Common Question

[Paulinus]

OK, I have not been a LRH, but this forum may be of assistance. I am faced with purchasing a new general purpose for moderate range deer (whitetail and mule) hunting (out to no more than 600 yards)in central Kansas. Based on expereince and research/conversations the choices have narrowed to the old standby .270 Winchester or .257 Weatherby. Any observations on these choices?

Thanks.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Personally, I'm not too big on either one for biggame @ 600 yards. I'd much prefer a 7mm mag. Lots of high BC bullets and enough horsepower to get them up to reasonable speed for dealing with the wind. Terminal performance would be more reliable too.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Paulinus]

I have a 300 Win mag for over 400 yards, but I am looking for a more general purpose rifle which would normally be used for 150 to 400, but it would be nice to be able to reach out to 600 if necessary. Thanks,

 

[Fiftydriver]

Paulinus,

If we were talking 400 yards I would say take your pic but when you add the extra 200 yards to extend things to 600 yards neither is really a great choice for game the size of some of your Kansas Whitetails and Mulies which can get pretty large.

This is in reguards to conventional factory rifles mind you.

If you took a 257 Wby Mag and chambered it in a 1-7" twist barrel and used something like the 156 gr ULD RBBT loaded to 2800 to 2900 fps or so, it would certainly be a potent deer round out to 600 yards. But this is a bullet with a BC in the +.800 range.

Factory rifles can not shoot these and common commerical 257 bullets are not really up to 600 yard shooting at big game.

THe 270 Win, while a great round is just not to the performance level to consistantly and reliably harvest game at these max ranges.

Now someone or perhaps alot of people out there will say this is plenty of gun but with so many other factory offered rounds out there that are better performing, why limit yourself with the standard 270 Win.

I see them both as 400 yard deer rounds but thats just my opinion. The 257 WBy factory offerings lack the bullets for the job, the 270 Win is limited in horsepower.

Good Shooting!!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Paulinus]

Thanks Fiftydriver. It makes sense. I know you produce custom rifles, but what would you recommend in a non-custom rifle? I am attempting to stay under $1000.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

A 300win mag in an accurate rifle is certainly adequate for whitetail size game animals out to 600 yards. Why not spend the $1,000 on a custom barrel, action trueing and a bedding job?
If your 300win already shoots accurate enough than I'd spend the money on a short to medium range rifle. I've always been partial to the 7mm-08, but if you're already loading for the 300win then a .308 might be a better choice.

VH

 

[Fiftydriver]

Paulinus,

If your looking to keep recoil levels down, I would look at a 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Rem Mag. Very easy to shoot and plenty of power for this range if the rifles are up to the challange.

For more performance, something long a 7mm STW would be hard to beat but with more recoil as well.

The 7mm RUM and 300 RUM are also top performers but with alot of recoil. Adding a muzzle brake and quality recoil pad really cuts the bite out of these big rounds.

An accurate 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag would be very hard to beat. Even the new 270 and 7mm WSM are great long range rounds for deer size game.

Good Shooting!!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[LB]

Is this supposed to be a off the shelf factory rifle?

If not, I'd consider buying a used 700 long action and have a new barrel chambered in 280Ackley. That's not very complicated.

Good hunting. LB

 

[dakor]

Paulinus I think I would take a hard look at a 264 WIN Mag over a 257 Weatherby. You can shoot anything from a 90 grain to a 160 grain and the BC's will be very high. Infact a 140gr bullet would have plenty of bc and weight for shooting 600 yards probably more like a 1000 yards with the velocity you will get with it. Recoil will be about the same as a 257 Weatherby and brass will be a lot cheaper.

 

[Paulinus]

Thanks for the responses. I have been thinking in terms of factory rifles and ammo. While I have been deer hunting for 45 years, I do not have any experience with wildcat offerings. Maybe someone can point me to a good summary of the available wildcats. For example I have not idea what a 257 Allen mag or the 280 Ackley mentioned above are or their ballistic performance. Now the 264 Win mag. was (may still be) a factory load, but I have not seen a rifle chamber in it.

 

[Fiftydriver]

Paulinus,

I would not recommend my 257 Allen Mag for someones first shot at a wildcat round. Its not hard to load for but its as extreme as it gets in a 257 caliber round.

These are three of the 257 Allen Magnums flanked by two standard 25-06 rounds.

Performance wise, near 4100 fps with a 100 gr bullet, +3300 fps with a 156 gr Ultra Low Drag bullet.

The 280 AI is a far more practical wildcat to get started with. Nothing more then the 280 REM with a sharper shoulder angle and shoulder diameter increased. You can simply shoot factory 280 Rem ammo in the 280 AI rifle to form brass and your ready to roll.

Forming the 257 AM is a bit more complicated as its based off the 338 RUM case.

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[RBrowning]

Paulinus,
When I was in Oberlin KS shooting P'Dogs the farmer was telling us that the 25-06 was the weapon of choice around there and was good to 500 yards if you did your part. I started looking for one and ran into a 257 Wby for a great price and have been very pleased with it, except for the cost of factory ammo.

I found that it liked the 115 grain Barnes X-bullets the best and Weatherby lists their retained energy at 1359 ft*lb at 500 yards - way more than any deer needs to convince it to quit living! (Sierra put a more conservative 1100 ft*lbs out for their 117 grain boat tail at 600 yards, but still more than enough) I found that on a realitvly calm day I was hitting a clay pigion about 1/2 of the time at 710 yards, again good enough to convince a deer to give up. I feel very comfortable out to 600 yards and if the wind was calm I wouldn't pass on an 800 yards shot.

No matter what you choose, good luck and remember to practice, especially in the wind. The wind is a bigger problem than distance.

 

[Paulinus]

Thanks for the responses. I have purchased a new Weatherby Big Game Master in .257 Wby. The dealer had a 25-06, but made me a real deal on the Weatherby.

 

[Guest]

Why do people ask directions if they already know where they are going?