257 Weatherby Bullet Options

[Blackbears4ever]

Got a 257 Bee coming today, love new rifles, never shot this caliber but have been reviewing a ton of loading data and the high velocities of this caliber. Most streamlined bullet appears to be the Berger 115 but I noticed a lot of gents have elected to drive the 100 grain Barnes TTSX to 3600 fps. Other bullets I have are the 110 grain Accubond and 110 grain Hornady Innerbond, real question, mono bullet at high speeds or lower speeds with cup and core? Any failures of the TTSX to penetrate and mushroom? Mostly big whitetails up in Alberta but could be the occasional elk or bear. Best direction to start loading in?

 

[Quintus]

They take a little tuning, but the 100 grain Swift Sciroccos in the 257Bee are the cats ***. A little stouter than the Accubond and way better in the wind than the TSX or TTSX. That said, it's a tough choice. I really like the 100gr TSX, 100 and 115 grain Partitons, and Accubonds a whole lot too. I will say in saving time and powder, the easiest to get to shoot well out of over 15 different rifles has been the TSX. They like the jump.

 

[Blackbears4ever]

I have Weatherby MK-V in .257 Weatherby magnum. My barrel is a 1:10, 26" and my most accurate & consistent bullet has been the Barnes 100gr TTSX. Retumbo 3550fps which is equal to Weatherby ammo velocity. I can get over 3600fps but groups open up. Reliable 5/8"- 1.00" groups. The heavier bullets I tested didn't shoot as consistently. Maybe they require a 1:9 or 1:8 twist. I only hunt game with Barnes bullets. Recovered 2 100gr TTSX bullets buried 12 inches in the dirt after a pass through on Black Bears and they weighed 97-99 grains. Have fun working up loads.

 

[Rhino Hunter]

Last year a young hunter in our group was using a .257 Weatherby. He was shooting Weatherby ammo with a 120gr Nosler Partition. His first deer at 120 yards completely obliterated the front of the deer. The deer was quartering towards him, his shot clipped the left front shoulder, high, then took out the right shoulder. From about halfway up the backbone forward it was just a mass of jelly. Two days later he shot another at over 450 yds. Less damage, but he didn't hit any bone this time. Obviously too much gun for the size of the animal and the shorter range.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES! ENLARGE THUMBNAILS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Two weeks ago five of us were in Wyoming for an Pronghorn Antelope hunt. The group was made up of my, my two adult sons, my hunting buddy and his adult daughter. My buddy and I both shoot Weatherby Mark V Accumarks in .257 Wby with factory 110 gr Accubonds.

On the first day I spotted a real nice buck and gave him the opportunity to shoot. I ranged it at 302 yards and it was 1/4-ing towards us hard...almost straight on. I suggested he aim for the center of the nearest front shoulder. As I watched it through my 10x50 Leupold Gold Ring binocs I saw the hit and watched it spin around and run straight away. I saw a huge explosion of red when it hit, and when it ran away a large quantity of red organs hanging out of it's side. It was one of the nastiest things I've every seen in over 45 years of hunting. I heard my buddy rack another one into the chamber immediately after the hit, and I said DON'T SHOOT! He's dead and just doesn't know it yet.

We gathered our gear and walked toward where we thought the buck went because he ran over a hill and out of sight. Once we got to the buck we were amazed at the hole in him.My buddy had pulled the shot just behind the should closest to us and basically unzipped most of the buck's it's side before the bullet entered the hind quarter. The hole was big enough to to put a basket ball into:



We then went back to find where the buck was standing when he shot him. We found it after my friend said "hey, what's that over there.". It appears to be a red boulder. I walked over to inspect it and found that it was the entire stomach sack almost 100% intact:



The stomach sack was within a few yards of the point of impact, and literally 135 yards from where the buck dropped! ( I paced 60 yards to the top of the ridge and ranged another 75 years to the buck.)

Obviously it was not the best shot, but the amount of damage was something more than I've never seen before. This is a lot of gun for such a small animal. It's a very accurate gun and cartridge, and does an unbelievable amount of damage!

A few days later I shot a buck at 355 yards 1/4-ing slightly towards me. It double lunged him. I remember seeing the white bottom of his chin as he literally flipped up into the air going over backwards. He tried to get up and collapsed immediately. He never took a step.



ThIs cartridge and bullet are devastating deadly. I think it might be over-powered for Antelope, but it works great for long shots in wide open terrain. I think it's a great combo for White Tail and Mule Deer.

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

I have settled on the 110gr Accubond, it's very accurate and deadly. With a 27.5" bbl I can get 3715fps max but settled on a load in the low 3600's. Have shot game up to 600lb and not had an issues with bullet blow up.
The 110gr Interbond is also accurate in my rifle but I've been so impressed with the Accubond's performance that I feel no reason to change.

 

[GTN]

I've run both the 100gr Barnes and the 115gr Berger and I prefer the Berger. Both shoot exceptionally well I just prefer the way a Berger performs.

 

[Eagleye242]

I shoot two different bullets in my 257 Weatherby.
First load is the 110 Accubond and 74.0 grains of N570
Second is the 100 Scirocco II and 69.5 grains of Reloder 23
I shot a whitetail with load #1 last fall at about 240 yards. DRT, pretty well broadside
and he had an exit about 2½" in diameter. Lungs were pulverized.
I have not shot anything with the Scirocco II in this rifle, but I have taken a couple
of animals with the 6mm Remington and the 90 grains Scirocco II. I was impressed
with the performance of this bullet, so will give it a chance in the faster 257. Dave.

 

[MadCowRacer]

115gr Nosler ballistic tips (combined tech type). Have had absolutely critical damage to everything shot with them. Deer and pigs it absolutely vaporizes the internals while providing an exit wound.

 

[Kaptoe]

If I had to not shoot a mono in my 257 I would shoot the scirrocco 2. Tough traditional bullet with a good BC

Don't take anything I post as a slight against nosler AB. I shoot them in about every rifle outside of the 257

 

[corsteve]

120 nosler partions 3200fps no problems w/that have a 257 wby

 

[SSG Graybush]

Rl22 loses so much speed when it gets cold out. If you don't tune in the cold your rifle will be out of tune. I stopped using it because of how temp sensitive it is. It's a shame because 257wbys love rl22. I use 7828 in mine now and it's done great. Going to try some rl23 and 26 and see how it does.
Shep

Dont try rl26. I did in a 7mm rem mag 8t 26" with 180 vld-h. At 90 degrees it was 2918 fps. Not the fastest node. But come fall at 70 degrees it was 2865 fps. I went to H1000 as I should have in the first place. And it shot better. Just in time for Wyoming.

 

[Coyoteee]

We've loaded for several .257 Wbys, all are killing mule deer and antelope using Berger 115gr VLDH and H1000. I'm sure our member from Tucson will agree, he builds custom .257 Wbys.

Could you share a recipe for the Berger115/H1000? Including how far down the neck you seat that bullet, cuz mines got close to .4" of freebore as most MkV do. PM me if you'd rather.

 

[tribb]

The highest bc in 25 that will shoot from a 10 is randy's 110. These Bibb bullets have a . 520 which is real good for a 25. They shoot and kill great. For sure the cup and cores come apart real explosive like but if you keep your shots in the ribs for the lung explosion you don't lose meat. Customers have great luck with accubonds and of course partitions always work but have a low bc. Hey Nosler, put a plastic tip in some partitions and up the bc. More long range hunters would use them if you got the bc close to the accubonds.
Shep

That's exactly why they won't tip the partition

 

[tribb]

"Partition LR" just like they did with accubonds. Put on that tip and squeeze a little more bottail on the back and it would be awesome.
Shep

Hey Shep my sentiments exactly