Re-chamber .25-06 to .257 Weatherby Magnum

[Jerry 919]

This winters project will be rechambering Ruger M77VT (Target barrel 26") from .25-06 to .257 Weatherby Magnum. OAL is the same. Magazine will be no problem. Have local first rate smith to re-chamber and modify bolt. Will remove considerable wood from the overly bulky stock and pistol grip.

Hopefully this will be a good shooter. Freebore is the only major question. Desire will be to shoot 100 grains Nosler Ballistic Tips around 3600.

Any load or powder suggestion will be appreciated.

Should be a healthy 400-500 yard coyote getter.

Jerry

 

[JD338]

Sounds llike a nice project. I like the quarter bores and was hoping Remington woould offer their Classic series in 257 Roy.
The 100 gr BT at 3600 fps should do the trick on coyotes to 500 yds easy.
You might also want to consider the 110 gr AB as a single load for song dogs as well as deer, antelope, and caribou. :grin:

The Nosler RG #5 recomends IMR4831 start at 64.0 and Max 68.0 grs.

JD338

 

[madman]

A good friend of mine had a Ruger #1 rechambered from .25-06 to .257 roy. It is a shooter. I enjoyed shooting it so much that I bought a custom barreled Sako.

85gr Ballistic tips leave mine at about 3800fps. My choice for powder is IMR7828ssc. It's .5moa accurate, and the rifle doesn't care if I feed it the 85gr, 100gr, or 110gr bullets. I have yet to kill a 'yote with it, but I figure the 85gr BT should do the job nicely.

--Mark

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

You already have a 500 yard coyote getter, easily. I am a big 25-06 fan and have shot them out to 600 yards with the 85/115g btips. It will kill them a lot farther then that. 800 yards is not out of the question with a 25-06. A 257 WM will do em in out to 1K. If your going to be shooting longer ranges, I recomend a 100g or 115g bullet for the wind bucking ability, not to mention they hit a lot harder...

 

[Jerry 919]

Thanks for the comments. This one will fill the gap between .243 VT shooting 70 grain BT's at 3600 and .270 shooting 130 AccuBond. Want to settle at 100 grain BT or possibly 110 AccuBond. Should be able to shoot them as far as you can see them.

Took one coyote last year with the .243 at 583 yards. One shot. Like the idea of 100 grains in cougar country. The coyotes are getting smarter, but still manage to get 75-100 each year.

Thanks again,

Jerry

 

[Touch not Squeeze]

I use RL22 and Fed 215 match primers. 100 gr XLC I graphed @ 3600 consistantly. 100 yards my brother(it's his rifle) can cover 3 rounds with a dime. He has a Mark V. I do have a question. Is the receiver/action going to be heavy enough for that round? I know there is a considerable difference between the Wby magnum and standard cartridge guns.

 

[Jerry 919]

According to my gunsmith this should not pose a problem. He says that the action is more than enough for the cartridge. The looming question is the amount of "freebore" required. Rifle should arrive on Thursday. It will be in his hands on Friday. Just in discussion around here many favor RL 22. Have suggestions from 68.0 to 73.0 I will start around 66. Another frequently mentioned powder is H4831SC followed my IMR7828.

While the action and barrel are away I will reduce the stock dimensions and weight. Upon return I will pillar bed it, top it with Leupold 6X18 and then the fun begins.

Will probably break in with some factory stuff for 100 rounds or so then start development of a load. Only want one load, but it has to be a shooter.

Thanks for your comment.

Jerry

 

[Guy Miner]

I don't have the specs, but some of the guys around here have had custom barrels chambered for the .257 Wby with no freebore... They work up their loads carefully, and are getting BR quality groups from the flat shooting deer and coyote zappers...

I'm sticking with my .25-06, 3340 fps with a 100 grain bullet seems to be "enough." :grin:

Dad has a .257 Wby built on a Mauser 98 action though - real nice shooting rifle too. Built by Roy Weatherby back in the old days, before the Mk V action.

Regards, Guy

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Guy- I feel you about the 25-06 being "enough." When I was 15 or so, I wanted a 257 WM like no other. However, that young, weatherbys that expensive, I was just dreaming. I figured the 25-06 was the next best thing. I dont know if a 257 WM would have killed any of the animals I've shot with my 25-06 any deader or faster. I have no complaints on the 25-06 whatsoever. I would still love to havea fast .257", but its going to be a 257 STW or 25-300 WM.

 

[FOTIS]

http://www.imrpowder.com/data/rifle/257weathby.php

 

[Touch not Squeeze]

Guys lets not forget IMR4831. I have worked some loads with this powder in the 257 Wby, and obviously we know the burn rate is comparable to RL22, and I think it is safe to say, we probably have a lot of it around. I would have to look at my data, but I think it did have a slightly slower MV (around 50fps) but if I recall correctly, it was more consistant in speed from round to round.

 

[300rummy]

I use that powder in a 100 grain load in the 06, and get a little over 3500 out of it, it's pretty hot though, with 2 different 25-06's it shoots great out of one, but a little to much pressure on the other.

Guys lets not forget IMR4831. I have worked some loads with this powder in the 257 Wby, and obviously we know the burn rate is comparable to RL22, and I think it is safe to say, we probably have a lot of it around. I would have to look at my data, but I think it did have a slightly slower MV (around 50fps) but if I recall correctly, it was more consistant in speed from round to round.

 

[LoneStar]

IMR4831 is okay and if it performs well in your rifle by all means use it. But it is very close to IMR4350 in burning rate, while H4831 is considerably slower. The right powder to use is the one which works the best in your rifle.

I have two .257 Weatherbys, one an Accumark and the other a Jarrett-barreled Ruger No 1. The Ruger has no freebore and will shoot three shot groups under 0.5 moa with 100-grain BTips and IMR7828 powder. No other combination was as accurate, but who really needs that much? The Accumark shoots very well, sub-moa with several loads.

I prefer 100-brain bullets for everything I shoot (like Roy did) and change the construction when changing targets. Biggest game was a 45" moose when I lived in Alaska - one 100-grain X bullet, 50 yards, dead moose. I liked BTips for deer but if one is closer than 200 yards the expansion is too much. I solved that by using the X-bullets for all game, and the BTips for varmints. I could just as well use Partitions for all game, but I bought a lot of the Barnes bullets on a sale a few years ago......


.

 

[cloverleaf]

Well its nice to see some body talking about quarter bores for a change. I wont get started on my 250 savage cause you all want to burn lots of powder. Ive been trying to get Savage to chamber the 250 for years but here's another idea. The "25 pronghorn" or the 25 WSM, NOT SUPER SHORT. Neck a 270WSM down to .25 cal. and you reportedly get a case that wil beat the 257 Wby. with less powder and potentially shorter action. Why Winchester didnt go for that instead of the "super short" is beyond me....
Barring that, the ONLY problem with the 257Wby. is finding and paying for ammo. the 25's are still one of the best Cal out there to bad we get short changed for bullet options :? Hint, hint Nosler CL

 

[LoneStar]

Cloverleaf, you are an extreme powder hog! That over-bore .250 Savage is a disgraceful waste of powder! Get yourself a .25-20 and learn how to hunt!

J/K. Actually there are plenty of bullet choices in .25 caliber, enough to satisfy almost anyone's practical desires. I have two .25-20s, a ,25-35, a .250-3000 and two .257 Wbys. I have owned most of the other popular .25s along with a few wildcats and have never felt short changed on bullet choices. From 60 to 120 grains from the popular bullet makers, and up to 125+ grains from custom makers, who really needs more?

I love all the talk from the wildcaters about how they can really beat the performance of so-snd-so cartridge with less powder in their wonder creation. Doesn't happen. At equal pressures, more powder capacity means more velocity. The only way to beat the .257 Weatherby is to:
1 - go to a bigger case like the .257 STW
2 - abandon safety and use much higher pressures in a smaller case.

This same story has been repeated since wildcatters started necking up and down brass cartridges. In the 1940s a number of wild cat designers got a lot of press by claiming extreme velocities for their creations. When these claims were independently checked by the American Rifleman and others the usual results were:
1 - the actual velocity was no where near the claim, which was seldom based on chronographing.
2 - The velocities were obtained in ultra-long barrels, upt to 30" and more.
3 - The chamber pressures were extrmely high, sometimes over 80,000 CUP.

I'm sure that Winchester passed up the .25 WSM for the same reason that they got burned on the .264 Magum - short barrel life. They already had severe barrel errosion problems with the .22 WSSM and .243 WSSM, why intorduce a cartridge that would be almost guarnateed to cause problems? Nope, they made the right choice in passing on the .25 WSM as a commercial offering - but I'm not certain the .25 WSSM was a good idea.

.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Winchester shoulda came out with the 25 WSM in my opinion as well. It would equal weatherby factory velocities. Why they didn't is beyond me. I know it probly would have been a little bit more of a seller then the current 25 WSSM. That does nothing good old 25-06 will do. The reason I dont like weatherby is there rifles, cases and powder consumption just aren't cost effective in my mind. If winchester woulda came out with the 25 WSM, it woulda easily competed with the 257 WBY. I know I would have definately bought a 25 WSM if that was the route they were to take, but they didn't so oh well. I'll just continue to shoot my 25-06 I guess and be completely happy with it!

 

[cloverleaf]

Lone star- call me a powder hog??? you are the one (if I read correctly-) with 2 257 Weatherby's. My 250 Savage will kill any deer or pronghorn that walks within ethical ranges where I can hit what I'm aiming at. To top that off I wont have to wipe the tears from my eyes after I pull the trigger.....Course I aint very tough

As to wether or not there are enough bullet options, I like to experiment.

My OPINION is that the WSM craze is 90% marketing ploy to get you to buy somthing. If I remember correctly, I think I've read that Roy offered to replace any shot out barrel and didnt have any takers...but dont quote me on that.

As to wheteher or not I can hunt, well I'm still learning.....but me and the old 250 savage have gotten lucky.

My POINT was that the 25-06 will do anything the 25 WSSM will do. Regards, CL

 

[sportjon]

Ive been shooting 115 grn barnes x & tsx out of this gun and decided to try something new for a change.The barnes bullets shoot extemly well out of my weatherby alaskan and have killed everything on the north american continant I can afford to hunt with ease.I get 1/2 inch or less with 73 grns of H-1000.Looking for a place to start with the 110 Acubond and hope I have as good of luck with the Acubond

 

[Jerry 919]

Weapon has performed well at the range as well as some gong work out to 450 yards. Groups consistently 1/2'to 3/4" (3) shots at 100 yards. Velo is consistent at 3650 FPS. Onlt thing missing was field test on a coyote. Weather here has been lousy with high winds everyday and scattered snow showers. On days when the weather was ok couldn't find a coyote.

Finally last Tuesday left the house with ok skies and no wind and fresh snow on the ground. By the time I got to the area wind was blowing 20-25 MPH with snow flurries. Visibility about 400 yards + or -. Spotted a broadside coyote at 350+, dialed up to 18x with a good rest, good sight picture, good squeeze. Through scope saw tail flip up and heard good "whack." Chambered another round grabbed camera and started towards the spot.

Looked up and the coyote was in high gear and vacating the area. Have you ever thried to pick-up a sprinting coyote at 400 yards with your scope dialed up to 18x power? Man, I was pissed and disappointed. Continued on second quessing myself and chewing my own butt. Really wanted the first shoot on a coyote to score.

After half an hour I asked myself, "What if there was two????" Turned around and it had snowed so hard I could not even see my own tire tracks. Went home. Pissed.

Next morning went back to the area with my coyote partner. He was not there the previous day. We has clear skies and great tracking snow. We didn't need it. As we approached a bald eagle was sitting in a tree and about a dozen crows were dancing about. The coyote was been worked over some by the birds so it was difficult to surmise the size of the exit hole. It was really well opened up and I'm guessing the hole was about the size of a bowling bowl. Nearly cut in half. Hide might have yielded a pair of gloves.

Will be going out in the morning for another. Forecast? Yep, windy with snow flurries. I'll keep you posted. Hopefully with photos. So chalk-up #1 with .257 Rugby 100.

Jerry
Bend, Oregon

 

[coyotetrapper]

I too have never seen the need to go to a 257WM versus a 25/06. What little you gain and it is little over the 25/06 isn't in my mind worth the extra burnt powder or brass prices. Your not going to kill anything "deader" at 500 yrds with a .257WM over the 25/06 if both are using quailty bullets and the same shot placement. Just my .02 cents.