.240 Weatherby Magnum: The Hotrod 6mm

[bounty hunter 2]

I am in the USA and was not considering other countries. Here it is quite easy to build a 243/06 for well under $600.00. I just finished building a rifle though not a 243/06 it is a 22/250 Ackley built on a Savage action . Caliber would make no difference in cost for the barrel. With this type of action there is no extra cost in fitting the barrel to the action as anyone that is reasonably competent with tools can quickly change this type of barrel. It is the only type of barrel mounting system that does not require a finishing reamer but comes finished from the maker.
My total cost to build the rifle was $460.00 not including a scope. I bought a new Stevens model 200 as a action/stock doner for $260.00 and had a new barrel made to my specks and delivered for $200.
As for the dies here in the USA they will be $100.00 but there would be maybe up to a 6 month wait. For the clever thinking type there is always another way to load ammo until the correct dies come along. I load a 243/06 using two other common sets of dies that I have on hand one is 6mm Rem and the other is 25/06 Rem. The 25/06 sizes the head of the case and the 6mm does the neck. A set of 240 Weatherby dies could be used to load ammo for the 243/06 as well as several combinations of other common dies.
Apparently we have quite different situations between our countries as to the cost of doing this type of custom build. I now have done several custom builds on the very inexpensive and readily available Savage action and all have fully delivered accuracy to and beyond expectation.
Best to you with you 240 !!! It's ballistic capability is incredible. One other pet peeve I have with the Vanguard is that I feel this chambering does not come into its own until barrel length reaches 26", my personal opinion. My 243/06 has a 28" barrel and shoots very fast. There is of course always a trade off with the longer barrel as to weight and balance but for the type of shooting I do the ballistic gain out weighs all else. After all if ballistic gain was not important why not just shoot a 243 Win and be done with it.

 

[220s]

Unfortunately one of the consequences of the gunlaws a buyback that was forced apon us in 1996 was all firearms work must be performed by a licenced gunsmith who must also hold a dealers licence and even unchambered barrels can only be transferred between licenced dealers. Pretty much killed hobby gunsmithing in this country.
With most budget rifles down here a lot of the time you can purchase a new one for about the same price as having a new barrel fitted.

Agree with your comments regarding barrel length, 240 would be better served with a 26" tube, Im actually contemplating fitting a 28" to my swift as it is never shot more than about 50y from a vehicle.
The 240 with 55gr should be almost a ballistic twin to the swift with 40gr driven flat out should make a great varminter and still be a useful longer range medium game outfit with heavier pills.

 

[bounty hunter 2]

I think your 240 will beat out your Swift by a fair margin shooting 55gn bullets even with the 24" barrel. Two reasons for that are 1 the 240 has substantially greater case volume so it will use larger powder charges. #2 When you shoot light for caliber bullets you will use powders that are faster in burn rate than you will use with bullets that are on the heavier end of the bullet weight selection for any caliber. Because of the increased powder burn rate with very light bullets the percentage of velocity loss per inch of barrel goes down. Just the opposite happens when you go to bullets weights on the heavier end. That is when the barrel length has greater effect because the much slower burning powders used with the heavier bullets in conjunction with the longer barrel have more time to push on the bullet getting it to higher velocity. Same peak pressures as with the faster powders with lighter bullets just more time to push on the bullet.
Simply put if you will only be shooting 55gn bullets in your 240 with 24" barrel you will realize little to no loss in velocity over that of a 26" barrel.
Not knowing the twist of your Swift going to a 28" barrel with it will pretty much have the same effect. I guess I should clarify heavy and light for caliber. In 243 bullet weights will range from 55gn to 110gn and in 224 cal from 35gn to 90gn.
If your Swift is a 1/14" twist the heavy end will end at about 60gn with just a couple exceptions like the 63gn Sierra and the 70gn Speer but for the most part with bullets intended for varmints and not deer the limit will be 60gn.
I have two rifles chambered for the 22/250 Ackley which in case volume are about equal to the 220 Swift. One of my rifles has a 1/14" twist and the other a 1/9" twist. The 1/14" is 28" long and the 1/9 is 27" long. The 1/14" easily gets 4000 fps with a 50gn bullet. The 1/9" I made very specifically to shoot a 70gn BTSP that I swage at home. This rifle gets 3450 fps from the 70gn bullets or I should say gets that velocity with its best grouping. It will shoot a little faster but not shoot as good. The maximum point blank range between these two loads is not that vastly different as you might think. The real gain is not so much in trajectory as it is in wind drift. Adding that 20gn weight to an efficient shape has great effect in forgiving my inability to accurately judge the wind.
Another point I would like to bring up is bullet construction and its effect on achievable velocity with good accuracy. I mentioned that I swage a 70gn .224" BTSP bullet. I make these using 22LR spent cases for jackets. Compared to commercial jackets the 22 RF jackets are very thin and soft. I was shooting these in a 223 chambered rifle with 1/9" twist for harvesting coyotes and they work very well indeed rarely ever exiting a coyote. In the 223 chamber my top velocity with this bullet weight was 2900 fps and best accuracy was closer to 2800 fps.
I felt that with a larger chambering the resulting higher velocity would give me greater range potential with this bullet so I built the 22/250 Ackley mentioned earlier with 1/9" twist 27" barrel. What I discovered was that even though these bullets shot well from the 9" twist 223 at 2900 fps the larger volume of the 22/250 Ackley could only gain about 100 fps and hold the same accuracy level. Over that velocity and the torque is too much for the thin jacket bullets to handle. Go to the full velocity potential of the cartridge with the thin skin bullets and they spray a shot gun pattern at 100 yards.
I was able to cure the shot gun pattern by making these bullets with Sierra J-4 jackets which are much heavier by about 5gn and have a progressive taper from base to nose where the 22 RF jackets are uniform in thickness for their length.
Lesson learned here is that bullet design will be a factor in the end result of how good a load will shoot at what velocity regardless of the chambering of the rifle its being launched from.
Well I have rambled enough and besides my wife may soon catch me here burning my work day and getting nothing else done.

 

[220s]

Finally got around to doing a bit of load development for my 240 vanguard, thought I would start with a varmint load so working with 55grs.
Only 3 shot groups as I don't expect barrel life to be great but last 2 loads both averaged over 4000fps and accuracy improved as I worked up. Last loads tested went 0.61" & 0.52"
Not bad for a cheap sporter weight factory rifle.

 

[220s]

Well retested the load the put 3 into just over 0.5moa and got a similar sized group. Decided to go with it and have been exploding varmints ever since, like a lazer to 300. Swift barrel is just about gone still shooting moa but no longer the sub 0.5moa shooter it was. Realised the swift had seen better days when we were at a range get together, son decided to shoot a 300m match with the 240wby, first time it had been shot at paper post 100y and first 5 shot group on paper, under 0.75moa for 5 at 300m.
Was a shocking day with gusty inconsistent wind and he ended up tied for 2nd.
Quite a impressive performance considering there were plenty of rifle/scope combinations on the line costing up to 10x the cost of our budget outfit.

Managed to bag a couple of sambar deer with the 100gr norma factory load, the 240wby keeps impressing me. Sambar are the largest of the deer species we have in Aus. A mature stag can go 700lbs although the couple of spikers I got wouldn't have gone over 450lbs.

Finally started developing a big game load, decided to go with the 100gr nosler partition and a goal of 3200fps. Tried 4 loads with 1gr powder increasements, they went 1.25", 1.0", 0.3" 0.75". A further 0.5gr powder saw me reach my velocity goal ave 3212fps and a 0.8" group. Shooting prone of a bipod and called the last shot as 1/4" high I expect they could do better off a bench and bags.

This is my first wby chambering and I expected a little bit of work in developing loads but it seems to shoot anything I feed it well. No playing with seating depth I have just stuck with industry standard OAL, no fine tuning powder charges, I haven't even bothered chasing a neck die for it yet and doubt I will.

 

[bounty hunter 2]

I have never yet had a 240 but have been really really close a couple times to buying the same rifle you have. Each time life happened and changed my plan so still waiting to hopefully try one some day.
I did once have a 6mm-06 that ballisticly should be very close to the 240. I used it mainly for coyote hunting and for that purpose it was excellent
The short fall of my 6mm-06 was it had a 1/12" twist barrel so would not shoot well with bullets on the heavier end of the 6mm/243 list.
The two bullets I used in it with very good results were both from Sierra at 70 and 85gn. The 70gn is a match bullet and the 85gn a hunting bullet but both worked well for coyote at the high velocity my rifle with 28" barrel would push them to.
With other rifles in 243/6mm caliber I have used with faster twist rates of 1/10" and 1/9" for deer and elk here in Montana where I live my favorite bullet was the Hornady 100gn BTSP with interlock jacket. Given a little distance to the target something over 200 yards that bullet has displayed some amazing penetration potential in game as large as elk. The Nosler partition you are using should certainly work equally well or better in terminal performance on large animals like your Sambar which sounds about like our elk here in the states.
I am enjoying hearing about your 240 and its performance on game down under! Please keep us informed, thanks!

 

[olsingleshot]

The .240 has some new competitors; the 6XC, 6mm Creedmoor and 6mm-284. These however are mostly fast twist for the 105-115gr. bullets. Anything in 6mm is good for me.

 

[del2les]

240 Weatherby = belted 243/06
Since the two are ballistic twins why would anyone opt for the expensive brass version?
PooPoo on factory ammo. If you don't load your own your not serious enough about accuracy or ballistic superiority so just stick with a 243 or 6mm Rem
If your serious about the things that matter and you want to shoot a 24 cal very fast and have easily accessible brass at bargain price then go with the beltless version. The Weatherby double radious shoulder offers ballistic gain equal to that of the Herter's double cyclone shoulder which is and was zero.

Well said.......and my 6mmAI's with 26 inch tubes break 3,400 fps with 105 Amax, so I don't see the "need" for the 240's cost and other issues related to attempting to make that case a super accurate performer. Which I never could.

 

[220s]

With other rifles in 243/6mm caliber I have used with faster twist rates of 1/10" and 1/9" for deer and elk here in Montana where I live my favorite bullet was the Hornady 100gn BTSP with interlock jacket. Given a little distance to the target something over 200 yards that bullet has displayed some amazing penetration potential in game as large as elk. The Nosler partition you are using should certainly work equally well or better in terminal performance on large animals like your Sambar which sounds about like our elk here in the states.
I am enjoying hearing about your 240 and its performance on game down under! Please keep us informed, thanks!

I am expecting great performance from the partitions, I wasn't expecting the accuracy they have displayed so very happy in that regard.
The factory Norma 100gr loading has surprised me with its performance, they claim 3400fps but the crohny shows they are doing 3200fps from the barrel of mine.
Recovered a couple of projectiles, the first from one that was quatering away at around 70y. Was dark when we recovered the animal, bullet had hit the second last rib going in and there was a tennis ball size hole in the ribs, the rear of the lungs, liver and diaphragm were just shreaded. Given the damage I thought the bullet had exploded and come apart so didn't go looking for it but when it was cut up discovered the remainder of the projectile lodged between the ribs at the offside shoulder weighing 50gr. Penetration would have been around 30". Second one was a head shot at around 10y, it had come completely apart but recoverd the jacket about 12" down the neck after it had entered and exited the skull. Both made it far further than I was expecting.
Sambar would be the closest thing we have to your elk, in honesty the 240wby would not be my first choice for them. In my state the recommended min cal is 270 and a bit further south 270 minimum is actually law.
After 12month using it I will say it is the closest thing to a all round rifle I have come across. It will run with my swift as a dedicated stretch out varmint rifle, recoil means you don't see the impacts through the scope but the sound leaves no doubt about if you connected and recoil is still mild enough not to be a concern if your putting 50 or more shots through it in short time. As a 400-500y medium game rifle I think it will be excellent and it is proving entirely capable on big game provided I am prepared to pick my shots.

 

[220s]

Son got a drag bag/shooting mat for Christmas, still had just over a box of 100gr factory ammo for the 240wby so let him set up a gong at a touch over 450y and have a play.
One shot at 100 to check zero than he put the first 2 shots into 1" he called the 3rd shot as high, it was if you call 1.5" higher than the first two at 450y high. 3 shots under 2" at a touch over 450y using factory ammo from a budget rifle.
He had the 240wby with us a few days latter while we were poking about the farm and bumped into another sambar. 100gr factory load did the job again. Clipped the nearside shoulder blade, shredded the lungs and exited mid chest on the off side, typical lung shot reaction with the deer running 50y and dead by the time we walked over. A little bigger than the previous sambar probably in the 500-600lb range.

 

[bounty hunter 2]

Good doings! You are tempting me to start re-considering a new Howa in 240.

 

[just country]

I built a 6mmAI. 85gr. TTSX work great. now the big question will a

6mmAI shoot with a 240wbee?? THK. U lightbulbgun)

 

[Yaddio]

I have shot a 240 Weatherby for years. A LH Mark V with 24" barrel and McMillan Stock. Mostly used it for coyotes, but also a few blacktails. I found the 95 gr Nosler Partition to be the perfect balance for coyotes and whatever else I may run into, like pigs. I used a book max load of H4831. For all game with the 95s I got a small hole going in and a small hole going out. Coyotes just dropped on the spot, hardly ever a twitch. I've shot over 100 coyotes with this gun. For the smallish blacktails, they died quickly too. I never recovered a bullet. I tried the 100 gr partitions for a while, but found them much more destructive than the 95s. For fun I tried the lighter bullets. Muzzle blast increased quite a bit, didn't really find any advantage over the 95 partitions, so I've always come home to the 95s. I would never consider using this gun as a ground squirrel or prairie dog gun. Heats up way too much. The horsepower of this gun is best used on game from coyotes to deer.

 

[olsingleshot]

I just got a 6mm-284. From the books it will shoot with the .240 and maybe a hair faster. It, like the .240, is a barrel burner.