300 Weatherby build

[pockets380]

Well originally I was wanting to go .338 edge (still do someday, just need more $$). Then I decided the 300 RUM was the way to go. Now after much thought I decided there really wasn't enough gain from my wby to the RUM to start over. I have a Rem 700 classic in 300 wby. Already have the dies and brass. Here's my thoughts-

- 27" or 28" in barrel. Not sure which manufacturer? Any thoughts? Only has a 24 now
- laminate thumbhole stock, bedded
- Wyatt's extended box mag
- try the Berger 215s. Using 210s currently (any load recommendations? What velocity could I expect?)
- Timney trigger
- 20moa base (any recommendations?)
- Vortex Viper 6.5-24 ffp, or Huskemaw 5-20, Nightforce 3.5-15 (would go 5.5-22 but I really want don't want to break the bank, but still have great components.)
- ballistic turret

This is my go to rifle. I'll use it for hiking plus some long range set ups. Want to keep the weight down and not really long to avoid hanging up. Thanks guys!

 

[drags]

I have a 300wby with a 30" hart magnum sporter barrel .700 at muzzle I think and a bell & carlson medalist stock. I use h870 powder and the 190 gr. smk for hunting 3200 fps this load hits very hard have shot deer to 700 yds with this rifle. Also I have a vias muzzle brake on the rifle. The rifle with a 6.5x20 leupold scope 1" tube weighs about 12 lbs. If I was going to put a different scope on the rifle I would go with the 8.5x25 leupold 30mm tube. I also have a 7x300wby that is good too but the 300 wby hits harder.
Drags

 

[Cornfield Flats]

Looks like a perfect plan to me.

I built a long range 300 Weatherby several years ago with a 30" Lilja barrel. Trued 700 action with Wyatt's extended magazine box. Used a Fajen laminated stock. It's a fantastic rifle.

Good luck and good choice.

 

[pockets380]

Sounds like a sweet rifle drags. 700 is a pretty good poke!

Thanks Cornfield, that's always good to hear! What load are shooting out of you Weatherby and what is your velocity with the 30" barrel?

Do you guys still hunt with your rifles? Or most just a set up and bag in situation? I was originally thinking a 30" barrel. This will my go to rifle for everything really. Just didn't know if a barrel like that would be too long.

 

[drags]

I use my rifle as a set and bag in situation, it is to long and heavy to still hunt with. But it is ok for walking to a place and glassing for a long period of time.
drags

 

[Tumbleweed]

I too did my first semi custom build several years ago based off of the same Rem 700 classic in 300wby that you have. I went with a 27" lilja and with the 210VLD's it would run about 2975-3000fps with RL22. At around 750 rounds I rechambered it to 300RUM and gained 130fps with the same bullet just in the rechambering. It pushed the 210's at 3120fps. When the 215's came out I worked up a load and was able to run 3150fps plus at the same pressure levels. If you are stuck on the Wby I would recommend getting away from the factory style WBY freebore or at least use a match reamer to decrease your throat diameter so it will shoot.

 

[pockets380]

I think I talked to you, Tumbleweed, on here before about the 300 weatherby Those are some good numbers on velocity. That's about where I was hoping to get. Do you still have all the load info on your weatherby? Currently I'm loading rl-25 and the 210s so they just fit in the mag box. It seems like a pretty mild load compared to some. I'm at 76gr if memory serves. I only shot it over a chrono once in less than ideal conditions. So I really don't know what my speed is. The chrono only read like 2100fps. If you don't mind me asking about loads, what is your 300 rum load as well? Also I thought I read on a thread here that the 700 classic in 300 wby didn't have freebore? How do I tell? Can I tell just by looking in the chamber?

 

[backwoods83]

ANY SAAMI spec weatherby chamber has freebore, the remingtons have about a mile and a half of it. 76grns of RE25 under a 210 berger should be a mild starting point. 3000fps is obtainable with a 24" barrel and 4 reloads per case. It will run the same 3150fps from a 28" barrel that a rum will, yes pressure will be higher but ironically barrel life will be also. Have the gunsmith purchase or rent a reamer with .060-.100" freebore.

Some other considerations if this will be your go to stick.
HS precision stock instead of laminate.
Sightron SIII 6-24x50, imo best scope in that price range period.
As for a cheaper but good 20moa base, EGW is the way to go with Burris tactical rings.
I have a Timney and a Rifle Basix trigger, I like both, but to me the Rifle Basix wins, it just feels better.
As for a load with 210 bergers, start midways Hodgdons data for 200grn accubonds and H1000 with Fed215M primers with the oal about .010" shorter than the magazine. There data shows 84grns compressed as max with the 200 accubond at 3.560" and it still isn't showing 65k psi, since RE25 is slightly slower than H1000 76grns is just nudging it, you need to kick it in the ***! I'm not telling you to go out and try something stupid, just telling you that listed weatherby data is very conservative just incase someone has a rifle with extremely shallow freebore.

 

[pockets380]

When I worked up my original load we loaded up from min. to max in half grain increments. Above the 76 grain charge, up to the max, which I think was 79 grains. The groups opened up. There was no pressure signs that I remember. Does there tend to be a lower velocity accuracy point and a higher one? If we kept going would they tighten back up possibly?

 

[backwoods83]

Its likely that you found the low end node. I will tell you the load I used in the vanguard I sold, I have 2 custom 300wbys so I didn't need 3. If you try it start 6-7grns lower. The load was wby brass, 208 amax, 89.2grns H1000, 3.815" oal .120" off the lands, 2995fps with a 9-12fps ES from the factory 24" 10 twist tube, 4 loads per case, could double that but wby/norma primer pockets loosen fairly easy, but if you don't mind tightening them and annealing they could go 10 reloads being hit that hard, primer was a Fed215M btw. The wby was king back in the day, and with its design and modern powder it gives up nearly nothing to the rum and has a longer barrel life. A friend of mine that shoots 1k Ibs used to shoot a 300wby with a 28" 11 twist barrel, tight neck .110" freebore, and he used 76grns of Imr4350 with a 210M primer under a jammed 210 berger for 3070fps. What the wby lacks in powder capacity to the rum it makes up for in design efficiency. Roy was a pretty smart fellow, even more so than PO Ackley but was limited in the 40s by Imr4350 being the slowest powder available.

 

[Tumbleweed]

3000fps is obtainable with a 24" barrel and 4 reloads per case. It will run the same 3150fps from a 28" barrel that a rum will, yes pressure will be higher but ironically barrel life will be also.

Really? That's a little optimistic for a 24" barrel don't you think? I would say 2875fps is more realistic. And to say the Wby is equal to the RUM apples to apples? This has not been my personal experience or anyone else that I know of when comparing apples to apples. Mine was a rechamber job from 300 Wby to 300RUM using the same barrel. There was 145fps increase in velocity running similar chamber pressures out of 27". The wby chambering could push the 210 at 2975fps max load and the RUM at 3120fps max load. Again, same barrel.

 

[backwoods83]

Not optimistic at all, I can run 100% plus charge density in a weatherby case with H1000, RE25, RE33, Retumbo, Ramshot Magnum, and a couple others. What can you do that with in a rum case, US869, Imr5010, H50bmg and a couple other very sensative powders. And yes I can get 3000fps from a 24" barrel, its got a lot to do with how you load, not what your loading. In the words of Chuck Hawks, the 300Rum and 30x378wby are close to useless, I have yet to understand why one feels the need to neck two cartridges originally designed as elephant rounds down to 30 caliber. Yes you may have gained 120fps over the wby, but at what cost, 98grns of powder instead of 86, and the 300wby brass can live decently at 68-70k psi, rem, fed, or nosler rum brass will not, so in a nutshell the wby will duplicate the rum at 3k psi higher, have better brass life, a 1500+ round barrel life, and use 9-11grns less powder. The rum may last 1000 rounds, you might get 3 loadings at 65k psi, and your wasting powder, and for what. I have seen several wbys compete, win, and occasinally set records at 1k yards, but I have yet to see anyone shooting a rum. The guy that holds the world record completely skipped the rum case and went straight to the lapua, 30x338lm imp aka 300 Hulk, he has to much money, so barrel life wasn't his concern, before he got the title and record he had his *** handed to him quite often by anything from 6br's to 300wms. The slopiness of an action can also hold back a cartridges potential, by showing pressure signs when there really aren't any, just extra slack that a full build or custom action wouldn't show.