257 Weatherby

G

gman3

New member
I recently acquired a 257 Weatherby Magnum. I was not planning on hand loading for it, but the sticker shock for factory ammo kicked in. Anybody have one, and have any tips, or known pit falls to avoid?

I mean particular to the Weatherby cartridges. I already load many others.
 
When I loaded for my 7mm Weatherby long ago, I FL sized new cases and then put a nickel edge between the die and holder before locking down to ensure I didn't push the shoulder back. With max loads of H4831, I'd get 7 loads per case.
 
Used to load for the 257 wby fairly regularly, when still hunting. 100 grain Barnes bullets, RL-22, neck sized and Fed 215 match primer. Get 3 full power loads from one case, then had to set shoulder back slightly and decrease loads. Bullets seated out far, but still able to cycle smoothly. The Wby owned has a good amount of free bore, and needed cleaned down to metal every 20 or so shots to maintain best accuracy.

There are now newer (slower)powders, hotter primers and other suitable bullets.
 
The "generic" Norma made ammo is far cheaper than the other factory Wby ammo. Occasionally, some factory blems or overruns will show up at Nosler.
I reformed 264 Win mag brass many years ago. It works OK but comes out a little short. The Winchester cases are somewhat harder than Norma.
 
Thanks. The rifle is a Remington 700. I have a bunch of 100 grain Swift Scirrocos that I use in 25-06. The magazine box in the rifle is real long, looks to have over an inch in front of the factory rounds. I think I'm going to try 7828 first.
 
gman-the Rem may have less free bore than a Wby. A max load in a Wby, may be an overload in Rem. Just something to check for.
 
Apparently not. I shot it today, not happy. The Weatherby ammo had a velocity spread of over 70 fps. Accuracy was mediocre, (really it was all over the place) and velocity was about 100 fps slower than advertised.

Also shot some 30-06 hand loads, velocity was right on the load data with a spread of 7 fps on 10 rounds. 1.25" at 200. So, it ain't my shooting.
 
What barrel length, bullet and velocity? Have no personal experience with the Remington version, but he Wby version ownerd has a 26 inch barrel. A 24 incher could easily be 100 fps slower with an overbore cartridge.

Was getting close to 3600 fps with 26 inch barrel and 100 gn bullet. Got vg accuracy, after free floating barrel. The barrel heats up right quick.
 
I wan to know how much free bore a chamber has. I have checked free bore in chambers, in a few I have pushed the bullet out of the case before the bullet made that long trip to the riflings. And the question is always "How did it get like that?" and I alw3ays answer "I do not know". there was a time:) when reloaders were a little dangerous with a little information. There was a time owners added free fore to existing chambers. the 300 Win Mag has a short neck, it is somewhere around .264" long from the shoulder/neck juncture to end of the neck. to some the problem had a solution, they increases the free bore. It seemed that solved two problems, it increased case capacity and lowered pressure. Back to the short neck, some reloaders formed 300 Win Mag cases out of longer cases. Meaning they increased the length of the neck in the chamber and they increased the free bore.



F. Guffey
 
It's a 26 inch barrel. Velocity was from 3500 to 3568. Their ballistic info says 3610 I think in a 26 inch barrel. The accuracy really is not even acceptable hunting accuracy. That is a fairly short bullet though. Something longer may be a little better. At $4 per bang, a lot of experimenting with factory stuff gets expensive quick.

I want to think its the bullet and not the rifle, but the stock and trigger leave a lot to be desired.
 
gman-while I liked the 257 wby for longer range deer, ifen I was doing it again, it would be a 25-06 or 270. Can remember waiting over a year , just till the brass made it to U.S.

The brass, dies and powder charges were expensive 20 years ago. Would look first at the muzzle crown, then check if barrel is free floated.
 
257 weatherby magnum

Dont let this happen. http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4928827#post4928827
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Crown is good, like new. Its not free floating, as it is a synthetic (injection molded) factory stock. That's going to go as soon as I find a take off wood stock that I can glass bed. The stock is definitely contributing to the problem I'm sure.

What is disappointing to me is the velocity spread on the Weatherby Ammunition. That is not conducive to great accuracy either. I get 3380 with my 25-06 with a 24 inch barrel with the Scirocco, so I'm getting within 120-150 fps to the 257 Weatherby load I'm using. 100 grn Hornady SP which is supposed to be around 3602 according to their info.

I do have some 7mm Rem Brass, I may try forming some to 257. Any problems?
 
I think you're a little confused about actual vs published velocities. EVERY barrel will be different and will even change during it's life. A new(ish) production line bore will almost certainly show different velocities than a worn test barrel.
A velocity spread of 70 fps isn't all that much for a high performance hunting round.
I spent a considerable amount of components finding an "accurate" load for my first 257 Wby and haven't conquered my second (a Vanguard). One to 1.5" groups may be as good as you get and even that may not happen every day.

"I do have some 7mm Rem Brass, I may try forming some to 257. Any problems?"

I would plan to ream or outside turn case necks(maybe both) to ensure concentric and even case necks. The reasons I used .264 brass was slightly less neck reduction and I didn't own a .264(do own a 7mmRM).
 
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Gman, its the rifle and not the WBY ammo. I have had several .257 WBY rifles over the years. I still have one. They were all Weatherby made. They shot anything that came out of a WBY ammo box sub moa and usually 1/2 MOA. My only experience with a non Weatherby made Weatherby was with a Rem 700 .300 WBY. That rifle was picky as heck. I finally found ONE and only ONE load it would shoot decent. That is after bedding and floating. It needed the action squared and the chamber re-cut; what it got was sold.
 
Unfortunately, I think you may be right Mr. Reynolds. Sad to be in denial, but taking a realistic look at the severity of the problem it has to be the rifle. Five or six inches at 200 yards is probably the rifle.
 
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