Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Weatherby Freebore???

I am considering a used custom rifle in a Weatherby caliber with no freebore. Can I still shoot factory Weatherby ammo in this rifle? What precautions should I take when reloading for it? Thanks

No, you can't shoot factory. You would have a reload only rifle. Other precautions would be start from the bottom and work up on loads like you should anyway but all the while keeping in mind you can't use book maximums.

I am by no means an expert, but Why?
I always thought the velocity advantages that Weatherby enjoyed was primarily due to the Freebore chambers. If you eliminate the freebore from a 300 weatherby wouldn't just have 300 Win ballistics in very expensive brass?
If this is the case why bother. If the round in question (300,270,257) isn't accurate enough with the freebore why bother with it inthe first place.

the freebore keeps the chamber pressure down so the gun won't blow up, once the bullet is moving the pressure can rise a lot more and the gun won't blow up,

The freebore appears to moderate starting pressures to some degee and still allow Weatherby's to reach higher terminal velocities. One can always have a smith cheaply add freebore, but will need to trim the barrel to take it back. Don't use factory or Weatherby velocity reloads in a barrel without freebore!

Why would anyone want a weatherby without the freebore? I will probably rechamber to 300 Ultra if I buy it.

The 300wby less freebore,ain't gonna bounce off critters and will easily trump a 300Winny.

The velocity loss,is dick and you'll make similar speeds with less powder................

I agree. Why make a weatherby without freebore?????

Lotsa folks think a shorter throat,closer to the boolit,will make things more accurate.

I'd say a good SAAMI Weatherby chamber,in a good barrel,will shoot just fine.

But,I often enjoy the minority................

Absoluly right

I have a .257WBY w/o the traditional freebore. I have shot factory loads and they probably are making too much pressure...no hard bolt lift but a nice round circle from the ejector. My max loads were about the middle loads in published data...the chrony indicated full velocity with loads as much as 5 or 6 gr. below max using R22. Accuracy is excellent. I dont much care for the caliber but if I was building a rifle in a Weatherby cal. I would not use freebore. Incidently several 1000yd shooters use the .300Wby. and I know they are not freebored.

Lefty

I had my 257wby rebarreled without the freebore and while velocity was about 50fps less with handloads my groups were reduced to less than half the size of those fired with the stock barrel.I do believe that the better quality barrel and chambering and better bedding were the main reason for such an improvement in accuracy and not the elimination of the freebore.

I had a Rem 700 in 340 Wby with a Shilen barrel. I started it first with the std 3/8" Wby Freebore, then later rechambered it no freebore. In this case, it didn't make any difference in accuracy or velcoity available with handloads.

However, I think the chamber was cut with a parallel throat, and parallel throats seem much less sensitive to seating depth than a std throat.

BTW, I could not shoot factory ammo in the non-freebored 340 without generating excessive pressure as indicated by cratered primers.

Stick
I agree. A good straight chamber, good barrel and bullet, and a nut behind the bolt that can shoot are about 99% of good accuracy.
Charlie

Charlie/Stick,

What do ya think about going the opposite direction. How about adding freebore to a non-weatherby chamber? Would it be possible to add freebore to a non-weatherby cartridge, maintain accuracy, increase velocity, and maintain sane pressures?

I like the idea of leaving the freebore in, my vanguard shoots under an inch, and I know I can shoot factory ammo in a pinch. Not much more to ask for in my mind.

You can go either way with a throat and I'm of the opinion that if things are straight,everything will work nicely.

Would I stab a 1" throat in a 300Winnie so as to try and run with a 300Wby? Nope. Besides it won't realize that sorta performance increase.

IMHO,the percentage of velocity increase via the freebore is pretty much dick (Technical Term). Assuming like pressures,velocities are gonna be in a like realm.

I'm in love with a freebored 257Wby chamber,but again,I'm often out on a limb by my lonesome. That being said,I'm in no rush to freebore all of my tools,though that doesn't mean they would not be able to make me happy.

I think a guy has gotta have a pretty good reason to stray from SAAMI standards,on either side of that fence.

Pick your poison................

This is my personal opinion (& probably is worth the toilet paper you wiped you a$$ with yesterday ... since at least that was useful <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />), but if the rifle doesn't have freebore it is no longer chambered as a Weatherby! I may chamber WBY ammo, but ceases to a Weatherby chambering.

Now that I muddied the waters ... is that clear?

I have done enough experimenting with the 300 Weatherby as well as other cartridges with and without freebore to be convinced of a couple of things.
First, the freebore does not increase velocity. In fact it has the opposite effect assuming the same load. It does decrease pressure. Again, with the same load.
Second, it does affect accuracy especially as it was cut by Weatherby early on.
Weatherby has reduced the length of the freebore in the 300 in the last15 years or so. More importantly, they have reduced the diameter of the freebore so it is closer to bullet diameter. It was not unusual for the early Weatherbys to have a freebore which measured as much as .312 in diameter. This doesn't do a great job of aligning a .308 bullet. Early Weatherbys were often very intolerant of some bullets. I recall one which, while it would shoot Hornady 180s into an inch, would shoot nice 12 inch groups with Sierra boattails.
A 300 Weatherby chambered with a throat length of .300 and a throat diameter of .3085 may still handle factory loads ok but is in reality a handloading proposition.
I have chambered a 300 with a conventional throat with a length of .250. when loaded to maximum pressure it achieved just over 3000 fps with 200 grain bullets. The throat was then lengthened to .500" and the same load chronographed again. Velocity dropped by about 90fps and the pressure was noticably less as well. When powder was added until max pressure was again reached, the velocity was just the same as with the conventional throat. The results with two other barrels were essentially the same. The freebore in this case was cut to a diameter of .3080 and accuracy seemed unaffected.
There are circumstances where the freebore might act to increase velocity but the circumstances are a bit hard to forsee and duplicate. If the pressure curve is altered enough to move the peak up the barrel a bit, barrel time might be increased and the velocity along with it. An analogy might be two cars running the 1/4 mile. One car travels the quarter in 14 seconds flat with a terminal speed of 96mph. Another runs a longer time at 14.4 but finishes at 100mph. In the first case the bulk of the acceleration took part in the first part of the track (barrel). In the second it took place in the middle of the course.
If I were to build a 300 weatherby for myself I think I would cut the freebore sufficiently long that factory loads could be used. I don't think it's a good idea generally to build a rifle in a factory caliber which won't handle factory ammunition. GD

Thanks to all that responded. I have decided to let this one go & continue with my 300 RUM project:
Winchester CRF action
#5 Lilja stainless fluted (3 groove)
McMillian Supergrade

I am also having a 257 Roy built as well, thanks to this disscussion it will have freebore. Though I reload I like being able to use factory ammo.

All--

On the other hand I had a Dave Gentry .270 Wby made with what you would expect was top grade workmanship and materials and....as I designated, a Wea freebore. Accuracy was never more than average at best and mediocre at worst. After considering all possible tweakings and two to three pages of handloads incl different OALs, the Gentrys and I concluded that this rifle doesn't like its bullets broad-jumping into the barrel. I am rebarreling with a somehere around a .277" throat.
Of course, this is a sample of one.