.243 win vs .257 weatherby

angrysoldier said:
is it a common round the 257?
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Ahhh, yes, if for the enthusiast.

This from memory from a magazine article I read more years ago than I care to think about . . .

For those who aren't familiar with it, the .257 Weatherby is the most devastating varmint cartridge ever developed. It wasn't long before I sighted on a chuck, pressed the trigger with the normal results for the gun. Someone pushed me rudely on the shoulder, birds faltered in flight from the concussion, grass began to burn from the muzzle flash, and the chuck was vaporized. The farmer came roaring down the road in his pick-up and asked if I was alright. I said that except for ringing ears I seemed to be in one piece. "I thought your rifle blew up," he exclaimed, "damndest noise I ever heard!"
 
You are talking "apples & oranges." Of course the .257 Weatherby is a much more potent round... does that mean you should get one??? That all depends on your personality... if you just gotta have the best (and you also reload), then go get it... but if you can be satisifed with a nice caliber that is more than sufficient for your purposes, stick with the .243.
 
I had both. My 257 (Weatherby) was expensive to load, expensive to shoot and nice to look at. It was an excellent shooter too.

My 243 (Savage Max 1) is cheap to load, cheap to shoot and butt ugly too look at. It is deadly past 400 yards. Not much opportunity past that range as the forest gets in the way.

The 257 wuz my safe queen so I sold it to a fellow gun-nutter. The 'yotes hit with my rig fall fast and hard. What more can one ask for?
 
hoytcanon said:
You are talking "apples & oranges." Of course the .257 Weatherby is a much more potent round... does that mean you should get one??? That all depends on your personality... if you just gotta have the best (and you also reload), then go get it... but if you can be satisifed with a nice caliber that is more than sufficient for your purposes, stick with the .243.
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This is good advice. I like the ballistics of both but the 257 sure does have a cool factor. If you don't reload then you should really look at the expense of the 257. I have always thought reloading the 257 would be fun.
 
Indeed you are trying to compare an apple to an orange. The 243 is one of my all time favorite cartridges and I have shot out 2 rifles in this caliber and have 3 more in my vault. But at best it is a marginal big game caliber, and before the sh!t hits the fan I'll add IMHO. The 257 is also a pet of mine and I have used several rifles extensively. This is an excellent light to medium game cartridge and a much superior killer on animals over 100 lbs, this has been my experience.
 
I would look at it this way, the .243 is a practical man's choice of rifle for varmints to medium game. The .257 WBY is an impractical man's choice for a rifle with varmints and medium game as the excuse. So are you the kind of guy who who pulls the trigger and smiles quietly to himself with satisfaction once he sees his game fall, or are you the kind of guy that giggles like a child inside every time you touch off the trigger?

If you answered the latter you need the bee.
 
257 punches well out of it's weight class. Awesome ballistics, awesome reach, awesome price. Also barrel wil not have the life span of a 243. (highly over bore)
243 is not even in the same ballpark.

257 Bee gets my vote. Personally experienced it efficacy on elk..
 
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The .243 is a Ford pickup and the .257 Weatherby is Ferrari. Sounds like your need is to drive to work every day. So, either will do the job just fine but one is certainly ###ier.:D
 
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