W W W.SPORTINGSHOOTER.COM.AU | 57Weatherby ammunition
shooting the 100gn soft-point at
3602fps, this is an accurate and
incredibly flat shooting rifle.
I took the .257 Wby out to a
broad gorge with goats out from
300 to 800 yds. Rightaway we
spotted a herd bedded down at
a lasered 424 yds. I shot from
prone using my backpack as
rest using a backline hold on a
big black and white billy, and
heard the first bullet hit with
an audible “whock.”
In no time I'd emptied the
magazine and reloaded and
dropped another five milling
billies after which I was content
to call it a day as the barrel had
become smokin’ hot. Long range
shooting is just too easy with the
super-accurate Mark V Ultra
Lightweight, the flat shooting
100gn Weatherby factory load
and Leupold 3-9x scope.
For game up to the size of
red stag the .257 Wby brings
more to the table than just
about any other small calibre
cartridge I can think of.
Despite dating back to
1945, the .257 Wby still
represents the cutting edge
of performance.
I think I summed up the
Weatherby Mark V in .257 Wby
Magnum quite well back in
1960 when I wrote, “The man
who is likely to appreciate
such a fine weapon is the
specialist, the hunter rifleman
who is interesting, exotic or
challenging. Then too there is
the pride of ownership that
goes along with owning a
Weatherby Magnum.” Nothing
I've seen since has caused me
to change my opinion.one I've used to take a good
many goats, pigs and deer, by
no stretch of the imagination
can it equal the .257 Wby.
When both cartridges are
loaded to maximum safe
chamber pressures and fired in
barrels of the same length, the
.257 Wby averages 400 fps faster
with all bullet weights. And if
you decide to compare the
velocities of factory loads, you'll
find that the margin in favour
of the Weatherby is even greater.
Simply put, Weatherby's .257
Magnum delivers more punch
at 500yds than the .25-06 does
at 300 – 1420 against 1342 ft/lbs
when the 115gn bullet is used.
Admittedly, Weatherby's
ballistic figures are taken in a
650mm barrel compared with
600mm for the .25-06. But the
Weatherby factory ammo
loaded by Norma offers an
extra edge; it always delivers
its published velocity ratings.
The 100gn SP ammo I shot
which was listed at 3602fps
zipped out of the barrel of the
Mark V Ultra Lightweight at
a speedy 3614fps
The .257 Wby is one rifle
about which I can answer the
question of how long barrel life
will be. Ray Smith has found it
to average in the region of 1500
full-power loads. A specialist
trophy deer hunter will
probably never wear a barrel
out in his lifetime.
The .257 Wby Magnum was
Roy Weatherby's favourite out of
all of his belted magnum
cartridges. According to the
book "Weatherby The Man. The
Gun, The Legend", Roy had
already developed his .257 by
the time he got started in the
business of making rifles. In
1948 he started selling loaded
.257 Wby Magnum
ammunition. By 1949 as well as
rebarreling and rechambering
commercial rifles he was
offering rifles chambered for
the .257 built on F.N Mauser
actions, but it wasn't until 1958
that he debuted his own Mark
V action.
The first .257 Wby Magnum
rifle I ever tested was on the F.N
action and the consumer report
appeared in the July 1960 issue
of Australian Outdoors under
the heading “The World’s Most
Powerful Rifle.”
Rifles in .257 Wby built
before 1973 had barrels with arifling twist rate of 1:12 inches.
That twist rate is too slow to
properly stabilize long,
spitzer-type bullets weighing
much over 100 grains, which is
the reason Weatherby still
offers a loading with a 117gn
round-nose bullet. Why anyone
would bother with that load is
puzzling because loads with
100gn spitzer bullets like the
Barnes TSX. That bullet not
only shoots a lot flatter, but
penetrates deeper and delivers
more energy at long range.
We'll discuss reloading the .257
Weatherby in this months
Practical Reloading column.
The Weatherby Mark V Ultra
Lightweight rifle on loan
proved to be an MoA performer
at least with three shot groups
that didn't overheat the light
fluted barrel. The outfit was
sighted in for a 300yd zero and
from the muzzle to 350yds., the
bullet landed within 3 inches
of point of aim. Even at 450 a
back line hold is enough to
guarantee a hit in the heart-
lung area of a deer. WithI’d emptied
the magazine
and reloaded
and dropped
another five
billies.”
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