On the fence; 1/12 twist 257 Weatherby

[Beruisis]

I have a chance to pick up a mint Kleinguether 257 Weatherby Mag but the 25" barrel is 1/12 twist favoring the 100 gr or lighter bullets. There are several factory offerings plus I reload. I know all about the benefits of heavier bullets as I've hunted with a lot of heavier calibers but they say "speed Kills". I plan to use this on whitetails, mulies & hogs only.
Anybody have hunting experience with this combination?
Beruisis

 

[dkhunt14]

With the right bullet it will kill any deer or hog. Matt

 

[Gary in MD]

The current barrel on my 257 Wby has a 10" twist. But a 100 grain bullet out of a 12" twisted 257 will kill whatever you hit with it.
Speed does kill and the 257 Wby was fast before being fast was cool !!
Gary

 

[AckleymanII]

I can only give you my experience, 257 Weatherby, zero freebore, 30" hart with a 12 twist

shoots the 100g nosler great, 100g Sierra MK into very tiny groups, 4000 fps, R#22, and Fed 215's.

I built a 25/06 with a Shilen 12 Twist, and of course it had 400 fps less velocity than the ROY, 30" Hart 12 twist. Here is what I found that is applicable to your Roy with the 12twist. I could only stabilize the 100g Sierra flat base(3600 accuracy node in the 3's) and the 117g Sierra semi point flat base( accuracy node in the .400 at 3300 fps). No other 100g bullet would stabilize, nor 115-120g bullets would stabilize.

So, these two bullet WILL stabilize in your 12 twist, and if you do not reload, you may find yourself in a jam...hard to say.

good luck

 

[Gary in MD]

Mmmmm
100 gr Nosler, 100 gr Hornady, 100 gr Speer, etc.
While I have mostly used the 100 grainers myself in the 257 Wby (unless exploding varmints ), many people with a lot of experience with the cartridge claim that the lighter bullets kill quicker and they favor using them.
If you like the rifle and get a good deal on it then buy it.

 

[SheepDog]

Whenever I find myself "on the fence" over twist I always default to the faster twist. It rarely hurts the accuracy with shorter bullets.