Yote/whitetail - 257 weatherby or .243

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bordr69

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I'm looking at getting another rig and
have been looking at a weatherby vanguard. I noticed the 257 weatherby mag and don't have any experience with it. Can anyone give me a little info on the cartridge compared to a .243. I reload so cost and availability isn't a problem. Look forward to some responces. Thanks.
 
Throat might be pretty well gone by time you get a load worked out for Weatherby Mag
and brass is very expensive
 
bordr69 said:
I'm looking at getting another rig and
have been looking at a weatherby vanguard. I noticed the 257 weatherby mag and don't have any experience with it. Can anyone give me a little info on the cartridge compared to a .243. I reload so cost and availability isn't a problem. Look forward to some responces. Thanks.
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There is really no comparison between the 2 cartridges. The 257 Weatherby Magnum is a magnum class cartridge where the 243 Winchester is certainly no magnum.

Like comparing a 270 Win to a 300 Win Mag.

As mentioned the brass/ammo for a 257 Weatherby is expensive and usually a bit hard to find.

Recoil is almost double of a 243 Win.

I know a 243 Win can be an extremely accurate cartridge. I don't know about the accuracy of the Weatherby.
 
"...keep with a 243..." Good idea. Ammo and brass is everywhere and reasonably priced.
Not so much with anything Weatherby. Frontier Firearms, for example, wants $49.95 for .257 100 grain ammo. Remington 100 grain .243 runs $19.95.
 
I own both, and will tell you straight away the .243 is a better dual-purpose gun. The .257 is a very different beast, I use mine specifically for long range deer from a stand. It's not light or handy, and it burns a ton of powder which brings it up quite a ways in terms of recoil. It is spectacularly accurate, but takes a lot more effort to shoot well than my .243.

It really boils down to usage. If you have a niche that the .257 fills, then go for it - it will help justify the cost (even for reloaders, brass is very expensive and it eats tons of powder, best bullets are premium - TTSX/GMX).

Otherwise if you just want another gun in another caliber to do the same thing just a bit differently, there are a lot of other options. The Vanguard is a solid gun. I love mine, it has an amazingly good trigger right out of the box.

What are you looking to do with the new gun?
 
I mainly shoot a 300wsm or 30-06 and was looking for a smaller rig for whitetail, mulies, antelope and yotes. I was looking at a 243 and the sales guy at basspro said to consider the 257 as it is very comparable and a little better for long range. I take it he is talking out his ass. Thanks
 
mikeyb, I think he wants to shoot yotes and whitetails??
But, your advice is sound, tons of powder and expensive brass is about right.
Someone said the throat will be washed before the OP developes a good load.

Yah roight, whats wrong with duplicating the factory specs?
Failing that one could always buy factory ammo, but from $45.00 promo stuff to $105.00
premium factory bullets, (Nosler, Barnes) The cost return on hides would not even begin to pay.I took the liberty to post some Wby bragging stuff...

"All Weatherby® (Mark V® and Vanguard®) rifles are guaranteed to shoot a 1- 1/2" (or better) 3-shot group at 100 yards from a cold barrel when used with Weatherby® factory ammunition. For Weatherby® rifles chambered in non-Weatherby® calibers, the guarantee is effective when premium loads are used. If for some reason your rifle does not shoot within the guarantee, Weatherby advises you to send the rifle to a Weatherby-authorized service center. After being tested by the service center, if indeed it does not shoot within the guarantee and the rifle has not been altered, the service center will repair the rifle under warranty, or forward it to the factory for inspection and replacement approval, if deemed necessary.

Weatherby guarantees that your rifle will shoot at a minimum one bullet type and grain weight within our accuracy guarantee. We do not guarantee that every bullet type or grain weight for every caliber will shoot within our accuracy guarantee."

Really, if the OP wanted to compare apples to apples, he might have chosen the 25:06 to compare cause after all the .257 Bee is maybe 150fps faster in a chosen bullet (100gr.)weight.
I bought my .257Wby because I liked the ballistics, had a spare $500.00 to buy ammo and found that it will eat any of the ammo I bought with the heavier bullets are within 1 inch of the lighter bullets.
I am good to go out to 300yrds on paper, but I will not shoot it to that yardage cause I aint good enough.
As for the .243 it will do more than my .257 Bee and do it a whole lot cheaper too.
Sorry for the rant, but had to voice me .02,
Rob
 
Yes you can get a vanguard in 25-06. I was looking at one at Del Selins on saturday. Will probably be my next purchace to fill the void between 22-250 and 280 rem, unless a nice 6mm rem shows up somewhere.
 
Like Manbearpig said a 25-06 is an excellent cartridge, or a .257 Roberts might be a viable alternative as well. Not quite so overbore, but capable of impressive velocity. I would take one over a .243 for the slightly better bullets.

Concerning the Weatherbys, one thing that turned me off of them a little was the "freebore" that's used. Not sure whether it's only the Weatherby rounds that use this. Accuracy guarantee not withstanding I'm a little leery on getting anything to write home about for accuracy with this kind of set up.

Maybe someone who owns one can disprove this?
 
You can neck down 7mm Rem Mag brass to .257 Weatherby in one pass, so there goes the expensive brass arguement. Even if you use weatherby or Norma brass, you don't need 1000of them.
I've got a couple .257s that shoot well under MOA, free-bore and all.
 
Naysayers

The armchair quarterback/hunters out there will never get what the .257 Weatherby is all about. In a word it's PERFORMANCE

With a .243 and a 100gr slug = 3000 fps. A 25-06 with a 100gr you. fps can reach 3350fps All 3 of my custom 26 in barrelled .257 Weatherbys reach 3800+ fps with 100gr factory ammo and my handloads using IMR 7828 with 100gr bullets.

For all those who think this is slightly faster than the .243 and .25-06, plunk your money down and see what real speed in a hunting rifle/cartridge is capable of in the field. :p
 
JJ-65 said:
The armchair quarterback/hunters out there will never get what the .257 Weatherby is all about. In a word it's PERFORMANCE

With a .243 and a 100gr slug = 3000 fps. A 25-06 with a 100gr you. fps can reach 3350fps All 3 of my custom 26 in barrelled .257 Weatherbys reach 3800+ fps with 100gr factory ammo and my handloads using IMR 7828 with 100gr bullets.

For all those who think this is slightly faster than the .243 and .25-06, plunk your money down and see what real speed in a hunting rifle/cartridge is capable of in the field. :p
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, a super Whiz-bang cartridge doesnt make you a better hunter. No different than a higher powered cartridge making you a better long range shooter.

And yes, I own a 257wby. I personally dont care for the Wby freebore. My 257wby has a shot out barrel and going to be rebarrelled as a a 260 Rem.
 
Mad_Mikee said:
Last time I checked, a super Whiz-bang cartridge doesnt make you a better hunter. No different than a higher powered cartridge making you a better long range shooter.

And yes, I own a 257wby. I personally dont care for the Wby freebore. My 257wby has a shot out barrel and going to be rebarrelled as a a 260 Rem.
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How are you going from a 257 Wby to a 260 Rem?
 
.257 Weatherby, quite frankly, is a terrible cartridge. Most of the Weatherby's are in my opinion however. Grossly overbore, barrel burning, loud as hell. I shoot real magnums too (.375 H&H and up), and even there Weatherby cartridges manage to skew everything the wrong way. Best gun you could pick for your roles is a .25-06 likely, as suggested by previous posters.
 
I have a .257 Weatherby Vangard and it shoots like a laser, the brass is expensive and doesn't reform as easily as other cartridges when reloading. You can't touch the barrel by the third shot. I bought it as a novelty more than anything else. I also have a Savage in 25-06 which is an excellent gun and in no way is less desirable than the Weatherby. The 25-06 brass is cheap, You can easily reform from .270 and you are only loosing about 100-200 fps over the Weatherby. If you want a good long range quarter bore you could do worse than a 25-06 and while I have a 22-250 for varmints I think the 25-06 would make a better yote gun. Nothing wrong with a .243 either... thery're cheap to feed too.
 
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