[littlejoe]

Greetings again all,

Thanks in advance and I'll try and be brief. Looking to get a vast expanse, treeless plains rifle for antelope and large deer. Trying to decide between two calibers and rifles. I will reload and use factory ammo.

1. 257 WM or 270 WM

2. Remington 700 CDL or Weatherby Sub MOA.....either with 26" barrels.

Thanks and best regards Lj

 

[magnumitis]

Either one is a great "vast expanse" round. Since you say "large deer", might lean toward the .270. I would get it in the Vanguard. Nothing but good experiences for me & mine with the Vanguards, thus far.

 

[broom_jm]

Any combination thereof will meet the specified goals, with little to separate either cartridge, or rifle.

 

[Bird Dog II]

The .270 version. And use 140 to 150 grain bonded bullets.

 

[Savage99]

I remain disapointed that after all these years riflemen have not seen through the hype and poor design of the Weatherby products. Their cartridges have the highest velocity of course. Thats because the best part of the rifling is cut away to make a freebore in the throat.

That gives a little more velocity.

Then those silly rounded shoulders and overbore capacity. They used to have stock inlays too. Perhaps they have flashing lights on them now or a keyboard?

LOL

 

[tjrahl]

I remain disapointed that after all these years riflemen have not seen through the hype and poor design of the Weatherby products. Their cartridges have the highest velocity of course. Thats because the best part of the rifling is cut away to make a freebore in the throat.

That gives a little more velocity.

Then those silly rounded shoulders and overbore capacity. They used to have stock inlays too. Perhaps they have flashing lights on them now or a keyboard?


LOL

You have your facts just a tad off the free bore hurts velocity not helps it.

Poor design how so?

Nothing at all wrong with a pretty gun.

Personally i would go with a 270 in a Remington 700 but as others have said six one half a dozen the other.

 

[Savage99]

If you prefer the 700 then you don't understand hunting rifle design.

The freebore allows higher pressures to the detriment of bore life and accuaracy. Higher pressures will yield higher velocities.

 

[Hair smoker]

Go in between with the .264 Win. Less common I know in new rifles. Bullets have great BC. And it's no worse on barrels than the Wby's.

 

[MikeG]

I have a .257 WM but not a .270. With limited experience, I can say that it will kill deer, but you had best use good bullets. It is also very accurate (a regular Vanguard) and not a bad looking rifle.

Recoil may be a factor, maybe not for you. They kick a bit more than their counterparts with non-Weatherby cases (ie. .25-06, .270 Win, etc.). I don't have a .25-06 but I can tell you the .257 Weatherby recoils quite a bit more than my .257 Roberts. If I had to estimate, the .270 Weatherby is probably going to feel like at least a .30-06 from the bench, perhaps a bit more.

Good luck and good hunting.

 

[︻┳テ=一]

I own and shoot the .257 weatherby magnum first off realize the price of this ammo ! In my area it's $80 a box if I travel 50 miles it's $60. I have the sub MOA vanguard great gun but seems heavy to me. Shoots flat and hits hard I've taken 4 deer with this rifle cartridge combo deadly at range. If I were to do it all again I would it's just something about that big fat case and tiny bullet. Your choices for open area shooting are spot on are there more reasonable choices most likely a better performer undoubtedly get what you want and enjoy it

 

[Kanuck]

I would take a real close look at a .25-06 or .270 Win before I'd go with the Weatherby. If you are handloading using the best available powders and bullets, the downrange ballistics aren't so far behind as you might think.

If it were up to me and I had a .25-06, I'd try out the Nosler 110gr Accubond. Hodgdon's top listed load for the 120gr bullet in a .25-06 is about 3050 fps. They list a top speed of almost 3,300 fps for a 100gr bullet. 3,200 fps shouldn't be hard to reach with the 110gr Accubond and if you sight it in at 3.5" high at 100yds, its dead on at 315 yds and about 18" low at 468 yds with plenty of velocity left to ensure expansion.

Hodgdon data would give the .257 Wby about 3,450 fps with the same 110gr bullet. The same 3.5" high at 100 gives you a zero of about 347 yds and an 18" drop at 507 yds.

Recoil (assuming an 8 lb rifle for each) is 14.1 ft lbs for the .25-06 and 20.4 ft lbs for the Wby.

.257 Wby uses about 71-72gr of powder to achieve this. .25-06 uses about 52gr of powder. Seems like a lot of extra powder, barrel wear and recoil for very little practical gain....

 

[MikeG]

I own and shoot the .257 weatherby magnum first off realize the price of this ammo ! In my area it's $80 a box if I travel 50 miles it's $60. I have the sub MOA vanguard great gun but seems heavy to me. Shoots flat and hits hard I've taken 4 deer with this rifle cartridge combo deadly at range. If I were to do it all again I would it's just something about that big fat case and tiny bullet. Your choices for open area shooting are spot on are there more reasonable choices most likely a better performer undoubtedly get what you want and enjoy it

About the same here. Bought one box to test out, and then some dies quickly afterwards. Still have most of the first box. You can reform .300 Win Mag or 7mm Mag into .257 Weatherby, but it's kind of a pain. As soon as you get the rifle, get as much brass as you can afford.

 

[MontyF]

I'm a quarter bore fan so I'd take the .257.That aside the 25-06 makes alot more sense for the reasons prevously stated. When the .257 WM and 25-06 wears the 24" barrel there is little difference in velocity. The freebore issue: Longer leade drops pressure, more powder gets the pressure back up which makes more velocity.

Find the rifle that looks right and feels good to you. It's your opinion that counts in this regard.

If we all choose the same rifle there wouldn't be much to talk about here.

 

[littlejoe]

Savage99...I'm guessing from your post you like Weatherby rifles and cartridges...? A little tongue and cheek...!

Hairsmoker...I compared the 264WM and against the 270WCF and there are several bullets in the middle weights with similar BC's and the speeds are only 50-75fps one way or the other. Then I got interested in the Weatherby calibers for the first time in my life and WHOW what a difference. Those sorts of velocity differences are significant and seriously reduce the wind and gravity factors on longer shots and bigger deer. I already have three 257 Roberts, two 270WCF's, a 358WCF, a 350RM and a 338WM for hunting deer and elk around timbered land with clear cuts and farmed fields in Idaho. This rifle will be for the plains and prairies of Colorado, Kansas, NM etc.

A factory, semi custom rifle ( Remington or more so on the Weatherby ) seems like a good deal.

I also looked at the 7mm Remington magnum, but looks like the 270WM has it beat by a good amount also using deer weight bullets.

I am FORTUNATE and have several choices of rifle/caliber each time I hunt and only hunt once a year and range shoot two additional times a year, so expensive ammo and barrel life should not be a problem or great expense. I reload also.

I look at 40-60 rounds of expensive Weatherby ammunition as 30-40 deer over the rest of my hunting life. In many years of hunting I've never forgotten my ammo, but have forgotten my watch once which messed up the " meet back here in four hours " plan...LOL

Regards Lj

 

[big dan]

there is certainly nothing wrong with the weatherby rifles and cartridges, they aren't my cup of tea but that doen't mean squat...
i really like the 25/06, i've had a couple over the years and my current 25/06 is an ackley improved version on a remington 700 and i really like it. accuracy has been good, performance with the 100gr tsx bullet has been very predictable and it's not bad at all to shoot in regards to recoil.
if you end up going with a 24" barreled rifle you just as well go with an '06 based cartridge as i really feel that the weatherby rounds need the extra 2" of barrel. the 264win mag is a great round in a 26" barrel and often just a loud 270 in a 24"... individual barrels will vary but that seems to be the consensus and i can't imagine it'd be much different for the weatherby rounds...

get what you want, you can do all the comparisons that you want and be as methodical and logical as you want with your descision making process but in reality there isn't really a bad choice out there. (unless its a 243 or some sort of short magnum)...

 

[Savage99]

Littlejoe,

We are all riflemen in this together. I hope you enjoy your new rifle and get more.

I keep the Nosler #6 manual here by the computer. Looking at the 270 WM loading 140 gr bullets they got 3293 fps as a maximum velocity. That is with a 26" barrel. The best Ci of a .277" bullet they list as .496.

The same manual gets a 140 gr out of the 7mm RM at 3340 fps from a 24" barrel. The best Ci of a .284" bullet they list as .485.

Seems the two rounds are about the same. Since they are about the same that makes sense.

I never believed Weatherby's ballistics. Still don't.

 

[zorak]

Hello I'm new here and was just reading your thread and I have a Ruger that i converted in to a .270wm and i love it. there's not much more kick then my old .270win and I load my own rounds just cause its cheaper then buying factory ammo. But i was reading and you are looking for a long range flat shooter. I am working on building a 6.5-284 and i have read nothing but good thing about that round,its a very flat shooter 700+ yards from what people have said.

since you plan on reloading any ways you might what to check in on that caliber, i know norma and lapua have brass already to go in that round and winchester has the .284 brass that you would have to reform to 6.5. I do know that savage has the caliber in a production rifle though. Its just my opinion though and other may bash me on it or not.

doug

 

[CCAguns]

.257WM vs .270WM

Since you have requested info on the two, I would recommend the .270WM. I used to have a .257WM and was quite disappointed in its performance on tough shots. I had to track a few animals for quite a ways as a preferred shot didn't present itself and the hunt was ending. A heavier bullet would have made quite a difference in those few instances. I've never had these issues with .270s and up. Also, I think the heavier .270 will provide better downrange performance.

My own preference, for what it's worth, would be a Remington 700 in .280 Ackley Improved with a 24" barrel. I've found this to be an exceptionally accurate rifle, allowing me 7 Mag velocities with 160 gr Nosler Partitions or BTs in a standard, non-mag rifle. Mine was built by Guy Malmborg (Lock, Stock & Barrel) of Salt Lake City - prince of a fellow. I also buy the regular .280 Remingtons for plinking or close-in work, thus fireforming my AI cases for reloading.

 

[beretzs]

I don't think either is a bad choice. You can't get a 257 in a Vanguard with a 26" barrel, but I don't think you will take as big a hit as most think. The 257WM is very flat shooting and carries well at long range, but doesn't do anything the 270WBY of 270WSM won't do with heavier bullets, that will have a better BC. Still both cartridges would be awesome for deer and long shots. Scotty

 

[oneoldsap]

Why not go with a Custom 700 in .257 STW . It is a fantastic performer and brass is a lot cheaper to come by !