300 Weatherby 200 grain PT

S

SJB358

Ballistician
Dec 24, 2006
32,435
3,147
Well, I wished I would have taken some more pictures of this, but I had a heckuva time with my son's 300 Weatherby. The factory ammo (165 Oryx) was sorta inconsistent. It would put two in the same place, but the 3rd, well, sometimes it would come close, while others would go nutty..

Tried a few loads with the 210 ABLR's and IMR4350.. Needless to say, the danged loads were so inconsistent I felt like I could have done better just chucking the bullets downrange with my bare hands..

Well, thankfully Fotis passed me some great intel on adding a weighted pressure point under the forend of the Weatherby's. Well, I used a 5 gallon pail and 5 lbs of shotgun shells (most people use water) and turned the rifle over to add the weight just in front of the forearm.. I added a 3" strip of Marine Tex and let it dry.. This was a few weeks ago.

Well, yesterday I finally broke it out, roughly cleaned up the left behind wax and took the rifle to the range to see if I made any progress..

Fotis mentioned a 200 grain PT (3.720" COAL) using 82-83 grains of IMR7828SSC has always been a good load for the 300 Weatherby..

He didn't let me down..

The first group..



Well, needless to say I was all smiles when I saw this. I figured I can tighten this up a little with a little seating depth work..

I let the rifle cool back down to ambient temp and then decided to try one more group to see what would happen.. I dialed the M1 dial down 5 clicks and shot this..



Now I was REALLY smiling. It doesn't get much more consistent than that, at least not for me out of a skinny barreled hunting rifle.

Hopefully Fotis will put the link up of the pressure bedding article. I should get it out and frame it.

Now, I figure I will try and tune this 200 grain load up just a touch and start working a little 210 ABLRS....
 
Very impressive in light of earlier reports. You should have that shooting tight groups in no time.
 
I think it has turned the corner Mike. I shortened them up a little. Will retest tomorrow..

My ultimate goal is to get the 210 ABLR's to shoot. I'd kinda like to get them running. The BC on them makes them hard to look past.
 
Nice :) pretty cool that both of those groups look exactly the same.
 
gerry":2p0nul0a said:
Nice :) pretty cool that both of those groups look exactly the same.
Click to expand...

It is a HUGE relief they look the same Gerry. When I can, I'd like to put it into a McMillan, but it seems like it'll do for now..

I was worried to be honest. Those groups give me hope though.. I could hunt with that and never miss a thing.
 
At around 1" or so that is quite good, it may end up being a bit tighter than MOA when you start shooting at long range so Brandon may have a great load for his Bee already.
 
I am excited to see this as I have had issues with my 416 Wby.
I will give the washer pressure point a try real soon and report back.

JD338
 
Thanks for the link Fotis. Scotty looks like you got a shooter on your hands. My Vanguard in 300Bee was just the opposite. It came together as I relieved the barrel pressure. Mine likes the 180gr with IMR 4831 and will shoot 3/4" at 100yd. I never got around to trying the 200gr in it. If I don't sell it I might get around to it one day.
 
looks good Scotty . I do have mine in a bedded McMillan stock . I'll have to read the link Fotis posted .
 
gerry":1o60etm4 said:
At around 1" or so that is quite good, it may end up being a bit tighter than MOA when you start shooting at long range so Brandon may have a great load for his Bee already.
Click to expand...

That is so true. I remember a friend's 7mm rem mag. I tried everything and that rem 700 Fiberglass SS would not group under 1.5" at 100 yards. So I said screw it!

Shot it at 300 again and again 2.5" day in day out! Load was 162 Hornady BT with 79 gr H870 at 3050 fps. Imagine that. I guess that long bullet needed a couple of hundred yards to stabilize its yaw.
 
Especially with my 7 RM and 175 grain bullets, I've observed similar phenomena--the groups are 1.5 inches at 100 yards and 1.5 inches by 200 yards. The old timers spoke of the bullet going to sleep somewhere beyond 100 yards. There was enough yaw that the bullet required distance to stabilize. The phenomenon is fairly consistent with certain calibres that are characterised by long shanks and heavy for calibre weights. The 7 RM just happened to be the first in which I observed the phenomenon.
 
DrMike":1qn6poap said:
Especially with my 7 RM and 175 grain bullets, I've observed similar phenomena--the groups are 1.5 inches at 100 yards and 1.5 inches by 200 yards. The old timers spoke of the bullet going to sleep somewhere beyond 100 yards. There was enough yaw that the bullet required distance to stabilize. The phenomenon is fairly consistent with certain calibres that are characterised by long shanks and heavy for calibre weights. The 7 RM just happened to be the first in which I observed the phenomenon.
Click to expand...

Yep had many arguments as to the "going to sleep" but firmly believe in it!
 
It is shooting pretty well. I shortened up the load a little too much. Going to split the difference and see what happens. Plenty of speed for that bullet, sitting right over 3000 FPS. Thinking it might be time to take it out a little further and see what happens.

The pressure point really helped alot. I can't say how frustrated I was with the rifle before doing it. Now it seems to have settled in just fine.

I have plenty of 200 PT's to work with. Shouldn't take too much to get a good load sorted out.
 
Scotty I'm glad the 200s are working for you. To be honest after I had trouble refocusing my eyes after shooting my 300Wby with them I didn't want anything to do with them in the 300Wby. Though the recoil was not harsh I also found that the recoil pulse from a magnum cartridge was not for me. The 35 Whelen hits heavier than the 300wby hits me but doesn't have that sharp rap. That's the one reason why I want to sell it.
 
My impression of the 300 WBY has been that the recoil from that particular cartridge chambered in a Weatherby rifle was quite sharp compared to other Weatherby cartridges. Even the bigger calibres weren't as sharp as the 300. Just my observation. Consequently, almost unconsciously I find myself leaning to other Weatherby cartridges.
 
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