why not the 257 wthby

[crittrgittr]

I'm relatively new to this site, but I rarely see this caliber mentioned. I did alot of research on this caliber and it seems very impressive. Just wondering what some of you shooters think of this? I did purchase one last year and am hoping to play a little with the reloading soon.

 

[royinidaho]

Why not the 257 Weatherby?

Why Not? Nothing at all inappropriate with the cartridge.

Do a search on Buffalobob. He uses one very effectively.

Yep and for elk.

Go for it if that's what trips your trigger.

 

[crittrgittr]

That's what I was thinking, but like I said ner oone ever talks of this caliber when talking about long range hunting.

 

[ishootkittens]

haha I thought the same thing.. about alot of different calibers. Just remember the name of this site. LONGRANGEHUNTING ONLINE MAGAZINE. I was wondering for the longest time why no one mentioned a .30-30, .270, or Any of the weatherby's for that matter. These guys are completely different than me but they know what they are talking about. See I live in the dense mountain woodlands region here in Virginia. I know of ONE place where you could get a 600 yard shot and even that shot is illegal in that you would be shooting across a valley with a road splitting it in half. Most deer I have killed have been in between 75 and 200 yards. I have never killed a deer past 200 yards. But I cant quit coming here. I love the idea of the amount of skill and time these guys have to do this kind of shooting. I love learning tricks and tips about long range shooting from these guys.. These guys dont mention the 257 weatherby because most of them stick to a few select calibers. I could do every bit of my hunting with a .30-30.. but after coming here I bought a .300wsm because the guys here convinced me that you cant have a gun that shoots TOOO far and if the opportunity ever presents itself to me I dont want to be unprepared. the 257 is a great caliber but the wthby caliber is hard on barrels. And these guys.. spending the kinda money they do on barrels, REALLLLY like to stretch barrel life because most of the shooters on this forum are competitive and varmit shooters where ABSOLUTE ACCURACY is a must. Where me... if I can hit a 6 inch area at 200 yards I can get my job done.. and I only shoot my rifle occasionally so Barrel life isnt a concern of mine. Maybe if I ever get into target shooting I will start worrying about this kind of stuff. Just because no one mentions it, doesnt mean its bad. Go out and burn that barrel up! Post some pics, I'll be excited to see what the wby can do!

--cody

 

[elkregulator]

bullets.....

 

[ishootkittens]

Well I could have said that.. but where would I waste my time if I did?!

 

[crittrgittr]

I assume by bullets you mean price? I think that most of you/them reload so the price of brass isn't that much higher than most other calibers, especially the long range ones. I would think that most of you/them that shoot those long ranges with those "expensive" rifles can afford the brass for the wthby's like alot of the other calibers.

 

[elkregulator]

no high bc bullets available

I think we would see a lot more 25-06, 257 wthby, & 257 stw if there was some good bullets made for them.

 

[crittrgittr]

As I mentioned I am somewhat new to this world, but I assumed that most of the "favorites" for the other calibers: 6.5x284, 260, 280, 308, etc.... were also available for the .257. Am I not correct in this? If not what would be looking for as far as a long range bullet for this caliber?

 

[royinidaho]

Performed a bit of a terminal performance test a couple of years back.

Final result was surprising.

On the large side was the 338 RUM for kicks and giggles the small side happened to be a 25-06.

Berger's 257 offering in 115 gr penetrated the body only about 2" less than the 338 in shoulder hits in the test media. Impressive to say the least.

BTW the test media was a real find.

We then decided to try the little Bergers in bone. Much Much more impressed were we.gun)

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/those-amazing-bergers-32615/

 

[crittrgittr]

So if I understand correctly the bullets are available and the performance is there. Sounds like a darn good cal. over all. Hope to hear more input from all.

 

[winmag]

A lot of L/R guys like high BC high SD bullets with some weight behind em. I have no doubt whatsoever that the ol' quarter bore can get er done, even on elk, but .25 cal, 115 gr bullets aren't excatly the "go to" for L/R on big tough game at distance. Yes they will work. & Yes shot placement is key, but the .25 caliber is and unfortunately always will be considered a "cross over" caliber from varmints to deer because that's the niche' it fits best in. The quarter bore shines brightest in that arena like the big .338's shine brightest on bigger critters, farther away. While a person could use a .338 LM on squirles & take his .257 Wby elk huntin, it just makes more since the other way around.
Don't get me wrong please. The .257wby is a fine cartrige, with a big following. They shoot flat as a laser too, but there are more appropriate tools for certain jobs. The .257 Wby will get the job done, but there are other cartriges that overshadow it for LR on big game.
Heck, the same can be said about my .270wsm, or even my .300wby when you put em up against a .338 LM on elk at 1k. You'll find that most of what goes on here is people getting to know thier equipment intimately, & using it to the best of thier ability at a range where they are confident they will make a solid hit & a quick kill. If you choose to do that with a .257wby then do it to the best of your ability. Your peers here will respect your shooting skill not just the cartrige. Heck we all have our own favorite cartriges, that for our individual hunting styles & ranges. Who's to say the .257 Wby can't do it?

 

[Freebore]

I really like the 257Wthrby and have 2 of them. My UL I shoot the 115 Balistic tip with a full house of H-1000 and it shoots 1/2MOA at 200 or better. The other a Lazermark I shoot the 100 Barnes. I have taken a very large Caribou bull at 337 yards (pic is in 2007 Wthrby catalog pg 9). That 115 Bal-tip broke the right shoulder, the spine and the left shoulder. He dropped in his tracks. I did have bullet failure by some peoples thoughts as I only recoverd the jacket against the outerside of the hide on the left shoulder. The Barnes just gels everything inside as does the Bal-tip if you take lungs only. I never had to track an animal shot with this cartridge. Shot placement is where its at so pratice is very import as you will read here on this site. A 100 yards is nothing. Go to 2-300 and pratice here, the 100 is then a no brainer and technique is most important for distance then move out to 600 and the .257 will do this well. There are 'better' longrange cartridges.

Now let's talk Weatherby. They are made to be one shot rifles, the first shot period. You cannot sit and punch bullets downrange unless you have a stovepipe barrel (very heavy wall) so your talking custom now. Alot of longrange deer/elk have and still are taken with the .300 Weatherby cartridge.

With a factory Wthrby rifle you have to, have to wait (should any factory rifle) go cold that means cold steel not oh it's cooled down now. I mean cold steel cold. So don't go to the range to shoot alot unless you have all day. It is the 1st shot that counts with any rifle.

The velocity is really what makes the .257 weatherby Magnum shine. It is one bad-*** cartridge for deer/antelope hunting. I salk to 400 if I can and shoot from there. No need to blow a stalk. I have shot deer at 50 yards too here in Pa. woods heading to the longrange fields. This is not longrange by this 'boards' standards. But works for me. I love my .257 Wthrby's. bullets are obviously an important consideration of what your hunting and the distance. I have not tried the Burgers. the jacket seems to be right on for my distances/velocity for my hunting requirements.

I use a .300 custom magnum for elk 'cause they are just really big critters period. I saw one take 4 rounds of Federal Premium 7mag 160TBBC's before it went down and that was at 225yards. The .300 just seems to put the smack on elk. This will probably bring some responses. Yup I know of guys killin' elk with .270's too but not longrange.

If you get one, no more than 3 shot groups and cold steel cold before the next group. You''ll love it. Factory ammo ain't too bad either if you can afford it. my2c.

 

[crittrgittr]

Thanks for the replies guys. I do have a 257 now I just need to work up some loads for it. I should have clarified that I only plan to shoot deer and smalller game with it. I've got a 300wm I use on larger game. I've actually shot a muley at 586 yds. with that already; my longest shot to date. I was very impressed with myself with that shot. I did practice to 500 before going to WY which made all the diff. in the world. So I am planning to use my 257 for yotes to deer up to 500 yds. I do realize there are limits to any caliber and would not try larger animals at longer distances.