With no more than the usual expected setbacks, the project is now complete. The .257 Wby (bottom with tan stock) is complete and has joined its bigger .340 Wby sister (top with green stock) to materialize my idea of the near ideal "anything, anywhere, any-weather, hit-them-far, hit-them-hard, world-wide, non-dangerous game, matched-pair" battery.
Both are Weatherby Mark V true stainless earlier models (not the current silver coated carbon steel Weathermark); 26" #2 contour barrels; earlier stainless steel bottoms (not the current pot-metal cast bottoms); Bell & Carlson Medalist kevlar & aramid stocks with full length aluminum bedding block and pillars (not the original 'Tupperware' injection molded stocks); drilled & tapped for 8x40 base screws; and both have Zeiss Diavari Z 2.5-10x48 30 mm tube scopes in Talley bases and Screw Lock Detachable rings.
Both share what are practically the same ballistics:
.257 Wby with 120 gr A Frame (or 100 gr TTSX) sighted +2.6" @ 100 yd; +3.3" @ 200 yd ; zero @ 300 yd; -8" @ 400 yd.
.340 Wby with 225 gr TTSX sighted +3.4" @ 100 yd; +4.2" @ 200 yd ; zero @ 300 yd; -9.8" @ 400 yd.
In both case: .257 Wby for game below 300 lbs, and .340 Wby for game above 300 lbs, the hunting application is the same: from 50 to 250 yd, horizontal cross hair on the belly line and let the bullet climb into the heart area; in the 300 yd range, dead center; and in the 400 yd range horizontal cross hair on the shoulder line and let the bullet drop into the lungs.
Yeah, I too prefer linseed oil hand-rubbed walnut and rust-blue custom guns, but I had French walnut turn into a warped, gray plank, and rust-blue turn into plain rust after 3 days of uninterrupted rain in a fly camp in Newfoundland; and I had a $10,000 custom Griffin & Howe rifle turn into a stack of kindle wood and scrap metal during airport handling. So, relatively inexpensive stainless and Kevlar it is for me, when commercial flying and distant destinations and rains are involved. Some say the high comb stock is ugly and its design accentuates recoil. I have not found it so.
You could have a similar matched pair of Rem 700 Stainless rifles in Remington Ultra Mag cartridges but I dislike the fact that the Rem 700 does NOT have a true firing-pin-locking safety. You could also go with a pair of Win 70 Classic Stainless or Savage 110 Storm rifles, but neither chamber the fast Wby/RUM/Nosler/etc. class of high velocity cartridges. Truth be told, there really is no fly on the Mark V, horror stories of hard recoil and home-gunsmithing trigger and safety butchering notwithstanding. Actually, I hope the Weatherby haters continue their rant; it makes the used Mark V really affordable ;-)
The much feared (hence maligned) .340 Wby does not recoil any harder than the currently fashionable .338 RUM, 33 Nosler or .338 Lapua, and I am just fine with it. These fast .33s are truly 'go-anywhere, do anything' calibers, if you practice enough to shoot them well. Were it not for the regulations in some African countries they would do just fine with 300 gr slugs on dangerous game too. As to the legendary .257 Wby, it needs no introduction. It flies flat enough to shoot into next county and with the right bullet it hits way out of its weight class. For hunting applications, it runs circles around the latest small-caliber fashion darling, the 6.5 Creedmoor 1,000 yd paper-puncher king. Nonetheless, like many others, I would consider it unwise to use it out of its weight class, which, in my mind goes to about 250/300 lbs.
Yep, a single .300 Wby could do it all, and it has with folks as experienced as Elgin Gates who put 152 African, 54 Asian and 26 North American (i.e. a total of 232) trophies in the books, but I like the idea of traveling with two guns - therefore having a back-up. Besides, the .340 works on Steenbok or Duiker, I know, I recently did it, but why not shoot something that recoils 70% less on these ;-)
With no more than the usual expected setbacks, the project is now complete. The .257 Wby (bottom with tan stock) is complete and has joined its bigger .340 Wby sister (top with green stock) to materialize my idea of the near ideal "anything, anywhere, any-weather, hit-them-far, hit-them-hard, world-wide, non-dangerous game, matched-pair" battery.
Both are Weatherby Mark V true stainless earlier models (not the current silver coated carbon steel Weathermark); 26" #2 contour barrels; earlier stainless steel bottoms (not the current pot-metal cast bottoms); Bell & Carlson Medalist kevlar & aramid stocks with full length aluminum bedding block and pillars (not the original 'Tupperware' injection molded stocks); drilled & tapped for 8x40 base screws; and both have Zeiss Diavari Z 2.5-10x48 30 mm tube scopes in Talley bases and Screw Lock Detachable rings.
Both share what are practically the same ballistics:
.257 Wby with 120 gr A Frame (or 100 gr TTSX) sighted +2.6" @ 100 yd; +3.3" @ 200 yd ; zero @ 300 yd; -8" @ 400 yd.
.340 Wby with 225 gr TTSX sighted +3.4" @ 100 yd; +4.2" @ 200 yd ; zero @ 300 yd; -9.8" @ 400 yd.
In both case: .257 Wby for game below 300 lbs, and .340 Wby for game above 300 lbs, the hunting application is the same: from 50 to 250 yd, horizontal cross hair on the belly line and let the bullet climb into the heart area; in the 300 yd range, dead center; and in the 400 yd range horizontal cross hair on the shoulder line and let the bullet drop into the lungs.
Yeah, I too prefer linseed oil hand-rubbed walnut and rust-blue custom guns, but I had French walnut turn into a warped, gray plank, and rust-blue turn into plain rust after 3 days of uninterrupted rain in a fly camp in Newfoundland; and I had a $10,000 custom Griffin & Howe rifle turn into a stack of kindle wood and scrap metal during airport handling. So, relatively inexpensive stainless and Kevlar it is for me, when commercial flying and distant destinations and rains are involved. Some say the high comb stock is ugly and its design accentuates recoil. I have not found it so.
You could have a similar matched pair of Rem 700 Stainless rifles in Remington Ultra Mag cartridges but I dislike the fact that the Rem 700 does NOT have a true firing-pin-locking safety. You could also go with a pair of Win 70 Classic Stainless or Savage 110 Storm rifles, but neither chamber the fast Wby/RUM/Nosler/etc. class of high velocity cartridges. Truth be told, there really is no fly on the Mark V, horror stories of hard recoil and home-gunsmithing trigger and safety butchering notwithstanding. Actually, I hope the Weatherby haters continue their rant; it makes the used Mark V really affordable ;-)
The much feared (hence maligned) .340 Wby does not recoil any harder than the currently fashionable .338 RUM, 33 Nosler or .338 Lapua, and I am just fine with it. These fast .33s are truly 'go-anywhere, do anything' calibers, if you practice enough to shoot them well. Were it not for the regulations in some African countries they would do just fine with 300 gr slugs on dangerous game too. As to the legendary .257 Wby, it needs no introduction. It flies flat enough to shoot into next county and with the right bullet it hits way out of its weight class. For hunting applications, it runs circles around the latest small-caliber fashion darling, the 6.5 Creedmoor 1,000 yd paper-puncher king. Nonetheless, like many others, I would consider it unwise to use it out of its weight class, which, in my mind goes to about 250/300 lbs.
Yep, a single .300 Wby could do it all, and it has with folks as experienced as Elgin Gates who put 152 African, 54 Asian and 26 North American (i.e. a total of 232) trophies in the books, but I like the idea of traveling with two guns - therefore having a back-up. Besides, the .340 works on Steenbok or Duiker, I know, I recently did it, but why not shoot something that recoils 70% less on these ;-)
I find I carry the 300 Weatherby more than anything. With the light 24-inch Barrel it is no heavier than most 30 ought 6 s. I have 1000 more foot pounds of energy, a lot of authority in a relatively lightweight compact rifle.
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