Building 240 Wby

[ddgo]

We are looking at building a 240 wby on a rem action. Will be using a pac-nor barrel. This gun will be used for longrange deer culling (whitetails). Will be shooting 95-105 VLD.
I do not mind shooting a 28" barrel. What vol. can one expect from a 28" barrel. Will vlds be an issue with this gun.
Thanks for your help
ddgo

 

[James Jones]

The VLD bullets should hold up to the speeds that round can produce but I would get a 5 or 6 groove barrel over a 3 because the lesser gooves will be realy hard on the bullets and may cause them to fail. Speed wise I would thinkthat you could safely get 3400 fps out of it with a 100gr class bullet and that barrel.


Now for an oppinion :
the 240 Weatherby is a great round no doubt about it but the 6mm-06 and the ackley improved version will shoot right with it and faster with good brass , the cases will be cheaper and last alot longer and their is no belt to deal with , your dies will be cheaper typicaly.
You may also look at the 243 Ackley , it will shoot pretty **** close speed wise (within 200fps) with the 240Wby and have alot better barrel life , easier to feed the long VLD bullet from the mag of a long action and great brass is available.

What kind of ranges are you talking about shooting these "varmints" at?

 

[landcbeitner]

I would also recomend looking into other calibers that can give you performance you want, with better brass availability. Plus, it would be nice to ditch the belt. 6mm rem AI might be just the ticket. No matter wich caliber you choose there's no doubt you'll have one heck of a rifle.

 

[ddgo]

The VLD bullets should hold up to the speeds that round can produce but I would get a 5 or 6 groove barrel over a 3 because the lesser gooves will be realy hard on the bullets and may cause them to fail. Speed wise I would thinkthat you could safely get 3400 fps out of it with a 100gr class bullet and that barrel.


Now for an oppinion :
the 240 Weatherby is a great round no doubt about it but the 6mm-06 and the ackley improved version will shoot right with it and faster with good brass , the cases will be cheaper and last alot longer and their is no belt to deal with , your dies will be cheaper typicaly.
You may also look at the 243 Ackley , it will shoot pretty **** close speed wise (within 200fps) with the 240Wby and have alot better barrel life , easier to feed the long VLD bullet from the mag of a long action and great brass is available.

What kind of ranges are you talking about shooting these "varmints" at?

James
Most of the shots for this gun will be from 400 to 800 yards. Beyond that I shoot a 300 Jarrett built by CPR.
In a 6mm AI I have had good luck with VLDS to about the 750 mark. Beyond that terminal performance becomes a little weak. I know that this is asking alot from a 6mm bullet.
Always looking for a better mouse trap.
Thanks for your help
DDGO

 

[ddgo]

Also more concerned about barrel length. Looking for the most speed. ddgo

 

[James Jones]

Well since you already have a 6mmAi , you will be gaining very little with the 240 over that one especialy in the terms of terminal performance I highly doubt that the slight speed increase will add much to the range past what the 6mmAi does , maybe 150yds , maybe.

Seeing how you have a 6mm and a 30 cal , I would go with a 6.5-06 Ackley , you can drive a 140gr VLD or A-max bullet to 3200fps out of a 28" barrel and balisticaly speeking thats pretty awsome , and will likely make your 300 Jarret look bad. It'll be carrying ALOT more energy out to 1000yds than an 6mm can , and it'll have longer barrel life It may just prove to be the only gun you need !!

I killed a deer this year at 944yds with a 140gr Berger VLD run out at close to 2900 fps , blew right through and deer diden't go 50yds. So I know that the extra 200-300fps that the 06 improved can add will definatly do the job out past 1000yds.

 

[Buffalobob]

Well, if I don't die laughing first, I will help you.

Everybody thinks their 6mm is faster than the 240 Wby, but you never see them post up anything that they kill with it. There is one guy up in Montana that actually has managed to kill something with a 6-284 past 1K and that is all.

So to build a 240Wby that will max out, get your smith to use a minimum SAAMI reamer and then throat it to the 105-115 grain VLDs. Leave the small bullets to the people who want to get close and powder burn their deer.

Load the case up with a shovel or so more RL22 than 50 grains and hammer in some Fed 210 GMs. Jam the bullet in the lands, close your eyes and pull the trigger. If you still have all of your fingers then grab the hammer and open the bolt and put in another one except this time keep your eyes open when you shoot.

With a 28 inch barrel you should be able to get about 3200+fps with a 115 Berger and a little less with a SMK.

Do not shoot the gun on hot days!

The barrel on my rifle is a 6 groove 1-8 twist 30 inches by Clay Spencer. I get a speed of about 3250-3275 fps. It must be very smooth inside because a lot of people claim they cannot get the speed I do with the Bergers because their barrel tears them up. Some gunsmiths will advise a 1-9 or 1-10 twist inorder to prevent bullet blowup at high speed. Secondly, Clay builds a chamber so tight and true that you can really get some good speed out of it. When he trues up an action it is good and true.

I get one or two firings with my brass and every once in a while I will get three if I tape the primer in.:D Considering that a hunting trip cost me $2000 to $3000 dollars I really don't care about a few pieces of ruined brass. Of course to protect the throat I do not shoot the gun except every once in a while and then I am careful to keep it cool.

With the 115 Berger I have shot through antelope at all ranges from 150 yards to 1140. It always exits with about a four inch hole no matter what distance. At 800 yards it broke the near shoulder, then a rib and then got another rib and then broke the far shoulder and exited on a buck antelope. At 550 yards, I shot through a large boar hog DRT and then into the sow behind him and it went through her pelvis and exited.

So, I would have no hesitation to shoot at an eastern whitetail buck out to about 1400 yards if I had a calm day. Naturally, I am one of the hated infidels who will actually back up in order to make the shot interesting. Just killing an animal to see blood on the ground does not do much for me.

Just one more piece of advice. Get a nice 260 or 308 and use it to practice. That protects your 240 for the serious business and it is harder to kill something at 800 yards than most people realize so practice is important.

 

[Buffalobob]

With regards to the belt, Clay advises that you should headspace on the belt because his chambers are tight. Leave the shoulder headspacing to the guys with factory chambers

On my body die, I had to grind a little off the bottom in order to get the die to come down to the belt and size that last little bit that is right above the belt.

 

[ddgo]

Well since you already have a 6mmAi , you will be gaining very little with the 240 over that one especialy in the terms of terminal performance I highly doubt that the slight speed increase will add much to the range past what the 6mmAi does , maybe 150yds , maybe.

Seeing how you have a 6mm and a 30 cal , I would go with a 6.5-06 Ackley , you can drive a 140gr VLD or A-max bullet to 3200fps out of a 28" barrel and balisticaly speeking thats pretty awsome , and will likely make your 300 Jarret look bad. It'll be carrying ALOT more energy out to 1000yds than an 6mm can , and it'll have longer barrel life It may just prove to be the only gun you need !!

I killed a deer this year at 944yds with a 140gr Berger VLD run out at close to 2900 fps , blew right through and deer diden't go 50yds. So I know that the extra 200-300fps that the 06 improved can add will definatly do the job out past 1000yds.

James
Thanks for your input. Let me say that the 240 project is for a friend of mine that I shoot deer with. I personally have a 28" tight neck 6mm AI that I am very pleased with.
He has several fast bigger guns including a 7mm Ultra with a 28" Hart barrel that is really fast, and accurate. Sub half and 3800+ with 140 BT. He cannot shoot deer inside 300 without bullet blow up. But it does and wonderfull job at 800.
We are just looking to fill a void with the 240. I am interested in knowing what kind of volicity could you expect from a 95 vld and a 28" barrel?
He does not do neck turning so building a tight neck gun is not for him.
Thanks again for your help
ddgo

 

[VarmintGuy]

Ddgo: I have Rifles in both calibers, a 6mm Remington Ackley Improved and another custom Rifle in 240 Weatherby!
I enjoy them both very much.
My 240 Weatherby is built on a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 action. It has a Hart 27" heavy, stainless barrel.
It IS capable of EXCELLENT accuracy!
I have used this Rifle for 17 years now for long range Antelope and Mule Deer duty.
I highly recommend the caliber and can see no reason to recommend the 6mm Remington Ackley Improved over the 240 Weatherby.
Over the years I have used three different bullets for my long range (450 to 500 yards) Hunting uses. I have finally settled on the fine Sierra 85 gr. HP/BT!
Yep it kills Deer and Antelope quite well thank you.
AND I don't shoot these creatures at these ranges "just to see blood on the ground"!
What a thoroughly despicable and un-sportsmanlike thing for ANYONE to say!
Best of luck with your friends 240 Weatherby project!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

 

[Buffalobob]

Before this reincarnation of the rifle, I shot the 240Wby with a Douglas 1-10 twist sporter barrel on a Fajen stock for a decade or two. With an 85 grain bullet, either Speer SBT or Barnes X, it was a wonderful combination for the eastern white tail deer at ranges of 50 yards out to maybe 200 yards. I do not remember killing a deer further than 200 yards because of the way I hunted. I am sure that the 85 grain bullets will work further but I just never used the rifle any further.

The reason the 105-115 grain bullets are so deadly at ranges beyond where most people fear to tread with a small bore is the high sectional density and high BC of the match type bullets. Even though the bore diameter is small, the thin jacket expands well and causes a large exit wound. The long bullet has plenty of lenght to let the front expand and still have mass to break bones and penetrate on through. This process was apparent on the twofer pigs I shot where the bullet was continously shedding jacket and weight as it went, such that a bullet with a lesser sectional density would never have exited the second pig. This is generally the same principle as the Nosler partition which always has a high retained weight, except you give up the partition and in return get accuracy and high retained velocity with the VLD.

We all live our lives differently, and to me, the challenge of new personal goals is what gives me personal satisfaction. Just seeing one more animal dead has little meaning to me. Practice and more practice is the thing that helps in achieving new long range goals.

Here is the rifle built to hunt whitetails in the woods

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And here it is reconstructed to hunt antelope at long range

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[Joel Russo]

Just like Buffalobob, I too am a big fan of the .240 WBY. My rifle has been custom built by Clarence Hammond and sports a 28" 9 twist Hart barrel. I have it throated for the 105 Berger's. It is my go to gun for varmints, coyotes and the like. I easily get 3380 fps with 48.5 gr of RL22. Yes, I usually only get two or three firings out of the Norma brass, but just like BB said... that's a small price to pay for such a lethal combination of speed and accuracy.
I have absolutely no regrets building this rifle, but if I had to do it again, I would go to the 8 twist bbl, set it up for the 115 Berger, and do a no-turn neck.
Just my .02 cents.