as a 25cal family member can anyone shed some light on this round, like range,game size,recoil reloading etc. or is there a family member that stands out better.

I have a custom Ruger #3, stocked in Turkish, chambered in .257 Weatherby. I shoot 100 gr. Barnes TSX, with a healthy dose (71 grs.) of RL-22 and a Fed 215 primer at a chronographed 3500+ fps. I have used it on mule deer and I have to say...it's like a death ray! Recoil seems very similar to a .270, but I have a steel buttplate on my rifle, so it does have a "pop" to it. I would consider it a great choise for any medium game.

The 257 Weatherby is one of the best...low recoil, flat trajectory, devastating on game, and accurate in the right rifle.

Ballistically it is capable of 400+ yard kills on smaller deer and antelope but the shooter has to place the bullet correctly. I too place the recoil about like a .270 with 130s, so shooting well is "easy". I currently have two, a Ruger No.1 with Jarrett barrel and a MkV Accumark.

The largest game I've taken was a 350 lb caribou, one shot = dead bull. The .25-06 is almost as good and cheaper to feed. But for me the extra little velocity and the cartridge's mystique makes it mandatory to own. I love mine.


.

There just might not be a better round for pronghorns and deer size animals.

120 grains at 3350 FPS goes a long ways to doing this! I

I've owned two of them. Now the .257 Roberts and the .264 WM takes it's place.....

quote:

Originally posted by SingleShotGuy:
...100 gr. Barnes TSX, with a healthy dose (71 grs.) of RL-22 and a Fed 215 primer at a chronographed 3500+ fps.
...Recoil seems very similar to a .270

I have to agree with all of the above. I have used the .257 a lot for open ground hunting of pronghorn, and can't think of a much better round for that job!

- mike

Quite possibly the best deer and down cartidge made. The 270 Wby is THE best all around N American, but the 257 seems easier to shoot well, and with 100 gr TSXs it will kill Giant hogs at any angle.

I don't own one but it has always appealed to me.Just remember to get it's full worth you'll need a barrel long enough to take advantage of all that case capacity/powder.Otherwise you might as well just go with the 25-06.

quote:

The 270 Wby is THE best all around N American,

The best of the best is to have a 257 Wby with 110 Accubonds, then the 270 Wby with 130 to 150gr loads, depending on the game.

quote:

Originally posted by sam184:
as a 25cal family member can anyone shed some light on this round, like range,game size,recoil reloading etc. or is there a family member that stands out better.

Powerful little round. It would be nice to own Sauer-Weatherby in .257 with German made Weatherby scope. It's major competition is .25-06. I'm not sure that 150fps-200fps more velocity and 3" less drop at about 400yrds for .257 is truly significant or not.

sam184,
you can do an advanced search here, or google search on the web. All of your reloading manuals will have info on 257 roy.
Its a speedster. With a rifle that has a 26" barrel, one can get and honest 3,650 fps with a 100 gr. projectile. From that you should be able to infer just about anything you need to know about how, when and where to use it.
In closing, it flat works!
GWB

My little brother shoots a 257 Wby, he's taken a few deer and elk in Montana with it.

I have a 257 Wby. But I haven't taken it hunting
In my state there is no rifles to be used because there isn't any hills its all flat ground.

The 257 Wby is my deer/proghorn, open country go to rifle. And no reservation on using it for pigs up to cow elk. Most accurate and terminal performance in my safe. I have two and both shoot 1/2 inch at 200 yards with with handloads. If you haven't bought the rifle yet, look closely at the Wby Vangard, as that rifle shot those groups out of the box with no mods. I did later have a trigger job done which helps. My Wby MK5 took allot of gunsmithing and money to shoot well, but it is my go to rifle for Western (open country) Oklahoma hunting.

Just got back from another Africa hunt 2 months ago..

All the game I took on this trip was with the trusty ol' .257WBY with 100gr barnes TSX.

I was hunting in the Eastern Cape for species that I could potentially be shooting out to 500 yards for (although the longest shot was 240). All shots were DRT.

http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/9931018231

I own a 257 WBY Mag with it my longest shot is 200yds. I know it will do better. I think it would be a tight group out to 400yds

quote:

Originally posted by sam184:
...like range,game size,recoil reloading etc. or is there a family member that stands out better.

Hey Sam, If you go with the 257WbyMag, I'd strongly encourage you to do your Load Verification Testing at 300yds using a very high power scope. The 257WbyMags I've messed with(and most 25-06s) seem to be kind of picky about which Bullets they will shoot well.

The 257Roberts which has been mentioned, seems to be easier and quicker to get good Loads developed with multiple Bullet weights.
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I'm a firm believer in using an Adequate Cartridge for the Game. So, these "arguable" weight or Class Size limits are just what I'd use. 257Roberts - up to about 250#. 25-06 - up to about 350#. 257WbyMag - up to about 450#.
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None of them have enough Recoil to bother a person who is old enough and strong enough to hold the rifle steady, in an Off-Hand shooting position, for 1-minute. If the intended shooter can't hold the rifle steady for that long in his shoulder, then he isn't ready to use the rifle.
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Range is dependant on the amount of Practice done with the Final Load and a look at the External Ballistic Tables concerning the Retained Energy for that specific Load. Practice will quickly show the effects of the Wind, which can in itself be enough of a concern to shorten the distance.

Different Bullet Designs and different Bullet Weights provide totally differet performance. The Bullet a person "wants to use" occasionally just doesn't shoot well in a specific rifle. Then you have to begin with a different Bullet and it's down range performance can be completely different from whatever was the first selection.

All of them are much better On-Game performers than lesser Cartridges.

Best of luck to you.

I have owned a couple of Encore barrels and one custom rifle. What was funny is all three prefered the heavier bullets - 115 to 120 grain bullets. I killed two Elk with one of the Encore barrels, and neither one took a step after it was hit. I love the round but hate the price of brass.

I have a 257 WBY Mag. I was shooting it yesterday To 400 yards. The 100gr bullet going
3530 fps.

My friend has a Remington in .257 and it's velocity amazes me. We were shooting milk jugs at 400 and it seemes like the rifle would barely go off and the jugs would explode. It was impressive. He did have a bullet failure on a whitetail buck this year. He was shooting the Barnes TSX and it looked like a pencil poked through it. Was a good shot but he had to track it and hit it again. He called barnes and asked them about it and they told him he was pushing them too fast and the petals broke off. But Overall he killed sevral more deer w/ no problem whatsoever. I have been thinking about getting one myself.

My opinion is that the 257 Weatherby Magnum is an excellent cartridge for hunting medium size (even larger) long distances (hunting in the mountains). However, in the game we play in Spain (world champion in soccer by the way), in which animals (deer and wild boar) are in the great state of excitement, caliber 257 Weatheby Magnum power is limited, and for that I would choose the form of a cartridge game stronger. But stalking mountain is ideal.

Oscar.

Superb caliber, kills way out of proportion to size. I've had mine since 1990 and have taken over 45 deer with it and a bunch of hogs. I used mainly 100gr Hornadys (factory)and recently switched to TTSXs. Not ONE animal has ever taken a step. I highly recommend it. jorge

I'm with Jorge 100% - one of my favorites.

I have a stainless weatherby in 257 Weatherby. I am loading a max load of RL25, Fed215's and 100gr Sierra Pro Hunter bullets for a mv right at 3600fps. I have only used it on deer at ranges of 130yds to 300yds and all have gone down right where they stood.