Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Freebore?

I would like the long range guys thoughts on this Weatherby
<br>free bore thing.?Is this just marketing hype.Are there factory loads so hot that the only way there safe is to get rid of a half an inch of good rifleing ahead of the chamber? I had one years ago and to this day its still the worst shooting rifle I've ever owned.I do alot of sight in day events at the local rifle range just before deer season and every year I see two or three.None of them impress me.I have never seen a Weatherby shoot what I would call good accuracy.
<br> Why?
<br>dave
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Hello
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<br>Most weatherbys will not shoot accuratly because of the excess freebore in their rifles.
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<br>The first thing most are doing to their Weatherbys is to have a gunsmith set the barrel back enough to rid it of the freebore. Your bullet Ojive needs to be within .055" and closer to the rifling to get most any barrels and bullets to produce good accuracy.
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<br>This distance is impossible with the factory chamberings from Weatherby. Excess freebore will add velocity but, at the expense of accuracy. I know of some 30/378 factory Weatherbys that are giving fair accuracy with bullets up to 180 gr but, after that the heavier bullets are terrible as per accuracy.
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<br>All your doing with excess free bore is "jUMPING" the bullets into the lands. You will never get very good accuracy with a rifle with lots of freebore.
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<br>Best accuracy is when the bullet starts out touching the lands softly or within .055" of the lands.
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<br>My wife and I shoot 4 ---300 Weatherby match guns (two classes) at the Williamsport, PA 1000 yard range
<br>Darryl Cassel

Thank you Darryl.
<br>I agree 100% and what you said.Mirrors what I see when Im around them.
<br>Are your 300 Weatherbys tight necked?
<br>I heard a story of a guy one time that had a 300 Weatherby built.And had it short throated.He ran out of his hand loads and bought factory ammo.My understanding is he almost ate it.Massive pressure froze up his bolt.He was lucky to walk away.
<br>Somewhere in that Us vs Them thing someone was talking about the accuracy of Nosler Partitions.I like the way they kill and they do work.But Ill tell ya.Accuracy wise they suck.
<br>It takes alot of messing around to get just fair accuracy
<br>I can understand why you guys dont use them.For you, they would be almost useless.
<br>dave

They are not tight necked as you would think a tight neck to be. I trim my necks to .012" and they work just fine.
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<br>Darryl

re the Partitions. They seem to work well in some rifles and are mediocre in others. My Sendero doesn't seem to care for them, best group is MOA, average about 1.5 MOA. In my daughter's Model 7 they shoot very well. I believe that for most hunters, (NOT LR ) they are adequately accurate at the most common ranges at which game is taken. That said, they are still one of the benchmark bullets for performance on game.

Sir
<br>I must disagree\clarify the issue with freebore on Weatherby's. All the Wby's I build I use SAAMI length freebore. I do not have a problem making them shoot under 1\2 inch with handloads. I think the reason the factory rifles shoot poorly is because the chamber is not always in line with the bore. I use live-piloted carbide reamers so the chamber must be straight. This seems to make things a lot better. I load the rounds usually to factory ammo length or at least short enough to fit in the magazine. If you cut the freebore short and shoot factory ammo, you will experience high pressure. My leade angle is different also. I understand this goes against normal wisdom but this is how I have been doing this for several years. Something I have found on the Wby's that helps is using the Lee factory crimp die. It is a long story how I finally figured this out but if you want to call me I will explain. Opinions will vary, but the results that I have been getting are constant but use whatever works for you.
<br>Small groups
<br>Charlie Sisk

Mr Sisk
<br>Could you tell more about that leade angle. I have read in the A-Square reloading manual about their opinions on the leade. Their opinion is a parallel, not funnel shape, throat is a significant advantage for accuracy. What do you use and is it reamer specific? By that I mean does the chamber reamer do the leade or is it done seperately?
<br>Thanks

Sir
<br>This is one bit of information I will not give out about my rifles. I have spent too much time and money to figure out what works. I have Dave Kiff at Pacific Precision to grind my reamers. All are carbide live piloted and leade angle is built into each reamer. I have never liked the idea of using to seperate reamers to cut a chamber. I do not use a rougher. Yes you can make a reamer last longer that way but I am not that concerned with reamer life. I am more worried about cutting 1 good chamber than 100 so-so chambers. Yes I have to charge more for a rifle but I think it is worth the expense. Opinions will vary.
<br>Small groups
<br>Charlie Sisk