I acquired a Vanguard in 257 several years ago. I received 10 boxes of factory Weatherby 80 grain TTSX ammo in the deal. Once scoped I sighted it in at 100 yards and shot a 3 shot group. I was amazed to see a tiny cluster of 3 holes touching. I have since taken 3 antelope and 2 Coues deer with it. None of them took a single step and were down in their tracks. I was sad to hear that Weatherby discontinued this load.
why not the 257 wthby
- Thread starter crittrgittr
- Start date
WYO300RUM
Well-Known Member
Welcome back ! Is the velocity stated on the box ? Bet it's scootin along.
I got tired of using Weatherby brass. I necked down 264 Win Mag brass and 7 Rem Mag brass to 257 Weatherby, one pass in a 257 Weatherby Forster full-length sizing die. The double radius shoulder was formed perfectly on the new brass, lubed with lee sizing wax.
The neck came up shorter by about .050 and I had a reamer ground to that length neck, used Win brass which is tougher than the Weatherby(norma). I had .030 ONLY freebore put on the reamer.
100g at 3850 with 72g of R#22 with fed 215-26" Pac Nor Three Groove
115g at 3600 with 68-69g of R#22 with Fed 215-26" Pac Nor three groove
three shot groups are no larger than .300 plus the bullet dia. being no paper in-between the bullet holes. Federal and Nosler brass is crap for this application, and rem is not much better. Using AGD brass today would be a hands-down winner, and rework your load because the internal case capacity is different.
The key to necking down the brass is to put a deep chamfer on the case mouth, and the lee wax performed better than Imperial. Again, the results were perfectly formed double radius cases, slow and easy.
My nephew has a 25" X caliber 9T made off of my short freebore reamer now and he is shooting both the 110g Accubonds and the 115g bergers at 3590 fps into very small groups in a #5 contour barrel with a Gentry muzzle break.
It is worth a gunsmith's investment to have a reamer ground this way, based on AGD 7 Mag brass...no downside.
On a 26" barrel, the 80g Barnes ttsx would be doing 4200 with IMR 4831 or R#19, and 87g Speer hot cores were doing 4130 fps.
Now, fast forward to an 8T shooting NEW HIGH BC bullets, and have the gunsmith use a uni throat to throat to the length you want.
My nephew tried using new Nosler brass with the same load as the Winchester, and it blew the primer out of new Nosler cases on the first firing where the primers seated with much resistance. Case heads matter.
The neck came up shorter by about .050 and I had a reamer ground to that length neck, used Win brass which is tougher than the Weatherby(norma). I had .030 ONLY freebore put on the reamer.
100g at 3850 with 72g of R#22 with fed 215-26" Pac Nor Three Groove
115g at 3600 with 68-69g of R#22 with Fed 215-26" Pac Nor three groove
three shot groups are no larger than .300 plus the bullet dia. being no paper in-between the bullet holes. Federal and Nosler brass is crap for this application, and rem is not much better. Using AGD brass today would be a hands-down winner, and rework your load because the internal case capacity is different.
The key to necking down the brass is to put a deep chamfer on the case mouth, and the lee wax performed better than Imperial. Again, the results were perfectly formed double radius cases, slow and easy.
My nephew has a 25" X caliber 9T made off of my short freebore reamer now and he is shooting both the 110g Accubonds and the 115g bergers at 3590 fps into very small groups in a #5 contour barrel with a Gentry muzzle break.
It is worth a gunsmith's investment to have a reamer ground this way, based on AGD 7 Mag brass...no downside.
On a 26" barrel, the 80g Barnes ttsx would be doing 4200 with IMR 4831 or R#19, and 87g Speer hot cores were doing 4130 fps.
Now, fast forward to an 8T shooting NEW HIGH BC bullets, and have the gunsmith use a uni throat to throat to the length you want.
My nephew tried using new Nosler brass with the same load as the Winchester, and it blew the primer out of new Nosler cases on the first firing where the primers seated with much resistance. Case heads matter.
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WYO300RUM
Well-Known Member
80 gr. Barnes 4200 is screaming. I don't really want to run lower than 100 gr. bullets.
My load with 72.0 grs. RL26 and 100 gr. TTSX with no pressure is 3669 Ave.fps..5 shot bug holes.
74.0 grs. H1000 3624 Ave.fps. good groups.
71.0 grs. 7828 3590 Ave. fps.
None of the loads pressured.
All Fed 215M primers .
I use Norma brass. I thought they made Weatherby brass but they weigh different.
I'd like to find some ADG brass. I know they made a run of it awhile back.
No velocity listed on the box. It was made in Sweden. I have 18 round left and have only been using them for hunting. I was curious and decided to chronograph them. I shot the first one over the chronograph and couldn't believe what came up, 4070 fps. I thought my chronograph wasn't working so I shot my 22 rifle over it and was just under a1200. I shot a second 80 grain TTSX and this one read 4075! Definitely a hot rod. One of the Coues deer and one of the antelope I took were just under 500 yards.
WYO300RUM
Well-Known Member
Wow ! That's great ! What a flat shooting load for coues and lope. Being made in Sweeden I bet it's Norma brass.
I have 1 box 100 grain TSX but they don't shoot quit as tight. I have 80 TTSX bullets to try and duplicate the load when they are gone. I'm pretty sure the brass is made by Norma. I think Norma was loading all of the Weatherby ammo back then.
WYO300RUM
Well-Known Member
I was thinking Norma made Weatherby brass but I weighed a bunch of both. There was a consistent 10 gr. difference. I can't remember which way. So I can't swear to it being same.
I never retrieved a single bullet. All of them exited the off side.
WYO300RUM
Well-Known Member
That sounds like a Barnes if don't hit bone.
vanders
Well-Known Member
vanders
Well-Known Member
A picture is worth a thousand words!
vanders
Well-Known Member
257 weatherby with 110 eldx drop table and its a very moderate load it could go to 3500 fps with little effort
A Rifle range friend was shooting a Mark 5 in 257 Weatherby with factory ammo. He killed six big bulls on guided hunts. He booked with a new guide and was informed that the 257 was NOT an elk cartridge, so he had a custom 6.5/284 built, and this cartridge did not drop big bulls as well as the 257. I think that he was shooting 117g factory ammo made by Weatherby.
