Which .257 Wby Mag factory ammo?

[Rhino Hunter]

Please don't flame me for not rolling my own. I don't have the time to do it right now, nor do I have a mentor. I recently picked up a .257 Weatherby Magnum Accumark that I am completely satisfied with. My only dilemma is that I don't reload...yet. I do see it happening in my future...but it will probably be a while.

Anyway, my question is...which factory ammo is the best for me. I will be using if for 200-600 yard shots on deer sized game.

I ran into a pair of guys in out in CO in October on a deer hunt that liked the Weatherby 100 grain Spire points.

Thanks for your input.

Rhino Hunter

 

[RBrowning]

When I bought my rifle a few years ago I bought a box of each type Weatherby made and tried them all. It favored the 115gr Barnes X bullet. I bought a goodly supply and haven't had to buy any more since.

I see that they have discontinued that round but I suspect that the 110gr TSX would do well too. At the Barnes reloading site they tell you to set your bullets .050" off the lands as your starting length, instead on near or into the lands as most advocate. This seems to go hand-in-hand with the Weatherby design of "excessive" freebore to keep chamber pressures down. That would be my first load to try, followed by the Accubond. But you really need to try a few before making an investment in a large stock of something that doesn't work well in your rifle.

Best of luck with you new toy.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Anybody else use .257 Wby Mag factory ammo?

 

[gunwalker]

I also like the Barnes, I've killed two antelope(30 yds, 425 yds) and one mule deer (400 yds) all with one shot. The spire points also shot good out of my rifle and I had a one shot kill on an antelope at 175 yards. I do not recommend the ballistic tips, four shots at 120 yards and my brother in law had to put one more round into a mule deer a few years back.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Gunwalker,

Thanks for the response and welcome to the Forum.

I shot a nice mule deer buck in the neck/spine while in CO in October with a handload 117 grain Sierra Game King from 52 yards. It exploded in there and nothing ever exited the animal. It did result in an incredibly gross amount of blood from the nose and mouth though! It dropped him like a bag of rocks...straight down.

RH