Power/Recoil

You can turn the 270 weatherby into a 257 weatherby with 110 gr bullets. The 257 will never be a 270. If you reload the price of brass shouldn't be much of a factor. jmo, for what it's worth. :)
 
I’ve been collecting Barnes TTSX 110gr in .277 for awhile. Did some spring load development in my 270 with Hybrid 100 and best accuracy is just over 3300fps. Haven’t shot at long range or any game for that matter yet but quite confident they’ll work. Should be able to get more speed from a 270 Weatherby, just not sure it’s required.
 
Dogleg said:
I've used both more than a little, culling in AU and NZ. I got 61 reds and fallows before lunch one day with the .257 which was a pretty encouraging. Thing is though; anything the .257 can do the 270 'bee can do better. Neither kick enough to mention, so I wouldn't worry about that much.

Starting with a clean piece of paper I wouldn't build either one though. Consider a big 7 of some sort (Then build a 7-300 Win ;) Bullet selection, brass availability and lack of free-bore make it practically a no brainer.

Fast killing is more about bullets than cartridge head stamp.
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What do you think about the .300 Weatherby?

And do all those calibers need a 26" tube or can I shorten to 22-24? I want a rifle that is good for horseback hunts in AB/BC and the territories as well as hunting whitetails in ON/AB/SK.

I do not reload so I think a 7-300 would be off the table.But to be honest I don't really care how much the ammo costs. I do practice but I don't shoot a lot. I am a hunter/adventure guy who loves rifles but living 10 mins from CN tower, 3 kids under 9 and my own business I rarely have the time to get out. Maybe 3 times a year I shoot rifles. That said I grew up shooting my pellet guns and .22 every single weekend at my parents cottage for hours and hours. Shooting, building forts and making fires in the bush is basically all I ever did LOL.

My goal with the rifle is to build a classic north American style rifle in a classic North American caliber.

That said I do have 2 almost identical 1947 Winchester model 70 receivers so I could potentially build a light rifle and a big rifle.........thats the more expensive but easier solution of course.
 
pete dobinson said:
You can turn the 270 weatherby into a 257 weatherby with 110 gr bullets. The 257 will never be a 270. If you reload the price of brass shouldn't be much of a factor. jmo, for what it's worth. :)
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In October 2020 - so year and a half ago - I bought 4 boxes of 20 Weatherby brand brass (80 brass) for 7mm Weatherby Magnum. Was $234.99 mailed to me ($2.94 per case). I suspect many folk would find that "shocking". We were also able to buy 2 boxes of 20 (40 rounds) factory Weatherby rounds for 7mm Weatherby - 160 grain Partition bullets - was $333.63 couriered to Russell, Manitoba - ($8.34 per round) - I could not find any others for sale anywhere in Canada, then. I suspect was why my buddy got such a great deal on that rifle - a Weatherby Mark V - need a fairly healthy income to be able to afford to feed it.

Was also sort of shocking to me to go through the pressure tested loading manuals - is no longer much difference among 7mm Rem Mag, 7 mm Weatherby, 28 Nosler, and so on. Nosler Reloading Guide #9. All are capable of 3,000 fps plus with 160 grain Partition - I do not know any shooters that can show they can take advantage of the faster one. The 28 Nosler and the 7mm STW both show higher velocity than the Weatherby 7mm - so far as I know all three might need the longer action than does the 7mm Rem Mag. I notice that all four 7mm's use 24" test barrels in the Nosler book.
 
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Price of ammo not being a problem is one thing but availability is a real one, if you can’t find the ammo you need to feed your rifle then the rifle is useless unless you stock up on ammo before you built the rifle then you now for sure you have ammo for it!
 
243,260 or 7-08.
I’ve taken deer and bear no problems with a 243 and 100g partitions.

Wouldn’t hesitate to take it on a moose hunt either.
 
What do you think about the .300 Weatherby?

And do all those calibers need a 26" tube or can I shorten to 22-24? I want a rifle that is good for horseback hunts in AB/BC and the territories as well as hunting whitetails in ON/AB/SK.
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I've had a few 300 Weatherbys and still have one. It's a classic in it's own right, having been around since the 40s. With factory ammo it'll out-do the 300 Win handily in velocity, with handloads I never found much difference with barrels the same length. Both like a 26", plan for 50 fps per inch shortening the barrel. If recoil is a concern; forget about the 300 Weatherby. You won't have to ask anybody if the gun went off. It's noticeably more than 300 Win, which is already pushing it for casual shooters. The .257 and 270 Weatherby are like windblown twistle-down by comparision.
 
Potashminer said:
In October 2020 - so year and a half ago - I bought 4 boxes of 20 Weatherby brand brass (80 brass) for 7mm Weatherby Magnum. Was $234.99 mailed to me ($2.94 per case). I suspect many folk would find that "shocking". We were also able to buy 2 boxes of 20 (40 rounds) factory Weatherby rounds for 7mm Weatherby - 160 grain Partition bullets - was $333.63 couriered to Russell, Manitoba - ($8.34 per round) - I could not find any others for sale anywhere in Canada, then. I suspect was why my buddy got such a great deal on that rifle - a Weatherby Mark V - need a fairly healthy income to be able to afford to feed it.

Was also sort of shocking to me to go through the pressure tested loading manuals - is no longer much difference among 7mm Rem Mag, 7 mm Weatherby, 28 Nosler, and so on. Nosler Reloading Guide #9. All are capable of 3,000 fps plus with 160 grain Partition - I do not know any shooters that can show they can take advantage of the faster one. The 28 Nosler and the 7mm STW both show higher velocity than the Weatherby 7mm - so far as I know all three might need the longer action than does the 7mm Rem Mag. I notice that all four 7mm's use 24" test barrels in the Nosler book.
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Living on the west coast there's not anything price wise that shocks me anymore. lol :p
 
This discussion has gone all over the place with respect to power and recoil, and a lot of good ideas have been presented. However, I think the recoil part of the equation has been ignored with some of the suggestions. There's just no way, for example, for the 300 Weatherby to meet the light recoil requirement that is desired. It's important to realize that power (ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy) and recoil (ft.-lbs. of force on the shoulder) are perfectly related--i.e., as power goes up so too does recoil. So the quest here is for an acceptable balance--enough power for the game mentioned and light enough recoil to permit accurate shooting without fear of a punishing kick.

For this reason, I don't really see the Weatherby cartridges as the best bet for the OP's purposes. Both the 270 Win. and 270 Wby have been suggested. However, the 270 Wby, producing 3400 fps with a 130-gr. bullet, will dish out about 26 ft.-lbs. of recoil in an 8-lb. rifle. The 270 Win., on the other hand, with the same 130-gr. bullet at 3100 fps, will produce about 18 ft.-lbs. of recoil in an 8-lb. rifle. So the Wby kicks almost 50% more than does the Win. for that extra 300 fps muzzle velocity. To my shoulder, 18 ft.-lbs. of recoil is pretty mild, and I can shoot my .270 Win. with not the slightest apprehension about kick. The 26 ft.-lbs. of recoil from the Wby, on the other hand, is noticeable, and, if you don't shoot a lot, it might induce a flinch.

So the question is: Does the extra 300 fps from the Wby make that much difference in the field. I think that, unless you are shooting beyond 500 yds., the two trajectories are similar enough that the 270 Win. will be sufficiently flat-shooting for almost all hunting of the deer-size game specified by the OP. Just to put that idea into more concrete terms, consider the 130-gr. example, with the velocities noted, and with both the 270 Win and 270 Wby zeroed to to impact +3.0" at 100 yards (an old Jack O'Connor recommendation for longer-range hunting). Thus zeroed, the two have the following impacts at 300 and 400 yards:

300 yds.: 270 Win: -1.3"; 270 Wby: +.9"--or a difference of just over 2"
400 yds.: 270 Win: -11.5"; 270 Wby: -7"--or a difference of about 4.5".

In my opinion, the difference in drop at these long ranges is not great enough to result in a killing hit with one, but not the other, and so the 270 Win. would be my suggestion. That bullet at 270 Win. velocity will retain 1256 ft.-lbs. of energy at 500 yards--well beyond the usual guideline of 1000 ft.-lbs. of impact energy needed for clean kills of deer-size game. It will do just about everything a hunter of North American game could ask for and with very-tolerable recoil--evidenced by its continuing great popularity among hunters. And, of course, Jack O'Connor hunted dozens, if not hundreds, of the species mentioned by the OP (sheep, goat, deer) with his 270 Win. and wrote glowingly about its performance.
 
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South Pender said:
This discussion has gone all over the place with respect to power and recoil, and a lot of good ideas have been presented. However, I think the recoil part of the equation has been ignored with some of the suggestions. There's just no way, for example, for the 300 Weatherby to meet the light recoil requirement that is desired. It's important to realize that power (ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy) and recoil (ft.-lbs. of force on the shoulder) are perfectly related--i.e., as power goes up so too does recoil. So the quest here is for an acceptable balance--enough power for the game mentioned and light enough recoil to permit accurate shooting without fear of a punishing kick.

For this reason, I don't really see the Weatherby cartridges as the best bet for the OP's purposes. Both the 270 Win. and 270 Wby have been suggested. However, the 270 Wby, producing 3400 fps with a 130-gr. bullet, will dish out about 26 ft.-lbs. of recoil in an 8-lb. rifle. The 270 Win., on the other hand, with the same 130-gr. bullet at 3100 fps, will produce about 18 ft.-lbs. of recoil in an 8-lb. rifle. So the Wby kicks almost 50% more than does the Win. for that extra 300 fps muzzle velocity. To my shoulder, 18 ft.-lbs. of recoil is pretty mild, and I can shoot my .270 Win. with not the slightest apprehension about kick. The 26 ft.-lbs. of recoil from the Wby, on the other hand, is noticeable, and, if you don't shoot a lot, it might induce a flinch. So the question is: Does the extra 300 fps from the Wby make that much difference in the field. I think that, unless you are shooting beyond 500 yds., the two trajectories are similar enough that the 270 Win. will be sufficiently flat-shooting for almost all hunting of the deer-size game specified by the OP. The 270 Win. would be my suggestion. It will do just about everything a hunter of North American game could ask for--evidenced by its continuing great popularity among hunters. And, of course, Jack O'Connor hunted dozens, if not hundreds, of the species mentioned in this thread (sheep, goat, deer) with his 270 Win. and found it more than adequate.
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That right there! Since the op mention that he doesn’t get to shoot much we can assume he shouldn’t shoot at game past 300yd! And again since he doesn’t get to shoot much, getting used to 25+Ftlbs of recoil from a magnum round rifle and being proficient with it might be a lot to ask! So I would say max 270win as well!
 
I have never used a 257 or a 270 Weatherby. But a 270 Win would easily do what the OP is asking for. With a 130 grains bullet, and a mv of 3060, sighted in to hit 3 inches high at 100 yards, the mpbr is around 300 yards. Above that distance, aiming at the top of the back gives a kill up to 400 yards. The 270 win has always done that and will always do, even with a 4x scope.
The 6.5x55, using a bullet with high BC like the ABLR 142 grains, going at 2800 fps, will do the same.
A few weeks ago, I played a bit with the 110 TTSX in the 270 Win. I had a very accurate load out of my 22 in barrel at 3380 fps for a mpbr +/- 3 in at 350 yards and only -8 at 400 yards.
 
DGY said:
Price of ammo not being a problem is one thing but availability is a real one, if you can’t find the ammo you need to feed your rifle then the rifle is useless unless you stock up on ammo before you built the rifle then you now for sure you have ammo for it!
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an excellent point that I need to seriously consider especially in todays world.

Trying to find 2.5" 20 bore game loads for my vintage shotguns has been next to impossible. Luckily the gun is still being restored and wont be ready for a while but its super annoying trying to find this stuff.
 
Tell me about factory ammo in the weatherby cartridges. Are they loaded on the side of lower velocity? Lots of bullet choices??
 
Historically the Weatherbys made their reputation on Nosler Partitions for everything, and Hornadys for deer sized game and practice. They loaded the snot out of them with good solid Norma brass and made their claimed velocities handily with who knows what pressure and what many believe to be the strongest action in existence. They didn't worry about SAMI spec until much later. For years many hand-loaders had trouble matching factory velocities.
These days there's lots of bullet selection; whether they shoot or not in your individual rifle is another matter.
 
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