looking to buy a longrange varmint rifle. iwant to use standerd brass. ihave a 22.250 but want to reach out and touch 4 to 500 yds. any sugestions.

Of the two choices I would pick the .240 as it's plenty big enough for varmints.

However I would not select a freebored, belted, radius shoulder cartridge for anything.

Better choices are the .243 Win, 6mm Rem and the 25/06.

Well. If you want to stick with standard brass, I would suggest a few things. In 22 cal, the 22-6mm Ackley Improved, in 6mm, the 6mm-06 or 240 Gibbs. They will do anything the 240 Wby will, and brass is cheap. the next step, if you're looking for a really hot 6mm is the 6mm Mach IV (a 7mm Rem Mag case necked to 6mm and Improved, I believe). In 25 cal, a 25-06 Ackley Imroved or 25 Gibbs wil do 95 % of what a 257 Wby will do. The Wby is probably the fastest factory cartrige, though, at least for now. If you want all the quarter bore speed you can get, the 257 STW or 25 RUM are probably it. FWIW - Dan

i have a mauser action thats been sleeping in a box for x # years. would the bolt face accept the 6mm. rem or maybe put forth the effort and chamber the 6mm.284 i bet the 6mm.06 has more recoil. maybe not as bad with a 10lb + rifle.

The 6mm-284 and the 6mm-06 will be pretty much identical ballistically. The 6mm-284 will probably require some feed lip work to cycle through the action properly. For the 6mm-06, you will probably have to open up the mag a little to get max COL. The bolt face, if standard, will be no problem for any of these cartridges. Another one that comes to mind, that probably wouldn't require mag work, would be the 6mm Rem Ackley Improved. In a 10 pound rifle I don't think you'll find the recoil of any of these bad. Just remember to get a long enough barrel to make use of the case capacity. 26" would be my choice, 28 might be even better. - Dan

I would go with a 6mm lots of good bullets out there. I built a 243 that I have shot sub 2 in groups at 400 yards with it. If you are thinking really long range 6mm 06 with a barrel to shoot the VLD bullets would be a great combo.

i think i am going to go with the 6mm.06 but was wondering the drawbacks of a belted case. is it cost, or inconcistency. if its cost, wouldint it come out the same with my time forming cases.

Truthfully, i think most of the "problems" with belted cases are vastly overplayed. Once the brass is fireformed to your chamber, you can partial or neck size your brass, so the inconsistancy factor owuld be virtually eliminated, in terms of an individual rifle. In terms of case to case discrepancy, I think that quality control of the manufacturer is more important than the belt. FWIW - Dan

Sorry, GSP, I just realised that I only answered part of your question. In terms of cost the belted cases vary from a little more expensive to a lot more expensive, depending on caliber and manufacturer. 6mm-06 is simply a neck down operation, easily done, especially if you use 25-06 brass as your start. If you want very high quality brass for a reasonable amount of money, use Lapua. The necking down of the brass can be done while resizing, so there really is no extra cost or time involved. By the way, what part of Kentucky are you from? I've worked in Paducah and Corbin ("home of the famous Col. Saunders original fried chicken restaurant"). A nice place. - Dan

Ilive in Lexington ive been to corbin working also. I HAVE A 25.06 colt sauer its a great shooter but dont want to ruin the stock. dont know were to buy an after market. it would be easy to change the barrel on it but the magazine might create a problem.

GSP, if it feeds 25-06 with no problem, it will feed 6mm-06 with no problem. Measure your barrel and compare it to the various "tapers" quoted in the barrel makers catalogs, sites, etc, or Brownells. You should be able to get pretty close to what you have now, so no or very little stock work would be involved. Unless you want a fat varmint weight barrel, then I would look for a synthetic or perhaps a replacement stock (check with Numrich Arms, e-gunparts.com) before I started cutting. - Dan

To answer the question between .240 Wby. or .257 Wby. I say .257 hands down. I really love that cal. even though I do not own one. But I must add that they are hard on barrels. I am not a 6mm fan so I would go 6.5-06 if I didn't go .257 or even 25-06. Of course I like to keep all my rifles open to the occasional deer hunt and I will not hunt deer with a 6mm. Just my choice.

Aussie, I dearly love the 240, but if this was for a varminter, I'd shoot a standard cal, rather than a proprietary Weatherby cal.

I'd look pretty hard at a 243 or 6 rem (yes, they are a little behind the 240, but not that much), or the 25/06.

As much as I like the 240, it's a beast on barrels, and brass isn't exactly cheap. The 257 is more of that same prescription. You can get 90% or more with the standard cals. FWIW, Dutch.

Your post puzzles me just a little. Why do you think you need a .240 or .257 Weatherby to shoot varmints at 500 yards plus?

I have shot both those calibers some and like them for specialized purposes, but for varmints they are a little much.

I have a 26 inch barreled 6mm Remington that shoots 80 grain Sierra Blitz bullets pretty close to 3500 fps and I have shot prairie dogs at better than 750 yards with this gun, so I really see no need for more power than that.

Again, I am quite familiar with the .240 and .257 Weatherby's, but except for an occasional longe range marmot hunt, I am not sure they are the best idea for varmints.

A GOOD 6mm Rem or 25-06 will reach out and shoot
varmints as far as most people can hit them.

Having said that, I guess of the two choices I would have to go with the .240 Weatherby for the good bullet choices for varmints and the lower level of recoil.

R F

get the 257 weatherby! i just had one built on a remington 700 action. used a pacnor match barrel finished at 28 inches. dropped it into an hs stock. shoots 100 grain ballistic tips 3800 fps and 85 grain ballistic tips at just over 4000fps. got tired of my 220 swift getting blown all over the place and not cleanly taking coyotes way out there. the swift kills like lightning out to 400 yards but much past that it runs out of energy fast. the big 257 is a freak show on rock chucks and coyotes. the bc of the 100 grain bullet is pretty good as well. i have i believe the ultimate long range dog gun. try it you will like it. i also have a source for some inexpensive brass. i have reloaded brass 3 times so far without to much hassle. oh and mine shoots into a 25 cent coin all day long. good luck and have some fun! mark

I would choose the .240 hands down. I have one that is custom built and will shoot clover leaves at 150 yards with sierra MKBT 75 grain bullets.At 100 yards it is an inch and a half high, at 300 yards it is dead on.

I'd go for the 6/06. I've been using em for quite a few years, and have converted several buddies to em as well. I've used em for all sorts of rodents varmints and deer/lopes/bear and elk. It kills em all just fine.

It tis an awesome round, feeds well, cases are easy to make,and it is quite accurate.

I use Scheider tubes of 4 weight and cut em to 25".

If we only want to shoot the 55-70's we use the 12 twist. If we want to use em all we go 10 twist.

I use R-P nickle, main reason is a couple of my buddies use 25/06's and they don't use the nickle. Just kind of makes a bit of quick safety sense to me.

Here are the speeds I run and the bullets and powders. All with CCI BR2's and R-P nickle cases.

55 Noz/IMR 4350=4400-4600fps
70 Noz/IMR 4350=4000 fps
95 Noz/R22 or R25=3500-3600

Let me know if you have any questions.

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

The 243 Ackley Improved is a decent choice; you can shoot factory ammunition in a pinch and it has good characteristics otherwise for its case size. If I'd known more about it, I might have rechambered in 243 AI instead of 6mm-284.

I have and prefer a 257 Weatherby. It can be used on varmints and up to and including Elk.

GSP...

A lotta these recomendations are for fairly hot wildcats, and many of these will have barrel lives that won't get you through a single summer of shooting (not a good thing if you like to shoot!!)... but I think if you had the experence in loading to use these calibers effectivly, you wouldn't have asked this question.

In that light:
First, the .22-250 is a 400 to 500 yd cartridge against most of what we call varmints... just pick the right bullet, and get your scope adjustments to match your range.

But if that doesn't do it, then a plain heavy barreled .243 or 6mm Rem will move you up the varmint shooting ladder a whole lot, with minimum expense and no headaches.

If you want a little more, then get the AI chambers for the one you want.

You will be happy, and the varmints won't!

CatShooter.

[ 08-03-2002, 22:45: Message edited by: CatShooter ]

You 257 WBY shooter should use 7 MM mag brass to make your 257 brass from.I was getting 4 some times 5 loadings from the Norma brass before the primers would start fall out.Can easy get 10 fireings with the Rem brass,And cheap as dirt.
A ammo reloader co.gave me 500, cause it was to much trouble to clean once fired brass.

Been a .257 Weatherby fan for over 30 years and have that caliber in several rifles. A German Mark V, Browning 78 and a Ruger #1. It is a devastating cartridge and as long as your just using it for hunting the barrel life will last you many years. I've shot deer so far out of camp no one else even reached for their gun. True story. Once you own one you become a believer.