I am considering either of the above or maybe 257 WBY
Has anyone got any history with either of the shorties? most of the American gun magazines seem to favor the remington. If it is a goer it will be in a ruger no1 so mag length wont be an issue.
thank
Muz

Just go with the 257wby, or the 25/06, these 2 are well established and brass is not a prob (in Aust anyway). These short 25's don't do much for me.

cheers cc

The article I read stated that there is no gain at all over the 25'06 vs. the new 25 WSSM. They implied that it it was a waste and that it would have been a lot better if Winchester would have used the WSM case instead of the WSSM case. Not sure about what Remington put together.

If it's going in a #1, go with the one that sounds cooler to you If it was me, I'd go with a .257WBY. I've done the .25WSM and could get 3500FPS ( at sane pressures)with a 100gr bullet. The bad part is the cases are a pain in butt to make, dies are expensive and you'll have little to no reloading data. I sold mine, just wasn't worth the hassle. Some people like reloading, to me it's just a means to an end.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by cc:
Just go with the 257wby, or the 25/06, these 2 are well established and brass is not a prob (in Aust anyway). These short 25's don't do much for me.

cheers cc

Do you have any suggestoions for obtaining WBY brass? I cant find anyone here in NZ.

Thanks Muzr

you could do a 257/7mag. same performance, just neck sizing much cheaper brass.
woofer

quote:

Do you have any suggestoions for obtaining WBY brass? I cant find anyone here in NZ.

I haven't tried it, but I'm told you can just run 7mm Rem Mag brass through a .257 Roy die..... Makes sense to me, since the brass will headspace on the belt, at least for the first firing. Midway sells Weatherby brass, but don't know if they can ship to NZ.

John

It has amazed me that neither Remington or Winchester had the foresight to neck their "Short action magnums...(SAUM or WSM)down to .257 or .264!!!! Winchester did it to their WSSM's and gained nothing over the 25-06(actually didn't even equal it!!!) The .243WSSMseems to have garnered a little corner of the market(small corner) the .223WSSM has lot of gunshop owners wondering "why the hell did we order that thing" but neither of the "biggies" saw fit to bring out something(a .257" version of the "shorts") that may have been a marketing milestone!!! No wonder about Remington not seeing it.....they quit makin XP-100 center grips a long time ago and now they do't even offer any SENDEROS!!!! GHD

muzr257

Cabelas has .257 brass try that. I would go with the Weatherby. You can use 7mm Rem brass just run it through the .257 die the neck will be a little shorter but it will work fine.

This is something I have a little interest in. Rifle shooter had an article about a 25 SAUM wildcat a couple months ago, I wanted one. Brass is formed from 7 SAUM. Then outdoor life had the .264 Leopard (WSM) with Jim Carmichael. Both looked pretty neat. I think from a brass perspective the WSM would be a better bet in case the SAUM don't stick around. The 25 WSSM is a joke in my opinion.

i've got a 257 wsm reamer.....

jeffe

I buy my brass from Huntington's in Calif. It runs around 85USD for 100 pieces of 257wby brass.

I own a custom built 257 weatherby. I use 7mm brass. Full length size in 257 weatherby dies then I load a moderate load with 100 grain ballistic tips and fire form my cases. The loads I used to fire form shot exceptionally well. I was shooting praire dogs 300+ yards. Much cheaper than weatherby brass and fun to shoot fire forming anyways.

Bubba, after you fireform the 7mag brass in your 257 wby, is the neck length the same as a standard 257 wby cartridge? Reason I ask is I have a couple of loads worked up, 100 gr TSX, 115 TSX, and 110 Accubond, and I like to seat the bullet as close as I can to the rifling, if I had a shorter neck, I would not like that at all. Because you cant get to the lands in a 257 wby many just use the standard OAL suggested in reload manuals. However, most bullet companies will tell you, in any weatherby cartridge, your accuracy should improve if you will extend the bullet out as far as is practical, while still being able to fit within your rifle's magizine ok.

No the neck is not quite as long. I get about 1" groups at 100 yards. This shoots good enough for me, as this is a hunting rifle. Just thought I would mention a cheaper alternative to Weatherby brass. But you are right the neck is not as long. Whatever you decide enjoy your 257 weatherby. I love mine.

Based on articles I read Winchester chose the 25 WSSM over the WSM configuration because of pressure instabilities they observed in WSM case when necked down to 25 cal. The Remington case is 9 percent or so smaller and occording to John Sundra who built two 25 RSAUM they performed exceptionally well. Personally, if you reload and want something different that will throw a 100gr bullet at 3500 fps or a 120 gr at 3300 FPS then go for the 25 SAUM. The only thing that Sundra mentioned was that he had to turn down the outside of the necks because the step down from 7mm to 25 cal resulted in thick necks - but that may not be an issue if you have your gunsmith allow for this when cutting the chamber. I have a 25-284 that I make from 284 cases and no neck problems at all.

.257 is certainly a lot of fun. My hunting partner shoots a .257 Ultramag (not short but the full length) he has a 29" barrel and it is still very "overbore" but it is a kick to get 4000fps out of a 100 grain hunting bullet. Very expensive proposition however, it takes 4 custom dies just neck it down and set the shoulder back a hair. It shoots damn accurate though. I would think the WSM would be the way to go as far as my opinion on the question- I think in the end it is going to win the "short action fat case" wars and in the future be more readily available and less expensive....

IV

I think the real question here is how fast do you want to go. The standard 25-0 6with a 26" barrel will come pretty close to a 257 Weahterby. The Speer reloading manual shows the 100 grain 25-06 at 3300 and the Weatherby at 3370. This data is for 24" inch barrels. With 26" tubes the Weatherby will pick up more velocity than the 25-06, but they'll probably still be within 100 fps (with 10-15 grains less powder). As an added bonus 25-06 brass can easily be made from 30-06 brass. What are you planning to hunt/shoot? If its bigger than a deer go with the Weatherby, if not consider the 25-06.

IdahoVandal: do u know who did the work on your friend's 257 RUM? (I'd be interested who has the reamer). Also, was he starting w/ 300 RUM or 7mm RUM brass? Taking down the 7mm to 257 s/b a one shot deal. Thanks!

SJMCI-
My partner has both reamers he had them made by PPG.

The problem with stepping them down is because he shortened the case just a hair. Originally he wanted it to be off of the 7mm Dakota case and he hoped the brass would fireform up to the correct length. Aahh...for the best laid plans, it did not work that way.

He Now uses .300 RUM brass because it so readily available. The other problem he had was neck turning, he failed to turn enough off the neck the first few times and had some dangerous pressure problems. The solution was to simply take another.001 off and the rifle shoots and functions perfectly. As far as the work, it was done in AZ by Danny Peterson. It is built on a Browning (of all things) and has a stainless fluted cut-rifled barrel on it.

IV

quote:

Originally posted by IdahoVandal:
SJMCI-
My partner has both reamers he had them made by PPG.

The problem with stepping them down is because he shortened the case just a hair. Originally he wanted it to be off of the 7mm Dakota case and he hoped the brass would fireform up to the correct length. Aahh...for the best laid plans, it did not work that way.

He Now uses .300 RUM brass because it so readily available. The other problem he had was neck turning, he failed to turn enough off the neck the first few times and had some dangerous pressure problems. The solution was to simply take another.001 off and the rifle shoots and functions perfectly. As far as the work, it was done in AZ by Danny Peterson. It is built on a Browning (of all things) and has a stainless fluted cut-rifled barrel on it.

IV

.257 RUM
I would think pressure problems would be a constant thing with a round like that. If I were to take on such an endeavor, I would be very nervous. With that much powder and that small a bore, pressure spikes are going to come fast and furious. What seems fine one shot might be a grenade the next. Be careful!

Terry

Very good advice!
Loads are worked up with extreme caution- very slow burning powders. Most of the starting load development is done with advice from a gunsmith in Tacoma, WA (I don't know his name)who is ver competent with regard to load density etc. Retumbo seems to be the best powder so far and of course great heed is paid as to temperature as we shoot here sometimes when it is 10 degrees in January all the way up to 105 degrees in August.

Wildcatting has its rewards...and its risks!

IV

I own the origional reamers for the 257 wildcat. The reamer(s)finishing and roughing( used for making ythe resizing die) and the go no go gauges were made by David Kiff of PPG. I designed this case with a COL of 2.6830 so it will fiut and function through a standard .30-06 length action. So this case is not a full length Ultra Mag Case, however it is longer than a Dakota case. I would recommend a 28" barrel. This cartridge will push a 100 gr. X-Bullet over 4000 fps. The best powder for this case would be H-870 H-50BMG, AA-8700, VV-20N41, VV-20N29, Retumbo. H-870 is slower than Retumbo and will yield a higher velocity, also the ball powder will be much easier on the throat. The rifle was built By Danny Petersen of Classic Barrel in Prescott Valley, AZ. It takes 5 forming dies, plus case annealing then finally fireforming. the forming dies were made by CH4D tools. I am fully set up to form the brass finally. If you have anymore qusetions, let me know.

quote:

Originally posted by sjmci:
IdahoVandal: do u know who did the work on your friend's 257 RUM? (I'd be interested who has the reamer). Also, was he starting w/ 300 RUM or 7mm RUM brass? Taking down the 7mm to 257 s/b a one shot deal. Thanks!