Canhunter35
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2017
- Messages
- 3,167
decide which bullet you want to sling, both will have tons of performance
awesome round to bad weatherby never figured it outJust got the 6.5/257 Weatherby from McWhorter. Currently loading 139 gr Sledge Hammer with 66.7 gr of Rel 26 and getting 3245 FPS with LabRadar and no pressure signs. Shooting under .5 MOA.
I vote for the 257 Weatherby but not with a 131 bullet but the 115 Berger. Reason is flatter trajectory with decent BC. Could go with a 110 Accubond which would also be flat but loosing some BC. Seeing you have the big bore for elk bear etc use this for deer, antelope and the occasional varmint.
Five of us came up with a combination that has stunning performance. 26-28" 3 groove Lilja 1 in 10 twist with moly coated Bergers and a custom reamer made by Pacific Tool and Gauge with some variations on Weatherby's chamber. RL-25 or RL-33 with a 27.5" -28" barrel is getting 3650-3675 fps!
Most of us are using it for LR coues wt. At 4000 ft my rifle is 3.1" @ 100, and 8" low at 500 yds. The past two seasons I didn't have to touch a turret just aim and shoot. To date the five of us have taken quite a few animals:
27 coues wt
6 elk
4 mule deer
2 antelope
a few javelina, coyotes and jackrabbits
many kills are DRT and some didn't even twitch!
Go with the .264 Win Mag. Way way way more bullet options and bullet options that are here to stay. You say the 6.5 PRC is the flavor of the month, but the 131 Blackjack is really the fad lately. I wouldn't build a rifle based around one bullet that's basically a Sierra MatchKing, but could disappear tomorrow because it's still so new. The .264 WinMag has been around for half a century and won't be going anywhere.
You have a point there haha.But it's a 257 weatherby... So you might only need 1000 bullets to burn the barrel out. Then you can rebarrel it to whatever you want if the blackjacks disappear.
Did you know Howard Wolfe? He was my gunsmith for many years.I've had a 257wby and loved it, I currently have a 6.5-300wby, in concur with your 257 thoughts, but the 264 might need a very long barrel to reach that. I'm looking into this same thing and from what I gather 140s at 3100 seem more realistic in a 26 or 24"
My 6.5-300wby wont hit 3300 in a 26" with any accuracy.
Been back and forth on this one, I just finished a build on a 35 Whelen for mid range (super accurate 225 grain Accubonds @2800 fps) and last year a 300 Win Mag build for long range and elk/bears out there. Was looking to complement what I have on hand and was playing with a 25-06 and a 243 but found them lacking past 400-500 yards. Was looking towards a 257 bee with a twist to allow 130 grain bullets or a 264 Win Mag. Not interested in a wildcat, nor the flavor of the month 6.5 PRC or Weatherby version, a 140 @ 3000 is average and only matches what the old 6.5-06 does, not interested. A friend is shooting 140's out of his 264 @ 3300 with great success and I do like that. Cant help but think what the Weatherby woul130's @ maybe 3200+ fps? Thoughts?