Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 257 WBY or 300 Win Mag as the all around western rifle?

Nope just agree..

Yep.

I am amazed that such a question could stir up any amount of conversation in that it is so obvious that the 300 would be the best "all around caliber" of the two..The 257 is a fine caliber but it's not in the same class as the 300 for the all around catagory, end of story....

IIRC it was Sitkadeer that said...it's not the arrow...it's the indian.....That's my story & I'm sticking to it....

+7982

You know I do Dave!!! But it really helps when I don�t have to leave the house to shoot. If I don�t make at least one of my guns rattle after a few day�s I start having withdraws. After the price of fuel being so high shooting was one of the cheapest forms of entertainment I had the last few years.

You are a lucky man joekool544. With only a dozen steps from the door to the bench, you have no excuse not to shoot!

Obviously, with 21 pages of posts, this is a hot topic!

Maybe it can all be explained by age and experience.

I have now been hunting big game, in North America and many other places, for nearly 50 years.

For the first 7 years, my 'all around' rifle was the sporterized '03 Springfield '06 I got for my 14th Christmas.

From age 21 to 45, the 7MM Rem. Mag. was the weapon of choice.

From 45 to 55, it was the .300 Wby. Mag.- mostly because African plains game got added to the mix.

Now, from 55 to 60 something, I find myself picking up the lesser calibers, like the .257 Weatherby and the .280, for everything I hunt.

Last week's elk hunt found the .257 in my hands. It was the perfect choice for the game and the range at which it was shot.

What it really boils down to, at least for me, is that the smaller calibers are just more fun to shoot- and as they take more and more big stuff, I really can't see a difference in the way they kill game, compared to the big .300.

Well I have more guns and different calibers than one man should own every caliber from .223 to .358 I have three .257 Wby�s two 25-06 AI�s and truly love them they are great rigs for sure. But if I had to get rid of all of my guns and just keep one it would be one of my .300 Wby�s.

Edited to add� I don�t have anything in 6.5 or 8mm

The 300 win mag is obviously the better choice for a all around rifle,Far more versatile ,not much else one can say... If a guy was just hunting deer,antelope etc. the 257 would be a awesome choice.

Sneaking suspicion...
That whatever someone else uses for a caliber, powder, primer, bullet, brass, barrel, scope or truck has absolutely no impact on my general health, happiness or well being.

Unless they're shootin' at ya or tryin' to run ya over Fred......haha

I agree 110% with that. I load it for 375 Wby in a vintage FN/Sako and sight in for 300 yds...killed my elk at 400 yds with it last year and have nothing negative to say about the bullet.

Well, I'm getting older now, and for me, an elk hunt would be a hunt of a lifetime. I choose to use lesser calibers now, but for Mr. Elk it would be my M70 300WM with a 180NP. It will do 1", and I can handle the recoil. I believe in big bullets for big animals..simple as that. A bigger faster bullet can only be better if you have confidence in your rifle and your shooting ability.

David's first post.



David made it very clear he was deciding which cartridge for
western big game hunting, the 257 or the 300.

Never once did he mention the 375 as a choice.



We gave him our opinion's.

I gave my opinion, a 7.5 lb all-up 300 WM with the barrel cut to 23", and running 180's or 200's.

OTOH, the 257 WBY is perfectly fine choice for any Western game, including elk. For me, it's out because I wouldn't want one with less than a 25" bbl., and I don't want to carry a rifle with a 25"+ bbl.

It's less about the round than it is what houses the round for me...

No smoke poles for me either Brad.

fwiw, I've dumped all my cartridges that wear girdles and all the smoke poles are gone.
Just ordered a MK 2 with dotz and turret to try out. I'm hoping the dotz don't cover to much of the target at distance.

Funny, I've looked REALLY hard at that scope and think it may very well be one of the smartest scopes around.

Me, I'm content with just the dots. I used the 3-9x40 LR to take a bedded antelope at 547 yards using the post... it wasn't too big on that small a target at that range, and the dots will be used closer in and will never be an issue.

I wish Leupold had one more dot in the LR so I could extend mine to 650 yards with the bottom post. As it is, I'm completely comfortable out to 600 yards (windless) with the bottom post.

I see your point, dialing is kinda of fun to do. Spin it and hit it, especially on rocks out at 800 yards using a 6 or 7 lb mountain rifle.

And yeah, I wish there was another dot as well or line.