.257 Weatherby Vanguard

[remingtonman_25_06]

Was thinking about purchasing this rifle. Have always wanted a .257 WM, cant beat the price. I want it for a 700 yard coyote/mule deer gun. I can get one from Wal-Mart with a 10% discount for $350. Of course there is the drawback and that is the barrel length. It only has a 24" tube. I'm still going to buy it no matter what, once I shoot it out, I'll get a 26" or 28". Just curious as to what others thoughts are.

 

[COBrad]

I have long been curious about the .257 Weatherby. Is it an inherently accurate round from a custom barrel/chamber without the free bore? I have considered having a second barrel made for my .300 Jarrett. Let us know how that Vanguard shoots for you.

 

[Brian Rybicky]

Remington,

I know a few people that have vanguards, and they shoot very poor, right around 1.5-2" groups at 100, but then again that is a decient price for a action.

Brian

 

[ryan m]

I have a Howa in 7 mag and it did shoot poorly until I floated the barrel and bedded it. Now it is an honest inch or less gun when I do my part. The action is pretty good, the stock and barrel leave a bit to be desired. I have a Bell and Carelson stock with an Al block coming for mine, and I noticed weatherby is offering them as an option on their website. I hope it shoots for you. I have actually thought about rebarreling mine to .257 weatherby.

 

[james_ogburn]

I have a Vanguard in .270, and it is a shooter. It shoots very well with 130 gr. SST's. Very slick action as well. My dad also has one in .30-06. It doesn't seem his is as accurate as mine, but I haven't tried to work up any good loads for it yet.

 

[jhw1st]

Hi fellow shooters. This is my first post so I hope I do good. I really like what I've been reading on this forum and am trying to understand the abbreviated terms I am seeing as most all of you are eons ahead of me as far as rifle knowledge is concerned. I have been hunting whitetails in Texas for over 30 years and have learned what is necessary to put venison in the freezer every year. I have always had a longing to reach out a little farther than my fellow hunters to be able to bag that elusive buck that never seems to come within anyones comfortable shooting range. I did a little research 2 years ago to see which calibers might shoot straight enough and far enough to take that elusive one. Also a rifle that will not punish an old man[59 yrs]. The Weatherby 257 Mag ballistics stats caught my eye but the word"magnum" made my shoulder flinch a bit. I decided to bite the bullet so to speak and found a beautiful Mark V stainless model on one of the web firearms auction sites. I bid what I thought a used Weatherby was worth and lo and behold wound up with a real bargain for such a quality rifle. It came with the weatherby composite stock and is USA made with a 26" bbl. I was pleasantly surprised with the recoil factor this gun delivers. My dilemna is this, and I hope some of you fellow shooters can enlighten me as far as what I can do to get broader results from this rig. Let me say that I did take four deer last season with this set-up but I can only get sub-moa groups from one cartridge and that is the Weatherby factory offering of the 117 gr round nose cartridge.
It is a devastating round on Texas deer but it is the round nose that limits it as far as taking a shot at 400+ yards. According to ballistic charts the bullet is really dropping at that range. The pointed bullet
cartridges that I bought for it in several weights and mfrs. could not come close in accuracy to the 117 gr round nose. The bullet coefficient for the round nose bullet just wont allow for the longer shots that I want to take, and thus nullifies my purpose of owning such a rig. I would like some input from you people who may have encountered similar situations yourselves. I am wondering if the rifle twist is adequate to stabilize the smaller grain wt. spire shaped bullets. I assume that the action was bedded [looks like it has] but not sure. I will check it again and also see if the barrel has been free-floated. I feel like this site was made for me as I tend to want to push the envelope a bit. There is a ton of knowledge here and I have been reading long before signing up today. Any thoughts,ideas or theories will be greatly apprec iated. "Ya gotta love it|"

 

[Ian M]

1st,
We have some similar rifles and they are both fussy to load for, rarely can I beat the accuracy we get with Weatherby factory ammo. Having said that, it can certainly be done but you have to try several bullet/powder/seating depth combinations till one clicks. The standard 100 grain Hornady (factory Weatherby ammo) shoots so fast and so accurately that we usually just hunt with it. The .257 is an incredible killer, have seen my son kill caribou with it like they were hit by lightning.
I would check the bedding and barrel channel clearance, make sure the stock bolts are good and tight, then start playing with reloads till you find one your barrel likes. We gave up, tried Nosler, Swift, Barnes, Sierra, Speer bullets with mediocre luck. Finally found a medium velocity practice load using Hornady Spire points that shoots about 3/4" and we hunt with factories. Don't have drops I can share since we haven't shot the rifles much since the mighty .308 Win. took over my shooting.

 

[jhw1st]

Ian thanks for the tips. Yes my first check will be to take another closer look at the barrel channel. Still don't understand why this rifle wll shoot sub-moa wth the round nose bullet and just puts pointed bullets all over the paper up to 2 1/2". I shot an 8 point with it @ 165 yds this past fall. I took a neck shot since it was by no means a trophy deer and what happened just blew my mind. The bullet entered the neck behind the left ear and apparently followed the bone structure of the spine until it reached the cranial area and just blew up. When I first examined the deer I thought my mind was playing tricks because there was no sign of a rack left. No horns on this guys head. I found the remnants of the horns scattered over a 15 yd area. The longest section of antler that I could find was about two inches. Looked like a stick of TNT had gone off in the bucks mouth. "Shock and awe" to say the least. I have seriously contemplated loading for the rifle but I have never loaded belted cartridges before. I think the Hornady 100 gr. would make an excellent beginning for me til I get the hang of it. I have accumulated plenty of fact ory empties. I would need to order the dies but pretty much have everything else. I just got a 308 last year as you did. Mine is a Tikka and gives hints of being a decent shooter. I have so many rifles that it is hard to get serious about just one. I have a .17, 223, 22-250 243, 25-06, 257 WM. 6.5x55, 308, 7-mag, 270, and 30-06. I hate to think about selling any of them but I know I would become a better shooter with only 3 or 4 to concentrate on. Thanks again Ian for the helpful tips and if I am able to come up with a good load for the 257 I will share it with you. "You gotta love it".

[ 03-28-2004: Message edited by: jhw1st ]