257 WM

[remingtonman_25_06]

I'm about to start working up a load for a friends new 257 WM for antelope season which is only a short month away. Its a custon built stainless bdl rem 700, w/26 lilja, w/ rem mcmillan stock, built by Shawn Carlock of Defensive Edge. Very nice rifle.

He gave me 100g NBT's and H4350 to start the work up.

But, first I have to finish breaking in the barrel and mount his 3-9 leupold in leupold bases/rings. He only shot 5 rounds w/115g Berger VLD's to start the break in process but he works out of town and does not have a lot of time. He knows I love to work up loads for rifles and usually pretty good at it, so hes letting me have at it. He only has 20 brass for it and the 15 are still loaded with the 115g VLD's. I plan to shoot 3-5 shot groups and then scrub it down and it should be pretty much broke in then. He bought a Redding neck size die set so I'll neck size them and start figureing on a load w/100g NBT's and H4350.

Anybody have any luck with this combo??

According to quickload, 64.4g is MAX for a velocity of 3563fps w/H4350. I was thinking of starting at 61, and go to 62, 63, and 64, 3 shots each, so that would be only 12 shots. Depending on how those shoot, I'll go in .5g increment to find the sweet spot if need be. So should find a load that will shoot 3/4" or better at 100 yards within the next 20 rounds. I'm not sure how it was throated so hopefully it dont have that long freebore to not reach the lands, I"ll find out later tonight by denting a fired case neck and chambering it with a 100g NBT.

keep you all posted on load development.

 

[JD338]

Remmy,

Any thoughts to using the 115 gr BT? Its higher BC would make for a great Antelope load.

JD338

 

[Jerry 919]

Remingtonman,

The rifle sounds sweet! Please post a picture. Over the last two years I have worked up loads for two different .257 WM's. Used four different powders on each. The final loads for each rifle will shoot under 1/2 " inch at 100 yards.

The best powder for the 85 grain BT was RL19 at 3830 FPS. The 100 BT burned Retumbo at 3650 FPS. The 110 AccuBond was moved by IMR 7828 SSC at 3400 FPS.

Start your loads with OAL in the 3.17 to 3.18" range. If I moved the bullet out the accuracy got worse. For whatever reason they require a lot of jump.

This cartidge is flat and fast and kills like a laser. I have killed coyotes will all three loads.

You will see why this is my favorite cartidge.

Good luck,

Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

JD- He wants the extra speed and trajectory for antelope right now since he dont have a target knob scope set up. Really, he'll probly only be shooting a max of 500 yards with his standard 3-9 leupold. The ol kentucky elevation dont normally work out to well and he knows that. I told him to just buy the 115g and be done with it because it will be a lot better for deer and still do the job on antelope. I think he just had some 100g layin around and didn't want to buy any 115's at the moment. Either way, the 100g NBT will flat smack a goat, not to worried about it.

Jerry- Thanks for the info on the OAL. I was going to start about .010" off as thats where most my rifles/loads have always liked. Granted they haven't been WBY's.

I tried finding the OAL with the 100g NBT and its throated to long to get to the lands. So, I was thinking of just seating it a calibers depth to start with, .257", which would put the OAL at 3.386". I'll start there first and if that doesn't work out, I"ll definately look into the shorter OAL. I've just always had better luck with a longer OAL.

 

[Jerry 919]

I drooled on my keyboard.

Everyother rifle I own likes rounds as long as the magazine will accepted. Both Weatherbys have about 3/8 " freebore and I could even get close to the lands. The bullets could not be seated. I started at about 3.25 " and groups were like shotgun patterns.

I read an article by Layne Simpson in Shooting Times and he had the same observations. I took his advice and they really started to shoot.

The 110's are sighted in dead-on at 300 yards and drops just over 17" inches at 500.

We suspend tennis balls at 300 yards on parachute cord and knock the hell out of them.

Jerry 919

 

[jtoews80]

My 257 wby is a cheap little vanguard sporter and it shoots 1/2 MOA all day if I do my part. My Rile was shooting really well with IMR 4350 and today I tried some loads with WC 868 and again 3/4" and that should've been 1/2". I have been neglecting my rifles this year because of work and now getting my truck back on the road.

Great round and that DE rifle looks great. It will flat out stomp deer sized game.

JT.

 

[FOTIS]

Very nice gun. RL 22 / rl 25 and IMR 7828 really rocks in the 257 Bee!

 

[GB300wm]

Remmy, my best accuracy came early in my load development with the 110 nab and imr7828. This powder also gave me the best overall results with 100 grain bullets also. I shot 71.0 grains 7828 with the 110nab for a 3490 av velocity and very accurate. 73.2 grains of 7828 with the 100 tsx also gave excellent accuracy with a 3680 av velocity. 73.2 grains 7828 with a 100 gs custom is still better with accuracy(all .5 moa) and yielded 3714 av velocity. As you can see this caliber is not very finicky and likes a wide variety of powders. I worked up loads with rl22,rl25,h1000,imr7828 and h4831. All produced sub moa accuracy with velocity being the deciding factor for me and imr7828 won that. H1000 would be my second choice as I had very good results with it too.
Unless your chamber was cut with a custom reamer, it will have the weatherby freebore, but don't be scared of. This round likes the jump to the lands and that lilja barrel will really build you some velocity. My rifle liked the 110nab at 3.250" and the 100 tsx at 3.125" and the gs custom at 3.210". These areas seem to by my sweetspots with these bullets.
On a closing note, 257 weatherby mags are scary accurate and you should have no problem finding a great load. Good luck and keep us posted on your results. I'm also interested in the 115 vld's. I have some coming in to try. :grin:

 

[JD338]

Remmy,

Beautiful rifle for sure. Those 100 gr BT's will shoot almost as flat as road kill. Looking forward to hearing the range report.

JD338

 

[Jerry 919]

JD 338,

I had never heard the phrase "shoot almost as flat as road kill" before. Got to love it. I will use it often and I will give you appropriate credit. Thanks

Jerry 919
Bend, Oregon

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Well I went out and shot 5 rounds through it. I bore sighted it at 50 yards by taking the bolt out and centering the barrel to where I wanted, then I moved the reticle to where my barrel was and Wah lah, will be on paper at 100 yards w/out firing 1 shell. On a sidenote, I didn't get out in the morning like I planned, more like mid day and it was 100 degrees out on the nose.

I fired the first 2 shots at 100 yards with the 115g VLD"s and they were about 1.5" low and 2" right, and they were touching. By the 2nd shot however the barrel temp was probly over 200 degrees. I waited 5 minutes to shoot the 3rd to see if I could get a cloverleaf group w/out any load development but it was flung about 4" to the left. I bet most of that is due to the barrel being so hot. Not really to worried about it. I shot the other 2 rounds into dry newspaper at 50 and 150 yards. Thats going to be in another post at a later time. I'm going to scrub it down and clean it and shoot the remaining 10 115g vld's and do it in the morning next weekend to see if it will do a nice 3 shot group. I bet it will easily put those 115's into .5" if the barrel isn't so hot. The load is the minimum load from Hodgons manual. I dont even know how many grains he loaded them at but I could look it up if I really had to.

Thanks for the info on the 7828, I'll definately keep it in mind and run it by my buddy. I was looking at QL and Retumbo doesn't seem to be a bad peformer in the 257. Gives the fastest velocities anyway. He'll probly end up trying that retumbo with some 115g NBT's for his deer hunting load.

 

[JD338]

Remmy,

I think the 115 gr BT would be a good choice. :wink:
Try rubbing the barrel down with rubbing alcohol to help cool the barrel between shoots. The evaporation will pull the heat out.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

Those are some smoking velocities.

 

[GB300wm]

Yeah pop, she's really flat with all three loads that I listed. I had the gs customs to 3750fps, but it was too hard on cases. I had to bring it down to a nominal level. Imr 7828 has a sharp pressure spike when you get near max.I do have a 26" tube on an accumark and she does not heat up as bad as remmys. I think that the #3 barrel and the flutes help a lot.
Remmy, what velocity are you seeing with the 115vld's? :grin:

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Not sure just yet, didn't set up the crono. I might for $hits and giggles this weekend when I finish them up breaking in the barrel, still got 10 of them left. Figure I'll do (3) 3 shot groups at 100. There a minimum load so I would suspect something along 3200fps or so.

 

[LoneStar]

...He wants the extra speed and trajectory for antelope right now since he dont have a target knob scope set up. Really, he'll probly only be shooting a max of 500 yards with his standard 3-9 leupold. The ol kentucky elevation dont normally work out to well and he knows that....

He does realize that at 500 yards there's no practical difference in velocity or trajectory between a 100- and 115-grain Nosler bullet. Kentucky elevation indeed...... :lol:

I settled (again) on the Hornady 120 HP in both my .257s (can't find any of the Noslers I have used in the past). The Hornady is highly accurate and terminal performance on deer is great up close and at long range. No practical difference from the 100s except a bit more terminal energy at long range and better performance up close....




.

 

[TBASTIAN]

Lonestar,
Have you shot the 100 Grain Hornady's? I just loaded up three different loads using RL 25. I'm anxious to get out and try them. If you've shot critters with them, how'd they hold up and a what range did you use them. Thanks.