And the verdict is...
Thank you all for your input. I truly appreciate.
1) I share the favorable perception about the .257 Wby,
in its proper game context, expressed by
@Ridgewalker,
@Graham Hunter,
@Divernhunter,
@Tom Leoni, etc.
2) I entirely agree with the reservations expressed by
@HWL,
@Von S., etc. about the .257 Wby on
larger plains game. This is why I have a .340 Wby. Case closed as far as I am concerned, because, as rightly suggested by
@cls, I am not interested in a "good way to find out if my luck on not loosing any wounded animals holds out..."
Where is the threshold? I asked for input on the 300 to 500 lbs range because I was curious to see what others' experience is on this. I personally feel that the upper reasonable limit for the .257 Wby may be a tad lower (say around 200 to 250 lbs) in order to maintain a good margin of safety, because I do indeed want to continue to hit them hard, and not everything is always perfect. That still leaves a large number of species on the .257 list, including the 'Tiny Ten' that intrigue me and are reputed to be hard to hunt, and a whole lot of plains and mountains smaller antelopes (Impala, Grant, Thomson, Springbok, Reedbok, Rhedok, Lechwe, Blesbok, Bushbuck, etc. and even, at the upper end, Nyala, Tsessebe, etc.).
3) I will continue to take two guns to Africa.
Last time was .340 Wby (mostly large, and very large, plains game on the list) and .470 NE (Cape Buffalo). Next time is shaping to be .340 Wby (large plains game) and .257 Wby (small plains and mountains game).
4) My load selection will be the 120 gr Swift A Frame loaded by Choice Ammunitions at 3,387 fps (
https://choiceammunition.com/product/257-weatherby-120-grain-swift-frame-100-hand-loaded/). Yeah I know, I need to reload my own. Maybe one day when I retire...
The rationale behind it is to address the 115 gr TSX behaving like a solid at lower (i.e. distant) velocities as outlined by
@Divernhunter; to shoot heavy enough, as recommended by
@Graham Hunter, in order to break through 250 lbs antelope shoulder bones as
@Lee M addressed (the TTSX weighs only 100 gr); and to achieve maximum weight retention in such a small slug (I have loved Nosler Partition for 40 years, and continue to shoot my stock of them with full satisfaction, but technology advances being what they are, the Swift A Frame, which is nothing but a bonded partition, provides objectively a higher weight retention).
5) There is a .257 Wby coming my way!
As luck would have it, there was on GunBroker
exactly (how rare is that!) what I was looking for, and was ready to wait for, for the time it would take. This is the carbon copy of my .340 Wby (
https://www.africahunting.com/media...stainless-new-haven-made-300-wby-rifle.61218/): Mark V Stainless (true stainless earlier model, not the current silver coated Weathermark); 26" barrel (needed with the .257 Wby overbore); machined stainless steel bottom (not the current cast metal bottom); looking new, and they swear the barrel and throat are like new, and if I disagree I can return it. And best of all, I 'stole' it for $850 !!! What's not to like?
I will add a Bell & Carlson Medalist Kevlar & Aramid stock with full length aluminum bedding block and pillars ($272); will have it drilled & tapped for 8x40 base screws ($50); will use Talley bases and rings ($170); and will put on it a Schmidt & Bender 1.5-6x42 with 30 mm tube that I already own.
That will be a 10 lbs rig, which I like (I do not like super light guns that dance in the wind, and anyway I used to carry the 23 lbs squad machine gun in a previous life), and it will give me 14 ft/lbs of free recoil, i.e. just under half what the .340 Wby will give me with 225 gr TTSX (29 ft/lbs), which is itself already 20% less than what it gave me this year with 250 gr Partition (36 ft/lbs), which was not an issue for me, but I will take any 'cherry on top of the cake' I can get. Life is good and getting even better!
Sighting will be +3" @ 100 yd; +3.7" @ 200 yd (horizontal cross hair a bit above the belly line between 50 and 200 yd); zero @ 300 yd; -8.9" @ 400 yd (horizontal cross hair a bit above the shoulder line a 400 yd), which is the same rule of thumb I use with the .340 on bigger animals. There will not be confusion.
And yes, to address
@IvW concerns (in a different thread) I will verify that the screw holding the trigger group to the action is tight (they are pinned from the factory and never loosen themselves, unless removed by a third party during re-barreling or whatever, and not being properly torqued and pined back when re-installed). That will address any safety question.
Can't think of a better plains game battery than stainless .340 Wby & .257 Wby. Shoot flat; hit hard; appropriate for all non DG game; impervious to elements; firing pin-blocking safety on the Mark V; affordable; proven; etc. and the Roy stock does not bother me, either aesthetically (especially the Bell & Carlson one) or functionally.
Yep, the .300 Wby with 150 gr and 200 gr loads could do it all, but mine goes to my kid, and the reality is that a lighter 9 lbs 2 oz .300 Wby (i.e. my Model 70
https://www.africahunting.com/media...stainless-new-haven-made-300-wby-rifle.61218/) recoils almost as much with a 150 gr slug as my heavier 10 lbs 8 oz Mark V does with a 225 gr slug (25 ft/lbs vs. 29 ft/lbs); and actually recoils
more, with either 180 or 200 gr slugs than my .340 does with 225 gr slugs (31 ft/lbs vs. 29 ft/lbs).
The 14 ft/lbs free recoil of the .257 Wby with 120 gr A Frames will be so sweet (and conducive of such easy accuracy)...
Can't wait...
Thank you all
Pascal