I have an old weatherby 300 rifle sitting in my safe and since I have found the ultra mags I have not been shooting the 300 weatherby. I got to thinking that a fun and overbore cartridge would be to rebarrel my rifle to the 6.5-300 weatherby. Does anyone have any experience with this cartridge and what are your thoughts on it.

I do not have any experience with the cartridge jeffro. With more than 1/4" length of case capacity over the 264 Win Mag, I think you'll make the barrel manufacturers happy!

It very well will be fun, although could be expensive in keeping it operating well too.

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Lots of people have tried it, not many combination's haven't been tried. Consensus of opinion among those who have done it seems to be the 6.5 would be better in a 300 Win mag and a 7MM would be better for the 300 Wby mag. Good luck whichever way you go.

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Seems to me the Drummonds in Pennsylvania used this as a 1000 yard cartridge back in the early 70's .

Remmeber reading an article in a old Gun Digest written by Bob Bell about spending a day around Williamsport PA with one of the Drummonds shooting extreme long range groundhogs with some of their cartridges .

Well I say the Drummonds did the 6.5-300 Weatherby but I think they also changed the shoulder quite a bit !

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Shawn it should be a barrel burner alright but I've never been afraid to buy a new barrel if I'm having fun.

6pt do you know what they did to change the shoulder? I would be interested. I might get some new ideas before I start this project. Thanks.

Nothing wrong with that course! I doubt it is too much harder on a barrel than a 17 Rem, one which I have, and it is fun. I just didn't want to contribute 3x the powder burn to global warming....or is it cooling....I'm confused on that with this last cold snap we went through.

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Jeffro I have a 6.5-300 weatherby,used it for 1000yd.matches.at the time in the 1970's the only powder was h870 that seemed to work at that time.the matches were 20 rounds as I can remember.it worked very well for the first 10 shots then the bullet would start walking up the target as the pressure would start incresing as the barrel became more fouled.the carbon steel barrel first used didn't last very long.had a hart barrel installed stainless steel.their were a number of people useing the 6.5 300 at the time it was called the wright-hoyer. the bullet was the lapua 140 gr.

not much harder on barrels than a .17???---stop doubting.might as well stick an oxy torch up the throat.-700 rounds tops i bet and it will be gumbooted.-lol

Should be about a ballistic twin to the 6.5 STW, I'd imagine.

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I suspect you're right! The 6.5 bore has just slightly more than 2x the area than the 17 bore, yet the case being contemplated for this 6.5 carries closer to 4x more powder.

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Milan is correct about the H-870 slowly fouling the barrel. Luckily the 20 [20 min] round match usually allowed a quick trip down the bore with Hoppes or Shooters Choice after about 12 shots. Worked for me. When I built the first 264 Thor I encountered much the same problem but, somehow, not so bad! I haven`t tried the new powders yet but may soon. I have been wanting to try one of Dan Liljas gorgeous barrel for awhile now and have a 700 action in the wings waiting. Perhaps with the 3 groove barrel and a 1-10 twist it will surpass the old barrel.
Aloha, Mark

I heard of necking down the 300 Weatherby to 7mm and it is very close to the 7mm STW. This is a larger 264 Winchester magnum. What you would have would be another level faster. The problem I see would be barrel erosion. If to stayed with the 140 grain bullet or heavier, it might be a worthy idea. The light for caliber would be a big waste because it would be super fast at the muzzle and lose velocity more quickly, besides burning out the barrel.

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Thanks for all the replies guys. After a little thought I decided to go through with the 6.5-300 idea. I have a barrel ordered from bartlein and a waiting on that. I decided to take the old stock off the gun and went with a mcmillan stock. I also have my scope in. I went all out with a 5.5-22 nightforce.

BTW Kailua, I have not heard of the 264 thor. What is it? Thanks

Mark knows his stuff when it comes to anything in 6,5's.
Most pf the larger 6.5's are harder on barrels,but who cares. If its what you want do it and have fun.I love the 6.5 wsm's.I build my own because its what I like.Barrel wear is much better than a 264 mag.But I like to set them back after 300 rounds or so.
Enjoy your decision
Danny

Mauser thanks for the encouragement. I think that I will really enjoy the rifle even though it will be hard on throats and the barrel life wont be too great. I just like overbore cartridges and like the 6.5's. I have thought about making a 6.5 wsm and also a 6.5 wssm. On your 6.5 wsm was it based off the 300 wsm? Thanks

Hey Jeffro,
I did use 300 wsm. Its superb .I built 3 so I could have one just for 100 gr's . I other 2 are good for 120 and 129 gr's .Thinking about using a Montana action for my next one for 140's and above, longer mag box.Fun stuff

I have several weapons that are generally known as overbore. Among them are a 220Swift and a 30-378WBY.

The answer to your impending "problems" could be moly coating the bbl and using only moly coated bullets. I have done several of my weapons this way and the bbl/throat life is unbelievable.

Read up on this process,talk to people that use the moly process to their advantage,make your own determination if it's right for your specific weapon. There are pro's and con's to it. So far,my experiences have all been on the pro side. ----pruhdlr

I thought they had the problem of extreme erosion in overbore cartridges fixed (well, at least bettered) by the introduction of the chrome lined barrels?

Jeffro, my advice to you is simply saddle that horse and ride like the dickens! You only go around once in this lifetime, so take your plunge and dry off later.

Pruhdler, thanks for the recommendation of the moly coated bullets. I have used molys before and have had good success with them as well a gun juice. I am going to use molys for sure in this rifle and see what kind of barrel life I can get.

Tracer, thanks for the words of advice. I am getting all ready to go. I have my action, stock, scope, mounts and everything. The only thing that I am waiting on is the barrel. I just want to get the barrel and get this gun ready to shoot. The weather is beautiful and I want to be out shooting!