe at 183 yards from a 100 grain TTSX from a 25-06 at 183 yards. Impact velocity, about 2632 fps.

I have never seen an animal hit the ground that hard, and you could barely pull out the lungs because they were, literally, like strawberry jelly, both of them.

And here is the exit on that same doe.

 

[Clay Target Guy]

"How far off the lands are you seating the 100 grain TTSX"

To be honest, I am not 100% sure. When I tried to check seating depth using a Stoney point gage, the bullet was not even in the case! I know that WBY chamberings have long throats but DANG!
Most loading manuals show max OAL to be 3.25 in. I have started my seating depth at 3.31 as this will fit in my mag.
I have never had to jump that far in my life and just not sure how this is going to work.

I can try and get a distance tonight when I get home, but my starting point is where the junction of the main body/boattail of the bullet is even with the neck/shoulder junction on the case. This puts the mouth of the case on one of the rings of the bullet (not on a grove). I don't know if that matters or not.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I have always wanted a Remington 700 LSS in .257 Wby, but I have not had a .257 Wby in anything other than a Weatherby rifle. I have always been curious to know if the Remington .257 Wby chambers had the long freebore like the Weatherby rifles do. For example, in my Accumark, even with a bullet barely in the case just enough to hold it in there, it still won't touch the rifling. So I ended up just loading mine @ 0.005" shorter than my internal magazine length, and it seems to like them just fine.

Also, to measure for concentricity of your seating depth, I would recommend buying this:

Hornady Lock-N-Load Bullet Comparator Complete Set 14 Inserts

I have one and it works excellently, even on the Berger VLD's with the really long and pointed Ogive.

You will get a much more accurate reading of your bullet depth, than you will will by going off the tip (marplat) of the bullet, since the bullet tip length does not tend to affect bullet performnace as much as other factors, there tends to be alot more variance in length (couple thousandths), and are not as crucial as proper concentric location of the Ogive.

With the Barnes bullets it doesn't matter if its final seating depth is on a solid spot or a cannelure. The main seal you achieve between your bullet and neck is near the base right above the boat tail.

 

[barnesuser28]

I have always wanted a Remington 700 LSS in .257 Wby, but I have not had a .257 Wby in anything other than a Weatherby rifle. I have always been curious to know if the Remington .257 Wby chambers had the long freebore like the Weatherby rifles do. For example, in my Accumark, even with a bullet barely in the case just enough to hold it in there, it still won't touch the rifling. So I ended up just loading my 0.005" shorter than my internal magazine length, and it seems to like them just fine.

Also, to measure for concentricity of your seating depth, I would recommend buying this:

Hornady Lock-N-Load Bullet Comparator Complete Set 14 Inserts

I have one and it works excellently, even on the Berger VLD's with the really long and pointed Ogive.

You will get a much more accurate reading of your bullet depth, than you will will by going off the tip (marplat) of the bullet, since bullet tip length does not tend to affect bullet performnace, there tends to be alot more variance in length, and are not as crucial as proper concentric location of the Ogive.

With the Barnes bullets it doesn't matter if its final seating depth is on a solid spot or a cannelure. The main seal you achieve between your bullet and neck is near the base right above the boat tail.

Did you mean consistent and meplat?

And yes, it doesnt matter where on the bullet the end of the case is.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Did you mean consistent and meplat?

And yes, it doesnt matter where on the bullet the end of the case is.

Yes, that's what I meant...Sorry, got 100 things going on here at work.

 

[skyfish25]

I've shot a lot of deer with the 25 cals, nothing that will give me your velocities. 257 Roberts, 25 wssm, 250 Savage.

The bullet that I felt performed best was the 117 SST, eliminating the boat tail helped the design hold together. Never failed to exit an Iowa deer. Even above quartering shots through shoulder and exited lower quarter. Shot mostly through 25wssm.

I'd strongly suggest going to 110gr accubond or up to 117gr SST. I think you will get all you need. With the horsepower from that case, no problems with velocity.

I think Sierra makes a nice 100gr bullet, never used, but never had issues with their bullets. If your stuck on 100gr bullets

 

[Clay Target Guy]

I do have one of the Hornady comparator sets, but at this point in my load development, the only thing I was looking to do was to make sure that the round fit into the mag box and wood feed.

I have very little experince with Barnes bullets but here is the way I was going to go about my load work. Once again I have never jumped a bullet as far as I am jumping on this gun.
I shot a few rounds with the three different powders I listed before and check vel. I looked for signes of pressure as I went up in charge weights until I hit the book max for each powder. ( The gun did not show any real preference for one powder over the other) so I went with the fastest of the bunch which was R25. Next I went back and loaded approx 20 rounds up using the max charge of R25 at the tested bullet seating depth.
I ran each round over my RCBS consintricity gage to check runout. The worst runout I had was .002 and most was under .001

My plan is to take the rounds to the range and shoot a group. With powder, bullets, primers and brass being somewhat hard to get right now, I thought this might be a way to save rounds down range.

At that point, I will bump the seating depth by .010 and try again ( I will be bringing my press and seating die with me to the range).

I will repeat until I see the group start to get smaller and then open back up. At that point, I will go in .005 steps on either side of the tightest group I have.

With any luck I will be able to find something that works within a short period of shots and time.

 

[barnesuser28]

You might want to try this method also if you dont find anything spectacular in the method above. http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3814361.0

 

[RT2506]

Don't worry about the 110 Nosler Accubond and it coming apart at high velocity. The only Accubonds I have shot so far on deer has been from my 264 Win. mag. It is the 130 gr and average muzzle velocity is 3350 fps. I have shot white tail deer as close as 80 yards with it and it exits. Out of about 10 deer shot with this combo I have recovered only one. It was shot length wise from edge of left shoulder smashing the scapula and was found in the right ham after smashing the ball socket. It was a text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs.

My hunting buddy had a 257 Weatherby and used a case full of H870 and the 117gr Sierra Game King and killed hundreds of white tail deer when we control hunted a big farm in NC for 20 years. Everyone that he shot when I was with him never took more than a few jumps if any at all. Most dropped in their tracks. Yes at close range, under 200 yards, the bullet really comes apart but you could still find the jacket most of the time under the hide on the off side after going through both shoulders. Dead is still dead. I shoot the 117 Sierra Pro Hunter in my 25-06 at 3000 fps because it does not like boat tail bullets but it shoots bug holes with flat base bullets. For long range the heaver bullets 110-120 will retain more velocity than the 100 gr and will actually shoot flatter. Deer and speed goats are not armor plated so you don't need a really heavy constructed bullet.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I agree with RT, the last doe I shot with the .257 Wby the 110 NAB stayed together and exited through both sides, and jelly'd up the heart and lungs perfectly.

Alot of people are wondering about meat damage, but I don't ever do meat shots unless I have to. I always try to go for that button (indention) right behind the shoulder to make sure I don't ruin anything but a little rib meat. And that I hit both the lungs and the heart. I try to calculate my shot path to make sure I don't hit the backstraps or either shoulder or hind-quarter.

I am hoping the 115 Berger VLD's will do the same, because they shoot like a dream out of my Weatherby.