New to reload 300 wby

[rickycandela]

Hi guys, thinking about starting to reload for my 300 wby, been doing some calculations and after the math I come up to about $1.00 per round in materials picking up my own shells after shooting, (I have about 80 factory Weatherby, and 40 Remington shells)
Also, would like some opinions on how many times is safe to reload this shells?
Pardon my ignorance but I never reloaded before, and want to make sure I’m doing this thing right and I don’t over spend specially when the factory Weatherby bullets are about $2.00 a round out there.

Is it worth the aggravation and risk of making a mistake and damaging your rifle and Potentially myself?
I’m planning to read and educate myself pretty good before I pull the trigger in this endeavor, to reduce the user error factor.
Is there a risk for some defective primers or bad powder etc?

I see a 50% savings (that’s not counting the initial investment in some decent equipment). Planning to get Hornady stuff (95100) but I’m not worried about that.
Of course once I get the hang of it I will start reloading other calibers I have, like 9mm, 40 S&W, 38 special, 357mag, 5.56, 45acp, .50ae and 500S&W, but I tell you what, if I get a Big Bang or a damaged weapon I will probably stop doing this in a heartbeat for good.
I Don’t target practice with the 300 wby but I’m worried about this communists trying to take our guns or perhaps our bullets.
I was born and raised in Cuba, a messed up country under dictatorship where you couldn’t bear arms to protect yourself and others, so you would have a idea about my trauma, came here 30 years ago with 20 years of age and swore to protect the constitution of this country and my family at any cost when I became a citizen, and will not run again.
I do some decent shooting, not every day, but I have a few expensive caliber guns.

Any advice and opinions will be appreciated. Thanks for responses in advance. Ricky.

 

[Unclenick]

Welcome to the forum.

Reloading for the Weatherby is no more risky than for any other gun. Read the published load data carefully and always load the smallest load in the published range first and try it. When you do that, you will be looking for pressure signs. If you don't have any, you go up by no more than 2% in the charge weight and try that. Usually, one can go all the way to the top load without getting pressure signs, but sometimes that does not happen and you have to back the charge down 5% from where the first pressure sign appeared.

Case life will depend on your method of reloading. If you fully resize the cases (best if you are going hunting because you want to be sure they feed easily and fast from your magazine in case you need a follow-up shot) then you will get the fewest loads from each. For the belted magnums, numbers like five reloads are not uncommon. However, Weatherby brand ammunition is made for Weatherby by Norma (part of the reason the loaded cartridges are expensive), and they test their cases at the factory to withstand loading and firing ten times. So you should be able to get nine or ten reloads from them. If you change from standard reloading to sizing just the neck of the case and just a little bit of the shoulder, you can double the case life or maybe get a bit more.

Fro 180-grain bullets, your loads will use about 80 grains plus or minus some amount of the right powder. At $30/pound, that will give you 85 to 90 loads for about $0.34 for powder. The bullet cost will depend on your choice. In 180-grains, buying online I can find expensive ones that are over $1, but also perfectly good ones like Sierra GameKings and Speer Grand Slams that will probably cost you $0.36 plus shipping. You will pay about $0.035 for a magnum primer, so about 0.74/round before shipping is included on any of those items unless you feel you need more expensive bullets. Also, if you turn out to reload a lot, you can buy bullets 500 at a time and powder 8 pounds at a time and primers 5,000 at a time and save a good deal of money per round. But you have to be doing some shooting. Your Weatherby's barrel won't stay accurate for 5000 rounds.

 

[Bart B.]

A friend used a 300 Wby Mag for 1000 yard matches. Used 4831 powder and Sierra 190 grain bullets in the 28" 1:13 twist barrel. Full length sized cases setting the shoulder back no more than .002 inch, the cases then headspacing on their shoulders for best accuracy and 15 reloads per case was normal.

His RCBS die had its neck honed out to about 2 thousandths less than loaded round neck diameter and the expander ball was removed.

 

[rg1]

First and most important is to size your brass to headspace on the case shoulder and not depend on the belt. You need a way to measure how much the shoulder is pushed back when sizing. Only push the shoulder back .002-.003". Otherwise you can have dangerous case stretching just in front of the belt. When I first started loading my 300 Wea. I was getting 3 reloads before the case was showing the stretch ring inside the case and after 4-5 loadings the stretch was really bad. Search for info on sizing belted magnum cases. I was pushing the shoulder back too far when first starting.
Second, Remington brass that I've loaded has less case volume than does Weatherby factory brass. I've noted that you should use 1 1/2 to 2 grains less powder than Wea. brass to get the same velocity. I'd load a full two grains less. Best powder I've loaded has been Norma MRP magnum rifle powder. Nearly the same as Reloder 22. Several good magnum powders for it. I load mostly 150 and 180 grain bullets but 165's are good too. Most don't need heavier bullets unless you're hunting large or dangerous game.
Have fun loading your Weatherby. I recommend a recoil shoulder pad for range testing or you'll start hurting your shoulder and flinching badly. We may need some Patriots in the near future to protect our rights. The 300 Weatherby is one caliber where you can save a bunch reloading for it. $60.00 or so for 20 rounds of factory is expensive. I would highly recommend using only Federal 215 Magnum rifle primers for the 300 Weatherby.

 

[rickycandela]

Thanks all for the replies, I have been warned about not following strict steps and pay attention to what you are doing when reloading, the truth is I’m very careful with firearms and plan to do the same when reloading.