WEATHERBYS-to be or not to be?

CZ · Mar 23, 2008

A friend of mine started a debate about the 270Wby, he states he can
aproach and equal the velocities of my 7mmSTW with Imr7828. I see no way he can do that/ On the past Ive had a 7mmWby and a 300Wby but not actual testing.
Actually I dont have Wbys nor I see the need for one. Anyone on the forum who has performed test with Roys cartidges?
I think that on the past this cart were ahead of their time, but now?
What do you think?

SakoSteve270wsm · Mar 23, 2008

The 7mmSTW has more case capacity,so at equal pressures it will have a higher MV.You can get around the laws of physics. :?

Antelope_Sniper · Mar 23, 2008

Roy acheived his great velocities with 3 things.
Long Barrels. Weatherby loads are almost always quoted with a 26" bbl.
Good powder choices. Back in the day he used alot of Norma powders when they were more expensive then alot of the domestic powders.
Higher Saami presures. Since he was the only one making the guns for his cartridges, he didn't have to lower the specs for the off brand makers.

Early on the 7mm STW was a wildcat with no saami specs. Later on, when there was loading data for it, much of it was at absurdly low pressures. Even today, much of the loading data for the STW is margin at best.

Currently I'm shooting a 160gr Nosler AB at 3450fps out of my 7mm STW.
Let me know when your friend can beat that with his .270 Weatherby.

buckfever · Mar 24, 2008

First off what ever the 270 WBY can do the 7mm WBY can do a little better so the 7mm STW is a lot more cartridge than the 7mm WBY so I don't think 270 WBYs even close.

Big Squeeze · Mar 24, 2008

CZ":3tu92enw said:
A friend of mine started a debate about the 270Wby, he states he can
aproach and equal the velocities of my 7mmSTW with Imr7828. I see no way he can do that/ On the past Ive had a 7mmWby and a 300Wby but not actual testing.
Actually I dont have Wbys nor I see the need for one. Anyone on the forum who has performed test with Roys cartidges?
I think that on the past this cart were ahead of their time, but now?
What do you think?

..................................The easy and correct way to solve this debate is to chrono both rifles at the same time!!......You both work up some of your best reloads, then pull out a chrony!

Guest · Mar 24, 2008

I think your friend is making illogical comparisons. I have a 270Wby, and I can generate some pretty impressive velocities out of it. It is, however, a different cartridge, with different bullet weights available, than the 7mmSTW. Also, as has been mentioned, the STW is a longer case, so again, the comparison becomes more illogical. Now, from a pure velocity generation standpoint, I have managed 3500fps from mine (26" barreled Mark V) using 130gr bullets. There is only one 160gr bullet in .277 that I am aware of, the Nosler Partition 160gr semi-spitzer. I don't know that, based on the lesser BC, this bullet is any better than the 150gr Partition that is more commonly used. Either way, neither of these directly compare to the 160gr 7mm bullet referenced above, nor does the 130gr I am working on for white-tails. Your friend, it seems, does not understand the differences between the two cartridges.

Now, that said, I find the Weatherby cartridges to be great, and when loaded to Weatherby specs (instead of the sub-SAAMI specs many of the manuals are using now for Weatherby cartridges, along the lines of 60-62kPsi real pressure), Roy's creations are really still some of the best magnums out there. Time has actually improved these cartridges with better slower powders (such as 7828, RL25, Retumbo, H1000, AA3100, and the like), offering some real impressive velocities from even 24" barrels. Comparing the Weatherbys to the standard lines of magnum cartridges, using equal barrel lengths, the 270Wby outruns the 270WSM by 100-200fps, the 7mmWby outruns the 7mmRemMag by 100-200fps, the 300Wby outruns the 300WinMag by 100-200fps, the 340Wby outruns the 338WinMag by 100-200fps. Now, certainly there are faster cartridges out there, but these that I have mentioned have been the standard for many years against which others are judged. If you want to compare a 'Weatherby' round against the STW, then consider the 7mm-300Wby, which is the most appropriate comparison. I believe Roy actually played with full length versions of the smaller diameter cartridges, but was unable to achieve satisfactory results with available powders back in the day. Anyway, that's my take on the value of Weatherbys. The other side of the argument is that the Mark V is one of the nicest factory rifles available, and mine is as accurate as the day is long, turning in consistent sub-.5" groups at 100yds with my favorite handload, every range trip, and some groups under .25" at 100yds.

Antelope_Sniper · Mar 25, 2008

My STW vs a .270 Weatherby?
Any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
Of course, as Steve, Buck and W have stated, it's just not a fair fight. The STW has 100gr of case capacity, and with modern powders, and the barrelto use them, it's a great cartrige. I mentioned the 160's earlier, but I also shoot 120 BT over 3850fps. I figure I could break 4000 with them if I tried, but 3850fps is plenty fast.

For the bigger question in the does Weatherby still have the stuff?
Compare two cartridges developed at roughly the same time to throw the same bullet, the 300 RUM to the 30-378 Weatherby, yes, I'd say Roy is still doing a fine job.

Roy also notices quality when he see's it. In 2005(?) Weatherby chambered the 7mm STW in a special additon MarkV Accumark. It's a hard to find, but beautiful gun.