I just acquired a Weatherby Mk V in 240 WBY Mag in trade. I have no experience with the caliber and trying to decide if I want to keep it or sell/trade. Opinions on the caliber? Effectiveness for southern whitetail hunting?
Thanks

Plenty cartridge for your white tail hunting and then some, the problem is that there is just one source for ammo. The Weatherby Ammo is good, but its not cheap. Then again outside of zeroing in your rifle, you are not going to be shooting a whole lot of paper. Then it becomes a moot point. If costs per shot is an issue, then maybe selling the gun might be in order. For some reason the 240 WM is not a very good seller for Weatherby. I don't know why, I had one before I down sized my collection it shot great, and it would put deer down as well as any. Besides those MK V's were just so neet to look at and own back in the day.

I want a 240 Weatherby.

95 gr. Nosler BT will do it all in the 240 WBY. Superb cartridge with very little recoil - one of the best in the 6mm.

Been thinking about one of these for a while. For deer and antelope out here it would be a mighty good ticket. Fast, flat and with good bullets it should do well. I use a 243 for some things but it just doesn't have enough pop for me on bigger deer and especially at longer range. That said, the 240 sure would cover both of those concerns.

Shoot the thing, bet you will keep it!

You asked for opinions:

I have had both a .240 Wby and a 6mm-06. Brass for the 6mm-06 was much cheaper, the rifle cost less to build (compared to what I had to pay for the Wby rifle), was more accurate (the Krieger barrel probably had something to do with that) and it did everything the .240 Wby did. The only thing better about the Weatherby was that a guy who worked for me fell in love with it after I loaned it to him for a deer hunt. He bought it for a little over two hundred dollars more than I had paid for it, when two hundred dollars was worth a lot more than it is today.

Vanguard?

It's also a unique case which can't be easily formed from any other case leaving you stuck with Weatherby as your only choice for brass.

The one I have is a German, Sauer built,Mk V. Very nice rifle.

I'd keep it with the awareness that brass nor ammo will ever be cheap.

Very cool cartridge, I've wanted one for a long time.

Whoever heard of getting rid of a perfectly good rifle because the brass costs too much? If that was the case, nobody except those who frequent Africa would ever have any big-bore rifles and we all know there are a lot more owners of big-bore rifles around than those who hunt Africa.

Lighter. I do know it wouldn't be a 57 lug Vee

How bad do you need one??

I am cogitating on a 6-06 AI build for the wife.

Case capacity is close to same/same. Brass is cheaper.

But then I think, why not a 243AI?

Have fun.

I big time agree! I use a 6/06 (same thing basically) and totally love the rig. Amd on my 2nd barrel and the third aint far off.

The round is incredibly capable and not toxic in the least.

Dober

I want one too, but I will be going with a little stainless 6-lugger.

Funny how folks complain about the brass. Rarely hear that when folks are crowing about the 257 Bee.

You can make .257 Wby cases from any number of magnum cases.
The .240 is utterly unique, a belted .473" casehead.

I've got a Mark V 240 Wby that I also acquired in a trade. I love mine and it's instant death on white tails. I load 85 grain Barnes TSX's on top of a healthy dose of RL 19 in mine. Brass is expensive, but it's a Weatherby so it's to be expected. I use Norma brass in mine and it simply won't wear out or stretch, even with full length sizing. I have some that are on loading #6 and have never been trimmed. The barrel on mine is pencil then and groups open a little when it gets warm, which doesn't take long. But the first 3 shots from a cold barrel are usually 1" or less and since it's a hunting rifle and not a match rifle, that works for me. I'm sure you'll fall in love yours as well.

I ran the heck out of a 340 for years, for a while made some cases out of 8 Rem mags. But, I just went to buying Wby factory cases. I had wonderful case life (12-13 loads) out of them and liked them.

Only beef I have with the Wby cases is that they went away from the hella kool old animal boxes...

Dober

I love old style packaging like those, and old Kleanbore and Super-X boxes.

CH makes a die that will turn 25-06 brass into .240 brass in 1 pass.

Those are great as well, good call Mathman

Dober

I want a Vanguard .240. It would be nice if it were a little lighter, but then again it would be great if I were a lot lighter!

244 H&H

I have 3 Mark V's chambered to 240 Weatherby and am looking for a 4th. They they are fine deer rifles shooting the TTSX or Partion and the Accumark I desire should only add to the fun.

I'm looking at buying a 240 in Weatherby's new Vanguard S2 (under $500).

I love my 240 Wby . I built mine on a LH Ruger SS 77. I use nothing but the Hornady 95 gr SST. I have never shot a deer that went more than 20 yards. Flat shooting very little recoil . You will love the 240, one of the best Wby Cal Roy come up with.

That's quite a testament to the quality of the brass. I just feel like the cost of Weatherby brass is a non-issue. There are very few elements of this hobby that are inexpensive anyway. It's all about the grin it puts on your face, right? I will concede to the sentiment that the Weatherby ammunition will drive you to start handloading!!

In my opinion it works.........

hog-
120 yds. +/-
240 weatherby accumark
85gr nosler partition
shot behind left ear
drt. dropped and didn't even paddle. I turned him on his side for picture.
GWB

I want one. Why? Because I don't have one.

For the 240 Wby Mag owners/reloaders on the thread, I have 116 brass and dies that came with my gun I will be selling.
If interested,drop me a PM.
Thanks

One of the the most accurate cartridges I own. IMR 7828 and 95 gr Noslers do about 0.56" at 100. I'll take care of putting it in a dumpster if you want to dispose of it. It should be fine for white tail. If one comes west though he will need a 257 for mule deer and a 6MM Rem for pronghorn. Every cartridge is species specific. Just ask my wife.

I don't shoot factory ammunition but it's interesting to me that the cost of Weatherby ammunition comes up so often. There are several loads from Weatherby that are no more expensive and often less so than the premium offerings from Winchester or Federal. I recently saw Weatherby factory 257, 270, and 300's at a store for less than Midway sells empty cases. Weird but true. $35.00 per box of 30. I probably should have bought some to see what the catch was...

Probably the 30-round boxes...they don't fit anywhere...

Yes. I've seen 33-378 Weatherby at $35 a box on the sale table as a Sportsman Warehouse. Damned near bought all 7 boxes, even though I don't own one.

For discriminating shooters, price is no issue, because most handload anyway regardless of price. Sort of like buying a high end motor home and then worrying about the price of fuel.

Precisely.

With my 6MM-06 (same thing) I've killed Mule Deer, Whitetail, Caribou, Antelope and Big Horn. It's my anything-smaller-than-Elk favorite.

Here's the Sheep --- Double lung shot with 100 grain Partition @ 348 yards.

I don't know much about sheep, but thats a big one!

Oh my! That thing is beautiful! Well done! I'd love to think that I could save enough pennies to get after one of those someday!

What would be a good barrel contour for the 240 or 6-06? No. 2, No. 3?

That sheep is a California Big Horn that came from the Upper Owyhee River section of SE Oregon. It's a once-in-a-lifetime tag and tough to draw. I was very fortunate to draw one. It's wild, beautiful, desolate country. Way different than what most would think of as being part of Oregon.

Rattlesnake Canyon


Looking up from the bottom of Antelope Creek -- Where I shot the Sheep

My 6MM-06 has a 24" #2 contour Douglas barrel. Again, my rifle is set-up as a hunting gun -- not a target rifle. It's a Rem 700 Left Hand with a Brown Precision stock. It weighs right @ 7.5 lbs. ready to hunt with a Leupold 2.5X8.

My wifes LH Mark V in 240 is a shooter, even with the #1 24" barrel...95 Nosler BT over IMR 4831 will put the first three in .75"...not much good after that! But alas, its hunting rifle, not a Pdog gun...If one is patient brass can be found reasonable. I stocked up when I caught brass on clearance from Midway I think? I bought 200 pieces...only load a couple of boxes at a time. Still using the first 40 pieces several years later.

Larry,
Just Googled pics of "Upper Owyhee River", beautiful place that I am sure made that trophy even more special. Congrats!

Careful now! No need to use the "N" word. I liked the response I want one because I don't have one!!!!

That sounds like my 240. It also has a #1 barrel and will stick the first 3 inside of .75". After that just go ahead and put it away for the day. But, I've never fired more than 2 shots with it while hunting, so I've never worried about it.

Ironically, I found a picture of the 2 shots. This was with factory loaded 100 gr Hornady SP's. One made it 25 yards, the other one yard, straight down. Afterall, I couldn't bare the thought of breaking up a family.