Need help with custom 257 wby.....Update!

M

msu33

New member
I am having a custom 257 wby built. I have everything decided on, but while I am waiting on mcmillan I need to decide on the chamber reamer. I have seen people suggest to get one that leaves no free bore. This sounds great since I will strictly load hand loads for this rifle. What do you guys think? The only downside to not having any free bore, is that i would not be able to shoot any factory loads. If I were to travel west for antelope of mulies and the airlines lost my custom loads....well that would put me in a bind.

Anyone have any experience with 257 wby, or any experience with chambers and reamers?

Thanks
Travis
 
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My 257WBY is one of my favorites, I use only factory ammo, dime size groups, 100 sp, sight in for 300yds and you will not have to let the crosshairs leave the animal, drops mule deer out to four hundred yards in their tracks, I have never had to track one animal yet.
 
Exactly, I built a cutom 240 Wby, and did not know enough at the time to request a short throat. Big mistake the rifle would never shoot as good as I thought it should for
the money I spent. You don't want all that free bore. Grizz
 
Thanks for the replies. I know the standard chambered 257's are known for accuracy, but being a handloader I am always trying to get more out of my rifles.

Grizz, I have heard before that you dont want free bore. But....maybe you or someone else can help clear the muddy water for me. With no free bore you increase chamber pressure, correct? So why would this not allow you to shoot factory ammo if it is within your C.O.L.? Factory ammo is usually loaded to shoot well below pressure specifications for that chamber, so does this mean my max load will be less than it would be out of a standard chamber?

Thanks
 
msu33, I had a custom built 257 Weatherby that shot in the .1's and .2's. It was normal freebore and it was never an issue. One thing to remember, should you decide to sell that .257 Weatherby for some reason later on, it will be will be a larger market to sell to if you have normal freebore than if you go without.
 
Originally Posted By: msu33Thanks for the replies. I know the standard chambered 257's are known for accuracy, but being a handloader I am always trying to get more out of my rifles.

Grizz, I have heard before that you dont want free bore. But....maybe you or someone else can help clear the muddy water for me. With no free bore you increase chamber pressure, correct? So why would this not allow you to shoot factory ammo if it is within your C.O.L.? Factory ammo is usually loaded to shoot well below pressure specifications for that chamber, so does this mean my max load will be less than it would be out of a standard chamber?

Thanks
I never said you could not shoot factory ammo. I don't see why not as long as it chambers normally without any binding or the bullet jamming into the rifling. As far as freebore if you go with a standard Wby 257 chamber, you might get lucky and it will shoot fine but all you read about on here and in other reloading forums is how everyone likes to seat bullets out at the lands for accuracy. I've allways had good results seating .060 off the lands with my Sakos but with the freebore in my custom 240 Wby that I mentioned, I could not even get within .060 of the lands cause I wanted to shoot lighter bullets 70 grain, 80 grain. With a standard Wby chamber maby you could get close to the lands with heavyier bullets but then you might have issues with the loaded rounds not functioning in the magazine. Talk to who ever is going to build your rifle about the freebore issue. Then go to 6mmBr.com and get contact info for a few of the rifle builders off of this site and get more opinions about standard Wby chamber vs short throat then decide. Let us know what the consensus is and good luck.
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Grizz
 
Thanks Grizz. You never told me you cant shoot factory ammo out of a no free bore chamber, I had heard that somewhere else. Thanks for pointing me to a more specific forum. I will let you guys know what I learn and decide upon.

Ursus....thats a good point, but in my case I dont think i can ever sell this rifle. It is a wedding gift from my fiance. It would be a bad day if i were to sell it.....

Thanks
Travis
 
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I built two 257 Weatherby's without the freebore, 100's at 3800 shooting groups in the .300 range(three shot) were the norm. I shot R#22 with Fed 215's

I also shot the 85 C/T bullet at 4130 fps using AA3100 powder.

I used 26" Pac Nor Super Match three groove Stainless barrels, with Pac Nor doing the chambering, on one Win Model 70 and one Rem 700.

Load development with the 100's was less than 30 rounds, with the 100g partitions shooting about .400-.500.

No deer I ever shot ever took a step.

Don't plan on ever selling a rifle that shoots like this.

Don't fret the ammo at the airport situation, mail the ammo to your destination UPS way ahead of time...no worries.

Good luck!
 
WOW! Ackley, those are the kinds of numbers that grab my attention, and led me to the 257. I am probably going to go with no free bore.

Here is my set up.
Krieger barrel 26" 1-10 twist
mcmillan lazeroni sporter stock, blind magazine
trigger: undecided
Stiller predator action
optics: undecided
 
I came to a decision on my chamber/reamer. I am going to chamber this 257 weatherby for the Berger 115 VLD. This will still allow me to shoot 100-110 Barnes and Noslers really well. I talked with a gunsmith on 6mmbr.com, and he suggested I go with this setup if I want to be able to shoot the long range VLD's. .095 Freebore, and 1 degree 30 minutes pitch.

Now i just need to decide on an optic.......
 
Here's my custom .257 Weatherby
This didn't turn out to be a bad idea,7 Rem Mag turned to .257 Weatherby..."WidowMaker"

Remington 700 action trued
#3 contour stainless 1:10 Rock barrel fluted by Rock (finished at 25")
McMillan Edge Classic BDL
Bolt Ti Fluted
Campfire Bolt Knob
Cerakoted...Matte Black and a mix of Federal Brown,Coyote Tan and OD Stock Cerakoted same color with black webbing
Weight scoped 7.38 lbs


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george, that is one sick looking rifle! I really like that. What specs did you have your chamber cut to?

Mine is going to be 70% black, 30% dark blue McMillan Lazeroni sporter BDL. #4 Krieger (not fluted), Jewell trigger, Bead Blasted Stiller Predator action with black fluted bolt, Barrel will be bead blasted to match.

I just need to decide on a optic. Checking out the leupold mark 4's at the moment. Maybe a custom leupold?
 
Can't remember exact dimensions but Karl Feldkamp my smith shortened the freebore some but left it long enough enough so that factory ammo could be used safely.... that said the 100 gr TSX shoots best with jump COL is 3.190....scope I'm running is a leupold VX III 3.5x10 with an M1 elevation turret added
 
Originally Posted By: 2muchgunNice. And the blue tape to boot........grins

Most here probably will not get the blue tape thing.......
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As dry as it can be here I still use tape.
 
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