The 257Wby Mag - What a Cartridge

[BK]

I did not know about the SPS-SS Remington,

As far as I can tell, it's not a catalog item, but I held a couple in my hands in a little gunshop in central Oregon, and I think I saw one at Sportsman's Warehouse in Portland. There's a couple threads about them at 24hourcampfire.com

 

[Guy Miner]

bullet - Great to see such enthusiasm for the good old .257 Wby - Grandpa had ol' Roy Weatherby build him one back in the early 1950's on a Mauser '98 action - no Mark V back then. No brass for the thing back then either - Grandpa had to form it from .300 H&H stuff. Dad still has that wonderful old rifle although we've done our best to get rid of the rifling from the barrel by shooting it too much and too hot... :grin:

As a kid I was a little afraid of the thing - it was a WEATHERBY MAGNUM after all. Then I shot it. Goodness - low recoil and a terrific flat trajectory. No wonder Grandpa liked that rifle so well.

My quarter bore is a .25-06, but that too has benefited from the new super bullets on the market. A .257 with good bullets is one heck of a hunting cartridge!

Glad you like yours so much! :grin:

 

[bullet]

bullet - Great to see such enthusiasm for the good old .257 Wby - Grandpa had ol' Roy Weatherby build him one back in the early 1950's on a Mauser '98 action - no Mark V back then. No brass for the thing back then either - Grandpa had to form it from .300 H&H stuff. Dad still has that wonderful old rifle although we've done our best to get rid of the rifling from the barrel by shooting it too much and too hot... :grin:

As a kid I was a little afraid of the thing - it was a WEATHERBY MAGNUM after all. Then I shot it. Goodness - low recoil and a terrific flat trajectory. No wonder Grandpa liked that rifle so well.

My quarter bore is a .25-06, but that too has benefited from the new super bullets on the market. A .257 with good bullets is one heck of a hunting cartridge!

Glad you like yours so much! :grin:

Thanks for the story about your Grandpa, I see that your linage is filled with hunters, shooters and gun lovers and that is so cool. Yes I have owned a Ruger Mark II in 25-06 when I was young and it was a killer and I have owned two 257Wby's they were also great killers. The quart bore kills much better than one imagines it can and the new monolithic bullets of today with the fine brass, primers and new powders really has elevated the quarter bore and brought it into it's own. I have always liked the quarter bore cartridges and love the 257Wby. Roy Weatherby just had a feel for things and the risk he took making the 257Wby became a brillant move. I am sure glad he took the risk.

 

[Guy Miner]

The older Nosler #3 reloading manual talks about how the .25-06 is both a varmint cartridge and a deer cartridge - by simply swapping bullets. The author was talking about the 100 gr Ballistic Tip for varmints and the 100 grain Partition for deer.

I think we've got a similar thing here - except that the .257 Wby and the new mono-metal bullets are likely to be even better. Not that there's much, if anything, wrong with the 100 gr Partition...

 

[cottonman1973]

Bullet that 257 is just about the ultimate deer killing machine, I alway shot 100 grain BT's pushed by 74.5 grains of Reloader 22 with excellent results.

 

[bullet]

Bullet that 257 is just about the ultimate deer killing machine, I alway shot 100 grain BT's pushed by 74.5 grains of Reloader 22 with excellent results.

Yes, you are 100% right about how it kills deer. It is something to see when that little fast bullet hits like it was a fright train moving at light speed.

 

[BK]

I am really wanting to buy a .257 Weatherby... almost certainly a Remmy SPS-SS. Seems like most of the Weatherby rifles these days are 24" barreled jobs, and with a speedster like the .257. I want all the go I can get. Plus I like long barrels.

bullet, what are you running for a scope? If I pull the trigger on one, I will probably run a Leupy VX 3 (that's what they are calling the new ones, right?) 4.5-14x50 LR. Unsure on the reticule... could be B&C, Mil Dots or the custom shop long range dots. (Assuming Leupold didn't change reticule choices on the new scope.)

My limit for game I would want to take with a .257 tops out at spike/cow elk. But that more because I need to be able to justify more rifles in the safe... gotta have a need for the existing .300 mags and .35 Whelen, and percieved need for a .375 and .416. Hey, if Nosler makes a bullet for it, I need a rifle for it.

I did not know about the SPS-SS Remington, but I do know about the
CDL Stainless fluted & the LSS & both of those offerings do have 26" barrels. On those 2 upper end Rem models I would expect them to shoot as well as a Wea., though I would not bet on either & the Rem is very easy to work with. Either would be great.

http://www.huntthewest.com/updates/updates-257-4.htm

 

[Savage99]

The old 257 Weatherby Magnum seems to be an internet topic of the moment.

I for one look at the Weatherby designs as difficult. They have freebore which takes away from accuracy and barrel life and in general the Weatherby product has too much chrome!

For what I like is reflected in what I have which includes a battery of pre 64 M70's including a .264 WM Westerner.

The rifle on the right is the Westerner.

 

[BK]

That's a couple of nice looking rifles!

I like most of the Weatherby cartridges, but mostly their rifles leave me cold. I prefer classic looking rifles... the Remington CDL and Winchester Classics Supergrades are good looking designs. When Weatherby had their Classicmark, I thought about picking one up, but I just had a hard time spending that much on a rifle (I think I was in my early 20s when they were available)

 

[cottonman1973]

You are right Savage most weatherbys are a little flashy. My 257 wby was a model 700 rem. A friend of mine built. Hope to Build me a new on this summer, If I can Beat my dad out of his old Rem. 7 mag that he hasn't used in 15 years. Your 264 will do anything that a 257 will do, guess it's just a matter of preference.

 

[bullet]

The old 257 Weatherby Magnum seems to be an internet topic of the moment.

I for one look at the Weatherby designs as difficult. They have freebore which takes away from accuracy and barrel life and in general the Weatherby product has too much chrome!

For what I like is reflected in what I have which includes a battery of pre 64 M70's including a .264 WM Westerner.

The rifle on the right is the Westerner.

Freebore does not take away from accruacy, I have four Mark V's that I have posted results on the form and they are true 1/4" and one is even better.

Freebore does not shorten the life of a barrel but has in fact in an independent study it was proven to increased barrel life.

How is this for no Chrome!!!!!

How is this for accuracy of the above three

Three shot group of the first one

three shoot group of the second one

Three shot group for the third one

These are only a few of the Weatherby's I have been able keep consistently under a 1/2" group to group. I had a 257Wby with a recorded 1474 rounds fired through it before I sold it and the person who has that rifle for over 4 yrs now says it still is a shooter. I like Mod 70's also but your comments about freebore, barrel life and accuracy are not correct.

 

[GB300wm]

Nice looking bee hive you have there bullet. A darned accurate one at that. :grin:

 

[bullet]

Nice looking bee hive you have there bullet. A darned accurate one at that. :grin:

:lol: :lol: Yeah, my bee hive can really sting when they hit something. I am going to tweak the 257Wby in a month or so since it replaced my 375Wby in my Bee hive.

Here is the last two 3 shot groups I shot with my 300wby the first is at 100yds and the second is at 200yds. The circle is a 1 1/4" across.

Here is one of the 257wby I use to own and the last group it shot while I was trying out MRP powder.

 

[nomosendero]

I am really wanting to buy a .257 Weatherby... almost certainly a Remmy SPS-SS. Seems like most of the Weatherby rifles these days are 24" barreled jobs, and with a speedster like the .257. I want all the go I can get. Plus I like long barrels.

bullet, what are you running for a scope? If I pull the trigger on one, I will probably run a Leupy VX 3 (that's what they are calling the new ones, right?) 4.5-14x50 LR. Unsure on the reticule... could be B&C, Mil Dots or the custom shop long range dots. (Assuming Leupold didn't change reticule choices on the new scope.)

My limit for game I would want to take with a .257 tops out at spike/cow elk. But that more because I need to be able to justify more rifles in the safe... gotta have a need for the existing .300 mags and .35 Whelen, and percieved need for a .375 and .416. Hey, if Nosler makes a bullet for it, I need a rifle for it.

I did not know about the SPS-SS Remington, but I do know about the
CDL Stainless fluted & the LSS & both of those offerings do have 26" barrels. On those 2 upper end Rem models I would expect them to shoot as well as a Wea., though I would not bet on either & the Rem is very easy to work with. Either would be great.

http://www.huntthewest.com/updates/updates-257-4.htm

Thanks for the link. They say the SPS is the LSS barreled action with the SPS stock. That's interesting, because that means it's a 26" barrel for sure. And I would think the LSS tube would be a good one, it has been the case for some on this forum who have the LSS in other calibers.

I don't like the SPS stock, but it could be replaced or you could glass bed it & re-inforce the forend as well, yep should be a fine rifle.

 

[nomosendero]

Bullet, fine shooting & some VERY accurate rifles there.

 

[bullet]

Bullet, fine shooting & some VERY accurate rifles there.

Thank you nomosendero, I really have fun reloading, shooting and hunting and the rifles shoot better than I do, they just bring me along for the ride.

 

[jtoews80]

I would have to say that the freebore hasn't affected my 257 wby vanguard at all, it shoots 1/2" all day, and I have the same Pre64 264 with a VXII not a VXIII and it shoots very well too. Like them both, but the freebore makes no difference between them. My 30-378 can cut holes that touch with a three shot group @ 100yds, the biggest issue with that is letting the barrel cool between rounds as that is a potent round. BTW, the 7mm RUM has 0.4" freebore compared to the standard 0.375 wby freebore.

 

[bullet]

Well I took my 257Wby hunting today after I went to the range this morning and sighted in my loads. All I saw on the at gas line from 12:30 to 5:30 was three crows and two rabbits.

I really got motivated because of an earlier post concerning freebore not being accurate. So last night I decided to use once fired brass and neck size them, making sure all my brass was the same length. I measured the wall thickness of the brass neck to make sure they were the same and I weighed every 100gr TSX and made sure I only used those that weighed exactly the same. My OAL was 3.1335" and I cleaned my barrel and when I got to the range this morning right after light I fired 5 fouling rounds and then fired a three shot group of my hunting load which was 73gr IMR7828. The fouling loads were 100gr TSX load I had left over using IMR4350 and MRP. It took 1 1/2 hours to fire the 8 rounds because I let the barrel completely get cold again before the next round was fired. Here is the three shot group hunting load with a little brass advertisement to boot.

Of course freebore will affect accuracy if you are not careful. I don't think I will have to spend a lot of time this spring tweaking my load for my 257Wgy Acuumark :grin: :grin: 8)

 

[JD338]

bullet,
You're there! Go hunting. :lol:

JD338

 

[bullet]

bullet,
You're there! Go hunting. :lol:

JD338

I did today and will Sunday Monday and Tuesday and then the following Sunday through Thursday.

When seasons over I want to take an hour and fifteen minutes to shoot a five shot group with that load. With the 4.5-14x50mm VX-III I was able see and would have been able to count horns till 5:30, very impressive low light quality during twilight.