257 Weatherby Loads for Hunting

[smithj99]

I just loaded a bunch of those and am waiting to shoot them and evaluate. 3500 fps should work well with the Barnes projectiles. What has been your experience hunting with them and at what distances?

I've shot things as close as 25 yards and as far as 350 yards. The bullets perform - animals just pile up dead. I like the TSX bullets, as they're hollow-point, and you can hear the impact immediately so if you come off target during recoil, you have one indication of a hit. And the bullets penetrate incredibly well. Have used TSX in 257 Wby, 300 Win Mag, 300 Wby, 375 H&H. They just work.

 

[okie man]

I tried tsx115 in mine. Shot good but just copper fouled the barrel way too much! I shot 2 huge Indiana bucks with the 120 grain Speer btsp and both were drt! One at 150 yards and the other at 425.you don't have to use premium bullets for good performance on deer with this cartridge!

 

[NeedForSpeed]

I've shot things as close as 25 yards and as far as 350 yards. The bullets perform - animals just pile up dead. I like the TSX bullets, as they're hollow-point, and you can hear the impact immediately so if you come off target during recoil, you have one indication of a hit. And the bullets penetrate incredibly well. Have used TSX in 257 Wby, 300 Win Mag, 300 Wby, 375 H&H. They just work.

I'm loading my 257, 30-06, 270 Win and prob 300 Win mag with them
I like the combination of velocity and hydrostatic shock with no lead fragments and consistent entrance and exit holes. I'm using Hornady ELD bullets in my Creedmoors and Hornady FTX in my 300 Blackout due to the slower barrel velocity
I'm still trying to decide what to shoot with my 243 Win but I'm leaning towards Nosler Accubond vs Sierra Gamechangers or Nosler ballistic tips. They all shot well, it's more a matter of the targeted species. The Barnes factory load is incredibly accurate in my 300 Win Mag

 

[NeedForSpeed]

I tried tsx115 in mine. Shot good but just copper fouled the barrel way too much! I shot 2 huge Indiana bucks with the 120 grain Speer btsp and both were drt! One at 150 yards and the other at 425.you don't have to use premium bullets for good performance on deer with this cartridge!

Were the Speers complete pass thrus or did they grenade when they hit the bucks? Why do you think the Barnes fouled more than copper jacketed projectiles?

 

[okie man]

I've never recovered a bullet from my 257 wby. Lol! I think it was the speed and vanguard barrel. After 20 shots things opened up though. I could go 25-40 with Hornady and Speer bullets.

 

[NeedForSpeed]

I've never recovered a bullet from my 257 wby. Lol! I think it was the speed and vanguard barrel. After 20 shots things opened up though. I could go 25-40 with Hornady and Speer bullets.

Considering what mine did to this steel plate at 100 yds, I'm not surprised

 

[okie man]

I had a incident with mine I'm not proud of but sometimes happens. I got in on a lease with some guys. Nice piece of ground. Seen a few nice bucks. One really nice 10 pointer. Hunted bow season pretty much all by myself. Had some chances at small bucks but passed hoping for a big one. So the rut starts, I'm laying low for a week waiting for rifle season . Opening day of season all five guys on lease plus at least one kid or other family member on the place! I didn't see a buck on that place until last day of rifle season. I was walking out last evening and a small buck took off running right in front of me. My 257wby came up, all I could see was head, butt, head, butt! I tried to time the shot to hit the head. Wrong! The bullet, a 120 grain partition. Hit 2"" below the exit hole on deer. It hit the pelvic bone, destroying it and everything inside that deer and exiting the sternum. The deers rear end flipped up and over its head. it landed in a pile with its hind legs laying on its back. It was the worst field dressing I've ever had to do. It's stomach must have been full of milo because the tenders look like they were shot with a milo shotgun. There was an amazing amount of terminal damage from that small very fast moving bullet! I typically process my own game but I took that deer to a shop!

 

[smithj99]

View attachment 152179

Considering what mine did to this steel plate at 100 yds, I'm not surprised

LMAO - I'm NOT surprised by that at all!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was in northern Namibia - had a great setup on a babboon at about 50 yards. As I squeezed the trigger ever so slowly, my elbow slipped off my knee and I clean missed that babboon. (I know y'all can laugh - I missed at 50 yards).

Interesting thing - that 100gr TSX went CLEAN THROUGH the nearby tree that I hit, which was about 5" or 6" in diameter.

 

[Don A Parsons]

One of my long time hunting partners is a 257 Weatherby fellow...

He has some pretty nice wall mounts of Elk and Deer on his walls... A few of them are record book critters...

No matter what bullet combinations he makes it seems to shoot them good...

It might be a barrel burner,,, but he uses it for hunting only,,, it will last 2 or 3 generations...

Cheers from the North

 

[Shawn the printer]

Tag I'm i. Good post!

 

[Rhino Hunter]

I don't reload. But I did take my Accumark V for a test drive before I bought it with handloads worked up by the seller. He was using 117 Sierra Game Kings.

I literally put three through the same hole at 100 yards. The odd thing is that it was off the bullseye by 1-1/2".

I did end up buying the gun. Now I shoot 110 gr Accubond. It's the most accurate gun I own.

Good luck.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

68.5 grs IMR 7828, 115 Berger, Fed 215 Primer, Wby (Norma) brass. Also good with 120 Nosler Partition, or 117 Sierra Game King. I love the performance of RL series powder in other calibers but have not fiddled with any in .257 Wby yet.

 

[smithj99]

I don't reload. But I did take my Accumark V for a test drive before I bought it with handloads worked up by the seller. He was using 117 Sierra Game Kings.

I literally put three through the same hole at 100 yards. The odd thing is that it was off the bullseye by 1-1/2".

I did end up buying the gun. Now I shoot 110 gr Accubond. It's the most accurate gun I own.

Good luck.

Yeah - those dang Accumarks in 257 Wby are wicked accurate - I've had similar experience with the 100gr TSX factory Wby ammo.

Would love to learn about your reload recipes - then I can shoot this gun more for less $

 

[mustang58]

Custom reamer very little freebore. 115 berger HVLD, 69gr. Retumbo 9 1/2 Remington shooting a little over 3300 and very accurate. Bullets seated 30 thousands off.