My first Weatherby

The barrel channel I thought I had totally free-floated. However, when the screws were tightened there was an asymmetry to the stock that became apparent--you could see the barrel move relative to the top of the stock as you tightened the front screw. I eventually found a swell in the barrel channel about 3" in front of the lug. It may have been intentional, like the knob at the front of the foreend since this vanguard is not a free-floated model. Long and short, I wasn't getting a stress-free mate of the receiver to stock. Everything is leveled off and the receiver sits properly in the stock now--the only remaining concern I have is that the lug slot is obviously much bigger than the lug, plus it's shaped differently. However, I might add that the back of the lug does contact the face of the rear of the recoil lug slot properly. I have a trigger coming in from RifleBasix--I haven't ordered one from the guy in a really long time and look forward to this one, within an hour of ordering it I received notice it shipped!

No matter how many new cartridges they come up with one thing never changes, a big, efficient .308 bullet moving very fast is a beautiful thing.:D
 
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Me thinks you may want to get some professional help there, Stag...;)

Your the only person i've ever heard call 30 cal "efficient".
Very fast is the Weatherby claim to fame, but again, not efficient.

6BR, 6.5 Grendel, now those are efficient.

All have their own point of putting a smile on the face though.
 
Quote:
a big, sufficient .308 bullet moving very fast is a beautiful thing.
Fixed it for ya
__________________
He may look dumb, but that's just a disguise.
-Charlie Daniels
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+1 :D:D

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I'm still having issues with the receiver screws staying put through many shots, gotta figure that one out. Their guarantee is 3 shot MOA or less at 100 yds using factory ammo--this certainly meets that guarantee (well, once you get past the "factory ammo" part).
 
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New riflebasix trigger has arrived--after talking with the folks at B&C it looks like by removing pressure points to free float the barrel you (me) change the harmonics of recoil between the action and stock even though it is pillared and bedded. The recommended solution is to do a skim bed, which I will do when I have the trigger out.
 
What twist is your Weatherby?
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I knew somebody would catch me on that--it's a standard 1:10 since it's intended for hunting. However, I looked at Berger's twist calculator and the velocities I'm thinking of pushing them with rates it a 1.3 +/-; so while sub-optimal for stability (1.5 or higher being optimal) I'm not that far off and might get OK results. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say.
 
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Went ahead and skim bedded the stock over the weekend. Originally I had planned on using devcon plastic steel--which up until now was easy to find in my area. I spent all day Saturday driving around near and far and nobody carries it anymore--everyone now carries the same J&B and Permatex products. Since I had some Score High 2000 epoxy on hand I decided to use it, though I probably should have just ordered the devcon on line and waited. The problem is the score high stuff is highly prone to flowing by gravity, which I didn't notice at first until I saw some seeping into the magazine inlet. Fortunately I saw it early enough that I turned the rifle upside down for the rest of the curing. Still, there were a few small spots where the epoxy didn't contact the receiver but overall the job worked. I went a bit overboard with the clay and cleaning that up took me longer by far than any other step in the process.

The first few shots wandered around a bit, then the groupings finally settled down. I think the wandering around was likely due to the fact that the harmonics had changed significantly--so it's a question for me to relearn the best way to balance and hold the rifle. I suspect that I probably also got a bit of clay crumbles possibly down into the bore, though I did clean it pretty thoroughly (or so I thought).

The good news is the receiver didn't budge n the stock nor did the screws loosen any. What's also interesting is since doing the bedding the screws really can't be turned much further past what I get at 35 inlbs each. The bad news is that I can no longer blame the rifle for my sub-optimal groups. ;)
 
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A 300 Weatherby Mag with a 1:12 or 1:13 twist barrel is ideal for best accuracy with medium to heavier bullets through 1200 yards. The 30-06's standard 1:10 twist is too fast for its bullets leaving slower than the 300 Wby Mag.

Use JBM's stability formula to see what twists give a 1.4 to 1.5 factor with all bullet weights at the muzzle velocities the 300 shoots them at.
 
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Yep, you never know until you try. If you do the math on my 39gr BK 204 loads it's as marginal or more than your calculation and I was getting little cloverleaf groups @100 that also held up @ 200yds.
 
stagpanther said:
The good news is the receiver didn't budge n the stock nor did the screws loosen any. What's also interesting is since doing the bedding the screws really can't be turned much further past what I get at 35 ftlbs each.
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Don't you mean 35 inch pounds?
 
I'm hoping the 245gr EOL Elite Hunters work out in my 300PRC, a .807 G1 BC is drool-worthy .
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I remember when Hornady rolled that out--unlike most other manufacturers they were atypically modest in their claims. I have a 375 Ruger and it is very accurate for a big lumbering bullet (kicks like a Lippenzaner though). That case was codesigned by Ruger and Hornady and it's a great one. The fascinating thing about good old Roy is that he took a "contrarian" approach and went with a really long freebore but a comparatively long neck--the theory (I believe) being get that bullet concentric with a running start from a long neck, a side benefit at the same time reducing the peak pressure stress afforded by the "long jump."
 
I finally gave up on the XTR--every shooting session was a battle of focusing every shot and I quickly developed a headache from eye strain--the Nightforce SHV is back on. I now have a colorful $1300 paperweight.:rolleyes:
 
Decided to try out the berger 230 gr hybrid targets propelled by one of my all-around favorite large magnum powders; H1000. I used the first 4 cartridges to get the SHV rezeroed to the rifle (it now sits on a 20 MOA base) and got this on my next 4 shot group. As promising as it is--the winds are howling and gusting to almost 30 mph and I decided to hold off on testing the next 6 loads and reload this group and come back another day when the winds aren't blowing as hard--I might get lucky and have even better results.

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