300 weatherby rebarrel

[stevens1r]

Guys I am new to this so don't laugh. I have a winchester model 70 chambered in 300 weatherby. The best groups I've got out of the factory barrel is 3/4". I would like to get into this long range thing and would like for it to at least shoot under 1/2". I am considering rebarreling. A few questions: 1. Would you go back with 300 wby or another (I want to stay with 30 cal)? 2. What barrel should I go with (Brand) (one friend told me Hart any thoughts on this)? 3. What twist, contour, etc if I want to shoot 280 grain Nosler accubond or ballistic tips?(or if either sound stupid let me know) 4.Should I just start over with a new gun? (I have a bell and carlson thumbhole stock, Leupold vx3 4.5-14)

 

[sewwhat89]

Sounds like since you already have stuff to load the 300 Wby, keep the sam caliber. It is a potent long-range hammer that will get you way on out there. As far as barrels go, Hart, Broughton, Krieger, Shilen, and others will not lead you astray. For twist, 1-11 will do fine with the 200 gr NABs up to 220 SMKs, depending on your flavor. Model 70s are great actions to go custom with. Look up Joel Russo, get you a A5-L stock and pillar bed any of the aforementioned barrels with your Model 70 and you will be ready to shoot away.

 

[sewwhat89]

Oh, and use the 'Search' function and look up potential loads, advice, etc if you have the time and itch to do it.

 

[budlight]

The 300 W is a nice round. If you plan on shooting 180's probably a 1:10 or 1:9 twist. Hart barrels are nice. I have a few 28 & 29 inch barrels. Here are two Hart's that might fit you pretty good. I like the 28, 29, 30 inch. My hunting rifle has 1.250 - 1.00 tapper is a 8.5 pound barrel. With scope and bipod it's an 18 pound weapon. Some of the other barrel manufactures list barrels and weights. Even without a brake heavy barrel guns have minimal recoil and enough mass for repeated shooting without the heat problems.

My 30-378 has a 28 inch and brake

1000 BR Taper
1.250 X 6" X .940 @ 30"

Magnum 1,000
For long range prone shooters (1.250" for 4" X .875" @ 29").

 

[bailey1474]

Go straight to the 200 gr Accubond and skip the 180s. I think the BC is .580 on the 200 gr. Will perform much better once you get past about 500 yds.

 

[budlight]

The lightest 30 cal I shoot is the Hornady 190 btsp

Here is a sight listing weights. If your intended shooting is heavy bullets go with 1:9 twist.

http://www.riflebarrels.com/products/contour_data_lilja_precision_rifles.htm#straight

 

[davewilson]

contour of the barrel is basically a personal thing. if you want to shoot the 280 gr bullets, you better get a 6 twist! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[stevens1r]

Sorry, I meant 200 grain accubond or ballistic tip. What twist do you guys think would be best? Will the 200 grain accubond be a good choice for deer sized game at long range?

 

[Hired Gun]

The 200 grain AB dispatched from a 300 Wby will knock the snot out of any deer at about any range you can hit one in the vitals with it. I put them out of my 300Wby just under 3200fps. 322 yard groups are running 1.5". I have not run a large chronograph test yet on them. In my Accumark the load ended up at 85.5 grains of IMR-7828 in Weatherby brass with the CCI-250 primer. Loaded as long as the magazine will take.

 

[Desert Fox]

The famous Arizona gunsmith David Miller built his long range rig on Winchester Model 70 chambered for 300 Weatherby. David is an avid Coues deer hunter with a few deer in the record book. That say's much about the 300 Weatherby round. I shot a few myself and I found the round to be inherently very accurate. I load for a friend custom 300 Weatherby. The load consist of 180 grain Swift Scirroco and 85 grain of IMR 7828 ignited by Federal 215M primer. The velocity is a tad over 3100 fps and accuracy is excellent.

 

[300win]

I shoot a model 70 chambered in 300 winchester magnum. HS stock,26" #5 lilja 1:10 4 groove and a leupold 6.5x20 Mark 4. I agree that the bullet should be 190 or heavier. But I prefer a more fragile bullet for long range deer hunting. I have found that the 200 gain accubond (and a few of the other heavy jacket hunting bullets) do not open up at long range they will just poke a hole through the chest cavity. Dont get me wrong they are great bullets, at 300 yards they will do things to a set of shoulder blades that is just not right. But when you are taking a 750 yard or longer shot at the vitals and you make a lung hit you have an animal that is already dead but can cover alot of ground. That is why I prefer a fragile bullet that will cause as much damage as possible and despence its energy at long range. You wont wreck any meat in the shoulders or chest cavity so hit them hard. I am going to try the 190 bergers and maybe the 210 bergers. Both are very accurate and they use the fragile J4 jacket. Until now I have used mostly 178 a max and 180 ballistic tips. They are both great bullets, just a little light and lacking a little in the wind bucking dept.(you dont get alot of sighters when hunting). I have also used alot of SMK bullets from 168-220 grain. They are great shooting bullets but they do not open up on a deer size target. I would stick with what you have, rebarrel to a 26" #5 or so and put a break and a good trigger on it. With some good optics and practice you will have a sure crowd pleaser!

 

[stevens1r]

My reason for wanting to use the accubond is because I thought if I wanted to take it elk hunting or other larger game I would still be in good shape. Have any of you guys shot any deer past 500 yds with the 200 grain accubond? What other bullets might be a good choice? Would the 180 gr ballistic tip be better for deer and then maybe switch to the 180 grain accubond for elk or other larger animals? Has anyone shot both the 180 gr accubond and 180 gr ballistic tip with the same load. I noticed that the bc for them is the same. Are they they nearly identical in shape, weight and ballistic performance?? Is this a case of can't have your cake and eat it too, in regards to wanting to use one bullet for both deer and elk sized game??

 

[stevens1r]

I talked to a guy at hart barrels today and mentioned I wanted to shoot a 200 gr accubond. He said to go with the 1:10 twist. I told him the application and that I had long range hunting in mind for it. He told me to go with a straight taper barrel (1.2" 4" x.870" at 26"). Does that sound right to you guys? Do you think that will make it too heavy for a hunting rifle? He said It would be around 6.5 to 7lbs I think. Will that contour work with my stock action, etc on a winchester model 70?

 

[300win]

The accubond is a great elk bullet, it will punch through alot of bone and flesh to get the job done. I dont believe a ballistic tip would be a very good elk bullet because it may come apart. I have shot two white tail deer past 500 yards with a 200 gr accubond. The first was a heavy bodied buck I shot through the shoulder blades at 610yards. The buck dropped instantly, the bullet exited but never caused a great deal of damage compaired to what an a max would do. The second was a doe feeding at 760 yards, the shot hit right behind the shoulder low in the chest. I chambered another round thinking I may have missed but seen the blood running out as the doe looked around. It took maybe took 30 seconds and she laid down. The bullet passed right through the vitals again not causing a whole lot of damage. I have also had the same results with siraccos , SMK and innerbonds. But for long range elk hunting these are all great bullets. It is hard to have a bullet that performs well on both elk and deer. If you have ever seen the tv show the best of the west these guys use nothing but berger bullets for long range hunting both elk and deer. I plan on trying the 190 berger on deer this year, I hope the j4 jacket will open up at long range. I talked to the folks at berger about this and they claim thier bullets work well on elk. I have seen a number of elk dropped at 600 yards plus on thier show . Maybe the more fragile bullets at long range hold together better because of the lower velocity. I would have to say either the 190 or 210 berger would be a great long range choice. As you said it is hard to have your cake and eat it to. I have shot the 180 accubonds but have never hunted with them. They appear to be the same as a 180 ballistic tip on the outside and the seem to shoot as well as the ballistic tip. I hope this helps.