Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 6.5-300 Weatherby – for Elk?

Thanks a million!
I have 3 full boxes of 127 LRX, another half box LRX, half a box of Scirocco loads, 50 new unprimed Wby cases, 2 lbs of US869, and a box of Barnes 127 LRX. I also have a set of dies so I should be good to go for a while since it’s already sighted in! Happy Trails

I'm going to dust off my 6.5-300 Accuguard again soon and see how it shoots the 140s. If it likes them, and I confirm that again with the Accumark, I may be persuaded to part with the extra loaded 127s and 130s I have, WAM. I wish mine liked the 130gr SSs, but so far, they don't. I will give them another try before giving up. I wish someone factory loaded the 142gr ABLRs.

WAM, did your rifle like the factory-loaded 127s and 130s, or was that just the way you reloaded them?

The last two range sessions at the indoor range, after I squeezed off the first round, someone came over and said: "What is that"!?--noting how loud it is, though I don't think it's quite as loud as the .340 CorBon loads I shoot. The 6.5-300 recoil is quite pleasant, though my rifles aren't lightweights. I'm glad I didn't mess around with the Accubrake that came with the MkV.

MarineHawk,
My rifle shot the Weatherby factory 127 LRX and 130 SS to about the same point with similar groups, the LRX a wee bit tighter but not much. Those two factory loads are all I’ve fired so far. I’ve been waiting for a range day with no wind to fine tune. I don’t live near an indoor rifle range. I’m thinking of sticking with the LRX for handloads when I get low on factory loads. Until the supply chain improves, I’m going to shoot a few LRX to tune and hold pat.

Thanks for the info and good luck, WAM.

I looked it up, and the forecast predicts that the winds there will die down to almost zero on Tuesday morning.

Looks like winds light ENE Monday also. Range is pretty sheltered from north to ESE wind. Temps should be 45-50. Good shooting weather! Gale watch Sat-Sun! LOL!

^^^^ heartbeat is usually a tough term to stand behind but I’ve got to agree.

They are pretty big but go down hard when the oil lights come on.

Marine hawk, did you try the factory 140 AB?

Yes sir. I mentioned it above with a pic or two on Mar. 1. I haven't been back since due to work. But it chronoed 3,308 fps and I was getting half-inch groups reliably except when someone was shooting a howitzer with a muzzle brake a couple times, right as I was squeezing the trigger. I sighted in for that load, which will be my default until and unless something else works as good.

Copy that, thanks, I’ll pic a box up and give em a whirl. 👍

You tried the factory Weatherby/ Barnes stuff yet?

Sure. The only place I know to get them right now is here: https://www.gunbroker.com/item/893987655

But they only sell them by the 5-box bundle. I bought one of those, and it shipped fairly-quickly.

Ya, it was a sprayer with the 127 ttsx, 140 interloks were 3/4”. Got a box of the 130’s swift scirocco, need to run em

The Weatherby factory 127 LRX and 130 Scirocco both printed under an inch in my first session with a new rifle. Hopefully the LRX accuracy holds going forward as I have more of them than others.

So, I landed some Weatherby-loaded 156gr Berger Elite Hunters. They have a ridiculous B.C. of 0.68, which checks out with my Labradar out to 75 yds, which is where it loses them.

Both the 140gr Accubonds and the 156gr Bergers shoot really accurately out of my rifle. My 1-8" twist rifle seems to like the heavier bullets, though some others apparently don't. It seems like they are six of one and half a dozen of the other. I can’t really think of much of a compelling reason to pick one over the other. The only things I can think of are that longer-term the Bergers may be gentler on the barrel with their lower velocity, and at 10,000 ft, which is about how high I will hunt, the Bergers match the velocity of the ABs at 700 yds (my self-limited max-max range and only if the winds are calm) and start to exceed the energy of the ABs by 250 yds. I also suspect that the Bergers may have a slightly reduced powder charge, but that’s a guess.

Is there any material reason to pick one over the other?

Based on my chrono results:

and I am still waiting for my die set from Lee after Graf's sent me the wrong die set.... couple of months going on toward 3 now...

Whichever shoots better at distance. I’ve not used a Berger on elk, but the 140 AB is a solid bullet that will work. If they shoot the same, flip a coin.

Thanks Beretzs. I'll get a chance to shoot them both at long range when I go back out to my property in early July.

I would consider the NAB to be an above average elk bullet, and the frangible Bergers to be some of the absolute worst. I've seen numerous problems with them on elk. In one case where the animal was recovered, the bullet fragmented on bone going in and the little stump didn't track straight and stopped in the near side lung leaveing the animal with one good lung. The hunter was lucky they saw the animal go down - almost a half mile from where it was shot. In other cases the animals were lost and one can only speculate. I'd look at Accubonds, Terminal Ascents, Partitions, Weldcores, Sciroccos, A-Frames, LRX possibly but not Berger.

With your arsenal & desire for excellent results reloading makes all the sense in the world. Do you not have the time? Don’t want another addictive habit? Want to increase the stock value of ammunition makers?

If you try it & don’t like it you get 1/2 your money back selling it in a couple of lots. I wouldn’t dream of shooting factory rounds at game - particularly with my 300 Weatherby that loves 180 gran Barnes TTSX.

The 127 grain LRX might be the best elk bullet out of your laser beam Weatherby.