257 weatherby no freebore

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Ive been thinking about a 257 for a while now and now its starting to come together. I have been reading about the no freebore and from what i have read it sounds like the way to go. When they say no freebore what do they mean by saying "no" freebore. Wouldnt this be different for each bullet because the ogive is at different lengths? So when they say no freebore does this mean you get the throat cut to touch the ogive of a certain bullet and seating depth?

Also one more thing, i am looking to use this rifle mostly as a flat shooting general purpose rifle mostly for whitetail, muleys, and antelope so i was thinking somewhere around 100 grain bullets for the speed. But i would also like to have a heavier load with 115 or 120 grain bullets for the occational elk or bear. So how would i go about having this throated with "no" freebore if i was looking to shoot both loads through the rifle. And one more twist, what about if i have it throated for normal 100 or 115 grain loads and i wanted to shoot berger vld's with the long ogive. How would that work as far as touching or jumping the lands a certain amount. And i handload by the way.

Is there something im missing? Am i not understanding something right? Can someone please explain this whole thing better to me. I know its alot of questions but i would really appriciate any amount of help i could get.

thanks

 

[RT2506]

The long free bore in a standard Weatherby chamber is to allow you to get those higher velocities without raising the pressure too much. Remove that longer free bore and you will not be able to get those higher velocities because you will have too much pressure. A buddy of mine found this out after the expense of having a rifle built in 257 WM throated to use bullets as long as a 120 gr Nosler Partition having the base of the bullet be even with the neck shoulder junction in the case. He could duplicate the velocities with a 25-06AI with less powder and better brass ( Lapua) and not having to fool with the belted case. Speed is one thing for flat trajectories but bullet weight pays off for long range with windage and terminal effect. Unless it is a mono-metal, bonded or partition bullet you don't want to use it on game where you might get close in shots with those high velocities. Been there and done that with the 264 win mag. Just some observations from life experiences.

 

[jwing]

well I have a fac remington 700 257 wby. ended up with 110 accu bond with win wxr powder 71 grn norma brass fed gm 215m primers. shoots under half inch at 3500 fps

this is a top load so work up.

don't think barrel life will last long. but a killing machine.

ended up shooting 6 hogs in texas all one shot kills.

good luck

Jason

 

[backwoods83]

A 257 roy with the correct throat length about .080"-.100" with 115 bergers touching using pressures that the weatherby can handle will out run a 25-06AI with an equal barrel length by 250fps, its simple 13grn higher capacity, superior shoulder design and saami pressure limit 5k psi higher. Aside from wildcats the 257 roy dominates side by side with the 6.53 lazzeroni.

 

[KurtB]

My short throated 257 Roy hits pressure early but still gets factory velocity with less powder. I can drive a 110 accubond at 3450 fps with a mild load of RL25. I hit 3820 fps with the 80 ttsx and 72 grains of RL22. It does shoot those into tiny groups with 71 grains of RL22 at 3750 fps.

I would for sure never run a factory round in it. Doing it over, I'd just build a 7mm Remington and run 168s at 3000.

 

[OKIE2]

The 257 roy has the same case capicity as the 264 win mag.
so 264 brass necked down to 25 caliber would be a lot cheaper for brass.
The 25-06 AI will shoot the 87 grain at 3920 fps and is plenty good for deer or speed goats.

 

[J E Custom]

Ive been thinking about a 257 for a while now and now its starting to come together. I have been reading about the no freebore and from what i have read it sounds like the way to go. When they say no freebore what do they mean by saying "no" freebore. Wouldnt this be different for each bullet because the ogive is at different lengths? So when they say no freebore does this mean you get the throat cut to touch the ogive of a certain bullet and seating depth?

Also one more thing, i am looking to use this rifle mostly as a flat shooting general purpose rifle mostly for whitetail, muleys, and antelope so i was thinking somewhere around 100 grain bullets for the speed. But i would also like to have a heavier load with 115 or 120 grain bullets for the occational elk or bear. So how would i go about having this throated with "no" freebore if i was looking to shoot both loads through the rifle. And one more twist, what about if i have it throated for normal 100 or 115 grain loads and i wanted to shoot berger vld's with the long ogive. How would that work as far as touching or jumping the lands a certain amount. And i handload by the way.

Is there something im missing? Am i not understanding something right? Can someone please explain this whole thing better to me. I know its alot of questions but i would really appriciate any amount of help i could get.

thanks

All good questions.

There are two camps on this issue. One believes in touching the rifling with the bullet, and the other
believes in free bore.

Bench rest shooters normally load against the lands, but they are not looking for max velocity.

Some feel that this improves accuracy. I personally have not seen this to be true with hunting
type rifles especally Long Range rifles where velocity means so much.

Freebore allows higher velocities to be reached without excessive pressures.

Well chambered rifles with free bore can be very accurate and will shoot most bullets well.

If you build a rifle around one bullet type/style and it doesent shoot well your stuck with having
it rechambered or at the least re throat ed.

I would chamber it with a SAMMI spec. reamer and load for accuracy get the twist for the biggest
bullet you plan on shooting in it and you will be able to have several accurate loads for different
uses. (Varmint load, deer load and a load for larger game).

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[Iron Worker]

No shortage of opposing opinions on this subject . But I'm having a Bartlien barrel chambered for this cartridge . So if longer barrel life and no appreciable difference in accuracy is obtained,then its the standard SAMMI spec chamber for me.

 

[sable tireur]

7 years and 3 months ago...

But most folks will never get over arguing the two ideas to reach agreement.

However, the one improvement we have seen since 2012 is the creation of the 131 grain Black Jack bullets. This bullets is superb in both the .257 Weatherby and the .25 WSM.

 

[Iron Worker]

My bbl will have a 10" twist,too slow for that Black Jack bullet.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Have had both cartridges mentioned in this thread, they're both good, but prefer the .25-06 AI 40-degree. Same performance, less powder, cheaper brass, longer lasting brass, less recoil, less muzzle blast, longer barrel life.