257 Weatherby mag

[LBEdgin]

Brought a Weatherby Vanguard this year, love working up loads for about anything. But gun is asking a lot of me. Tried 88gr Hammers, 90 Hammers up to 115gr in Nosler, Hornady guessing 10 different loads. It still has factory barrel. I forget the twist but it's factory. Although I can get ok groups from most all I ran through it, but the 90gr in most any bullet I shot shot lights out! Has anyone else ran in to this? Right now I just settled on 90gr with good solid bullets. I mostly whitetail, but see down the road an elk/mule deer coming. I know if is light for elk but looking for a way to bump the grains up some. I would look to buy another gun or swap up. But my problem is I have done a good bit of upgrades to it and most of all I really love this gun.
Does anyone have any ideals to work pass this problem with sinking a lot more $$ into it.

Thanks David

 

[Adam in WI]

You're rifle is most likely a 1-10" twist, so it should shoot up to 120 grain flat base fine. A 90 grain Hammer should do well on most deer species. I cannot speak for elk though.

 

[LBEdgin]

Yes I agree with you about the elk issue as they are a lot more animal. May have to get another caliber. I had good luck with the 160gr in 7mm mag/7mm WSM. Just trying to keep my cost down. And I really fell in love with 257 Weatherby mag. Had a Peak44 stock installed along lots of other costly upgrades.

 

[Adam in WI]

I won't give advice on the elk, but that 90 grain Hammer out of the Roy will be certain death to any deer your likely to encounter.

 

[Just Say Moe]

I use Nosler 120 partitions with IMR7828 in my father in laws Weatherby Lazermark. He gets a deer or 2 every year with them.

 

[std7mag]

Common twist rate for most modern 25 caliber rifles is 1:10.

Can't speak to the Weatherby cartridge, but my 257 Roberts, 257 Roberts AI, 25 WSSM shoot the 120gr Sierra HPBT GameKing just fine.

Where you run into problems is the longer, heavier bullets.
131gr Blackjacks, 133 &135gr Bergers.

I like Cutting Edge bullets, but heaviest mono from them to stabalize in a 1:10 is 90gr.

Contact Hammer and ask about a bullet for elk sized game.

 

[Mark W]

I’ve tried two of the newer Weatherby Vanguard’s that are made by Howa and neither earned a permanent spot in my safe.

 

[nmkid]

My .257 WBY really likes 110 gr. Nosler Accubonds.

 

[Gary in MD]

OP, You didn’t say what powders that you have been trying. I have found in my rifle and a few others that RL22 and IMR 7828 are tough to beat. These work for bullets ranging from 87 to 117 grains. But I also had good accuracy using IMR 4350 and 100 grainers. I mostly shoot 100 grain bullets for deer and both those powders (rl22 & 7828) are at the tops for accuracy and velocity. Always use magnum primers. I haven’t taken the 257 on an elk hunt (yet) but surely wouldn’t feel handicapped if I did. A little research will show you that many guys have used and continue to use it on elk every year. The 257 Wby is like a lazer for deer hunting at all but the extremely long ranges. I’ve killed deer with 100 grain bullets from Sierra, Hornady, Barnes, Nosler & the 117 grain Sierras, 115 grain Bergers, 115 Noslers. The 110 grain Nosler Accubonds were the only bullets that I’ve really had deer run after a good hit, and I really wanted to like them. But when I shoot a deer with the 257, I’m used to them just dropping like you jerked a rug out from under them! I see a few guys poo poo the big 257 but they are “usually guys that haven’t hunted with one.” I have always found that loads at or near max have performed the best in the 257, like a lot of high intensity cartridges. It’s a hot rod, load it as such and replace the barrel as needed.
Gary

 

[Kurz]

But gun is asking a lot of me. Tried 88gr Hammers, 90 Hammers up to 115gr in Nosler, Hornady guessing 10 different loads.

We have all experienced frustration when developing loads for any rifle/cartridge/bullet/powder/primer combinations. Some can task us more than others just due to the particular barrel and even the chamber design. Those I don't hesitate to remove from the action in order to have an extra tomato stake!

While you have given us some indication of your trials and tribulations, there are a couple of things to consider when establishing an accurate load:

Powder and primer changes can show significant improvements when testing cartridges and bullets.

I consider the seating depth to be an important and significant factor when working up accurate loads especially with a Weatherby cartridge.

All the rest of the factors have an effect as well. The rest for the rifle, your position with that rest and the bag materials and filling. Scopes, rings and bases need to be tightened to the proper specs and aligned with the bore then checked with the targets. Lead sleds are death for accuracy testing. Using any old sand bags filled with who knows what and attempting to shoot from unstable platforms. No, the hood of your truck is not a proper platform!

Check everything then experiment with seating.

Enjoy the process!

 

[Doug Casner]

I shoot 90 gr. gmx and a stiff charge of imr 4350 in mine. Havent killed anything with the gmxs yet but shot deer ,antelope, and coyotes with other bullets. The gmxs print .75 of an inch at 100. Their free bored but Ive got those 90s seated out toward the lands. It helps a little, inline seater helped a bunch. Doug

 

[LBEdgin]

The only powder I have not tried yet of all brought up in the above is the IMR4350, funny that generally one I always run close to first. With the great groups I'm getting with the 90gr bullets it's RL23 & AA3100 that's giving me 1/2 to .7" groups. I was lucky enough to have over stocked up on aa3100 before they stopped producing it. I will try some of the the things you guys mentioned above. As I got where I enjoy finally finding the right combo. But just wanted to see if any of you had ran into this before. Thanks to all of you for you for sharing with me.
Thanks again David

 

[ebb]

I wish i had stocked up on AA3100 for my 25-06, it can't be beat for a 25-06and i would guess other 25 caliber and 6.5mm chamberings. But you can still get it just not labeled AA3100. It was originally made for Accurate by Lovex, if you look at their chart it shows SO71 as the same burn rate as AA3100. I called Accurate and they said it was still being made but they could not get it cheap enough to sell on the American market. That was about the same time shooters World /Lovex came to the market here.

 

[LBEdgin]

Thanks for the info on the aa3100 as I didn't know anything about that. Thanks again!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Id try a ballistic tip 110-115gr and 7828. If it doesnt shoot that you got a bad gun. It may just not like your bullet selection thats why i suggested a known standard bullet that should shoot well in your rig

 

[Loudenboomer]

OP I have the same rifle. Had some of the same wows. My fit in the recoil lug area was poor. Also trying to adjust the factory trigger just made it creepy and inconsistent. Bedding and a new Timney helped.
Bullets 100 grain and over shoot best in my rifle. Reloader 22 and IMR 7828 seem to be the best powders.
My .257 Weatherby is a solid hunting rifle. A bench gun it's not.
A well placed 120 Nosler partition from a .257 Weatherby will kill any elk on the planet.