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Hello Men,

I have an old FN Southgate Weatherby rifle in 257 Magnum, been itching to take it to Africa for plains game, i'm going this fall up to the little bush camp on The Limpopo, you can throw a rock into Botswana, great, great place to hunt, anyway, this rifle with 12 twist barrel will only stabilize the 100gr Swift A Frames and 100gr TTSX's that i have pulled the tips out of to make the bullets shorter, the 100gr TTSX with tip removed is shorter than the standard 100gr TSX, i dont lean on the old rifle too hard, all loads shoot into a half inch or less over Norma 204 powder for around 3450 fps from the rifles 24 inch barrel.

Question is, what's the upper limit of plains game you experienced hands would use this setup on? Blue Wildebeest and Waterbuck will be the largest plains game animals on the list, shots will be a max range of 300 yards and some could be 40 yards in the thick thorn, this little rifle drops white tail deer like a bag of hammers, never got a bullet back from double shoulder hits or raking rib shots to exit off shoulder, i have plenty of larger rifles, but would sure like to take this cool old Weatherby Mauser and hear of some experiences shooting quarter bores at plains game, shots can be placed with precision, but the perfect angle is often not presented, that's where the concern comes in, also, if this rifle were a 10 twist firing 115gr TSX or 120gr A Frames i wouldn't have started this thread.

Thanks in advance.


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Jerry: you will have zero problems with that TTSX or the A-Frame. I had the same issue with a German 257. I can't say how the TTSX will perform without the tip, but that would be my choice.


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Curious - it won't stabilize a 100 TTSX with the plastic tip in it? Or are you removing the tip for magazine constraints?

I'd think the plastic tip doesn't ever touch the rifling and never has any input on twist/stabilization.


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i have never yet been to Africa , but i know plenty about a 257 Weatherby mag. mine are 1-10- twist that i have used , my reloads with a 100 gr. bullets shoot 3700-3800 fps. i like 2 brands of bullets the best 100gr. Nosler Partitions and 100 gr. Swift A-Frames both shoot excellent on animals . i have never got Barnes bullets to shoot as consistent on paper in my custom barrels as Nosler or Swift shoot . i also have just built a new 257 Weatherby mag. with a 1 - 7 1/2 twist that i have not started shooting yet with bigger gr. bullets in the 130 gr. class. good luck ,Pete53

Last edited by pete53; 03/07/22.

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Thanks Jorge, if anything the Barnes will expand quicker with the tip removed, hence me running them around 3450 instead of BTTW 3600+ fps, maybe that slower speed will help them keep their petals long enough to drill some real damage to the vitals.

Teal, the bullet length is where i found trouble, had a piece of cardboard stapled to a pallet leaning against a 400 yard gong, after a rainy night i stapled a Redfield target to the wet cardboard, shot the 100gr TTSX as is for a three shot group, with target wet against the cardboard the bullet holes were very clear, i saw yaw in them all at that distance, pulled the tips on three rounds with side cutters, the next three rounds were perfect circles, just want to stabilize the bullets as much as i can hoping to help them drilling straight and stable through animals, iirc removing the tips shortened the bullets 0.125, guess that was all the 12 twist needed.

Pete, Thanks, iirc the 100gr A Frame is an inch long, it's the most accurate of the 100gr bullets ive fired in the rifle, just wish i knew how it would behave leaving at 3450 should i need to drill a fleeing Wildebeest in the last rib, thinking the 100gr Barnes may out penetrate it.


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Interesting. I always thought stability was related to bearing surface length and not OAL of the bullet.


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Originally Posted by pete53
i have never yet been to Africa , but i know plenty about a 257 Weatherby mag. mine are 1-10- twist that i have used , my reloads with a 100 gr. bullets shoot 3700-3800 fps. i like 2 brands of bullets the best 100gr. Nosler Partitions and 100 gr. Swift A-Frames both shoot excellent on animals . i have never got Barnes bullets to shoot as consistent on paper in my custom barrels as Nosler or Swift shoot . i also have just built a new 257 Weatherby mag. with a 1 - 7 1/2 twist that i have not started shooting yet with bigger gr. bullets in the 130 gr. class. good luck ,Pete53


Wow. Mine will show pressure and a hard bolt lift with that velocity. Would you mind sharing what powder you are using. I am using IMR 7828 and H1000. 3600 is all it will let me do.

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Originally Posted by Teal
Interesting. I always thought stability was related to bearing surface length and not OAL of the bullet.


LOl, i always related bearing surface to pressure levels, a sample of only one of course, this rifle/load may act different on another day or for sure at 2500' elevation Africa versus 555' here at the farm, just wish the old guns were 10 twist. smile


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Jerry, I shot an Oryx at 280 yards with my 257 Wby....one shot and down. Wildebeast are pretty tough...just wait for a perfect broadside shot.

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Originally Posted by Biebs
Jerry, I shot an Oryx at 280 yards with my 257 Wby....one shot and down. Wildebeast are pretty tough...just wait for a perfect broadside shot.


Which bullet did you use for your 257/Oryx hunt?

Thanks, Guy

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It was a 100gr A-Frame as I remember. To me, the A-Frame is THE bullet for African animals.

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Great to hear Biebs, Thanks, especially if it was a 100gr A Frame on your Gemsbok, that tells me if it worked on that it should surely work on Wildebeest at my much lower velocity of 3450 as i'm sure you were shooting factory or custom loaded ammo that should have been North of 3650 fps in your 26 inch barreled rifle.

This is helping my confidence wanting to use the little rifle, the batters box is loaded with:

pre-64 264 WM, 160gr Woodleigh PP's at 3000 fps
pre-64 300 H&H, 220gr NPT's at 2750 fps
Kimber Superamerica, 338 WM 250gr NPT's at 2750 fps


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257 Weatherby 100 gr TSX 250 yds on Nilgai ran 60 yds and done with 1 shot

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Damn good stuff Dan, that's definitely a tough customer, where'd you hit the bull? and did you get an exit? Thanks for posting the pic Sir.


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Originally Posted by Just a Hunter
Originally Posted by pete53
i have never yet been to Africa , but i know plenty about a 257 Weatherby mag. mine are 1-10- twist that i have used , my reloads with a 100 gr. bullets shoot 3700-3800 fps. i like 2 brands of bullets the best 100gr. Nosler Partitions and 100 gr. Swift A-Frames both shoot excellent on animals . i have never got Barnes bullets to shoot as consistent on paper in my custom barrels as Nosler or Swift shoot . i also have just built a new 257 Weatherby mag. with a 1 - 7 1/2 twist that i have not started shooting yet with bigger gr. bullets in the 130 gr. class. good luck ,Pete53


Wow. Mine will show pressure and a hard bolt lift with that velocity. Would you mind sharing what powder you are using. I am using IMR 7828 and H1000. 3600 is all it will let me do.


i use Reloader 22 but its out of my Ruger # 1 27 inch Brux barrel , my Winchester pre 64 26 inch Lilja barrel and a Weatherby mark 5 accumark 26 inch barrel , Remington action i tried had a pressure problem with hard bolt lift.


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I shot an Oryx in New Mexico with a 100 gr TSX at 180 yards and it dropped it within 10 yards with my 257 mag. I have seen elk, black bear and all sorts of other critters taken with it. Trust me when I say that it punches WAY above its weight class. I would not hesitate to use it. Tough bullets are a game changer at 3700 FPS.


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Originally Posted by Teal
Interesting. I always thought stability was related to bearing surface length and not OAL of the bullet.


Then you were always very much mistaken....


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jmp300wsm, more good stuff, that sounds great, makes me want to load to higher velocity lol, Thanks for the info.


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Originally Posted by pete53
Originally Posted by Just a Hunter
Originally Posted by pete53
i have never yet been to Africa , but i know plenty about a 257 Weatherby mag. mine are 1-10- twist that i have used , my reloads with a 100 gr. bullets shoot 3700-3800 fps. i like 2 brands of bullets the best 100gr. Nosler Partitions and 100 gr. Swift A-Frames both shoot excellent on animals . i have never got Barnes bullets to shoot as consistent on paper in my custom barrels as Nosler or Swift shoot . i also have just built a new 257 Weatherby mag. with a 1 - 7 1/2 twist that i have not started shooting yet with bigger gr. bullets in the 130 gr. class. good luck ,Pete53


Wow. Mine will show pressure and a hard bolt lift with that velocity. Would you mind sharing what powder you are using. I am using IMR 7828 and H1000. 3600 is all it will let me do.


i use Reloader 22 but its out of my Ruger # 1 27 inch Brux barrel , my Winchester pre 64 26 inch Lilja barrel and a Weatherby mark 5 accumark 26 inch barrel , Remington action i tried had a pressure problem with hard bolt lift.


Mine is a Mark V with 26" barrel. IMR 7828 give the best velocity in it, but also needs to be 2 grains under max to equal the max velocity listed in the manual. Anything over that creates hard bolt lift. One time I had to use a rubber mallet on the bolt handle to open it with a max book load.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Originally Posted by Teal
Interesting. I always thought stability was related to bearing surface length and not OAL of the bullet.


Then you were always very much mistaken....

stability. pressure. Not the same.


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