Ok, first off...I'm set on the 240. So, no amount of discussion is going to make me choose the 6x284, 243 Win, 6mm Rem or 6-06. I like Weatherby's, I have a 300, and I'm building a 257 shortly on a pre-64. I might even build a 375 Wby. I love Weatherby cartridges, however all but 1 rifle I own are Winchester 70's, so except the 300 everything will be custom.

This topic, is what choices would you guys, especially those with experience, make in building a 240 from the ground up?

I'm starting with a NH Win M70 Classic stainless. Here is what I am thinking so far, please tell me if there are better choices, or opinions, or whatever on my build.

What barrel maker, twist, rifling, length would you choose? Would you build around the heavier 105+ bullets like the AMAX or Berger VLD, or would you head towards the lighter but much stronger 90's like the Accubond, TTSX and GMX?

What about stocks? I'm looking at factory Win Coyote laminate stock (bedded of course) or possibly a Manners or HS Precision stock. Going for a light-medium varmint weight/profile rig, to make one helluva antelope gun.

Scopes? I am very partial to Zeiss Conquest and mostly Nikon scopes.

quote:

I'm starting with a NH Win M70 Classic stainless.

OK...not a bad start....add a Shilen #2 contour 24" barrel ....but get a set of FL sizxing dies and run a .25-06 case through it and use that case as a "go gauge" so you can use .25-06 brass for the future needs.
Twist to be 1-9 and stainless to match the action.

Aim to use the 100 grain bullets such as interloack because pronghorns don't require much of a bullet.

Add a Mickey swirley and and a Leupold 3-9 X 33 ultralight

Personally I'd install supergrade style swivel studs and Williams irons as a backup....

Add lead shot to the stock under the barrel channel to achieve the weight you want.

I would go 26" bbl myself, in a heavy sporter contour. If you're going to have the cartridge, you might as well get the velocity that you're "paying for" with throat erosion. I would vote for a 1-8" twist, so you can launch the Berger 115 gr hunting vld's. For a 6mm long range 'lope gun, take all the bc you can get. Unless you try some light, 55-65 gr bullets, I doubt the 1-8" will give you problems with bullet breakups. I'm running the 87 gr Vmax in a 1-8" Lothar Walther barrel chambered in 243 win (prairie dog rig). I don't have any problems with bullets breaking up, but I don't have quite the velocity or rpms that you'll be running.

Stocks are a personal preference, so as long as it fits you and you like it, no problems there.

A 4-14x Zeiss conquest should be a great 'lope scope. I doubt you'd need anything bigger than that.

My "designated 'lope gun" is a 257 wby shooting the 115 gr bt's. All I need now is a tag.

26" sporter contour barrel, 1 in 7" twist for the heavier bullets you can't go wrong other than the throat erosion and high priced brass good luck!!!

Get a 26 inch stainless "fluted" barrel of your choice. Twist, 1 in 8 is ok. Remember, an 85 grain TSX or 90 gr Scirocco II, or Nosler's solid copper are all the bullets you will need, so I would make sure what ever you do, you can handle the bullet range available.

Use Weatherby or Norma brass, just buy a box on occasion, that's what I did and it is no big deal.

Probably one of the most underrated and unappreicated cartridges out there, and all you need for big mule deer on down. Take an elk if you are putting a solid copper in the right place.

I use mine for wild pig hunting in CA and coyotes.

I'd buy a accumark!

http://www.budsgunshop.com/cat...hp/products_id/42159

1475 and go shoot as soon as it gets in...

If you really got to unload your wallet because you just have too much money

Stiller Predtor action $900
good SS barrel-- Pac-Nor, Krieger, Cut-rifle,ect... $300
Mcmillian stock for s syn $450...get a good wood stock made... I know a few that start at around $2500 and go up from there.
Gunsmithing-- $475-$700
Blue--paint/orQPQ--- $175-$300
Wait time???? Priceless
$2300 to $5000- to whatever you want to spend!
That accumark sounds pretty good now!

Ed

I built a 6/284 about 3 years ago. I love it! They are pretty much balistically identical to the 240. I used a 1-10 twist barrel from Danny Pederson, finished up at 27", .675" at the muzzel. Shoots the lights out with 85 gr. Sierra's, and anything lighter. I'm pushing those 85's over 3400 fps, not max load yet either, damn near 22-250 speed with a 85 gr. pill leaves a mark! The only thing I would change (maybe) would be twist rate. I can't get the heavy's to stabilize with that 1-10 twist.
Killed two deer with it "DRT", a few coyotes dead before they hit the ground! I would think you would be plenty safe with a combination like that on antelope. The one thing I do really like about living on the lighter side is that it shoots super flat!

I like Weatherby cartridges...rifles? Not so much. Just a personal thing, I like my M70's

I was thinking more along the lines of...

27" Broughton 5C 1:8 or 1:9, the 90gr Scirocco or 90gr Accubond, POSSIBLY 105 AMAX if I do go 1:8. Yes, goats don't NEED tough bullets from a 243 or 6mm...but I want to take into account the possibility of a 100 yard shot. At those speeds, the standard bullets in 6mm aren't likely to hold up all that well. I read an article a while ago from some guy in NZ who did a lot of bullet testing with the 240 and his results pretty much said, don't use the AMAX or NBT UNDER 200 yards. Good chance it'll result in a nasty blow up superficial wound.

Maybe a Manners stock, but I'm still wondering about the factory Coyote stocks. I used to own 2, I really liked them. I want something more "varmint" style.

And, I don't take brass price into account when I buy/build something. I mean...its silly to be thinking about a 1000$ rifle or a 2000$+ build...and determine the chambering by the difference of 10-20$ in brass lol. It is not a high volume shooter, 2-3 boxes of brass will probably last a looong time. And proper head stamped 6-06 or 6-284 (qual cart) is a special order deal, and costs as much if not more then 240 brass. Necking down '06 brass requires more work. And again...why do more work to save a 1/4 tank worth of gas money?

quote:

...get a set of FL sizxing dies and run a .25-06 case through it and use that case as a "go gauge" so you can use .25-06 brass for the future needs...

What!! Have you ever actually tried to FL size a .25-06 case in a .240WM die? You better have a hydraulic arbor press to do it, because you are swaging down the case body by 0.02", forming a belt in the solid head of the case. This is not only impractical, it is very difficult work.

The OP has it figured out - buy the .240 cases and don't worry about the trivial cost of brass.


.

Years ago I built my 240PDK wildcat. It has about 10% more capacity. No way would I consider less than 26"

I had one built by Jim Kobe 7-8 years ago.
I bought a new Rem 700 BDL stainless in 25/06
Sold the barrel and stock
Bought a sporter weight Lilja stainless and installed at 26"
Had the action trued
Installed a McMillan Sako Hunter stock and had the action "glassed" into that stock
Installed a Leupold VX II 4-12X

Have shot three coyotes, 4-5 antelope, and one mule deer.

I shoot 70 grain ballistic tips at coyotes and 90 Scirocco or 95 ballistic tips at big game.

Its a real noce cartridge.

df06,

What kind of speed are you getting with that 90gr Scirocco? That bullet really interests me

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:

quote:

...get a set of FL sizxing dies and run a .25-06 case through it and use that case as a "go gauge" so you can use .25-06 brass for the future needs...

What!! Have you ever actually tried to FL size a .25-06 case in a .240WM die? You better have a hydraulic arbor press to do it, because you are swaging down the case body by 0.02", forming a belt in the solid head of the case. This is not only impractical, it is very difficult work.

The OP has it figured out - buy the .240 cases and don't worry about the trivial cost of brass.


.

No I have never done this...Have you?...I'd love to hear some real experience....BTW the idea of doing this came from a notable gun writer...!

I also agree about the brass. I just don't get it. When I bought my 257 wby, I ordered 100 pcs of brass and the dies at the same time. It only stings a little bit at first. That was 6 or 7 years ago, and I've only lost 2 pcs of brass, one of those I gave to a little kid at the range who was starting a cartridge case collection. The other one I lost on a deer hunt. Still got 98 pcs left, and that's enough to out last me I'm sure.

Milehighshooter

My load for the 90 Sciricco in my 240 wby is 50.0 grains of H-414 and a Fed large rifle primer. That gets me 3294 FPS.
I tried 50.5 grains and the bolt was getting a little sticky.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
[QUOTE]I'm starting with a NH Win M70 Classic stainless.

OK...not a bad start....add a Shilen #2 contour 24" barrel ....but get a set of FL sizxing dies and run a .25-06 case through it and use that case as a "go gauge" so you can use .25-06 brass for the future needs.
/QUOTE]

The 240Wby is a belt case with standard bot face.

well since a 240 Weatherby is a 6mm/06 with a belt on it, have fun putting the belt on an 06 case, or spending the extra big bucks for Weatherby brass...

I was at Shooter's Pro Shop at Nosler's HQ and some guy brought in a 240 Weatherby, that he took to Montana for a week prairie dog shooting and managed to shoot out the barrel in that one week...

he wasn't impressed and neither were any one else in the shop at the time...

Vapodog,

you read that article by Nonte too, huh? IIRC< Wbee just took that work and had cases made. It's a pretty neat cartridge.

Rich

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
well since a 240 Weatherby is a 6mm/06 with a belt on it, have fun putting the belt on an 06 case, or spending the extra big bucks for Weatherby brass...

I was at Shooter's Pro Shop at Nosler's HQ and some guy brought in a 240 Weatherby, that he took to Montana for a week prairie dog shooting and managed to shoot out the barrel in that one week...

he wasn't impressed and neither were any one else in the shop at the time...

Are you assuming I am building this to impress anyone other then myself?

And BTW, that guy is an idiot for using a big game rifle to sit on a pdog town. Probably shot it red hot too, but that must the cartridges fault and not the shooter. Couple of long pokes at REAL far off dogs? Sure! But he had to have put 600-900 rounds at a fast pace to burn out the barrel. Or, the story is just

Milehighshooter
Well said.
I have shot PDs multiple times per year for close to 20 years. I would never consider taking a 240WBY for that chore.

I have a buddy who retired and moved here for the purpose of spending his golden years tearing up dog towns. He didn't even use his 6mm Rem for more then a handful of shots per day.

And Seafire - just to be clear, I wasn't saying YOUR story was BS, but that of the guy in the Nosler store.

quote:

But he had to have put 600-900 rounds at a fast pace to burn out the barrel....

Really? And your basis for this opinion is from what - reading a book? How about listening to someone with actual experience. Forty years ago I burned out a very accurate 6mm Remington barrel - the throat looked like a dry lake bed and accuracy was poor - in one afternoon shooting five boxes of handloads. The temperature was over 100*F and I was too naive to stop shooting and let the barrel cool off. It doesn't take a lot of shooting to burn out a barrel on a small caliber/high velocity cartridge, just a lot of heat. And the 6mm Remington has 10 grains less capacity than the .240 Weatherby, had I fired the latter it might have only taken four boxes.

Winchester found this out with their original .223WSSM - they had to chrome-line the bores to get decent barrel life. Reports were that the barrel throat was badly burned in less than 200 rounds of factory loads in original barrels.



.

Regardless of the round count, I did specify heating the barrel up didn't I? That is exactly the experience you saw as well...so why the comment about it? Did I call you out on something? Or did you just feel like looking down on my project?

I shot prairie dogs with a .243 Superrockchucker (AKA 6mm-06 somewhat improved) for years and didn't burn out the barrel.....but then I was never shot hot!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I shot prairie dogs with a .243 Superrockchucker (AKA 6mm-06 somewhat improved) for years and didn't burn out the barrel.....but then I was never shot hot!

So true I'm shooting a 243AI.

I have a 240 gibbs, more powder burnt then a wtby and it is still shooting great at 800+ rounds. It is used as a hunting rifle not a varmint rifle, not many chucks,coyotes or deer shot in a row to overheat the barrel.

My .240 is build on a 700 Rem. action, and P.O. Ackley made the 26" bbl., this was done back in the 70's. It shoots VERY good, but i wouldn't build another... It's that "brass" thing again.

Being expensive is only part of the problem with the .240 brass. I could live with the expense, "IF" the damn norma/wby. brass was better quality!

As least with most of the other Wby. cartridges, you can make better brass out of something else, NOT so with the 240!

If i was doing it all over again, my .240 would be a 25/06! If i HAD to have a 6mm bullet, i's be shooting a 6mm Rem., as nothing hit with a .240, would be less dead hit with a 6mm Rem. using the same shot.

A 6mm-06 would be another choise, IF i wanted to go through all the trouble to make brass.

DM

quote:

Originally posted by DM:
My .240 is build on a 700 Rem. action, and P.O. Ackley made the 26" bbl., this was done back in the 70's. It shoots VERY good, but i wouldn't build another... It's that "brass" thing again.

Being expensive is only part of the problem with the .240 brass. I could live with the expense, "IF" the damn norma/wby. brass was better quality!

As least with most of the other Wby. cartridges, you can make better brass out of something else, NOT so with the 240!

If i was doing it all over again, my .240 would be a 25/06! If i HAD to have a 6mm bullet, i's be shooting a 6mm Rem., as nothing hit with a .240, would be less dead hit with a 6mm Rem. using the same shot.

A 6mm-06 would be another choise, IF i wanted to go through all the trouble to make brass.

DM

I find it strange that you own a 9.3x47R and RWS brass runs about the same as 240 Wby am I missing something. I've never had a problem with Wby brass.

Hey MileHigh...if you want a 240 Wby then go build one...it isn't any more difficult than building ANY other rifle. AND...forget about asking for opinions because you will get them so why argue the minutia...or is it just to keep the pot cooking.

240 Wby brass is available at many online sources, it's YOUR gun and YOUR dollar, do what YOU want.

Yeah...the Weatherby cartridges look COOL, and the name says it all, but there are a whole bunch of 6mm wildcats out there that will do the same velo or better and I would rather spend my dollar on MORE BULLETS, POWDER AND PRIMERS than pay high dollars to drop a name.

Personally I woudn't build ANY proprietary cartridge rifle as, for the most part, there are cheaper knock-offs using cheaper brass I can built that do just as good a job and I've never been in to having some Goochee label stapled to my backside.

You better hurry up and decide because 240 Wby brass just keeps getting more and more expensive.

Luck

I would agree with the Broughton 5r, have one chambered in 257Wby and it is second to none. I also love the 240Wby and I'd go with the 26" 9 twist. The Scirroccos are nice, but I really like the 85 grain TSX and there is not a goat alive that can stop one! The 100 grain partition is as heavy as I shoot before going to a bigger gun, but I have shot heavy deer at less than 60 yards with the 90 Scirrocco and 100 partition and had very good results with both. As far as stocks go I love the HS Precision with the box mag. I like wood too, just not scratched wood. The HS and Bell and Carlson are both good and reliable, but I like the MPI as well. If I had to have wood the Winchester Coyote laminate would be as good as any with a quality bedding job. Have a good time and if you decide you don't like your rifle when your done, I'm always in the market!

FOOBAR....partially, yes lol it has been slow around here, figured this would be a good one to get people talking some more

Brass isn't going to be a problem thanks to one of our extremely generous members, I just have to get to the post office this week to send him a MO. Enough to last me a lifetime, or at least 2 barrels, which ever comes first HA!

Quintus,

Thanks for the input! A 257 is also on my to-do list someday. But I think I want to do that one more svelte so I could actually carry it up in the mountains. What twist do you have on yours?

My 240 is built on a Rem. 700 action with a 26" Ackley bbl... In a BDL stock that i bedded and free floated the bbl..

It's a fairly light weight bbl., but not feather weight. Anyway, it's VERY accurate and i've not only taken some deer with it, i have won several magnum class BR matches with it too.

For big game, i prefer 95 or 100NP's, and choose my shots, it does a great job under those conditions.

DM

My 257 is a 10 twist. At the time that was the only option with the 5r. It is crowned at 25" and sits in a B&C Medalist. Timney trigger @ 2.5 Lbs with a Conquest 4.5-14 in Warne rings. It is built on a Mark 5 action that has seen a couple of barrels. It was built to be my beater/ bad weather gun, but it puts 5 100 grain TSXs into a nickel at 200 and so it gets carried alot on nice days too. I did have that chambered to Weatherby specs with the freebore and my loads are just able to fit in the magazine, but I get a shade over 3600fps with RL22 and 215 primers. I have never had issues with accuracy and Weatherbys freebore. My experience with Weatherby accuracy trouble has been with the bedding, but even that has been quite limited.

I have a Japanese made Mark V, it has the best wood of any of my Weatherby rifles. 26" barrel and 4 x 12 scope.

The Mark V from that era is the full size 9 lug reciever.

If I were looking for another one today, I'd opt for the smaller verson in Ultra lightweight Weatherby, I do like the longer barel.

There were dies made years ago that would put a belt on a 06 case, If I remember correctly the case came out just a bit shorter but would stretch out after firing. I never saw the need, but it peaked my interest when I 1st heard about it.

I bought several hundred Norma brass when I first got the gun, and haven't had to throw away any yet. Brass will last a long time.

The 240 Wby was my "want" gun.....I have a .257 and at the time a .243. The .240 filled the nitch between .22 centerfires and .257, but in my case the others get hunted with much more.

I do like the round, and I love the speed, but it's a big "small" gun to carry in the field for me.

Quintus that sounds pretty much like my plans! Almost to a T at that (25" and medalist) Except I would likely build mine on the pre-64 mag action I have lying around waiting to be barreled

quote:

no amount of discussion

Why bother?

I would choose a different cartridge.

But, as you clearly don't want to hear about that, I'll address your rifle choice.

I am a Model 70 fan. But I wouldn't use a Model 70 for this project.

Why?

It appears by your choice of cartridge families that you are really into high velocity. Nothing wrong with that at all. But why not get the velocities you can with that cartridge and case then?

To that end, I would go with a single shot, falling block kind of action...something such as a Riedl, a B-78, or a Ruger No. 1 or 3. The reason I'd go with that sort of action would be so I could use a longer barrel without having an ungainly rifle, and get higher velocities at no more cost in pressures.

So, then, I'd add a 28" sporter weight barrel from any top maker. I'd choose a Hart, but a Lilja would be my close second choice. (My first choice would be an Obermeyer, IF he is currently making 6 mm barrels, but I don't know if he is.) A 28" barrel on a single shot would be about the same overall length as a 24" barrel on a Model 70.

Now to a scope; I would NOT put a big heavy variable on it. I'd still want a rifle that was not awkwardly top-heavy, so I'd pick someone's fixed power scope of about 6 or 8-X...whichever known-to-be-reliable brand has the smallest fully parallax-adjustable objective lens and lightest weight.

I don't know of an antelope in the world which is small enough I couldn't hit it at 100 yards with iron sights, so I figure an 8-X is going to be plenty of magnification at any distance I would ever shoot at one.

As to using my single shot...no fears. Long range shooting does not usually scare away the animals I've shot at unless several shots have first caught their attention, and then follow up shots finally made them nervous enough to leave...even then not necessarily to another spot which is out of range.

But then, my intent isn't to miss with the first shot. I can certainly have time to reload, anyway.

I have no complaint about having to find another antelope either. They tend to hang out in groups.

quote:

Originally posted by tom holland:
I find it strange that you own a 9.3x47R and RWS brass runs about the same as 240 Wby am I missing something. I've never had a problem with Wby brass.

It's not strange at all. My RWS brass is high quality, and is lasting very well.

My 240 brass is low quality, too soft, and doesn't last with full power loads.

It's NOT just about the price, it's about getting what i pay for!

DM

I'd defintely build it with a 1-8 twist to take advantage of heaviver pills and have the throat cut accordingly It would be a nice long range rig.