30" 257 Weatherby - What can I expect.

[Hired Gun]

Something I always wanted to do. A 257 Weatherby with a 30" barrel. Now it's almost done. It is a Bartlein 5R 10 twist on a Mark 5 action. Years ago I read some outrageous claims like 3900-4000 fps with 100 BT or 110AB grain bullets. Has anyone tried this as an exercise in speed? I know there are far better BC bullets. As a 26" rifle it did amazing things to 400 yards. I have shot a few deer and bear with it and it takes digger squirrels apart like nothing I have ever seen before. Any pet loads? Brass life isn't a big concern. I have hundreds of them. Thanks.

 

[AZShooter]

Two of us made 28" 1 in 10 twist SS 3 groove Liljas with custom 257 Reamer. Bullet jump to lands was approx .100" with 1 1/2 degree throat angle. Moly coated 115 Berger VLD with max load of RL-25 per Nosler data for their 115 ballistic tip yielded 3650 or so. Norma brass primer pockets stayed tight through 3 firings. (never had opportunity to shoot the brass more than 3 times) Your results may not be this fast without moly and a bullet with little bearing surface.

Not sure you could get 4000 with a 100 gr bullet but bet you could with an 85 gr bullet.

Do yourself a favor and don't try too many bullet/powder combinations. Expect the barrel to not last much more than 1000 rounds. I wore out my first one and I never shot more than three shots before cooling. I rebarreled it myself using a 27 1/2" 3 groove lilja with RL-33. Getting 3680 fps with moly'd 115 VLD.

 

[Hired Gun]

I was really hoping for some actual 30" barrel experience.

110's are the heaviest bullet I ever tried or used. When I get to my goal I usually stop and then do a a few brass to destruction to make sure it will go at least 10 firings. Then for hunting big game I only use brand new brass. My 300 Wby gets a lot of varmint use and I have it up to 20+ with Ramshot Magnum and still getting 3150 fps with 200 to 215 grain Nosler and Berger bullets. It has been retired for a 30" 15 pound 338 Lapua with 300 grain Bergers. Now that is a squirrel gun that won't take no for an answer. It is my do it all gun for now. This 257 is just something I always wanted to try.

With the factory 26" barrel is would do the following.
100 grain Partitions gets 3750 fps. 400 yards or less talk about foul up a deer. OMG! It's like an RPG hit.
With 75 V-Maxs it literally shoots tacs .550" off the rifling at 3950 fps. On couple pound digger squirrels you not only a red mist but it blows the hair out of the hide in some places. First time I ever saw that.
With 110AB it is loafing shooting 3550 fps. A far better deer bullet but not really for bears at 580 yards. At 3550 I get 10 shots plus out of my brass annealing every 2nd or 3rd firing and using the Larry Willis die to press the brass back down near the belt. I don't do moly. I have seen the damage to stainless barrels just from overnight exposure combined with condensation so I leave that stuff to other guys to play with.

This was with CCI-250 primers and IMR7828 regular or SSC and Ramshot Magnum. This was before RL-33 came out.

4" more inches ought to be worth something. I'm really hoping for 3800+ with the 110AB bullets. We just finished it late last night and threaded it for a YHM Resonator suppressor. We still need to Cerakote the flutes to make it look factory. We hope to test it over the Lab Radar next week or weekend depending how busy we are. It might be awhile before we get to try all the stuff we want to try.

I have had the barrel a few years and finally found a slot to get it done. The mechanics car rarely gets worked on. In 11 years this is only the 4rth time we have got to do anything for ourselves. I am lucky to get out to varmint hunt once a year for the last few years. Hopefully this rifle will give me a reason to get out more often. Most of our spare time we are chasing sand drag records.

I still have another factory 257 Wby Accumark so we can do side by side testing to measure the difference in the two barrels. The chambers are a little different. The 26" Accumark is factory chamber with a few hundred rounds through it but still nice looking throat. The new one is a bunch tighter JGS Saami min spec and set to zero head space. The fired brass from the factory gun is no where near going into the new chamber.

 

[Aoudad shooter1975]

You can expect a very long rifle....

 

[RT2506]

In my experience .257 caliber anything is a super deer size and under game killer. As you have said the 110 Accubond has been a great bullet for the fast movers. It has been a long time ago before the bonded/mono bullets arrived, my hunting buddy got a 257 Weatherby. Tried the 117 Sierra Game King like he had been shooting in his 25-06 and used H870 which was about the slowest powder at that time. We did not have a chrno in those days so did not know the velocity but it was FASTER than any 25-06 load. This rifle was very accurate and the first deer he shot was right at 100 yards. It went down as if the ground had been jerked out from under it but it was a mess. Bullet completely vaporized on impact and fragged the heart I guess but also hydrostatic damage probably did more damage. He decided that he would switch bullets after that. He went with the 115 Nos. Partition which was not as accurate but it sure held together better. Not sure what velocity a 30" barrel will do but it should get you at least 200 fps over a 26". I have a 27 3/4" barrel on a 264 Win mag and it gets 3350 fps with 130 Accubond using Retumbo and that bullet holds up great even at 25 yards on deer. I can just vision what that 75 Vmax does. I used some 87 gr Sierra in my 25-06 at around 3400 fps on ground hogs and it looked like shooting water balloons filled with red paint.

 

[ButterBean]

I'm tagging in for anything .257

 

[Quintus]

I am curious to see how fast this goes too. RL22 and 26 should get your 100 grainers into the 39s I would think. If you want 100 grains at 4K try the TSX. I am getting very close to 3800 from a 26" with RL22 and I have not tried RL26 yet.

 

[Hired Gun]

Edited. Son was doing the loading and was under impression he was using 7828. HE WAS NOT!!! It was RL-33. Everything else was the same.

Should read. First test completed. 110 Accubonds. 85 grains of RL-33 yields 3775 fps ES for 6 shots was 10 fps. 5 shot group was 3/4 MOA with no rear bag or any support other than a floating shoulder. On 20 power Leupold the crosshairs were visibly moving. We were more interested in speed and pressure at this point. 3 of the 6 shots were exactly 3775 fps on LabRadar. Slowest was 3765 fps. OAL is 3.300". CCI-250 primers. Absolutely no pressure signs and bolt handle opens as though the chamber is empty. Weatherby well used brass with light chamfer on inside is the only prep the brass has ever seen. Chamber is min spec Saami set to .001" under zero head space so had to set die to cam over to make the bolt close perfect. Case is half way up the neck with 85 grains so most likely will need a slightly faster powder to get much more speed. We might be able to vibrate another 3 grains in there and compress it in there.

It will be a few weeks before we get out again. Suppressor changes point of impact 4" vertically. Sounds like a giant air rifle. Made the whole range shut down. They all thought it was a squib load. All speed tests were done with the YHM QD muzzle brake attached. Recoil was next to nothing.

Now it's going to be time consuming part as we explore the powders to find one that fits yet is still burning to the end of the 30" barrel. I wonder just how flat a 3800+ fps 110 Accubond really will fly.

 

[AZShooter]

I can't read this and not say something.

Is your load data a typo? 85 grains of IMR 7828? You are 14 grains above what Nosler says is a max load! Their load data says 71 grains for velocity of 3480 fps with the 110 accubond. You are using a longer OAL which may alter things slightly but 14 grains more than suggested max? AND you are doing all this testing with used brass?

Based on Nosler saying their max load of 71 has the case 93% full, your load would be 111% full. Subtract .097" for bullet seated out to 3.3" , no wonder you have a full case.

Hodgdon doesn't mention a 110 gr bullet. They say 73 gr of IMR 7828 is max load with 100 gr bullet.

You said you want to use a faster powder. IMO don't. If anything you want to try comparable or slower powders. RL-25, Retumbo or RL-33 come to mind.

 

[Andrew Massi]

I can't read this and not say something.

Is your load data a typo? 85 grains of IMR 7828? You are 14 grains above what Nosler says is a max load! Their load data says 71 grains for velocity of 3480 fps with the 110 accubond. You are using a longer OAL which may alter things slightly but 14 grains more than suggested max? AND you are doing all this testing with used brass?

Based on Nosler saying their max load of 71 has the case 93% full, your load would be 111% full. Subtract .097" for bullet seated out to 3.3" , no wonder you have a full case.

Hodgdon doesn't mention a 110 gr bullet. They say 73 gr of IMR 7828 is max load with 100 gr bullet.

You said you want to use a faster powder. IMO don't. If anything you want to try comparable or slower powders. RL-25, Retumbo or RL-33 come to mind.

Yep, something smells here. Proof loads, 10 firings with weatherby brass...

 

[Hired Gun]

Edited. Son was doing the loading and I was under impression he was using 7828. It was what we normally used. During this test HE WAS NOT!!! It was RL-33. Everything else was the same. Editing for accuracy. Sorry for the confusion. I'm in for at least one ding dong.

Just the fact that some many other calibers have so much better BC and I have barrels and reamers for all of them this whole test is rather pointless but it's an old itch that needs scratched and finally got the change to do it. I rarely ever get time to do anything for myself.

The data is no typo. Just strictly reporting the results. We started at 75 and went up from there. I am aware of everything you just mentioned and have most every book from every company making hard bound books since the Speer #8. I can't explain it but it is what it is. Only been out once with it so far. We haven't done the brass life tests yet. Invariably that will adjust the load down because I expect top get between 10-20 firings like I do on all my own stuff. That is the last thing we will do. My 300 Wby 210 load will go 20+ firings and it is above the book but not near so much. I have found the books to be super conservative meaning the published max are often no where near max. I have an old Speer #8 book and it's 7 Rem Mag loads are often 10 grains higher than the Number 10 book.

I don't have a pressure gauge so can only go by how it extracts and what the cases are doing for expansion and brass flow and predictable consistent increases on the chronograph. The reason to explore quicker powder is we are out of case and need to find some pressure. I have 25, 33, H1000, H870, US869, Ramshot Magnum and pretty much all the slower offerings. I may explore some of those. Right now we are looking for pressure and couldn't find it with 85 grains of RL-33. That's where we are. I am going to see if we can squeeze a bit more in there but even if we did and all kept gaining linearly it is going to come up short of the claimed results.

I am far from all knowing but have been around the block many times with over 40 years of trying to blow myself up. I was lucky to survive age 13 thinking it was okay to need to carry a mallet to open the bolt on my old Ruger 7 Mag shooting 160's at 3300. I have never once blown a primer but have had some serious hard extraction pressure and ejector marks were very heavy. I have also seen my share of customer mishaps including shooting 300WM in 7 RUM chamber or a 6.5x55 that grabbed the wrong powder and totally welded the brass into the bolt head. I can go on and on from there.

At this point I thought someone else might be interested in reviewing this claim. About 12 years ago there is was a brand new out of school custom smith in AZ that specialized in 30" 257 Wby's built on old Ruger 77's and he claims 4100 out of 100 grain bullets. I wanted to see if it was for real or duplicatable.

If you have some actual experience to add that is advanced of where we are to build upon I'm all ears. I honestly am looking to learn every day. This isn't my only hobby and my other is far more unbelievable than loading a hot round in a long barrel. Try your hand at setting a world ET and speed record with your own creation to competing against millionaires who are fiercely competitive but can't do it themself. My greatest thrill in life is making their heads explode doing what other people deem impossible.

Back to the 257 test. It is not that big of deal to me. If it doesn't meet expectations I am fully prepared to cut the barrel down and run it conventionally or change it to a 6.5x300 Wby or 7mmx300 Wby. If you are just going to criticize it then I will have this whole topic removed and you can go back to your regular scheduled programming. Either way I intend to wring it out to see if there is anything here just in case someone does make a proper .550 BC bullet for it in a 110 to 115 grain bullet in the next year or so. I know I am missing something but the wife is calling and we need to go visit her elderly parents while we still can.

I was right. I was missing something. This data is all done totally with RL-33. We were given the load by another member to try. We worked up to it but fell short of our goal. RL-33 is one of the slowest powders so in order to find pressure before the case is full we will need to try some slightly faster stuff. I will update again once the results are in. Again so sorry for the faulty info. Getting old is a bitch.

 

[cape cove]

Wish you the best in your endevour. In my 24" barreled Vanguard I max out at 71 grs of 7828 with the 120 gr Speer. I have found that RL-33 and RL-26 gave me the highest velocity with 120 gr bullets but the accuracy just wasn't good enough. RL-22 gave me good velocity and the accuracy I was looking for. By the way both RL-33 and 26 got me close to 3400 ft/sec with the 120's. I found this good considering a 24" barrel. I feel that your best bet to achieve the velocity your after would be with RL-26. With RL-33 you may not be able to get enough in the case as this is a very slow powder. With RL-33 I got to 81 grs and was very compressed, but with RL-26 my max was 71 grs. If your rifle can handle enough RL-26 then this may be your best bet. Let us know how you make out.

 

[Calvin45]

BUMP!

@Hired Gun did you end up building this rig and finding out how fast it could go?????? I need to know!!!!!

I just won an auction for a 32 inch bartlein .257" barrel …

 

[gunaddict]

The last time I talked to him, he was not do very well. I think that was 1 year ago. I will give him a call.