.340 Weatherby Mag

[Erud]

Anybody have any experience with this round? My boss has a Weatherby Rifle chambered in this that he wants to sell to me. I have only seen it once from a distance, and he doesn't have it currently at his house, so I don't really know too many specifics about the rifle. I am mainly just a target shooter and don't plan on going on safari anytime soon - is this just too much gun to be any fun? Also, how long of a shot is this round good for? I assume that 1000yds would be doable with good glass. Anyone know a good place to get brass? It looks like Weatherby is the only company that makes it - at about $1 a case. For loaded ammo $45 - $60/20 seems to be the going rate depending on the loading. Any insight on this round would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Erud

 

[Mossyrock]

The .340 is a tough round to deal with in many respects. First off, they are very expensive and your ammo selection is limited. The odds of walking into your average gunshop and find much ammo is pretty slim. Second, the .340 has pretty healthy recoil. If you compare it to the 30-06 and the .375 H&H, it is closer to the .375. Lastly, it is kind of a tough round to handload for. Factory ammo is (or was) rated at a 250gr Nosler Partition at 3,000 fps. Those numbers are out of a test barrel in a lab. In the real world, you will get closer to 2,900fps...maybe. Probably closer to 2,850. Compare that to what can be done with the .338 Winchester, and you will see there isn't much of an advantage given how much larger the Weatherby case is. You can get close to 3,000fps with a 250 grain bullet, but you have to work at it and you had better know how to read pressure signs. The bottom line is that the .340 Weatherby is a round for the experienced rifleman and handloader. It can be demanding, and it doesn't suffer mistakes well.

 

[Erud]

Thanks, Mossyrock

That's kind of what I suspected. It's tough to pass when someone wants to give you a sweetheart deal on a high-end gun like this, but I'm afraid that due mainly to the reasons you mentioned, it would collect too much dust. I've only been reloading for about a year, so I guess I'll stick with the less exotic chamberings, for now......

Thanks,
Erud

 

[dakotasin]

you'll probably live to regret not getting it.

yeah, its expenisve to shoot. it will kick a bit.

but, since you reload, what a gun and cartridge to get really good at it! buy 100 pieces of brass, and start w/ the lightest listed load w/ a 225 grain bullet, and work up an accurate load. by the time you get there, you'll be acclimated to the recoil.

very good friend of mine is a 1-gun hunter. the only rifle he owns is a wby mark v in 340 wby, topped w/ a leupold 6.5-20. and this guy hunts as many critters as anybody else, in as many states as anybody...

if the deal is good one, jump on it, and start developing handloads. if the deal is nothing special then let it go and don't look back... but, if it is truly a good deal, you'll forever regret passing.

 

[BusMaster007]

GET IT NOW! Before you talk yourself out of it.

I read about gunwriter Ross Seyfried ( story by Boyd Coddington ) that when Boyd was young, some guy walked into a gunshop he was in and started talking about the .340 Weatherby Magnum in a very enthusiastic manner.
He later found out it was Ross Seyfried...
Ross said something like, "...it shoots as flat as a 7mm Rem.Mag. and hits like a .375 H&H..."
I'll never forget reading about that, and how it impressed me as quite a cartridge!
Boyd also said that the .340 hits kinda hard at both ends, but if you're willing to learn it, it's a helluva cartridge/rifle combination.

I say, "DO IT!"

 

[444]

A buddy of mine owns one and used it on an elk hunt we went on. He shot a cow elk with it.
If I was you, I would buy it from the sounds of the deal.
If you haven't been handloading very long you might have chest pain when you see how much powder this baby uses.

 

[artherd]

Get it man! Loudenboomers rock!~

 

[ClarkEMyers]

Mossyrock is of course perfectly correct but....

Mossyrock is of course perfectly correct but there's a certain romance in the cartridge for North American big game. Read Bob Hagel on his adventures with the .340 as a do everything rifle (his was a Winchester Model 70 converted from .375 H&H) - mostly with a 210 grain Nosler partition, and as I read him he formed the cases and work hardened the brass to get less case head expansion so he could feel comfortable with more powder in his loads.

I can't imagine this rifle as a target gun even informally (I'd have to check bullet availability beyond the Sierra 300 grain Match King and twist for a long heavy VLD style bullet - curiously things like the .340 Lapua and such are even bigger cased than the the .340 Weatherby) Great for busting stone on a distant hillside; I couldn't fire it over the course without pain - give me a 6.5-.284 or something.

Just the same there is a lot of romance in the cartridge for me and maybe for you.

 

[Mossyrock]

One last comment.....

Ok, I have one more thing to say about the .340 Weatherby, and then I'll be quiet. THE .340 WEATHERBY IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CARTRIDGES IN THE WORLD. There. I said it. I have always been fascinated with a 250gr bullet at a flat 3,000 fps. The .340 Weatherby. The .338 KT. The .358 STW. I love them all.....on paper. About every 8-10 years, I'll get the bug again and have a rifle built, work up some really great, accurate loads, shoot it a bunch...and sell it. As much as I love the concept, I really don't have a use for it for the shooting and hunting I do. For casual shooting, I don't like getting stomped on (it's not NEARLY as much fun now as it was when I was 30...). For hunting, I prefer a lighter, handier rifle that will manuever through the pucker-brush. For that application, I really like the .350 Remington Magnum, but that's another story..... While the .340 Weatherby is expensive to shoot and kicks the snot out of you, if you take the time to master it, and the handloading required, you will be LOTS smarter when you get done. Besides....there is just something about a 250gr Nosler partition at 3,000 fps..... Oh, and you can blame all of the above on Ross Seyfried....and Uncle Elmer....and Bob Hagle......