The 257 weatherby mag...tell me about it

willy11

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I'm buying a weatherby vanguard in a 257 weatherby mag, got a smokin' deal on it. Tell me things about this cal, any experiences, do you own one, what can I expect, downfalls, recoil, anything is good. I plan to use it primarily as a deer rifle with the odd coyote/wolf hunt. Good for elk? Moose? Bear?
 
I have one on order as we speak. Remington has offered them this year in their CDL and LSS models. From everything I've found on this cartridge....it seems to be the bean feild cartidge dreams are made of. The quarter bore bullet has a very strong follwing amungst those who hunt long open spaces and feilds in the mid west. Although I hunt in S.Ontario, we still have 300-400 yard shots over alphalfa and cut corn. I'm planning on starting off with five boxes of Remington corelokt factory ammo, and then use the Rem brass to handload the Barnes TSX and Nosler AccuBond. It seems that some years ago Norma Brass in the 257 Roy was soft and primer pockets expanded. Weatherby factory ammo ($$$) uses Norma brass still to this day and costs twice that of the Remington factory loads available this year. But if you want some you better pre-purchase it because it will get swallowed up fast by the likes of guys just like me that buy them by the half dozen. I've bought some 75 grain v-max bullets for experimentation on large dirt pigs at extended range. I look forward to mounting the new Leupold 4.5-14x50 LR Illuminated B&C scope on it and stretching its legs. A great cartridge with tons of history...Roy's favorite.
 
257 !!!!

Great cartrige , I have one on order as well supposed to get it in April I ordered the ACCUMARK , Two of my freinds own them and use them for deer , the ammo is on the expensive side , but i reload so that help's.
 
Similar thread discussed previously although the search function on this forum isn't the greatest.. A member once posted this link and it is an excellent review and well worth the read

Titled: "From mice to moose, the .257 Weatherby Magnum does it all"

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ammunition/ST257weatherbymagnum_031706/

The ammunition is $$, so as Machinist said... re-load is probably the way to go.

It's good to see Remington produce an option in .257wby now!! I wonder if that will spark some ammunition companies to start offering more alternatives.

I'd love one someday, but then again I'd love a 6.5 swede, a 20ga. O/U, a Savage MLII muzzleloader, a Longbranch, etc........ ah to dream!!
 
Since it came out, it has always been one of the flattest shooting guns made. Still true today, and for hunting it is a great choice, don't over use it at the gun range and let the barrel cool between shots, keep it clean, and you'll have one of the true long range hunting rifles for a long time.
 
Since it came out, it has always been one of the flattest shooting guns made. Still true today, and for hunting it is a great choice, don't over use it at the gun range and let the barrel cool between shots, keep it clean, and you'll have one of the true long range hunting rifles for a long time.
x2.......:sniper:
 
257

I took a mule deer with one at 100yards this year and with 110 accubonds doing 3500fps from a 26'' tube, it went down fast with a spine shot, recovered the bullet and it weighed 72gr. and mushroomed perfectly. The load I use shoots .5'' 5 shot groups, other words I think the .257 weatherby is the flattest shooting low recoil factory deer cal. there is.
 
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I'd love to get one, but the Vanguard's 24inch barrel is a bit of a disappointment. This is just the sort of round that calls for 26 inches or more.
 
I have a vanguard stainless and a custom built on a mauser. The vanguard 24" bbl. is a slight disadvantage. It produces on average 130 fps less than the 27" on the mauser. More with heavy bullets and slow powder. Still a nice handling rifle and I think good value for the $. I necked down a bunch of win. 264 brass and they work fine. Mark
 
I'd love to get one, but the Vanguard's 24inch barrel is a bit of a disappointment. This is just the sort of round that calls for 26 inches or more.

Yeah, mine only clocks 3575 with 70 grains of RL22 and a 100TSX. And it turned out the lights on a cow elk yesterday faster than you would believe.

POS... :rolleyes:
 
I picked up one for my boy last year, it shoots passibly with most loads that I tried, but turned out to love IMR4831 with 100s. It's annoying how often the Nosler manual "favorite powder" works out as the best. Anyway I look at it as the 7 STWs little brother, same speed and trajectory with 40 grains less bullet and 270 level recoil. Clobbers deer. The .257 apparently was Roy's favorite cartridge of the bunch.
 
Anyway I look at it as the 7 STWs little brother, same speed and trajectory with 40 grains less bullet and 270 level recoil.

I have owned both with the 257wby driving a 100gr bullet at 3550fps,and the 7mmstw driving a 140gr bullet at 3500fps.Very similar velocity,but the 7mmstw shoots slightly flatter,with slightly less wind drift due to the higher BC of the 7mm bullets.
 
Yeah, mine only clocks 3575 with 70 grains of RL22 and a 100TSX. And it turned out the lights on a cow elk yesterday faster than you would believe.

POS... :rolleyes:


Yeah, yeah, relax, I'm not saying it's useless. But if you want a cartridge that's all about velocity, then why not give it the extra barrel length to make it shine?

Especially if you can't handle a bigger gun and have to rely on the peashooters for everything.:)
 
Because of the extra 500 bucks to have a custom barrel installed to gain a few extra fps. Read on the net, the average loss is 25-40 fps for each inch of barrel. Its not really worth it.
 
Yeah, yeah, relax, I'm not saying it's useless. But if you want a cartridge that's all about velocity, then why not give it the extra barrel length to make it shine?

Especially if you can't handle a bigger gun and have to rely on the peashooters for everything.:)

You're on to me. :) I've heard about all these 270's and 7-08's and would like to try them but it scares me. Any advice?
 
Hi Martin. It still is, 225 grain TSX's at 2950 relax anything I point it at.

But it's hard to be scared of 270's and talk about it in the same conversation! :D

You know the deal though...this is fun and games. Besides, it doesn't take a cannon to kill a cow elk.
 
I took a mule deer with one at 100yards this year and with 110 accubonds doing 3500fps from a 26'' tube, it went down fast with a spine shot, recovered the bullet and it weighed 72gr. and mushroomed perfectly. The load I use shoots .5'' 5 shot groups, other words I think the .257 weatherby is the flattest shooting low recoil factory deer cal. there is.

Now I've never shot or owned one of these cartridges, but this statement leaves me less than impressed! If you recovered the bullet on a spine shot mulie, it ain't nothing to crow about! My .30-06 blows 2" exit holes on deer. The only bullets I've ever found were in a large moose shot through both shoulders and being caught in the hide on the other side.
 
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