257 Weatherby vs 6.5-300 Weatherby

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George P said:
What about Lazzeroni's 6.53 Scramjet?
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I tend to forget about the Laz cartridges, even tho i obsessed about owning a few of them at one point.
I cant find any capacity data on the 6.53, but just based on design and load data, im going to assume it would have a capacity similar to the .257 STW, but from a shorter case.
115-120s at 34-3500 would be pretty bloody flat shooting.
 
Anchorite said:
Perhaps as to some, but we’re arguing, literally, in increments of diameter. Do you honestly believe at the end of the day that makes a difference one way or another in the effectiveness of the platform?
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Absolutely Yes! Maybe.........but mostly not. (This is all just personal theory, so bear with me)
I could possibly see where the unusually large bullet weight jump from the .257s to the .264s might be of consequence. I dont think I ever WILL see it tho.
Likewise the jump from the .264 to .277s not very large with the heaviest common weights i can find being about 160gr for both.
Thr 7mms jump up another 15gr or so (ignoring thr really heavy vlds, which are mostly what ill be shooting from my 28), then the 30s jump another 20-40gr again.
At what point does adding weight/dia become meaningful i think really depends on game and application.
A larger bullet dia starts wider, so with an equall percentage of expansion, will open a bigger wound channel.
A heavier bullet of the same dia and same construction, will out penetrate lighter bullet.
A bullet that sheds weight quickly but has enough weight to completely penetrate causes more damage on its way thru, resulting in quicker in capacitation.
You also have pre-contact ballistics which dictate the other variables that effect said bullets .

Balancing all that based on use and expected results can give a marginal advantage to on cal or another.

Again all my "teereez" are just theory, and only really based on the comparisons ive been able to personally observe.......so as always i could be way off base
 
Anchorite said:
Perhaps as to some, but we’re arguing, literally, in increments of diameter. Do you honestly believe at the end of the day that makes a difference one way or another in the effectiveness of the platform?
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At the end of the day I like bigger holes. The difference between 264, 277, & 284 is not enough to get excited about at normal hunting distance <400 yards.
The original question of the thread was 257 Weatherby or 6.5 - 300 Weatherby.
Both are great cartridges and would like to have them both!
 
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There is a really good podcast that Weatherby did that talks about the company, their move, and lots of other stuff. One of the episodes is devoted directly to ballistics, and comparisons from ex. 6.5 creedmoor to a 6.5x300wby. They do that on every one of their calibers and it is interesting to watch
 
I really don’t think you’ll see much difference between the two.
Realistically, none of the bullets (besides VLD target bullets) of over 140gr in the .264” will give significantly more penetration than a 120gr .257” from a “magnum”. The 6.5 will have an advantage, but only at a range beyond where the velocity drops below the threshold for expansion.

I’m talking for instance a .257” 120gr Swift A-frame vs a .264” 140gr A-frame. Apples to apples comparison.

And, considering that the 6.5’ (.264”) gained their “street cred’s” with 156-160gr FMJ (ie: Kennedy assassination “magic bullets”) and African big game shot at 2100-2350fps, performance from an over bore magnum will be a disappointment due to excess expansion.

In my experience even the .270 or 7mmRemMag offer a greater increase in game performance than the 6.5, over the .257.
I agree with O’Connor.... there is precious little difference between the.257wby and .270win. Winner defaults to the .270.
Between the two, I prefer the .257Roberts to the .257Wby. Likewise, I’ll likely sell or gift the Remington Mod7 .260, but my granddaughters will inherit grandpa’s favorite rifle...(Custom M98 .257Robt). Doesn’t hurt that Mom, Aunt Kristen, and grandma shot their deer with it too...
 
Down the road when we hunt with beams of energy that are not affected by gravity or distance; being guided by computer chips turning all comers into ace marksman - this kind of hair-splitting will be laughable, it is probably laughable now. When performance is so incredibly close at almost any range, the only variable worth considering is the skill level if the shooter - the game animal doesn’t have a snowballs chance in Hell - is it even hunting anymore? Hunting and shooting are not synonyms, they are two very different acts of fun.
 
GooseGestapo said:
And, considering that the 6.5’ (.264”) gained their “street cred’s” with 156-160gr FMJ (ie: Kennedy assassination “magic bullets”) and African big game shot at 2100-2350fps, performance from an over bore magnum will be a disappointment due to excess expansion.
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How's about the oryx, vulkan, woodleigh, and Alaskan bullets in 156-160????
 
Great bullets, but soft. Low b.c.
Make them harder, they won’t work where they’re intended to work, a 6.5x55 at 2,000-2,400fps impact velocity. Run them 3,200fps, they’ll shed a lot of that weight and reduces penetration. And, they’re EXPENSIVE!

Kinda like shooting the Hornady 117gr RN from the .257wby.
Great bullet, from my .25-36, and .257Bob. Excessively destructive from the Weatherby, no advantage over the Roberts with a Hornady 117gr BtSpt Interlok past 250yds.

Instead of the exotic 6.5-300wby, I’d look for a used 7mm magnum of some flavor. I’ve got a Savage M110 in .300RUM I picked up for $200.
But I understand the attraction!

If I had a 1,500yd range immediately available, I might toy with the 6.5-300. But hunting, nah. Deer don’t take that much killing. For bigger stuff, got that covered with a 6lb .30/06, or a Ruger M77 African in .375Ruger with a lifetime supply of Sierra, Speer, Hornady, and Nosler Partitions picked up for pennies on the dollar...
Not to mention the .45/70’s... bullet molds, and a ton of lead...
 
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GooseGestapo said:
Great bullets, but soft. Low b.c.
Make them harder, they won’t work where they’re intended to work, a 6.5x55 at 2,000-2,400fps impact velocity. Run them 3,200fps, they’ll shed a lot of that weight and reduces penetration. And, they’re EXPENSIVE!

Kinda like shooting the Hornady 117gr RN from the .257wby.
Great bullet, from my .25-36, and .257Bob. Excessively destructive from the Weatherby, no advantage over the Roberts with a Hornady 117gr BtSpt Interlok past 250yds.

Instead of the exotic 6.5-300wby, I’d look for a used 7mm magnum of some flavor. I’ve got a Savage M110 in .300RUM I picked up for $200.
But I understand the attraction!

If I had a 1,500yd range immediately available, I might toy with the 6.5-300. But hunting, nah. Deer don’t take that much killing. For bigger stuff, got that covered with a 6lb .30/06, or a Ruger M77 African in .375Ruger with a lifetime supply of Sierra, Speer, Hornady, and Nosler Partitions picked up for pennies on the dollar...
Not to mention the .45/70’s... bullet molds, and a ton of lead...
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The oryx is soft???? Many of these offerings are designed more for the 6.5x284 NORMA than the swede, a bonded bullet is not something I'd call soft any more than I'd call the partition soft.....
Eta the weldcore has been used successfully in the .264 and has a bc of .509 it's not soft either and would be a wonderful candidate for the weatherby powder burner.
 
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FWIW here is what I use. I see no reason for anything else?
308 Win
270 Win
257 Roberts
240 Wby Mag
300 Wby Mag
6.5 Grendel
6.5 Creedmoor
 
i fired a .460 weatherby once and it promptly removed my hat. i guess if a 3 ton animal was trying to sit on me i would be glad to have one.
 
My 9.3x62mm is near the power (as in muzzle energy) of a 375 H&H. I fired a H&H and the recoil was practically the same “push” from the old Mauser. I think recoil is over rated by some people and good shooting mechanics is highly underrated at the same time.
 
eastbank said:
how near is it when both are loaded to the max? no cherry picking .
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My load for the 270 grain bullet was not maxed out by reloading manual amounts. One bullet company owner said his company manual is about 2.5 - 3 grains lower than what the cartridge can safely take.
 
WisBorn said:
I know that the top end loads will take any animal on the planet. I would also shoot reduced loads more suitable for deer size game and less recoil for my shoulder.
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When I built the gun I really thought I'd shoot mostly reduced loads also, But even with the relatively heavy recoil it's so smooth that it's not painful.
Now my "reduced loads" are simply the factory 250 grain GMX rounds that I got a good deal on.
 
horsey300 said:
286@2400fps vs 300gr@2600fps sd is about even .307 vs .305, I'd say physics tips the scales noticably to the H&H
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High Plains said:
My load for the 270 grain bullet was not maxed out by reloading manual amounts. One bullet company owner said his company manual is about 2.5 - 3 grains lower than what the cartridge can safely take.
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I played with quick loads for a while last night and using stock settings getting the 286's up to 2,500 and something looks doable from a number of different powders, at least with the 24-in barrel that I had plugged in.

I read somewhere that an impact velocity of over 2400 ft per second is counterproductive to penetration with solid bullets. It was just a blur by red somewhere and I've got zero experience so I've always wondered if that was true.
 
Like LoonWulf, I found the .375Ruger to be a smooth shooter.
My reduced loads are not too reduced as the sweet spot for accuracy is so close to full power.
My “deer” load is either the discontinued Hornady 225gr PtdSpt or excellent Speer 235grSemiPtd.
I use Rl15 with these two for 2800fps with the 235 (75gr) and 225 at near 3,000fps (w/77.0gr).
BTW, 75gr with a 250gr Sierra gets near 2,800fps and is an excellent elk load.
For the 270’s, nothing beats 83.0gr of IMR4350. Also gets 2,800fps.
All the above loads shoot within 1” at 100yds of same POI.
The fame of the .375 shooting all weight bullets to same POI is true IMO.
All the above have roughly the same trajectory as a .30/06 w/168gr bullet, so relatively flat shooting.
I’ve got some 300gr Nosler Partitions I haven’t gotten around to trying...

I’ve even got some Lee molds for a 255gr FN. over 16gr of Unique it’s about like a .38-55... fun and ACCURATE!
 
You guys are just a bunch of ENABLERS!!
This thread has me wanting a 257 Weatherby in a sweet Deluxe wood stock. A 6.5-300 Weatherby in a good synthetic stock. And now a 375 Ruger. Should I rebarrel my Mark V ultra lightweight 7mm to 375 Ruger???
 
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