Heavier for Caliber .257 loadings

[TheONE73]

I spoke to Ty from Barnes this morning and he said that the 115gr TSX was about the longest that would stabilize out of 1:10 twist.  So it looks like without having a custom barrel one would have to look at those 125-130gr. conventional lead core bullets.

Please post your load development and results though as I am still very interested.

[MooseHunter]

Kirby Allen replied to my pm. He mentioned powder h4832 or rl22 start at 61 gr or 62gr for the 125 vld rbbt. Knock acouple of grains of to start with the 130. He alo mentioned in his experience he has not seen  to many 257 Weatherby shoot these heavier bullets well enough for long range hunting. I still may try the 125's but Kirby really knows his stuff. I really like my Accumark but if i lived in the USA i would have ordered the 257 Allen mag Kirby quoted me.

[Charles B]

I suspect when Kirby Allen discusses long range he is in the 1000 yds. area and we may be able to achieve acceptable accuracy at ranges under 600 yds.  I visit the Long Range Hunting site on a regular basis to develop my shooting equipment, and handloading to a higher degree of accuracy for the 100 yds. to 500 yds. range. 

[TheONE73]

I agree with Charles and his assessment of what Kirby was refering to as long range.  I am more interested in heavier bullets weights and performance at >500yds.  While I don't condemn those who are ultra long range hunting I think it is more a shooting exercise than hunting.  I prefer to stalk as close as possible, within reason, before shooting an animal.  I have faith in my equipment and marksmanship abilities, but I also realize that there are a lot of things that can go wrong under the best of circumstances.  I never mind have the capability though to execute that "long" shot on a trophy animal if the right situation presents itself and my flat shooting Weatherby caliberered rifles afford that.

[dbaca]

I'v been reading this post with a bit of curiosity.  I have a 257 WM that I love and it hammers deer way out there with the 110 gr Accubond.

There's been statements in this post like, "The 257WM certainly has the case capacity to drive heavier bullets to acceptable velocities".  Isn't that what the 270 WM and the 7mm WM are for?  They share the same case as the 257 WM.  You can go down to a 100 gr in the 270 WM and a 120 gr in the 7mm WM.  If you want to go heavier then it's obvious.

I understand the desire to have one gun do most things.  Wouldn't be easier to have a 270 WM or a 7mm WM and go with the lighter weight selections they offer?  I guess it depends on what you do most.

I use the 257 WM for most things, the 7mm WM for the larger stuff or combo hunts, and the 340 WM for the largest of things I will ever probably get to hunt.  Maybe I'm just a simple guy who thinks you need a bigger hammer for a bigger job versus using the same hammer and trying to swing harder.  Only my 2 cents.

[TheONE73]

Some people are one gun hunters and others simply like to experiment.  Heavy for caliber bullets always have better S.D. and B.C. than light for caliber bullets.  Some people don't have an arsenal from which to choose and wish to find the best for what they have.  If one doesn't have a bigger hammer and/or can't afford one then they must swing harder.   Those that don't want to watch can look down the road, just my .02.

[dbaca]

Sounds good to me...down the road I go    

[Jim AA]

Guys be careful what bullets WC's you order. Most are not hunting bullets. I found this out the hard way. Wasted a bunch of time and money getting a load for his 130s and when I used it to kill a old ram of mine it was a mess. I brought this to Richard's attention and his answer was those aren't hunting bullets. this is after asking twice before buying them and once after I received them. I asked for the hunting bullets and then he asked me to pay for them. 

Take your chances, I haven't tried them yet. The photo I have posted here are the 130 RBT target bullets.

Jim

[TheONE73]

Jim what kind of velocities are you getting?

 I am not too excited about these bullets if you can't get a straight answer out of the manufacturer themselves.  If I understand right you asked for hunting bullets repeatedly and wound up with something of questionable construction, right?

[Jim AA]

Sorry the chrony was toast at the time of the load work-up of them. But I have put some 300 gr. 358s over my new chrony and there doesn't seam to be any issues with low velocities compared with other bullets. It was because of the 358 bullets that came with the 257s order that lead me to inquire again as to them being hunting bullets. The 358s are packaged as TUFF 'N' NUFF. As are the new 130gr bullets I ordered after. I went over the e-mails a couple of times to see if there could have been a misunderstanding, but not a chance. Questionable construction, no. These were never meant to be anything other than target rounds, OK maybe varmint rounds.

Oh I see why you were asking for clarification. I meant to say. I asked for the proper ones after the incident with the ram and I was surprised he asked me to pay for them.   

[TheONE73]

Thanks for the clarification...I was a lttle concerned when I read your first post.  Let me know how it goes with the "hunting" bullets.

[Jim AA]

Not sure if I'm going to bother with them or not. I have 100 of them but really don't plan to order any more from WC. I think I will stick to 120 Swifts. The problem I had with the 120 Partitions was the meat loss on deer. The Swifts should cut this down a bit, I hope. I can run the same powder charges with the new 130 if your interested. There isn't much for load data on 130s kicking around let alone with specific powders. I'm just waiting for the barrel to be replaced at the service gunsmiths in BC. He kind of over fixed a feeding problem.    Weatherby is paying for it. 

Jim

[Charles B]

After some thought, research, and the cost of custom bullets that would produce iffy accuracy in 1:10 twist barrels I believe I will abandon the idea of heavier bullets.  My interest is heavy with a high BC and stabil out to 500 to 600ydrs.

[TheONE73]

Charles I am of the same opinion, especially considering that my hunting is done almost exclusively in CA and I am limited to Barnes TSX in that case.  Ty said that the 115 TSX was about it as far as stabilization out of a 1:10 twist.  If I rebarrel at some point in the future I may revisit the concept.  Oh well it was a fun intellectual experiment if nothing else and afforded the opprotunity to discuss something of mutual interest...stay in touch guys.

[Jim AA]

Guys there is always the Hornady 120 HPs. I ran them in a couple of 25-06s in the past with great success. So if your talking about 500 yard plus shots.....well it would be even slower impacted velocities than the 200 to 300 yard shots with the 25-06. Believe me you will be very happy with them. It was the Hornady's that first lead me to the problem with the Mark V's feeding problems. The TSX 115 I'm thinking will be the same thing. Let me know how you make out with them TheONE73. As far as the question of stabilizing 120s plus with 1 in 10 twist...well the 130s were fine. I believe if your velocity is up there that makes up for the twist issue. 130s out of a 25-06 with the same twist would probably not work. Just speculation on my part.