.257 Weatherby Questions

[skookum]

I have a very neglected .257 MK IV that I rarely use because, well, I bought a custom rifle and put a huskemaw scope on it and now I rarely hunt with the the Weatherby due to my fear of needing the extra reach and no having it (that's how my luck runs.)

Looking around I see my best option is the 115 Gr Berger, but this rifle is factory so it has a TON of freebore so I don't think they will shoot; would a gunsmith be able to shorten this up or would I be better off putting a new barrel on the rifle? I am definitely leaning toward the idea due to modest accuracy of 1 MOA with just about everything.

 

[Rifleman513]

I've never tried the bergers in my wby, but the 110 accubonds do really well. Like you I tend to gravitate to my 300 RUM because its the best shooting gun I own and don't want to be sitting in the field with something that can't take out an animal at a range that I know I am capable of. With that said the 110s I have loaded up have 2 in less drop at 1000 yd than my 300 RUM with 200 ABs. I looked at everything 25 cal when deciding on a bullet and the ABs seemed to be the best fit. They will hold together up close at wby speeds the BC was better than any other factory bullets, excluding the bergers.

I don't have a lot of experience with bergers in wby's, but I know the extra freebore helps achieve the velocity that wby's are known for. So my thoughts would be you may loose a little velocity with less freebore since you would hit peak pressure sooner and drop the velocity to a level that the extra BC would not offer a lot of benefit over another bullet. Although, some people have seemed to get the bergers to shoot in factory guns. Just my thoughts, not sure if this helps much.

 

[Dosh]

Skoo, the freebore is there for a reason. That's how you get the WBY velocity. I'm sure you meant a Mark V, mine shoots sub- 1/2 MOA with the 115 Berger and H1000. The .257 Vanguards shoot this bullet equally well. It's a great deer and antelope caliber, I use it for javelina also.

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Skoo, the freebore is there for a reason. That's how you get the WBY velocity. I'm sure you meant a Mark V, mine shoots sub- 1/2 MOA with the 115 Berger and H1000. The .257 Vanguards shoot this bullet equally well. It's a great deer and antelope caliber, I use it for javelina also.

Like

 

[skookum]

Awesome! Thanks for the insight, I thought the freebore was more of a pressure relief than than to increase the speeds; always something to learn on here.
I'm definitely intrigued by the 110 Accubonds as I too was worried about the extreme velocities with the Berger's and I've never seen anything survive after being hit by an Accubond so to say I'm a believer is an understatement, I guess I just liked the BC better on the Berger.

Rifleman, what kind of velocities are you getting?

 

[Rifleman513]

My gun is a vanguard so I only have a 24 in bbl. That said using 7828 I believe they are just over 3400 ( I think 3407 avg I'd have to check). That is using data straight off Nosler's site. I am 1 gr under the max load so I am using 70 gr. With the 26 in test bbl at 71 gr they are showing 3480 as a max.

If you already like the ABs I would consider them. A lot of people use the barnes 100g or partitions, either 100 or 120s, but I just didn't like the .3XX BCs on a lot of these bullets. The 110 AB has a BC of .418 which is pretty respectable for a 25 cal bullet.

 

[skookum]

I haven't done much testing with hunting bullets, I was getting 3600 with 100 Gr Nosler BTs and I pushed a 75 Gr Speer TNT to 3820 in hopes of turning some sage rats to a mist, but all they did was cut them in half, guess they were a little too hot.

 

[AZShooter]

You could try the 115 Bergers and see if they will shoot. RL-25 or RL-33 has worked well and yielded the most velocity for myself and three other friends for a total of five rifles. Another friend who also built one is using H-1000.

If you do decide to rebarrel I highly recommend you also order a custom reamer with your specs. We ordered one that has worked on six 257 Weatherby semi customs, that has proven to be the right decision. Throat angle was changed and jump to lands was shortened to .100" . We used Pacific Tool and Gauge. Should you decide to use the same design PM me and I'll share the details.

 

[just country]

morning, I have 2 257 wbee's one modified wbee and 1 custom on a rem. 700

action. the 110 accu-bond as mentioned is a very accurate bullet. H1000 or 7828

r very good powders in the 257 wbee. I also shoot the 100gr. TTSX Barnes cause

of the construction of the bullet. gives feral pigs a very bad head ache. I shoot

this cartridge with very high praise. lightbulbgun) THK. U

 

[Edd]

If you decide to re-barrel, you might want to give a fast twist barrel and the 128 gr Hammer bullets some consideration.

 

[snox801]

I wouldn't worry about the jump. I load nosler 115 bt's to mag length. As long as you can get them to fit in may well and still cycle. I get really good groups with that. Just load to that length and work up in powder charge. I've got a 28" hart barrel on mine and have never had any issue with the 115. I'm sure Berger would be fine but I've had such good luck with the nosler I don't dare change now. Taken ale from 82 yards out to 600 with it. Seems plenty of steam left at 600 to still get the job done. I took a large pig at 586 this jan and damage was massive so I'm sure it would work farther if the I had the chance.