I tried the "Hot Tamale" but never really was able to get it to do much the Wby doesn't. Maybe with some of the newer powders it might do a little better. Obviously you have been living in a cave these past 2 years Boom Stick, the 6.5 Creed is the "BEST".

Yes, the 6.5 CM is the bees knees. I want a 257CM

I never thought I would buy a 6.5 Creed just because it goes against my grain. But my local Cabelas called me and said they had taken a Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed in 6.5C on trade. I already had a Hells Canyon in .243 that was an incredible shooter, but I couldn’t figure what I would use it for other than coyotes. So I took it in to Cabelas and for $100 I traded the .243 for the 6.5. I have always fought against the Creed but once I shot this thing it was all over. It will be one of my two choices for my ultimate hunting rifle, the other being an X-Bolt in .308. Im hooked on the X-Bolts. They’re like custom rifles for a grand or under. I now own X-Bolts in 6.5C, .308, .300H&H, and .375H&H. My .22-250 is a Tikka T3 Lite. All are great shooters, but the Creed is the best.

I really did consider the 6.5 Creed for her especially given its popularity right now, and its capabilities and availability in virtually every configuration. But the Weatherby won out in the end and I figure it is at least close in cool factor too.

TexKD, what rifle model are you going with?

It just came in today.

It is a Mark V Arroyo in 257 Mag. It is the Range Certified model too.

I can say that versus my older Mark V's that I really like this rifle. It is a little heavy but I think that can be good thing as it takes some of the recoil out of it. It is going to Weatherby for the muzzle break installation too.

The Mark V stocks, or at least these, have been slimmed down and fit really nice and it is smaller in the wrist grip area. So that is a good fit for her too. I like it for me even.

It is a little long with the 26 inch barrel but the couple of ounces out there isn't going to be a big issue. She will be shooting it off a rest or off some type of brace like the sticks or a big rock.

You get something for your kids. Then it is so nice that you want one for yourself . . .

I shoot a lot of different calibers, just not the 25s so this is just uninformed opinion.

What is she going to shoot that needs a 100 grain bullet at 3400 fps? The velocity gets you more energy but I prefer penetration over velocity.

Unless she's going to be shooting past 600 yards she really doesn't need that velocity.

If you limit her to 300 yards or so wouldn't a 120 - 150 grain bullet at 2700 - 2800 fps work?

Of the Weatherby factory loads the 100 grain Barnes looks to me like it probably has the best penetration due to its mono construction.

The 257s and 25s seem top out in weight at about the 115 and 120 grain loads from what I have seen. Due to barrel twist primarily I suspect.

I can't say for sure yet which is better, but I suspect that in general terms, and all else being equal, a 100 grain Barnes penetrates as well, if not better, than say a 115 grain AccuBond.

I can't say exactly what might on the other end of the shot at this time. But Roy Weatherby had some confidence in this round. But we aren't Roy, nor are we pushing that.

It is just what it is loaded with today.

It is actually 100 grain TSX closer to 3600FPS and penetration is amazing as well as a wound channel that makes dead quick. Of course a 150 grain bullet at 2700 FPS will work as would a 250 grain at 2600 or a 140 at 2550. But one day maybe with the buck of a lifetime, on a hard to draw out of state tag, in a mean wind on the high desert...a little extra velocity might be the difference. "NEED" has nothing to do with modern caliber/case selection. The question is does here young ego NEED all that COOL!

No she doesn't. It was a combination of factors including I like the Weatherby calibers and have had them in larger calibers, so she can kind of follow along too, plus we can get other use out of the rifle such as my wife too.

So the most of it is that it should be a good addition for all around hunting although I had no experience with a hunting caliber less than 270. But I wasn't going to let my Hill Country Rifles 270 get away. Not yet anyway . . . .

Just realize that the barrel will heat up very quickly on that rifle. The little Wby is not a cartridge that she can just sit at a bench and wang away at a target for fun. 3 or 4 shots max, and then you'll have to set it aside so the barrel cools down.

Maybe a 17 HMR or a heavy barreled 223 for "fun" shooting?

Thats a good point too Slim ^^^. I will remember to take the 223 along too when we are working with the 257 for her.

If I were looking for a small-bore magnum, I'd prefer the .264 Winchester to the .257 Weatherby just because of the wide variety of bullets, and heavier bullets, currently available in 6.5mm.

Another great caliber in that 264 Winchester. And I did consider the ones including the 25-06, 257, 6.5 264 260, and 270. And a very good point about the bullet availability too for the 6.5s.

I have had Winchesters shoot just great right from the box. I have also had a couple of my Winchesters turned into projects in order to get them shooting well. I didn't want a project that might take a year with restocking and rebarreling and all of that at least not at this time.

As it happened this new Range Certified 257 was there and at a really good price, so I said let's go this route and essentially it "should" be performing pretty well right from the start. The included range chart by Weatherby in the box was 2 holes in the same hole and one out about a half inch. Nicely enough that test target was with the factory Weatherby Barnes 100 TTSX load.

One of the best! The first rifle I bought with "my" money was a 25-06.. I was 11--and used the money I made at the county show showing my steer. The rancher next door was an avid reloader he loved speed. We ran that 25-06 and a 243 AI on deer, and all types of varmints--at 16 I was at weekly Watsons in Brownwood--they had a Weatherby in a new model called the accumark it was in a 257..what a hammer-still have that rifle--and love it..made some great shots with that rifle. My rifle loves 80 grain TSX load--3800 fps Barnes bullet..anything inside 400...point and shoot.

If she is small in stature like you say, she will get much more enjoyment out of a gun that fits her and handles well. A long barreled, long action will probably feel more clunky and not as fun for her. I remember trying to shoot bigger rifles as a kid and it always felt awkward and the longer length of pull made it harder to shoulder, especially in hunting situations, wearing more than a T-shirt.

A short action with a 20"-22" barrel and a shorter length of pull is where I would start looking. What all is she going to hunt? Figure that out and go from there on cartridge selection.

The Weatherby is here and moved in already. I am absolutely going to adjust the stock length some so that it fits her. She has been shooting a few years including her 22 rifle and a couple of 20 gauges. That will continue too but she is ready to try the centerfire rifle.

As far as what she is hunting, it is the same. Deer and pigs are on the menu here in Texas. Maybe a pronghorn at a later date which would be a perfect application for the Weatherby.

In Africa I hope to get her some shots at animals like hartebeest, impala, springbok, and those medium size plains game animals. One of her favorite dinners on the last safari was red hartebeest strangely enough, so we will see if we can get one in her scope. Certainly her 257 is plenty of rifle for any of that. Maybe in a few years we will go for a caribou or something like that up North.

No experience with 257 Roy, but do have a nice Kimber 25-06.

That said, I started all my kids on 7mm-08 or 7x57

Light handloads using 120 gr bullets.

My son used his 7x57 in Africa on all sorts of PG, from jackals to wildebeests, up to and including a cull kudu.

I bet she will love the 257 Weatherby because if "she sees hair she can hit it". Only rifle I know of you can do that with.

I have the new rifle boxed up for a trip back to Weatherby for them to install the Weatherby muzzle brake on it. According to them with it in place the recoil is reduced to 10 ft-lbs. Nice.

While it is gone for the brake, I am going to get Missy out there in the shop and we are going to load up some rounds for it with the Barnes as the dies should be here tomorrow. I can load some lighter too as a starter load . I found before that it is hard to beat Weatherby's factory ammo in their rifles so as an actual field hunting load I expect to use the Weatherby ammo. But we will see on that too.

As I put up above somewhere, while I have tried them I didn't really use Barnes before, but I bought the TTSXs to load up first for this rifle.

I will then get its scope mounted up and see what it will do. Then we will get her started pulling the trigger on it some.

I was going to add I will have to add a range report to the thread later when the rifle returns. . . it now might be a pretty good bit later. It looks like it is a 3 month turnaround to and from the Weatherby Custom Shop at the moment.

That thing is going to be *really* loud with the brake.

And every handload I've tried so far, the gun has liked it when the bullets are seated out to book max. I'm not sure those Barnes bullets are going to like that though. I haven't tried the Barnes in mine.

I have had great luck with barnes 100 ttsx or a-frames out of my 257 bee. I have a Remington 700 model in 257.

Have yet to get a bullet back from any animal we have taken with it as the barnes just go right through. over 20 animals in Africa with it and most have dropped right there. Kudu, zebra, springbuck impala bushbuck. The animal that ran the most after the shot was a steenbuck made it 75 yds but because I made a bad shot and hit it to far back.

The speed of the round does the job and just drops stuff in there tracks. I just buy there cheapest factory ammo at 39 a box for practice and then reload for it

Thats some pretty big game with the 257. ^^^^ Beings she doesn't have much experience with it, or her being the actual hunter, I probably wouldn't turn her loose on a zebra size animal just yet. But it is good to know that it can do it.

I also looked at the Weatherby brass and the $39 a box soft points as the loaded ammo in that was almost the same price as the new brass. Everyone must buy that, as the Weatherby soft points were out of stock at Midway. So I am waiting on them to get in.

I was looking at the bullets for reloading it. The Barnes are about 70 cents each. The Nosler Ballistic Tip hunting are about 40 cents each. And the Speers boat tails are just 16 cents each. Makes me want to try the Speers for just punching paper. But I normally get the Nosler's first. I normally have the best luck with the Noslers shooting well too.

And then there is my favorite die, which is the Redding Competition Micrometer seating die. At nearly $200 for the 257. Ugggh. My reloading got better from the first Redding mic seating die I bought. So I got them in everything I loaded for.

I said in the first posts, this is why I was going to get calibers I already have in stock. But . . you see how that went. Of course that $200 is just a couple of boxes of loaded Weatherby factory Barnes. But that should be its hunting bullet as that is what the included range certified targets were shot with.

Thanks for the inputs too.

115 gr Nosler ballistic tips over RL-22 with magnum primers have been very accurate for me. I get better groups out of RL-22 than I do RL-25, so I stick with the -22.

Thanks Slim. I will go right at that when I load some up with the Nosler's and I'll use the Norma MRP that I have. I know it is supposed to be the same powder repackaged but the MRP has worked better for me so far. I saw that Nosler said the RL25 was the most accurate powder they tested, but I thought Id try the MRP-22 first.

How was the performance of the Nosler on game if you shot anything with it?

The last year I have been on a tear ( a good one ) with testing new handloads and having them perform well. So I hope it continues in 257.

The 100 TTSX at max charge of 7828SSC with a book COAL provided stellar accuracy for me.

I remember a friend shooting at ducks on a pond most of a half-mile down a a mountainside once when he was a little bored after a whole day looking for mule deer where there weren't any...with his new Weatherby 257 Magnum. His pal was spotting with binoculars, ducks were puzzled but didn't fly.

Thanks rodell. For years I didn't use 7828 and now it is almost my most used powder all of a sudden. Heck if I can find some 270 loads with it and burn up my older Winchester powder it might become all I use in bolt rifles.

Tom - that brings back memories. I was walking by a pond with my 22 as a teenager when some ducks landed. Well you know what happened. Ha. Thanks.

I use the nolser for practice when I cant find the cheaper weatherby ammo. The barnes I think is the best hunting round you can reload for the 257.

Kudu , zebra and oryx all dropped in there tracks and did not even kick. Trust me the Ph could not even believe it and was shocked. I do plan on taking an eland with that 257 at some point. I think you will be very happy once you find what round your gun likes best

I was talking to a rifle crank hunting buddy of mine and told him about the 257. He knew the ones as he had looked over them all.

He said I had a 257 and I traded it on something I wanted and I wish I had kept it.

But he had 5 boxes of new Weatherby 257 in both Barnes and Nosler remaining . Then he came by and gave them to me. I made out like a bandito on that. I will be delivering him some sausage or venison or fish or something sometime.

Now I can see which ones go best with it, although from the Weatherby factory supplied test target I can confidently say it is likely to be the Barnes 100 TTSX.

I wish Weatherby would come on with the RMA for the brake - or I am going to scope it up and go shoot it.

Also consider the 115 gr. TSX. Not as fast, but bucks the wind a little better. I get a little over 3200 with a slightly below-max load of IMR 7828, and keep them inside 1/2 minute, from a .257 Accumark.

I find that bloodshot meat isn't as much as a problem with the TSX as it is with other bullets, although hitting a big bone at close range--which I haven't done so far--might change that.

Yeah for something bigger you might want to get all the bullet weight you can get as velocity isn't any problem for the 257. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by TexKD:
Thanks Slim. I will go right at that when I load some up with the Nosler's and I'll use the Norma MRP that I have. I know it is supposed to be the same powder repackaged but the MRP has worked better for me so far. I saw that Nosler said the RL25 was the most accurate powder they tested, but I thought Id try the MRP-22 first.

How was the performance of the Nosler on game if you shot anything with it?

The last year I have been on a tear ( a good one ) with testing new handloads and having them perform well. So I hope it continues in 257.

So far everything has been bang-flop. Mostly whitetails. But also one bobcat. At close range, there is a bunch of destruction, but at distance, which is where the little Wby really shines, it's not really a problem.

I don't know if the 257 is the ultimate in smaller hunting rifle calibers; but it is practically the poster child for the high speed small bores. Its also a very good one. If someone wanted a flat shooting, quick killing, light recoiling caliber for open country deer sized game its hard to beat. The caveat is the recoil; if light recoil isn't a requirement there are bigger fast cartridges that will surpass it in every way. Sometimes not by much.

I think Roy had it right; high speed and a at least partially fragmenting bullet. Take away the fragmentation and the 257 loses a lot of its lightening.

I want to see the lightning. I am pinning its hunting, at least initially, on the bullets that get "good" expansion at those velocities and that get good penetration too. If some fragmentation occurs then that is ok too. But as light as these bullets are I would prefer them not to get too much fragmentation and as a result then have less penetration. On the smaller and lighter whitetail deer or pronghorn sized game it is less of a concern.

I hope the Weatherby RMA for the brake comes soon as I'd like to get that done and get some bullets flying from the barrel.

I have a good feeling about this 257.

"Is the 257 Weatherby the Ultimate in Smaller Hunting Rifle Calibers"

Yes.

quote:

Originally posted by TexKD:
I want to see the lightning. I am pinning its hunting, at least initially, on the bullets that get "good" expansion at those velocities and that get good penetration too. If some fragmentation occurs then that is ok too. But as light as these bullets are I would prefer them not to get too much fragmentation and as a result then have less penetration. On the smaller and lighter whitetail deer or pronghorn sized game it is less of a concern.

I hope the Weatherby RMA for the brake comes soon as I'd like to get that done and get some bullets flying from the barrel.

I have a good feeling about this 257.

We used the 257 Weatherby a fair bit shooting CWD mule deer and whitetail. Our whitetails rival the size of the mulies here; sure the biggest mulies are bigger, but they arent all bigger. There’s a lot of overlap. Most of this shooting was with 100 grain ballistic tips. Exits were rare, but an animal taking a single step was likewise very rare. I’d worked up the load for my lower teenage son, an as a show of solidarity bought another .257 and used the same load in mine. If theres such a thing as a lightening bolt with a trigger that was it.



Somewhat later I did some fallow and red-deer culling with still another .257. It stubborniy refused to shoot the 100 grain Ballistic tip, or any Partition but was great with the 115 NBT, 100 Scirroco and 110 Accubond. This rifle has a 24” barrel, and if it gave up sometbing in tbe field I couldnt detect it. Managed to take a couple hundred head with that one for powder- burn rsnge out to 700 with most in the 3-500 bracket. Tbe 115 handled itself rather nicely (not different than the Accubond), but if you were concerned penetration the 100 grain Scirroco was good for shooting through two reds anytime you can line the right two deer up. There is also a noticeable difference in recoil, which might make a difference to your daughter. So anyway, a few hundred deer, a couple moose, and more than a few bears later I’m OK with Roy’s favorite cartridge. As a side note, I cant stand the Barnes bullets in it. Once you’ve had the lightning its obvious when it doesn't show up.

Ive never owned a creedmore but I don't see how it wouldn't be perfect for a young hunter or light framed female..The 250-3000 is my all time favorite but its hard to find components for it, an hard to find a rifle these days at a reasonable price, the Creedmore is in the same ballistic class and should be the berrys..

I have to agree with Dogleg, partitions don't suit me under 308 caliber, however over .308 they are a favorite as is the Accubond.

I have taken a 257 Wby to Africa 3 or 4 times. I shot most of the Tiny Ten with it and the 90gr XBT.

It also killed 3 Cape Kudu. And 2 zebra with broadside shots.

If I was loading for it now I'd try the 100gr and 115 TSX for Africa or even the Swift bullets.

Rl-22 for the 100's and Rl-25 for the 115's.

The recoil is negligible even for a small woman, but the blast is something else.

I would consider putting a top of the line suppressor on the rifle.

Yes it makes the rifle more unwieldy but the PH and trackers will appreciate it as will your daughter.