I have a good friend that swears by his Mark V 270 Wea. Mag. and the rifle is a sure-enough shooter on the range. He asked me about a problem he was having: He said he is shooting Weatherby's 150 grain SP factory loads and he is having a few problems: Stiff bolt after firing, Primers falling out, and the letters on the case head were getting smashed flat. I told him to be CAUTIOUS and that that was a case of very HIGH pressure and that he should try another load before something bad happens. It may just be a bad batch of factory loads.

He said he was going to call Weatherby but, I imagine he is just going to get the run-around.

I have never seen this w/ Weatherby's factory loads, Have any of you?

He is pretty dead set on shooting at Weatherby's published velocity so, I told him that I might could come up w/ a recipe to solve his problem.

I have 270 Weatherby dies on hand and plenty of supplys. What powder do you all think that I could replicate factory velocities(3245 fps) w/ the 150 grainers (Hdy SPILs) and show less pressure than what he is getting w/ the Factory ammo?

I was thinking R22 or IMR 7828 but, wanted to get some other opinions on this issue.

Thanks,

Reloader

The .270 Weatherby has been around for many years, I would question the problem being in the ammo and would take a look at the rifle in question. I had the same experience with a .375H&H rifle some years back, and the problem was a short chamber throat. Firing that .375 was scary when I saw the messed up brass. Check the chamber/throat/barrel on that Weatherby first.
LLS

I'm not surprised at your report at all. Weatherby ammo IS very hot, and it's not unusual at all to see ejector marks on cases with Weatherby factory ammo fired in Weatherby Mark V rifles, even with the factory free-bore. I don't think it's a good idea to fire weatherby ammo in non-Weatherby rifles that don't have the same free-bore.

I had a Mark V .300 Wby. with the old #1 contour 24" factory barrel that gave ejector marks with 180 gr. Weatherby factory loads, and 3250 fps. MV! That rifle was FAST, likely due, in part, to a tight bore. That barrel fouled like crazy as well.

AD

Well, first of all tell your buddy to stop shooting that stuff! Weatherby rifle or not he is going to have even worse trouble if he keeps it up.

Have him contact Weatherby immediately. If they have a bad batch of ammo out there they may know about it already. And they may well want to check out the rifle.

On the other hand, if you decide to reload for this rifle you are on the right track with powder choices. I reload for the 7mm Wby Mag and RL 22 or IMR 7828 are top choices.

You didn't say if this is a Weatherby rifle....only that it is a weatherby chamber .270 and the freebore issue can be very real.....

Like the others I too suggest it's not the ammo...copper fouling if serious enough can also be the culprit.....have someone show you how to use a good copper solvent and brush.

I had a similar problem with my 300 Weatherby that manifested itself about two weeks before going to africa. I tried some factory 180gr Barnes Xs (which are junk in my view, and not unlike the Triple Shocks which I REALLY LIKE)that grouped well. I was at the range practicing (OAT about 90degreesF)and the bolt was almost jammed and the primers fell out. I contacted Weatherby who promptly replace the ammo with Hornadys (my choice). What type of bullets were you shooting and was it out of a Weatherby rifle? My guess as to my problem was Weatherby used the same formula for the Xs as they do for the Hornadys and created higher pressures. I'd call Weatherby up and complain. At least you'll get some free ammo. jorge

i built a 270 wby on a mod 70 action years ago. didn't free bore it like wby does. I found that using wby data loads to to hot. had to cut back a couple of grains (old H4831) and everything was OK. i don't know if the velocity was as high as wby gets, but the accuracy is good, and i haven't had a single letter from any animals lawyers complaining that they were shot with to slow a bullet

weatherby factory ammo is A MAX LOAD of imr7828 burn rate powder. the only way they keep the pressure down is with the freebore. Try their factory ammo in a custom, non-freebored tube and see what happens. If I even considered the Wthby product, I would handload for it. the max load is why they will only give a 1 1/2" garantee. if you slow them down,..they are usually more accurate.

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posted 05 January 2005 18:40
I have a good friend that swears by his Mark V 270 Wea. Mag. and the rifle is a sure-enough shooter on the range. He asked me about a problem he was having: He said he is shooting Weatherby's 150 grain SP factory loads and he is having a few problems: Stiff bolt after firing, Primers falling out, and the letters on the case head were getting smashed flat. I told him to be CAUTIOUS and that that was a case of very HIGH pressure and that he should try another load before something bad happens. It may just be a bad batch of factory loads.

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Jorge and Vapodog, It was a factory Weatherby Mark V chambered in 270 WEA MAG. The bullets were 150 grain HDY SPILs.

I'll tell him what you said about the free ammo Jorge. I'm sure he is going to call them in the next few days.

I would have also expected it more w/ the X bullets but, not good ole' HDYs. I think they had a bad batch of loads because he's never experienced that problem until his last couple of boxes.

Could just be powder variances. Kind of like Reloder powders from can to can, sometimes there is quite a difference.

Relaoder

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Originally posted by Reloader:
I have a good friend that swears by his Mark V 270 Wea. Mag. and the rifle is a sure-enough shooter on the range. He asked me about a problem he was having: He said he is shooting Weatherby's 150 grain SP factory loads and he is having a few problems: Stiff bolt after firing, Primers falling out, and the letters on the case head were getting smashed flat. I told him to be CAUTIOUS and that that was a case of very HIGH pressure and that he should try another load before something bad happens. It may just be a bad batch of factory loads.

He said he was going to call Weatherby but, I imagine he is just going to get the run-around.

I have never seen this w/ Weatherby's factory loads, Have any of you?

He is pretty dead set on shooting at Weatherby's published velocity so, I told him that I might could come up w/ a recipe to solve his problem.

I have 270 Weatherby dies on hand and plenty of supplys. What powder do you all think that I could replicate factory velocities(3245 fps) w/ the 150 grainers (Hdy SPILs) and show less pressure than what he is getting w/ the Factory ammo?

I was thinking R22 or IMR 7828 but, wanted to get some other opinions on this issue.

Thanks,

Reloader

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I hope you told him to IMMEDIATELY CEASE USING THAT AMMO, AND TO CONTACT WEATHERBY IMMEDIATELY ABOUT THIS PROBLEM??? When the markings are being smeared off the case head, you are in territory beyond 75-80 KPSI!!

ok...so the issue of freebore is a done deal.....
You have to go with the odds here and the odds are that the ammo is NOT the problem. Yes it could be....but it's more likely that there's an obstruction in the barrel.

In any event you'll soon tell when you start reloading. I like RL22 and 57 grains, and work up slowly (max is 66 Gr with 150 gr bullet in my book)...if you cannot reach max loads as listed in the reloaders manuals then there's a problem with the gun in all likelyhood.

About ammo.....I know for a fact that an ammo mfr once accidently stuck two bullets in a case and had to recall them.....so things can happen.....

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Originally posted by vapodog:
ok...About ammo.....I know for a fact that an ammo mfr once accidently stuck two bullets in a case and had to recall them.....so things can happen.....

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About ammo.....when the .264 Win. Mag. first came out we built one, and the first box of WW factory 140-grain ammo we tried to shoot in it did exactly the same thing - it blew primers!! We had no problems with the handloaded stuff we brewed up, but sent the bad box back to Win. with a letter explaining what had happened. Never did hear what Win. did about it.