Another interesting “fire” thread with a mix of great advice, diverse experience and the usual amount of butt hurt. I’m a huge Weatherby fan (still have a 340 and 300). What I appreciate most with Weatherbys is high quality accurate rifles and exceptional factory ammo that in nearly every case is faster and more accurate than I could roll on my own (I’ve always been able to match velocity or accuracy but rarely at the same time). I also learned over the decades that there was a limit for me on practical benefits (the cost and recoil for a non braked 30-378 wasn’t worth the extra 200fps I got over a 300wby shooting the same bullets). When I moved from a free state to NY, I quickly learned that unusual ammo had to be purchased online as it simply wasn’t obtainable locally. Post Sandyhook, all online/mail ordered ammo purchases were outlawed. I quickly learned feeding my Weatherbys or a 7STW was going to require reloading. That in turn had me looking at how available brass is. When I decided to up my .277 game, it was easy to choose the WSM route because of readily available brass. Although not as proficient as my 300wby or 7STW, it has become my go to rifle for hunting where shots are expected to be 300-400yds. Can it do anything my 270win could do? No. Are there circumstances where a 270wby might provide extra range shooting the same bullets? Perhaps…. The thing is, if I was going on an elk hunt in open country, none of the 270s would even make the backup rifle list…. In other words, I’d be in 340/300/7STW country. Most of of us are rifle loonies who have long chased a few hundred extra FPS. One downside of Weatherby rifles I haven’t seen mentioned is the need for premium bullets in case a close range shot is encountered. As much as I love Hornady spire point bullets, they will not hold together when shot outside their design perimeters (I recall a mule deer shot with a 165 spire point and an impact velocity of 3400fps didn’t exit even though no bones were hit). As I get older, despite my loony tendencies, the less I care about such differences and the more I believe that it’s confidence in my equipment and proficiency that matters most. YMMD.
