7mm Weatherby: Why so little attention?

[itsmrbill]

Just tossing this out there to generate discussion and probably ruffle feathers but the more I see about this old cartridge the more I can't understand why it's so far removed from the commercial success of 7mm-"anything else"magnums. It's what the 7mm rem could have been but wasn't. It nips right on the heels of the STW, Nosler, and RUM cartridges out of ordinary hunting rifle barrel lengths with waaaay less powder. Whatever about the curvy shoulder voodoo, I don't know that there's anything to that, but it hasn't been crippled by an arbitrarily low SAAMI pressure and hooray for freebore. (Also the .270 weatherby comes to mind for the same virtues…).

So what are your thoughts? It wouldn't be hard to fire form brass, and we love tinkering with things enough that the weatherby case design and expensive factory ammo can't possibly be all there is to why this round isn't more popular…can it?

If I ever get a 7mm of any kind this will probably be the one.

Have one, West Germany vintage, gorgeous gun, and also a 270 WBY, same vintage. Both tack drivers yet, in spite of being almost 60 years old. Also an WBY Alaskan Mark 5, 300 WBY. And a 257 WBY. Buy cheap Weatherby ammo, shoot it at paper, then reload however you want it. I guess you could say I'm a Weatherby addict. I reload for all of them, only way to go.

 

[tooth doc]

Redundancy. Unless one is a collector of chamberings, just for the sake of their great variety, there is little that can be done with the 7mm Weatherby that cannot be accomplished just as well or better by several other chamberings.

well, yeah, but that is true of almost every cartridge. what is important to one is not important to others, and vice versa. not my favorite choice in 7mm, but certainly a worthy cartridge.

 

[warrbuk]

Lots of good info and opinions above. I like the long neck on the Weatherby case, it gives you some flexibility with your loads. I built one with a JGS reamer that I think had .180 FB? I sent JGS a dummy round with a Berger 180 VLD seated to where I wanted it. Boat tail/ straight junction just above the neck shoulder radius.

24" 9 twist barrel shooting a low node pushes 180 VLDH bullets at 2945 w/ H1000. Lots of groups .4-.6 MOA

The rifle is braked and really nice to shoot at 8.75 pounds all up. It's a accurate, handy, lethal set up

I bought 200 rounds of Weatherby brass when I ordered the barrel. HEI discount made it very reasonable

 

[NeedForSpeed]

62 years of doing it their own way is a hard habit to break.

WBY never wanted to compete with Remington and Winchester for the big market, they always focused on a small market of affluent hunters and shooters who wanted something a step above the rest.

Essentially a semi custom rifle maker with custom ammo.

So like Gunwerks but less expensive

 

[WildRose]

So like Gunwerks but less expensive

Hmmm... .

No, GW is really more of a custom shop all the way around but catering to a smaller, different, yet "elite" group of hunters.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Great old cartridge!! I have a 270 Weatherby Mag,next door neighbor had 7mm Weatherby Mag! We both had Mark V rifles . 26 inch barrels,wooden stocks. I could shoot 130 and 150,s! He could shoot a 154 and a 175 Grn! Back in the. 70,s they were fine long. Range Western calibers ! There not so bad today either!! Have there been improvements over the. Last 50 years ,of course! However, If a 7 Weatherby mag shot real well and I had taken lots of game with it for 40 years or more , I don't think I could trade it for a 280 Nosler or an STW. That's just me !!

 

[caveman4867]

I shot a 280 rem for years, also a 7mm bullet never had a complaint, Took lots of deer.So 5 years ago I had the chance to buy the 7mm weatherby magnum deluxe, only factory fired. the rifle in my avatar. what a great rifle I reload 140 gr barnes with a stout load if H1000 behind my dream rifle come true!!!!!

 

[tooth doc]

I shot a 280 rem for years, also a 7mm bullet never had a complaint, Took lots of deer.So 5 years ago I had the chance to buy the 7mm weatherby magnum deluxe, only factory fired. the rifle in my avatar. what a great rifle I reload 140 gr barnes with a stout load if H1000 behind my dream rifle come true!!!!!

i have hunted with and killed game with 7mm 08. 7 x 57, 7mm rem. 7 mm rum, 28 nosler, 7mm wsm. 280 ackly, 7 stw, 7 dakota. the game all died with well placed quality bullets. i cant imagine the 7 weatherby will be any different.

 

[NeedForSpeed]

Hmmm... .

No, GW is really more of a custom shop all the way around but catering to a smaller, different, yet "elite" group of hunters.

They take it to a totally level but same general idea.
Nice guns that are built to work best with their expensive ammo

 

[Canhunter35]

All it needed was a little Hornady marketing and it would have been the new king of 7's

If Hornady had marketed it they would've had the twist rate at 8 and sold ammo loaded with 180s and 190s and it would be king

 

[BearDawg]

I like weatherby! I shot my first elk with a 300wby mag but when it came down to buying one the win was cheaper by a lot and the advantage wasn't worth the price. I do got to say I had .240wby I got rid of awhile back and I wished I never sold that puppy.

 

[azyuriy]

head separation in 3-4 firings

Not true. If work the brass correctly (neck sizing with occasional shoulder bump) - the primer pockets will give up first. In my case of 300 WBY it is around 6-8 reloads for WBY brass. I haven't reload for my WBY 7mm yet but factory ammo shoots .5 MOA easy. I'm the limiting factor...

 

[azyuriy]

Eh? No, that's never been a problem.

Not for me either. 7mm and 300 WBY Mark 5s for years

 

[RiverShooter]

Just tossing this out there to generate discussion and probably ruffle feathers but the more I see about this old cartridge the more I can't understand why it's so far removed from the commercial success of 7mm-"anything else"magnums. It's what the 7mm rem could have been but wasn't. It nips right on the heels of the STW, Nosler, and RUM cartridges out of ordinary hunting rifle barrel lengths with waaaay less powder. Whatever about the curvy shoulder voodoo, I don't know that there's anything to that, but it hasn't been crippled by an arbitrarily low SAAMI pressure and hooray for freebore. (Also the .270 weatherby comes to mind for the same virtues…).

So what are your thoughts? It wouldn't be hard to fire form brass, and we love tinkering with things enough that the weatherby case design and expensive factory ammo can't possibly be all there is to why this round isn't more popular…can it?

If I ever get a 7mm of any kind this will probably be the one.

The 7 Bee really whacks Alaskan Caribou and I am currently having an old Paul Jaeger 270 Bee rebarreled to the same 270 Bee. The Bee's all get the job done!!!!