I think I want to get a 240 WBM. I have never shot one, backspace, held one, but it looks very interested in it. I am currently working toward getting a rifle in all of the major caliber sizes and yet to find a 6mm that I like. Any thoughts would be great.
240 weatherby mag
- Thread starter greggohrc
- Start date
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I shot my first deer with a .243 about 45 years ago, so, always had a soft spot for the 6MM round. I always wanted a .240 so I finally got around to buying one about 7-8 years ago. It is a Weatherby Accumark, a really beautiful factory rifle. I put a Zeis Conquest scope on it and use it often for hunting down here in South Texas.
I have primarily used .95 gr ballistic tip factory loads as well as 100 gr Nosler Partitions. The Ballistic tips are a little fragile inside of 150 yeards, if you shoot a deer be sure and put it behind his shoulder, in which case it will expand violently and not exit.
I use hand loads more now, using the 90 grain swift scirroco bullet and RL 19 powder. That is a sweet combination and the swift bullet is about perfect for this round.
I have primarily used .95 gr ballistic tip factory loads as well as 100 gr Nosler Partitions. The Ballistic tips are a little fragile inside of 150 yeards, if you shoot a deer be sure and put it behind his shoulder, in which case it will expand violently and not exit.
I use hand loads more now, using the 90 grain swift scirroco bullet and RL 19 powder. That is a sweet combination and the swift bullet is about perfect for this round.
Buffalobob
Well-Known Member
The problem with the 240Wby in a factory rifle is that it is 1-10 twist and 24 inch barrel. This limits the bullets that will stabilize although the 105Amax may stabilize as it seems to be more forgiving of twist deficiencies than other VLDs. The short barrel does not do the case capacity justice. For many years I shot a 1-10 twist and 85 grain bullets at whitetail deer at ranges under 300 yards and it is just great for that. Then I rebarreled it to a 1-8 twist 30 inch barrel and have killed several antelope beyond 1000 yards with the Berger 115 VLD. Its a great cartridge but there is just not a great factory rifle available for it.
I'm not trying to talk you out of it but just informing you of some shortcomings of the rifles for it or any other large capacity 6mm.
I'm not trying to talk you out of it but just informing you of some shortcomings of the rifles for it or any other large capacity 6mm.
Joel Russo
Well-Known Member
BB is absolutely correct. I loved the cartridge, so I built a custom rifle with an 8 tw 28" barrel similiar to BB's. Mine lives on a steady diet of the 105 gr bullets and a stiff dose of RL22. The 105's leave the business end at 3,380 which is light years above the factory offerings.
Just be aware that in a factory config, you'll be limited to the lighter bullets at much lower velocities than the case is capable of.
I would be considering caliber swap in a rifle that I am currently thinking may be shot out. I would do 26 to 28 on the tube. The twist however would bring up an interesting conversation for me. I already own a 257 WBM so I would not need to shoot 100 and above in my 240 WBM as I would get more shooting the 257. I would likely want the rifle to fill the gap between my 220 Swift and 257 WBM. Shooting bullets in the 75 grain range. I am a sucker for speed as you may have noted from the list of calibers included in this post. 20 and 25 grain bullets from my 17 Fireball, 36 to 55 grain from the Swift, 75 to 75 grains in the 240 (assuming I go with one), 100-120 from the 257. Working from the ground up.
Surprised nothing was mentioned regarding barrel life. I can remember posting on considering making a 6mm-284. Sure got plenty of comments: "a barrel burner", you'll regret it, the barrel will be destroyed very quickly etc.
I figure if you want one get one regardless of barrel life. You want performance! Imagine using it for coyote calling with a 75 gr bullet. You wouldn't have to worry much about trajectory out to 350 or so. Spot the yote aim and shoot!
Be sure to post here with your results when you finish.
I figure if you want one get one regardless of barrel life. You want performance! Imagine using it for coyote calling with a 75 gr bullet. You wouldn't have to worry much about trajectory out to 350 or so. Spot the yote aim and shoot!
Be sure to post here with your results when you finish.
Buffalobob
Well-Known Member
I have a 257 wby with a 1-8 twist in addition to the 240 with a 1-8 twist. I shoot 130 -142 grain bullets in it.
I will be sure to let you know when/if I decide to move forward. I am considering a Ruger M77 action for the rifle as the gun already has the correct bolt face. I agree with "if you want it, get it, regardless of barrel life." I love fast, accurate guns and the faster the better. I would love to have the fastest commercial cartridge in each caliber up through 338. I have not ventured into the over 30 club yet. Working on the under 30's first.
Long Time Long Ranger
Well-Known Member
I have all the top fast 6mm's. The 240 wby is the same performance as the 6mm-06 however the brass is the killer with it. You are forced to wby or norma brass way expensive. The 6mm-06 imp and the 240 gibbs are screamers. The 243 AI is an excellent cartridge near the 240 wby. I love my 240 wby and it is the fastest commercial 6mm I own. The only drawback is the brass cost when all the others use cheap brass. My 240 Gibbs shoots such incredible velocities people don't believe it until they see it. If you just wanted the fastest I would get it. It is very accurate. Barrel life with a rifle depends on how you treat it. I have some screamers with good barrel life.
If you wanted even more velocity and you didn't mind opening up the bolt face you could make a 6mm-264 win mag. I just checked Ken Howell's book to compare case capacities:
240 weatherby 90 gr of water
6mm Gibbs 98 gr
264 win mag 117 gr
The 90 gr vs 117 gr is a 23% greater case capacity. Using John Barsness's 1/4 rule (velocity is one fourth case capacity increase) the 6mm-264 would yield a 5.75% increase in velocity over the 240 Weatherby.
I remember Ross Seyfried made one years ago. I still remember his description. He said it was the closest to a deathray of any rifle he had ever shot. I also remember he ruined the first barrel by not cleaning it often enough. He said it had hard ceramic like build up in the throat area. He said it required a great deal of cleaning to prevent it. He cleaned the second barrel more frequently and prevented the issue. His father killed an anteope and he talked of blowing up a crow IIRC.
If you went this route it would solve the brass issue but add costs for custom reamer and dies. Just a thought.
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I have a M77 Tang safety Ruger LA that I barreled in 257 Weatherby. The fit was going to be a bit tight so I had my gunsmith lengthen the magazine box out as far as possible. It would be something you might consider as the Ruger magazines run short. ( I realize the 240 is 2.5 while the 257 is 2.549")
240 weatherby 90 gr of water
6mm Gibbs 98 gr
264 win mag 117 gr
The 90 gr vs 117 gr is a 23% greater case capacity. Using John Barsness's 1/4 rule (velocity is one fourth case capacity increase) the 6mm-264 would yield a 5.75% increase in velocity over the 240 Weatherby.
I remember Ross Seyfried made one years ago. I still remember his description. He said it was the closest to a deathray of any rifle he had ever shot. I also remember he ruined the first barrel by not cleaning it often enough. He said it had hard ceramic like build up in the throat area. He said it required a great deal of cleaning to prevent it. He cleaned the second barrel more frequently and prevented the issue. His father killed an anteope and he talked of blowing up a crow IIRC.
If you went this route it would solve the brass issue but add costs for custom reamer and dies. Just a thought.
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I have a M77 Tang safety Ruger LA that I barreled in 257 Weatherby. The fit was going to be a bit tight so I had my gunsmith lengthen the magazine box out as far as possible. It would be something you might consider as the Ruger magazines run short. ( I realize the 240 is 2.5 while the 257 is 2.549")
Thanks for all the ideas. I love off the wall calibers but I want to with this collection, stick with off the shelf calibers. Sounds strange I know, but I want to assemble a collection of the fastest off the shelf calibers at the time.
Fiftydriver
Official LRH Sponsor
I love the performance of the 240 Wby for medium big game but I really am not a fan of the brass, especially Wby brass. Personally, I much favor the 6mm-06 as it will easily match the great performance of the 240 Wby, do so with no fireforming needed and do so with much better, much cheaper, much easier to get brass.
Some will say dies are way to expensive for the 6mm-06, not really. Get a 25-06 FL die, and a 243 FL sizing die, both can be had for around $25-$30 and then just get a 243 bullet seating die and your good to do. Use the 25-06 FL die for body sizing and shoulder bumping if needed, 243 FL die for neck sizing and 243 Seater die to set bullets. Works great. Just have to have the dies set up at the proper height in the press.
Other then brass, I have no issues with the 240 at all, great performance as mentioned. You would be better served as mentioned with a bit faster twist. I use alot of Lilja barrels and have found that in Lilja barrels, a 1-8 is a bit fast for most long range, thin jacketes match bullets such as the A-Max and Berger. With the velocity of the 240 which falls right in there with the 6-284 and 6-06, the 1-9 twist barrels are plenty for anything up to 107 gr SMK plus they tend to allow a bit more velocity potential before bullets start to come apart at these high speeds possible with these chamberings. Again, this is generally with Lilja barrels, other 1-8 twists may be fine, I just find there is no need for this much twist in this class of 6mm for 105 to 107 grain bullets.
I put together a 240 Wby together this summer for a customer in an 8 lb rifle and tested it at 900 yards using the 95 gr Ballistic tip as it had a 1-10 twist barrel. Normally I would never test a rifle this light at 900 yards but I was testing a couple other rifles and was already set up so I decided what the heck. The little, light 240 Wby met my accuracy requirements at 900 yards easily, I was very impressed with its performance. Now conditions were very good but in the right conditions, this level of performance can be very impressive.
Some will say dies are way to expensive for the 6mm-06, not really. Get a 25-06 FL die, and a 243 FL sizing die, both can be had for around $25-$30 and then just get a 243 bullet seating die and your good to do. Use the 25-06 FL die for body sizing and shoulder bumping if needed, 243 FL die for neck sizing and 243 Seater die to set bullets. Works great. Just have to have the dies set up at the proper height in the press.
Other then brass, I have no issues with the 240 at all, great performance as mentioned. You would be better served as mentioned with a bit faster twist. I use alot of Lilja barrels and have found that in Lilja barrels, a 1-8 is a bit fast for most long range, thin jacketes match bullets such as the A-Max and Berger. With the velocity of the 240 which falls right in there with the 6-284 and 6-06, the 1-9 twist barrels are plenty for anything up to 107 gr SMK plus they tend to allow a bit more velocity potential before bullets start to come apart at these high speeds possible with these chamberings. Again, this is generally with Lilja barrels, other 1-8 twists may be fine, I just find there is no need for this much twist in this class of 6mm for 105 to 107 grain bullets.
I put together a 240 Wby together this summer for a customer in an 8 lb rifle and tested it at 900 yards using the 95 gr Ballistic tip as it had a 1-10 twist barrel. Normally I would never test a rifle this light at 900 yards but I was testing a couple other rifles and was already set up so I decided what the heck. The little, light 240 Wby met my accuracy requirements at 900 yards easily, I was very impressed with its performance. Now conditions were very good but in the right conditions, this level of performance can be very impressive.
Norseman
Well-Known Member
John Whidden won the Camp Perry NRA championship shoot using, a 1 to 8 twist ratio barrel shooting 105 grain Berger VLD bullets at 3300FPS. No bullet blowup's!
