Hi Folks,
Sorry I have benn away for so long. I have been awfully busy with college and several family illnesses.

Today I acquired a new "toy." It's a Mk V WBYin .257 W Mag. Does anyone have any experience with this rifle and round and does anbody have a pet .257WBY load?
Good Shooting
HBB

I shoot 73.0grs of Re-22 with a moly 100gr or XLC,in R/P 7mmWby brass.

That is the load I've leaned on,in all three of my 257Wby's. As per usual,start low and work up.............

I hope your family members are feeling better.

I own three Mark V's and love them. As a rule I would say they perfer hot loads and flat base bullets.

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www.rifleshooter.com

Save a plant, shoot a deer!

Bill,
Thanks, everybody is finally out of the hospital.
I checked out and joined the rifle shooter forum. It looks great.

I found a supply of 100 gr. and 115 gr.Nosler BT's in the bullet storage area. I am going to combine them with a suitable dose of IMR 4350, Federal 210m Primers and Norma cases. I also have some Barnes X (90 gr.) and some 120gr. Sierra BTHP to try out.

Hopefully the weather will not go south on me and I can get to the range on Saturday
Good Shooting,
HBB

Big Stick,
Have you tried any 90 gr. Barnes X in your .257? What OAL do you use?
HBB

I feel the 100's best exhibit the 257Wby's attributes. The 100gr XLC,my landslide favorite. That bullet has a great BC(.420 vs the 90gr X's .343),superb construction,is quite good in the wind and spectacular on Game.

I can push that bullet over 3700fps,in all my barrels. For those reasons,I lean on it heavily,for everything.

I've shot lighter bullets,they can't hang with the 100,as an "all arounder". So I'm very stuck,in the 100gr XLC rut(and happily so).

The 90's were second-fiddle,in my estimation.

I load the 100XLC,to a COAL of 3.345". Some will prefer a deeper seated bullet,this works well for me. My rifles are all based upon Rem700's and Custom barrels. They wear the traditional Weatherby freebored throating and are twisted 1-10".

The 257Wby is sort of my go to chambering,in a situation that could prove difficult(changing terrain,with longish shot opportunities). It is a fabulous cartridge,that I have the utmost confidence in.

I hope you like yours,1/10th as much as I like mine...............

Big Stick,
Thanks for the info. Have you ever tried any Nosler BT in your guns or are they just too much expansion to be practical?
HBB

I never had much luck with the 100gr BT's,regarding accuracy,in ANY of my 25's. The 115's are exceptionally accurate,in the 257Wby's and my 25-06Ackley,but I'm not a Ballistic Tip Man,when it comes to Hunting. I've had them fail,in a larger diameter at far slower speeds,I aborted their use for everything but vermin and practice.

The 257Wby really begs to have an X bullet used in it. The melding of the two,is simply sensational. After I built my first 257Wby,I got rid of both my STW's.

I'd shoot that combo(257Wby/100gr X) for everything but Brown Bear(I live in Alaska)..............

I am thnking of getting a .257 Weatherby in a Accumark. Is this the best route to go for a reasonably priced ($1100) .257? This round sounds awesome. I almost went the .25-06 route but am looking for something flatter shooting and a little faster.

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Washington, DC -- where they took a perfectly good swamp and made it into a sewer.

For $1100,I'd build one,they way I wanted it.

My rifles are tools and conceived with accuracy in mind. I could have a 700 built with a high end S/S blank and wrapped inside a McMillan for that much.

Several friend's that didn't want to wait on that process,went the way of the UltraLight Accumark in 257Wby. They were tickled,with the capabilities of that platform. I have Weatherbys and like them,but I prefer the Custom 700's for what I like(itty-bitty groups).

You can buy a Sendero in 25-06,punch it to 25-06Ackley(another great cartridge,in my opinion)or punch it out to 257Wby. You'll have a S/S barrel and receiver and an HS stock. Figure the 25-06AI work to cost $100. The 257Wby conversion almost $200(Sako extractor and it's installation).

Or simply find a 25-06 you like and punch it out to Ackley. I built mine on a Rem700 KS Mountain Rifle. It has a 24" tube and it treads pretty close to the 257Wby,when squirting the 100gr XLC. The 26" barreled 257Wby,is about 150fps faster,than the 24" barreled 25-06AI.

Lots of choices,for less than your $1100 budget...................

Big Stick - most folks think the long Weatherby freebore inhibits accuracy, but you seem to get itty-bitty groups even though your .257 Weatherby chambers have lots of leade. What are your tricks for making a long-freebore chamber shoot accurately?

In the A-Square load manual the author spends a lot of time comparing the parallel throat to a tapered throat, much favoring the parallel version for accuracy. Your thoughts??

Would a standard throat seriously affect the .257 Weatherby's velocity potential?

Thanks much. That's a lot of questions, but "inquiring minds want to know!"

BigIron

BigIron,

I favored the issue length throating,solely for the readon you mentioned(speed). I was concerned that some serious speed would be lost,without it.

Regarding your questions,I can't answer them,as I've yet to build one differently.

Every time I build another,I stew over two things. One,is going with a shorter throat. The second,slowing the twist rate,down to 1-12"(again in hopes of more speed).

Regarding both,I've simply chickened out. I'm afraid to deviate into the unknown,when what I'm currently experiencing,is so positive. Thus the dilemna.

My thoughts are do what YOU think works best and use a Gunsmith you very much trust. If uncertain regarding a rifle's specifics,get his feedback.

Quite a few of my buddies built 257Wby's,after my first one was completed. In reflection,evaluating mine,their Custom 700's and the couple aforementioned Accumark's,I'd surmise it as being very easy to make shoot well.

A PacNor S/S Supermatch 1-10" and 26" long in the contour you like best,is Big Medicine.

That being said,I'm going to go the 257WSM route,very shortly................

I saw something very interesting with a .257 Wby with factory rounds;a gentleman came to the range with an old rifle at least 20 years old;open sights the guy shoot three shoots no more than .5 MOA 100 yards; I think the guy didnt know a think about ballistics,he wanted to sell his rifle for a .30-06 ,considering the .257 WBy not enough powerfull;I told the guy dont sell that rifle;I dont think he will find better accuracy than this one...

Anybody ever tried 120gr. Sierra BTHP Gameking in the .257 WBy?
Good Shooting
HBB

I have two .257 WBY's. One is a Factory gun and the other a homebrew. The Homebrew is on a trued Rem 700 action set up as a switchbarrel. The .257 barrel is a 1:10 Shilen #5 contour and the chamber has a tight neck and no freebore. This gun loves 87 gr Noslers over 72.5 gr of RL-22,Fed 215's that are Danzac coated,COL 3.255. It shoots 5 shots into .25 inches at 100yrds. Mv about 3850fps. Note: Danzac will help the copper fouling and you will observe a decrease in accuracy as your bore fouls with hot loads and Wby .257's like to be loaded hot! Clean and JB the barrel every 15-20 shots!
The factory WBY MKV likes 115gr Nosler BT's over 64 grs of IMR4831 and Fed 215's with an COL of3.200. THe Factory rifle will shoot .5 inch groups all day long assuming you clean it as described.. I love this cartridge as it hits very hard and has a trajectory like a stretched wire. Factory WBY's will either shoot great or not at all. However, in this caliber you may need to play around with it till you find a load that shoots.They are finicky.-Rob