I was reading about the .257 Weatherby Mag. in Clay Harvey's book The Hunter's Rifle , and he made the statement that the .257 Weatherby was very loud and that he would not even fire 1 shot while hunting without hearing protection unless it was an emergency.

I have just ordered one of the new Vanguards in .257 Weatherby and was wondering if the .257 is louder than say a 7 mm Rem. Mag. or a .300 Win. Mag. I always wear hearing protection during practice but not while hunting. In firing a shot or two while hunting I have not been bothered by the blast from the 7 mm and .300 mag. I am just wondering if the .257 will be substantially louder than these rifles. Also, none of the barrels are ported.

Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.

Ole Miss Rebel

I guess I find all rifles too loud to shoot without hearing protection- I try to use ear protection in the field as much as possible. The 257 muzzle blast is at a higher "Pitch" than its bigger brothers with larger bores, and that could bother some people more than others.

www.duanesguns.com

Ole Miss, it's no worse than the 2 rifles you mention. As Duane mentions though, it does have a distinctive, high pitched "crack" to it. You'll have no problem hunting w/out hearing protection.

I have a 300Wby Mark5 that is ported and it is rude without protection, BUT not in the field when the adrenalin is up. derf

With the hearing protection that is available today it is foolish to shoot at any time without it. Ever notice how many of us old farts are constantly saying "huh" or "whaddya say" It's stupid to damage your hearing with such inexpensive and convenient protectors available today. You may not notice it at the moment of shooting at game but rest assured you have damaged your hearing.

It depends on the load. In my 25.5" barrel, the factory load with the Hornady 100grs bullet produces quite a muzzleflash, and (I guess) an equivalent amount of noise - I have only fired this wearing muffs. Other loads (e.g. factory with 115 grs RN) are much less conspicuous. This said, I have seen other rifles produce the same type of flash - Swiss military 7.5x55 ammo is famous for producing large flashes in short barrels.

So is the .257 Wby particularly damaging to hearing in the field? I don't think it is more damaging than any other rifle - get rid of brakes and/or porting if you worry about noise. The .257 is pretty overbore, but at least it does not burn as much powder as some cartridges, certainly less than the .300 WM or 7mm RM you mentioned. Use protection if you can, mostly I don't when in the field, as it is impractical in a big game hunting situation. I'm sure I'll suffer from this in the end (huh?? say again... )

- mike

You would be very wise to wear hearing protection at all times, whether you are target shooting or hunting. If you are lucky, you will just get hearing loss. My life was radically changed in December 2000 when I shot at a cottontail with a 12 gauge. I now have permenent nerve damage in my left ear, which manifests itself as Tinnitus (a loud high pitched ringing that NEVER goes away). I also have to struggle with ear pain. This almost ended my shooting career. Although I have never shot a 12 gauge since, I still shoot rifles, including a .257 WBY. I wear foam ear plugs and ear muffs while at the range. Wearing both will increase the level of protection five decibels (you don't add the decibel protection each provides). While hunting I wear electronic muffs so I can still hear. Expensive, but worth it. At the very least, while hunting, always wear an ear plug in the ear that faces the muzzle. I just got back from the range yesterday and could hardly sleep last night because of the pain and ringing in my ear. Not from my rifle, but the guy next to me who was shooting a rifle with a muzzle brake.

I may catch a lot of flack for this but, in my opinion Clay Harvey is a wimp anyway. What kind of goofy thing is that to say? His book is interesting reading but he is so damned busy trying to use words that he learned at college (or who knows where) that it is sort of aggravating.

He has some interesting information but the book is full of nothing more than personal ideas and thoughts. (Not many of which can be supported.)

Anyway, I have several friends who shoot 257 Weatherby rifles. Sure, they are loud. Hell, a 270 Winchester is loud, for crying out loud. A 270 Winchester has a very distinctive crack that can be identifed for some distance. I do not hear anyone crying about them.

I think this is all just carrying on about nothing. You will not notice the noise from the .257 Weatherby being any different than lots of other calibers.

Sure, you should wear ear protection while sighting in, etc.

I have found any number of cartridges to be loud under certain situations. I once layed down and shot at a marmot with my 25-06 using a Harris bipod. I did not take into account that there was a small log lying in front of my barrel about 3 feet away. Even with ear plugs the sound coming back from that log was pretty bad. Did I get rid of my 25-06? Not hardly!

Enjoy your rifle and don't worry about it.

R F

It may be a very subjective thing. I find 22WMR revolvers and the 243 Winchester to be more irritating than cartridges of much higher pressure or case capacity.

If you yearn for the 257 Weatherby get it and use hearing protection.

I agree entirely with Flowers. Heck, we`re all big boys! We know[or should] about noise, ears, muzzle blast etc! Hell, about 8 months ago I had a guy come in with a 257 WBY and wanting the barrel cut to 20". I asked him why and he said the $%^&thing was too long to get out of his truck quick. I tried to talk him out of it but finally did the job anyway. Well, he took the rifle out hunting and, I am told, forgot about the shorter barrel and torched off a shot at a deer or elk while IN the Blazer. Guess he still isn`t hearing too good and also knocked out a window or two. Now he`ll probably try to sue Weatherby for his hearing loss. So much fun being humans!!

Aloha, Mark

How close are you to OLE Miss? Ever heard of a little place called Pontotoc?

Steve E.........

When at the range I wear ear muffs the kind that stop sound above 70 decibles and of course gun shots. When hunting I wear ear plugs the kind that muffel the sound but let you still hear about 60%. I think anything is better than nothing. I never shot a braked rifle without ear muffs.