257 Wby questions

[Elkins45]

The Weatherby Mark V thread has reignited my interest in rebarreling a LH Savage to 257 Wby. I have a couple of questions for those of you who are familiar with the cartridge.

1) Shilen offers two chamber options:

257 Wby.
257 Wby. Mag. (.285″)​

What’s the difference? Any preference?

2) Twist options are:

- 9" for bullets heavier than 100 gr.
- 10" for bullets up to 100 gr.
- 12" for bullets up to 90 gr.
- 13" * for bullets up to 80 gr.​

My normal bullet is a 90 grain monolithic Hornady GMX and it shoots well in my current gun that’s 10”. Any reason not to choose 9” for my new barrel, in case I ever want to shoot 120 grainers for elk?

 

[marksman13]

My Ruger No. 1 has a 1/10 twist and has no issues whatsoever with stabilizing the Hornady Precision Hunter 110 grain ammo. That is the most accurate factory ammo I have found for it. Like most No. 1s it starts to walk a bit as it warms up, but it is ridiculously accurate for three rounds.

 

[rabid wombat]

From Shilen: “Please note that the dimensions in parentheses indicate special neck diameters. These are either "tight necks", which require turning case necks, or "minimum necks", which may or may not require neck-turning. If you have questions, please contact us for recommendations.”

I would guess you want the non-parenthesis. Your best answer is talking to Shilen

 

[Gordon]

Get the 1-9"! That twist will stabilize the new VLD .257 bullets that are bringing the .25 into the 21st century !

 

[Gordon]

NOTICE I corrected my post to read 1-8" , which is what I originally wanted but my fingers are big on my phone, this is my PC
Allthough the 1-9" would probably work well on the 110 grain ELD-X that is the slipperiest .25 in normal weight ranges. I used to have a .258 Condor that shot 160 grain .258 bullets and that was 1-6.5" , could take up to 200 grains , supposedly.
Here is info, I bought my rifle from the good dr.'s estate sale , I wanded the 20x Unertl Programmer that was on it, but it came with some reloading supplies and a few loaded rounds soooo.. I kept it 20+ years. It was on a 1917 action and made by Fred Wells in Prescot Az. and it weighed almost 30 pounds ! I nailed a coyote once at about a 1/2 mile or more, what it was made for on a ranch not far away..

257 Condor
This cartridge was produced by Norma and is only known with “NORMA Re - 257 CONDOR -” hs. Reported to have been produced in one lot of 50,000 cases (most unloaded), this quantity appears to be too large as this cartridge is now fairly scarce. This has a long distinctive bullet of at least 160 grains.

Believed to have been produced c1956 (this cartridge is mentioned in a 1960 Guns Magazine). This case has a sharp shoulder as used in the other early Norma belted cartridges; the 8x61 Kvale and 7x61 S&H.

This was probably designed by Nils Kvale, the Norma designer of that period who designed most of the belted Norma case types. However; Ackley, vol 1, page 352 states that this was designed by Dr Ramon Somovia of Hollister CA. D. Ramon Somavia of the Somavia Ranch in California

It appears that there was a longer cased prototype of this called the 258 Super Condor which was never commercially produced.

 

[GooseGestapo]

The .257wby .285” refers to the depth of the throat. If you are building a varmint/target rifle Id go with the shorter throat. If a hunting rifle and likely to use 115gr or heavier bullets I’d go with the longer throat. The longer throat may give up a little accuracy but it allows slower pressure build allowing greater velocities.

My Vanguard has a 24” 1/10”bbl. I get 3/4moa accuracy with Speer 120gr bullets at 3,200fps. A 1/8” would only likely pose a problem with a 75 or 87 gr blitz or TNT bullet. A 26” or even 27”bbl will help velocities significantly. My best powders are Reloader25, IMR7828, H4831, H4350, and Retumbo, in that order. Use Federal Magnum #215 primers or Winchester. CCI LRM will deduct as much as 50fps from velocities a load.

Added: use Weatherby (Norma) brass, otherwise reduce starting loads another 5% if using Federal or Remington cases.
Usable cases may be made by reforming 7mmRM cases. Necks are about 0.10” short. Best source of brass is Norma 100gr factory load. It’s about $1/box of 20 more than Weatherby NUF brass. Weatherby ammo is loaded by Norma with Weatherby stamped Norma brass.

 

[Elkins45]

Hornady makes 257 Weatherby brass now.

I still have several formed cases from when Remington did a run of 7mm WBY cases in the early 90's.

 

[Captcurt]

[QUOTE="GooseGestapo, post: 11648127, member: 269] Best source of brass is Norma 100gr factory load. It’s about $1/box of 20 more than Weatherby NUF brass. Weatherby ammo is loaded by Norma with Weatherby stamped Norma brass.[/QUOTE]This really shocked me. I could buy loaded ammo cheaper than the brass. I bought 3 boxes just for the brass and the factory ammo shot just as good as my handloads.