257 Weatherby on cape buffalo?

[TERMINATOR]

Bell used a 7x57 to kill elephants. Weatherby used (maybe) a 257 to kill Buffalo. I don’t think anyone should follow their lead. I think it’s important to note that Weatherby also made rifles in 375, 378 and 460. So obviously he saw a need for larger calibers.

I don’t think people COULD follow their lead anymore.

Minimum caliber regulations prevent it

 

[TERMINATOR]

Exhibitionism, or Ego? i suspect R W had that in shovelsful...

The real word is “Promotion”

Roy was not only a firearms innovator, he was one of the greatest salesmen ever. Probably the best gun salesman ever.

He famously had a “round the world” airline ticket and literally hunted around the world in one (long ass) trip designed to promote how his rifle could kill anything on earth

Everything Roy did was done with the purpose of selling more Weatherby rifles.

 

[gajie270]

well, everything he did must have worked as I have three Weatherby rifles.

 

[Alaska]

well, everything he did must have worked as I have three Weatherby rifles.

Weatherby Rifles Mark 5 actions are legendary!
I had a old German 300 WBY for years wore the throat out ! Great Gun ! Roy had a lot going for him mainly his location of rich CA and the Hollywood Crowd like John Wayne as supporters etc.

 

[Rocco490]

One word summary for using a 257 weatherby on cape buffalo.
NO!
Stupid choices hunters made in the past is exactly why the minimum caliber laws are in place today.

 

[gajie270]

I have a big idea.....what about 270 Weatherby?

 

[TERMINATOR]

Weatherby Rifles Mark 5 actions are legendary!
I had a old German 300 WBY for years wore the throat out ! Great Gun ! Roy had a lot going for him mainly his location of rich CA and the Hollywood Crowd like John Wayne as supporters etc.

Yes! He nailed “Celebrity Endorsement’s” decades before Nike did

If somebody in Hollywood was a hunter, that person was gifted a Weatherby Rifle

My lifelong idol Col. Chuck Yeager hunted with a Weatherby Rifle for almost all his hunting.

Craig Boddington lived relatively close to the Weatherby facility and was good friends with Roy. He didn’t use Weatherby rifles exclusively but he owned several and wrote reviews of them and hunting articles about hunts with a Weatherby frequently.

Roy’s guns were flashy and at the time the fastest caliber in every caliber he created cartridges for. Some still are. In the day Weatherby was the Corvette of rifles. No other factory rifles were as sexy to look at or fast as the Weatherby rifles.

He hooked me when I was a teenager in the 70s.
Muscle Cars and Weatherby rifles…YES PLEASE!!

I own 3

 

[TERMINATOR]

well, everything he did must have worked as I have three Weatherby rifles.

Me too!
I own 4. Or should say 3 now. I gifted a 7mm Weatherby to my son when he went on his first Western Hunt. It’s now his prize possession

 

[Rocco490]

There is enough anti hunting pressure on lawmakers and politicians without giving the anti hunters any help by doing stupid things that are detrimental to the image/reputation of the hunting community. Hunters need to think carefully before they act or speak and do all they can to protect this sports reputation and promote it in a positive way. This includes selecting the cartridges and projectiles that are best suited to the game being hunted ensuring the greatest possibility of a clean humane kill.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Pretty sure this was done so long ago that many on the page weren’t even born yet. Or thought of for that matter…… I think we can stop stomping our feet and shaking our fists in the air over it……..

 

[Rocco490]

Weatherby created some great cartridges and rifles this is nothing to do with being for or against the Weatherby brand.
If Weatherby really felt his 257 was ideal for all game including large and dangerous then why did he bother creating all his other larger caliber cartridges. Weatherby cartridges are very fast many times one of or the fastest available for a given caliber. The 257 Weatherby has things it does very well. It also has some shortcomings. Yes it is capable of generating impressive velocities but no .25 caliber is well suited for Cape Buffalo hunting (or any number of other large heavy game) regardless of todays available bullet options.

 

[Aaron N]

Weatherby created some great cartridges and rifles this is nothing to do with being for or against the Weatherby brand.
If Weatherby really felt his 257 was ideal for all game including large and dangerous then why did he bother creating all his other larger caliber cartridges. Weatherby cartridges are very fast many times one of or the fastest available for a given caliber. The 257 Weatherby has things it does very well. It also has some shortcomings. Yes it is capable of generating impressive velocities but no .25 caliber is well suited for Cape Buffalo hunting (or any number of other large heavy game) regardless of todays available bullet options.

I would go out on a limb saying he probably knew the 257 was less than ideal for dangerous game. But it makes for a good ad campaign claiming “It can take down a Buffalo, don’t be shy using it on deer or elk!” Or at least that’s how I see it, 100% a publicity stunt.

 

[TERMINATOR]

There is enough anti hunting pressure on lawmakers and politicians without giving the anti hunters any help by doing stupid things that are detrimental to the image/reputation of the hunting community. Hunters need to think carefully before they act or speak and do all they can to protect this sports reputation and promote it in a positive way. This includes selecting the cartridges and projectiles that are best suited to the game being hunted ensuring the greatest possibility of a clean humane kill.

Agree 100%

That said, you do realize this was 50 years ago right?

You can't even do it now and no PH on earth would take you to hunt Cape Buffalo with a sub-legal caliber, especially a .25 caliber.

You would be hard pressed to get a PH to take you using a .338 Mag or the even more powerful .340 Wby, or a hot .35 caliber even though I have little doubt they could easily kill a Cape Buffalo.

But they are not the guns to stop a charge...but then neither is a .375 really.

I get why they have the caliber restrictions and I fully support it. I used a .375 but Maruis my PH had a .500 NE and his assistant had a .416 Rem Mag when we tracked my buff. I felt a lot better knowing that I had those guys on either side of me. Happily my Buff was stone dead when we got to him from my shot at 85 yards with the .375

 

[Red Leg]

Me too!
I own 4. Or should say 3 now. I gifted a 7mm Weatherby to my son when he went on his first Western Hunt. It’s now his prize possession

Can't stand the design of his rifles. They feel like a 2x4 in the left hand - a slick shiny one. The calibers, with the right bullet can be exceptional - especially the .257 and .300. I have the former, and don't have the later only because I already own .300 Win Mag and .300 H&H. The .257 and .300 Win Mag are in R8 format which has fabulous ergonomics.

 

[TERMINATOR]

I would go out on a limb saying he probably knew the 257 was less than ideal for dangerous game. But it makes for a good ad campaign claiming “It can take down a Buffalo, don’t be shy using it on deer or elk!” Or at least that’s how I see it, 100% a publicity stunt.

100% done for publicty.

And your spot on about the perception. 99% of the hunters in America were not going to go shoot a Cape Buffalo ever. But he was just selling the idea that if it can kill a Cape Buffalo it can kill your deer/antelope no problem.

You couldn't do it today, but back in 1970s it sold a shit ton of rifles to people that would never hunt a Cape Buffalo ever but who needed to be convinced to spend the extra money for a Weatherby over a Win 70 or Rem 700

 

[TERMINATOR]

Can't stand the design of his rifles. They feel like a 2x4 in the left hand - a slick shiny one. The calibers, with the right bullet can be exceptional - especially the .257 and .300. I have the former, and don't have the later only because I already own .300 Win Mag and .300 H&H. The .257 and .300 Win Mag are in R8 format which has fabulous ergonomics.

I agree that lots of people don't like the style. Only one of the 4 I own/owned (including the one I gave to my son) is the wood stock original style. The first own I bought and it was a 300 Wby in the original style now called the "Deluxe"

2 are the Accumark series in a fiberglass stock (300 Wby and the 7mmWby I gave to my son) and one is a .300 that is a black synthetic stock from back in the late 90s.

I really contemplated a .270 Wby because I was a JOC fan and own two .270 Win's. But I could not justify the extra weight of the Mark V action and 24" barrel needed to make the jump from .270 Win to .270 Wby worth it for hunting in higher country. I am looking for lighter rifles not heavier as I age. Just ordered a New Ultra Light Arms in .270 to shed some weight. The other is a beautiful Colt Sauer from the 80s that I am about to take on a Pronghorn hunt with my son.

 

[gajie270]

plus mine really shoots

 

[CoElkHunter]

There is enough anti hunting pressure on lawmakers and politicians without giving the anti hunters any help by doing stupid things that are detrimental to the image/reputation of the hunting community. Hunters need to think carefully before they act or speak and do all they can to protect this sports reputation and promote it in a positive way. This includes selecting the cartridges and projectiles that are best suited to the game being hunted ensuring the greatest possibility of a clean humane kill.

Unfortunately, we now have You Tube. The smattering of stupid hunter/shooting videos we have seen here and on other sites, pales exponentially to the number of the same on the tube. Seems many have to "try and be somebody" and share their stupidity for the world to see for their couple of minutes of fame. We can only hope most people viewing the videos, realize they are only "stunts" and not reality?

 

[TERMINATOR]

Unfortunately, we now have You Tube. The smattering of stupid hunter/shooting videos we have seen here and on other sites, pales exponentially to the number of the same on the tube. Seems many have to "try and be somebody" and share their stupidity for the world to see for their couple of minutes of fame. We can only hope most people viewing the videos, realize they are only "stunts" and not reality?

Yea, luckily for Roy, the anti-hunters on social media were way less filled with Hunter Derangement Syndrome back then.

But you both are spot on. No need to call attention to hunting in a negative light. And no need to encourage idiots into being even bigger idiots.

 

[JimP]

Weatherby rifles were also the first rifles offered by some banks as a return of your deposit. If I remember right you got your rifle, scope, and soft case upon deposit of $XXXXX amount of dollars and needed to leave it there for 5 or so years.

Strange as it may seem it was the Bank of Boulder Colorado that did this in the peoples republic of Boulder, my how times have changed.