Weatherby Freebore Question

[dragman]

I have never gotten a straight answer on this.

Does weatherby put extra freebore in all there rifles???? (This is what a friend keeps telling me)

Does only Weatherby calibers have the extra freebore irregardless of the rifle manufacturer??? (what I always thought)

 

[watercam]

I only have experience with my .300 Weatherby circa 1953. It does have more freebore than, say, a .300 Win. Mag.. That being said I have been able to create loads that are very accurate in that rifle. Took four powders to find but the barrels are good quality. Velocities are within 100 fps of 'factory loads' but I do not believe their factory loads reach the velocities they boast about. In speaking to other Weatherby owners I hear the same story. For what it is worth I have found one way to help is to use all-copper bullets (Barnes TSX and TTSX for example) as they like longer jumps to the lands any way. Also generally avoid VLDs as they tend to like being close or well into the lands and your OAL may be too long to fit you magazine.
I have talked to several Remington Magnum owners and they indicate that they are finding longer freebores in their rifles as well.
Best of luck!

 

[robbor]

Yes almost all mfr's add freebore epically in the larger calibers. My factory 6.5x284 savage was throated so i couldnt hardly touch the lands with the longest bullets made and have anything left in the neck for support. The weatherby mag are all known for a ton of freebore.

 

[Hopkins]

Several years ago I contemplated pulling the barrel on a Winchester PF Model 70 in .300Wby. to re chamber it to rid my self of its excessive free bore. After checking around with several smiths I found I was going to need to order a chamber reamer made with out the long free bore to get there.
I finally found a load with a long bullet that delivers Weatherby velocities and sub MOA accuracy in stead.

 

[wboggs]

No gunsmith wants to chamber a Weatherby caliber without the freebore. Someone will use factory loaded ammo that is loaded for the standard Weatherby chamber and pressures will be above max., maybe far above max. Weatherby factory ammo is loaded to very high pressures and it is hard to match it's velocity.
My experience with a .300 goes back to the 60's. In those days we had IMR 4350, H4831, and Norma 205.
Norma gave my most accurate loads and highest velocity but it was very expensive and hard to obtain. The chronographs were crude but showed around 3300 with 180 gr. Hornadys. It was a high pressure loads with all the signs and primer pockets were unusable after 2 reloads.
Today there are plenty of other .30 cal rounds you can chamber for, avoid the freebore question, and get equal performance. That wasn't true when Weatherby first introduced his line. The alternatives were there (see P.O. Ackley's old book) but were expensive, difficult to obtain, and you had to do all the brass forming.
Bill

 

[Hopkins]

I agree with wboggs. Pick another cartridge if you want to avoid Weatherby free bore. Getting a Weatherby to to shoot accurately with the standard amount of free bore is a Rubik's cube like puzzle in reloading, but the free bore is there for factory loads.

 

[dragman]

The only question here is the "Weatherby Freebore" only in the Weatherby Chamberings or in All there guns. I got my hands on an old weatherby and its NOT in a weatherby caliber. It has VERY little freebore if anything it is short throated and me and my friends got into a discussion about the topic.

 

[Hopkins]

Free bore in the Weatherby chamberings only.

 

[wboggs]

I have not measured the rifles in non Wby calibers but they should be chambered to SAAMI specs. No manufacturer would do otherwise on a production rifle. You can look up the .264 Win. SAAMI specs online.
Bill

 

[dragman]

this is what I tried to tell my friend and he just wasn't having any of it.

I got off the phone with Weatherby and they can't tell me anything except it's around 1970 and it's a first production because the serial number doesn't even come up in there new system. so I can't get any info about it as far as if it's for sure a 10 twist or a 9.75 or something. any suggestions on were to go with it.

 

[dragman]

it shows 3.340 for the over all length.
It wont even come close to closing with that. I had to set the bullet back too 3.244 to even get it to close and it's probably 10 thousands jammed there.

 

[wboggs]

The 3.34 must be max. It seems to me you are worrying about something you cannot change unless you want to have the throat redone. Try what you have with an overall length that will will put the bullet at least 0.02" off the rifling. You never want to come close to jamming a hunting load. Then go with something like 4350 vs 7828 the won't fill your case as full and won't be a highly compressed load.
If you can't stand not knowing what the throat is, have a chamber cast made. But, you are still going to have to seat your bullets to fit what you have. To optimize everything is going to cost your some money and your existing set up might be sufficient. You will not know until you start the process.
Bill