ive never tweeked a rifle like this before. what does this entail? ive got a remington 700 stainless steel that has barely been shot and was thinking about changing it a bit. with a better stock (mcmillan)?, 26in barrel(which kind)? glass bedding and floating and having trigger work done. any thoughts on what i should do? or is this even possible? this will be a backpacking type rifle but not one of those 4lb deals. any input would be great thanks jeff

Dude,
I am a big fan of the 257 Weatherby(not such a big fan of 700's). If your intent is game and heavier bullets(117/120)go with the 257W, however if you want a dual purpose rifle te 25/06 is hard to beat. Components are more avalible and max 257 Wby loads use up brass in as little as 10 firings.

One thing's for sure, you'll have to open up the bolt face to accept the Wby case. That'll probably run anywhere from $100-$150. I'm not sure what that does to the Rem extractor. You may also have to install a new extractor. I'm sure you'll get more detailed explanation from one of the smiths.

This may be an option , start with a Rem 7mm mag and find a decent barrel ,its an easy conversion and not that expensive.

7 mags are plentiful and the cost reasonable.

My choice would be to neck the 7mm mag down to .257 and skip the wby case altogether.It would be no problem having a reamer and dies made and you would have a much better selection of 7mm brass available.

First- If you really want a .257 WBY ( great cartridge) buy or trade your 25-06 for a 7mm Mag or 300 win ADL. Alternatively, A good smith could easily open your bolt up and add a Sako extractor while your at it. You'll need a new barrel, someone to chamber it for .257 WBY, a Holland recoil lug and a decent stock ( mcmillans are hard to beat, but it will have to be glass bedded. While ugly as sin, those CHOAT sniper stocks for $150 have an aluminum bedding block that will deliver accuracy on a par with the best Mcmillans.
Another good alternative is to have your 25-06 rechambered for a 25-05 Ackley Improved. You can get pretty close to the .257 WBY with this round and you won't have to buy a new gun or spend lots of money for essentially the same performance. -Rob

Are there offerings in the .257 in the short or ultra magnums? Seems this would be a natural direction for the 25.

i think that 700 ss in 25-06 is worth much more to sell outright and buy a well used 700 mag in any caliber. the 7mm is the most common and cheapest. another alternative is to find a kevlar model out of the custom shop used. i have seen them in the 700-800 range. you get a tefloned ss barreled action in a mcm kevlar stock. find one in 7 mag and off the barrel for $75 or so. pacnor barrel and labor and your in it for $1100 or so ready to fly.
or if you into single shots you could rechamber one of those ss ruger number ones from 06' to 257 weatherby or 257stw.......
woofer

I say sell that current one to one of the 700 lovers and let them worry about all the stuff it will need to make it worthy. Your 257 WBY is already built and it lives right here.

http://www.weatherby.com/rifles/mag_ultralightweight.shtml

If you shop around a bit they can be had between 1100 and 1200 bucks. For half of that they make an all stainless one but the stock isn't as trick.
So for about the price of rebarreling yours you can have a whole new gun and keep your old one if you want to.

Just sell the 700 and buy the Weatherby Acculight in the .257. Nice rifle.

I never had even shot a Weatherby until recently when I won one in a sales contest. It's a .257 Mag., can't handle the shiny wood, so worked it over with 0000 steel wool, did a trigger job, stuck some 100 gr factory loads in it, and shot some 1/2-3/4 groups with them and chrono. said 3700 fps.