257 weatherby magnum

[hoppy]

Was thinking of buying the weatherby meat eater edition in 257 magnum.
anyone have any experience with a weatherby 257 magnum?
is a good deer hunting gun?
thanks for any thoughts.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

I've only had my hands on a .257 Weatherby at the range. Recoil was very manageable and it was an accurate rifle but it was a LOUD. Now, I hunted with a 25-06 for a few years and it was hell on wheels as a deer caliber. I'd expect no less from the .257 Weatherby given the extra velocity it carries. Of course, any ammo this day and age is expensive but have you priced ammo for the .257 Weatherby?

 

[1 good shot]

I had one built on on a 700 lh action.
It's a laser when I do my part. Lol

 

[Hunter 257W]

If you buy one your life will be complete and you will want for nothing ever again!

OK, maybe not that good but it's my favorite long range deer rifle so I might be a bit biased. I got one of the Remington 700 CDL's in 2010 with the 26" barrel. I've got it zeroed about 3 1/2 inches or so high at 100 yards and it hits dead on at 325 yards. You can easily hit a deer at 400 yards by holding 8 or so inches high. It does this with very little recoil too. I'm using a Barnes 100 grain TTSX bullet because I fear getting an unexpected shot at 25 yards someday and at 3,590 ft/sec muzzle velocity you need a tough bullet to survive and not explode. I shot one at about 35 yards in fact and it drilled a nice hole through and out the other side without excessive destruction so it does work. Expands nicely at longer ranges too as I've shot a couple deer at 300 yards, two at 350-360 yards and one at 400+ yards. All expanded well and did their job.

One negative is barrel life. But if you are using it as a deer hunting rifle that's not really an issue. I'd expect to get around 1,500 shots before accuracy falls off to any noticeable degree. How many deer hunters ever shoot that much?

second negative is ammo cost. I can't imagine owning one and not loading my own ammo. The factory loads with that Barnes 100 grain TTSX are something like $60 to $70. I can load them for between $30 to $35. Again in the practical sense I suppose it's not that significant due to the low number of shots you'd shoot such a rifle if you just deer hunt with it. A box of ammo would last several years.

 

[Paleopete]

I've only had my hands on a .257 Weatherby at the range. Recoil was very manageable and it was an accurate rifle but it was a LOUD. Now, I hunted with a 25-06 for a few years and it was hell on wheels as a deer caliber. I'd expect no less from the .257 Weatherby given the extra velocity it carries. Of course, any ammo this day and age is expensive but have you priced ammo for the .257 Weatherby?

I've had enough exposure to various Deer and Elk Hunting Rifles and actually own a German Made Weatherby 7MM Weatherby Magnum. Honestly, and personally, I think the Weatherby philosophy of "if you put enough powder behind it, it will kill anything" is a sub-optimal. Yes, they are loud and kick like a mule compared to other rifles in a similar category but all that powder doesn't burn efficiently and impacts accuracy in a hunting rifle. I've had no problem dropping Muleys out here in the West with mine but after 3-5 rounds at the range one can see what all that powder really does, just heats up the barrel and accuracy tanks. This is why I am subjecting myself to a custom build of a .284 Winchester using a Borden Ridgeline Action. Now that Borden and a few others are building a 'Medium' action I can obtain the full benefits of this highly efficient yet relatively unknown 7mm cartridge (.284"=7mm). It is a fav for the 600-1000 yard F1 comp shooters and was the most requested hunting rifle build Melvin Forbes was doing back before he sold Ultra-light Arms (and I think he was only using the standard short action he built) .....I also have a Model 99 Savage and Model 100 Winchester in the standard .284 and killed a ton of deer with the model 100 Winchester in spite of it's issues...I've also shot deer with .243, .308 which are the short action little and big brothers to the .284 in terms of bullet size....both are fabulous , fast and accurate but the .284 is superior and, when you can increase the COAL by moving out of the short action, then this cartridge/caliber moves into a class of its own. I fully admit to falling for the Weatherby Hype years ago but owning and shooting both, mainly on deer, this is where I am and putting my $ where my mouth is........it's an expensive and brain racking rabbit hole to go down....(custom build, developing customs loads)...so before you literally & figuratively "pull the Trigger' on that .257 Weatherby I would look at options like the .243, .308/7.62, and 6.5 Creedmoor (the 6.5 Creedmoor looks to be very popular if you are going after deer and pronghorns).....

 

[41Magnum]

Was thinking of buying the weatherby meat eater edition in 257 magnum.
anyone have any experience with a weatherby 257 magnum?
is a good deer hunting gun?
thanks for any thoughts.

It was Roy Weatherby's favorite Elk caliber. I've always wanted a 240 WM but other interests got in the way.

 

[Paleopete]

It was Roy Weatherby's favorite Elk caliber. I've always wanted a 240 WM but other interests got in the way.

LMAO, knowing how the Weatherby's kick like mules and the 257 being a world of recoil less than the 7mm or 300 Weatherby Magnums its not hard to see why Roy Weatherby preferred it!

 

[Andy S.]

Do you reload? If not, price the ammunition. It'll get the job done no doubt, but can be pricey to shoot a deer with.

 

[Paleopete]

Do you reload? If not, price the ammunition. It'll get the job done no doubt, but can be pricey to shoot a deer with

Andy is right, Weatherby Ammo is through the roof expensive even when in good times when the Liberals are not talking gun control and there are no runs on guns and ammo....also Weatherby's burn up their barrels , another cost to consider long term.

 

[Deer Assassin]

110 accubond over retumbo
3517 FPS

Lazer

 

[Hunter 257W]

To my way of thinking when choosing between the 25-06 or 257 Weatherby for deer it depends on several factors. If you regularly hunt in places where shots well beyond 300 yards are common then you might want to get the flattest trajectory you can to make shots easier. You need to compare trajectory charts though to see if the gains you are getting are worth the extra cost and trouble you will have going with a Weatherby cartridge and possibly Weatherby brand rifle. The 25-05 doesn't exactly have a rainbow trajectory itself. However, if you are the type who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the ultimate performance then the 257Weatherby is the one for you in the 25 caliber family. Being that I spent nearly $2,000 on a groundhog rifle and accessories chambered for the 22 Cheetah Mk I wildcat back in 1988 it's obvious that I'm willing to do that sometimes at least. I fully realize the small gain I made compared to a 22-250 but went into it with both eyes open as to what I was paying for a relatively small but noticeable gain in trajectory.

 

[billyboy]

I don't have a Weatherby, but I built a 25/300WSM which is ballistically equivalent. 110gr Accubond at ~3500fps is wicked on deer. Longest shot is 305yds. Every deer I've shot just dropped.

As for the Weatherby, reloading will definitely be the way to go. Norma brass should last awhile. Whatever rifle you buy, you need a 26" barrel otherwise you are not getting much more velocity than a 25-06.