Common Question

[Guest]

Kirby, my apolgy was sincere. The issue was that you or anyone else did not need to test the bullets. We agreed to disagree on that issue.

But, you keep on saying how high the BC is?!

Second, my thoughts on the .257 wby for Paulinus were the same as yours initially.
Paulinus stated that he's a "factory guy".

Also, please do not twist what I said about Richard not caring about BC. Even YOU said that Richard doesn't care about BC.

Obviously he wants a high BC. He just "doesn't care" what the exact number is as long as its high.

Lastly, I'm going to have Richard's bullets tested and report the results. I have nothing but respect for Richard.
My apology was sincere, to you and all the other members, and I'm not harboring any ill will towards and of the other members.

I agreed to stop arguing about whether testing is required. So if its not then how can you continue to make unproved claims?

I find you to be the one who is insincere.

 

[Paulinus]

The exchange of view has been, well, informative. Thanks, everyone. All of you have about convienced me to begin handloading, which I did years ago as a youth.

Kirby: No apology necessary. I just keep learning. This better than hanging out at the local gun shop. I figure that at 57 I have several good hunting years remaining and want to try some new things. Most, if not all, the hunting I do could be done with a 308 Win. or a 12 guage pump, but now's the time to have a bit more fun.

Lerch: I hunt mostly in the north central Kansas counties along the Nebraska border. The whitetail are thin skined, but the mule deer can be a bit tougher.

 

[lerch]

Well I bet you have some good sized deer up there, ours average around 150-175lbs field dressed. You might try that 110gr Accubond, I bet you can throw it pretty fast and if its is as tough of a bullet as people say I bet it will deliver a pretty stiff punch to whitetail or mule deer.

If you want the ultimate in long range, high bc, heavyweight knockdown power in a 257 I would go with Richards 130gr wildcat. I will tell you how it does in mine when I get some in.

Take it easy
steve

 

[Buffalobob]

Paulinus

Couple of words of advice on Wby family.

Your gun should shoot five shot groups under an inch if you are capable. These should be carefully spaced to avoid a hot barrel. If it won't do that then have it bedded (even if it will do that have it bedded).

Secondly, it has a large case capacity and will burn a lot of powder. Get a long, high quality, one piece, steel, cleaning rod and a 0.264 PLASTIC bristle brush - yes I said 264 and PLASTIC bristle. Use this as the "clean barrel guage" as follows: After you finish your normal cleaning, put on the plastic brush and run it through the barrel all the way and very gently bring it back down the barrel toward the chamber. If it begins to screech and grind and bind as it nears the throat and you have to call Triple A to send a tow truck to pull it on through, then the barrel is NOT clean. If the barrel is not clean then the gun will not shoot well and pressures will go up. At this point try both copper and powder solvents to determine which it is in your throat. Five dollars says it will be powder (carbon) and you have my sympathy.

I have had good results with many different shapes and sizes of bullets with Wbys but there is about 0.375 inches of freebore in there and you will not be able to get most bullets to the lands. Nolser Accubonds have very long bearing surfaces and seem to slide down the freebore fairly well and engage the rifling straight on. The really heavy Wildcat bullets will probabaly get you close to the lands and maybe into them.

Last word of advice. Bullet come out of that barrel really fast so make sure your bullets have heavy construction so they don't splatter on close in shots and then at long range if your need to break bones to get into the chest cavity the toughness will be there to do it.

Hunting should be a fun and enjoyable expereince and I think you will really enjoy the 257 Wby.

 

[LB]

We are all big boys, and able to accept a point of view that differs from our own. With that in mind:

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not questioning the overall ability of the 257 caliber. I just don't think the 257 wby is anywhere near the best choice for western deer hunting to 600 yards using an off-the-shelf rifle and ammo. John M



[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this evaluation, at the risk of offending the original poster, or anybody else. The fact that it may "work" is beside the point that there are a number of more worthy choices available.

Good hunting. LB

 

[Sasquatch]

if you're shooting a weatherby, you will pay for all of the reloading supplies in cost difference very quickly. I think you made a good choice in buying a rifle you want over a rifle that someone else wanted you to buy.

 

[Paulinus]

BuffaloBob:

Thanks for the advice. I will pick up a .264 plastic brush. This is why forums are great sources of information.

 

[Fiftydriver]

Sasquatch,

Best point I have read to date!!!

I could not agree more!

Kirby Allen(50)

 

[Guest]

Whats with all the politically correct crap?
He made a bad choice. He has every right to make it, but he did.

He asked a question and every answer he received except one told him it was a bad choice.

Kirby, you didn't think it was a good choice at first did you?

Nearly everyone I speak to agrees to use enough gun. What gives here?

I wish him well with it. But lets not treat him like a six year old.

 

[Paulinus]

OK, John M, I hear you. I may have made a bad choice for regularly hunting at 600 yards, but as posted above my primary range is 150-400 yards. I have, thanks to the responses, begun to view my 300WM as my 400 yard plus option and anticipate working it into maybe even more range. I have also learn a considerable amount about the 257 Wby. Thanks, again to everyone, including John M.

 

[LB]

[ QUOTE ]
I have also learn a considerable amount about the 257 Wby.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did you learn anything about 257 Weatherby barrel life?

Good hunting. LB

 

[Paulinus]

I know that care needs to be give to not over heat the barrel. A three shot string is usually the max. before letting the barrel cool down. I have seen some recommend having the barrel cool after every shot. I understand, and can be corrected, that with good care a barrel should last 1500+ rounds. As I anticipate using the 257 that is a long time.

 

[Guest]

Paulinus, I did not direct that last post at you.

I read a few posts back where you explained that you plan on using the 257 for you shorter range gun and doing something with the win mag for longer range.

I think thats the way to go considering the 2 rifles you now have.

Good Hunting

 

[Buffalobob]

Well LB if you are not going to offer him any help on getting good barrel life then I guess I will although I am not the expert becuase barrel life is only a secondary consideration at long range.





How to extend barrel life. Shoot a gun that won't shoot very far. The barrel will last forever. I am so funny I should have been Johnny Carson's replacement.

With a fast long range cartridge the more pressure the throat is exposed to the more likily the temperatures will be high. Launching very heavy bullets requires high pressures and will probably give you high temperatures. Lauching little light varmint bullets requires less pressure and thus gives less temperature. So if you are going to shoot the gun a lot at varmints then use a varmint bullet not your hunting bullet. If you have read about Lerch and Bill Bailey shooting Prairie dog you will notice that they are shooitng the heaviest bullets that they can. They don't care if they burn the barrel out ( or at least Lerch doesn't care if he burns out BJ's barrel)

Supposedly ball powders are cooler burning than stick powder. Don't ask me which ones are ball powders becasue I don't know becuase I don't care if I burn my barrels out.

Finally and most important of all is do not shoot until the barrel is too hot to hold. Now on a day like today or yesterday if you left a piece of steel in the sun it would be too hot to hold ( I was messing around with some exhaust pipe). So if your barrel can be too hot to hold when you haven't even shot it yet what do you do. You shoot it. The main thing is to not shoot twenty or thirty times very quickly. On a hot summer day it would not be unusual to space shots by as much as 8-10 minutes or to just take three shots and set the gun aside for twenty minutes. What I do is to take at least two guns with me and that way I can alternate between guns and keep them both reasonably cool.

What you will find is that Weatherby is a polarizing firearm. Roy W did a lot to advance the art and craft of long range hunting but he marketed to the rich. As you have seen, some people cannot come to terms with either the gun nor the tradition.

Now then of the Wby mags the 257 has the smallest diameter bullet with the most powder (called overbore - more powder than the bore will burn- this is not a moderrn concept and is somewhat outdated) but none the less you have a lot of powdr being burned in a small space. There are three cartridges that have a reputation as being barrel burners, teh 220Swift, 257 Wby and 264 Win. These reputations were gained long ago when barrel steel was much milder becuase we did not have the machine tools to work the harder steels. Still these three cartridges will eat a barrel faster then most others but not like what happened forty years ago. These are also the most fantastically fast cartridges avavilable.

Barrel Break in. Go visit some of the barrel makers site such as Krieger lilja, shilen etc and read about their recommendations and pick one. it is not a highly scinetific thing here.

Prolonging barrel life- move to longer and longer bullets with less and less baottail and ogive. Keep reading and evaluationg whether Tubbs abrasive bullets really work.

Rebarrel when you can no longer keep group size less than the lethal target area of a deer.