Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics 257 Wby Range Report - Have Some Concerns

So, I finally got out to the range this weekend to sight in my Rem 700 LSS in 257 Wby. The scope is a Conquest 4.5-14x44 with Z-800 reticle.

I was going for ~.9" high at 100 yds, which is what the Rapid Z calculator states should get me the 200 yard zero.

Here are the high/low points:

1) The gun was brand new...not second hand.
2) The gun was shot stock...no work other than a cleaning and checking torque.
3) Ammo - Wby Factory 110gr Accubond
4) Results:
A) The bolt was very hard to close when chambering the rounds. It did get easier as the session went on, but it was tougher than any of my other rifles.
B) The groups were bigger than I preferred. First two shots were under 1" but the third would be a flier, opening up the group to 1.75" - 2"...stringing left to right more so than up and down.
C) I will be the first to admit that I am a hunter, not a shooter, so my technique needs some work, but I am not a horrible shot either. I was using a rest that supported the gun front and rear. My eyes tend to fatigue during sight in sessions, so I will certainly concede that my shooting was a definite factor, but I took my 22-250 to re-zero it with the Hornady Superformance ammo, and squeezed off three straight 3 shot groups under an inch.
D) I waited a good amount of time between shots to give the barrel time to cool off.
E) When all was said and done, I was able to ring the 300 yard gong without a problem, but I would still like to tighten up the groups. I have already purchased plenty of ammo for my .22 rimfire to log in more time behind the trigger, as well as dry firing the 257.

I am considering free floating the barrel. Is this a DIY job, or is it a gunsmith only endeavor? If it is a gunsmith project, should I glass bed it as well?

I have also thought about different ammo, as I have heard that the 110gr Accubond is either good or bad in the Rem 700 257 Wby's, with little middle ground (believe me...it took a lot of time on line finding that little nugget!). I was really hoping the 110s would shoot because I think it is a great bullet for my needs (Antelope, Mule Deer, Coyotes, and anything else I can draw a tag for under Elk size).

Comments? Suggestions?

Thank you!

I'd move this out of the hunting optics board onto the ask the gunwriters board maybe?

My Rem 257 Roy hated the 120 Accubonds, go buy a box of TSX 100's and I bet the group shrinks!

I have the same rifle and it's been a bit of a roller coaster the last few months. Every rifle is different, so you may come to a much easier fix as simple as an ammo swap.

My LSS 257Wby didn't shoot consistent in stock form(same scope w/ Zplex BTW), but it did produce multiple submoa groups. I 1st FFed, same deal multiple submoa groups, but no consistency from range session to session. I then bedded the action and 2" of chamber. Still no consistency, just several freak small groups. As a last ditch effort before sending it off for a bbl, I took an old plastic ADL stock and worked it over for the Xmark trigger and hulled the bbl for a FF. Bam, it was staying under MOA and produced several sub 1/2" groups. I didn't want to leave it in the cheap stock, so removed the chamber bedding in the LSS stock for another try. That was it, it simply liked the bbl floated to the lug. Zeroed it yesterday at 250yds. It was a bit high from load dev, so I made the adjustment and put the last 3 dead center for ~1-3/4" group. Good enough for what I'll use it for.

I would suggest a simple change in ammo before you touch a thing with the rifle, such as the Barnes TSX or TTSX. Most of the stock 700 257wby owners seem to like them. 257Wby shooters in general for that matter.

If it does not live up to your accuracy needs with an ammo change, you may try a free float alone for starters. I typically like to bed as well, but I've shot many 700s that did quite well with the speed bumps removed and a generous FF.

Good Luck,

loder

What rifle?

A person can easily do a free float, just wrap a socket or appropriate sized down to SLOWLY open up the channel or relieve the pressure points.


Ammo? You can have two of the same rifles and one may shoot well with one brand of ammo and the other not so much.

I have two different Remington 7mm-08's. One will pretty much shoot anything well, even the cheap core-locks. My other one HATES corelocks and is a little fussier on the others I've tried but tends to shoot the better stuff just fine.

Good Luck....

If you have access to reloading equipment, try seating half a dozen of the factory accubonds deeper by .030" to .050" before giving up on them.
I load for three .257 WBY magnums of different age and manufacturer and have found they all prefer a deeper seating depth.

Try a variety of ammunition fired by a known good shooter using the known good shooter's preferred bag and bench setup.

It's easier with a flat bottom action - but before fiddling with the bedding look at the current bedding maybe with a coloring agent for contact points - shim the action a little higher in the stock and see what happens and all the other but mostly try a variety of ammunition with a known good shooter - look at the crown under high magnification.

I would have had the rifle out of the stock and cleaned everything up and torqued right with lube to my choice. It's pricey but often folks can rent a borescope cheaply enough to get a look at a problem rifle.

If you choose to have a known good gunsmith fiddle with the rifle I'd say ask his advice and take it rather than telling the gunsmith his job.

So in summary, you have tried one factory load, and it shoots like crap. Try different ammo before messing with the gun...

Understood...and that was my game plan. I just wanted to try to gather as much info as possible so that I can create a game plan.

The current groups are adequate for a hunting rifle. It's not as if they were 4" groups. That being said, while I don't need a tack driver, I would like better than "adequate."

Thanks everyone for all of the feedback!

I assume this is both for accuracy, as well as fitment in the action? It was definitely tight closing the bolt, and with the ammo being factory ammo, I wouldn't have thought this would have been an issue...or at least as much of an issue.

i would try shoving a 100 tsx with a lot of rl22 I have seen many .257s not like bullets over 100grs.

Has nothing to do with fitment, accuracy alone.

You aren't going to get close to the lands with factory ammo with the free bore. What you describe sounds like the cases if some chamber fine and others don't. That's alittle strange with new brass as it is so loose before forming. It could be a number of things, debris, cases, chamber dimensions....

If you buy another box of factory ammo and it does not chamber properly, you need to have a smith look at it.

The beauty of the Wby carts is the ease of handloading with the freebore IMO. So much cheaper to load for them as well.

Given that it's a belted case, I'd surely want to know whether the resistance is belt, shoulder or bullet and that's fairly easy to check - I'd expect the throat to be least likely to contribute to hard chambering and that's an easy check. Given that there are now fired cases - even if only once fired - I'd look at the cases and the Weatherby radius shoulder. But of course for my own I'd have the L.E. Wilson adjustable case gage and a Redding indicator for setting sizing dies already in hand. Then too I'd probably have taken the bolt down by now just to be sure the firing pin wasn't packed in Rig and the ejector wasn't stuck out and the extractor looked good. I'd expect fair results from the load given granted that some bullets and loads might be touchier than others.

Again...great info! I will take a look at the rifle when I get in from work tomorrow...actually, later today. I apologize for the "newbie" questions, but what should I be looking for? I would think that factory ammo should chamber easily in a factory rifle...especially in a caliber that has very limited factory ammo offerings. I did look at the fired brass real quick and noticed each of them had scrape marks on the shoulder, right at the very edge. But brass is soft and the scrape marks were very minor, and only on a small section...not all the way around. I also noticed that the "burn markings" on the neck from the firing seemed to "climb" the neck toward the shoulder with each successive shot. In other words, the first shot brass' burn marks ended before the first radius, while the last one was on the radius, if that makes any sense.

Thanks again for all of the help!

It's because it's a Remington. I have never bought a Rem and not had to mess with it to get it to shoot. To me a Remington is a good base to start a custom build, because you will end up doing something to it to get it to shoot the best. Should have bought the Weatherby Vanguard Sub MOA, have 2 one 257 and a 300 WM took out of box and shot sub MOA. And most Savages are accurate right out of box, not all, but most.

In general I have found Remington 700's to shoot best with the barrel free-floated (the exception being some of the very thin-barreled models). The third shot always being a flier tends to lead to the conclusion that floating would help this rifle.

You don't have to make any changes to test free-floating. Take the barreled action out of the stock, then insert ine of those plastic tabs that keep bread-bags closed between the front of the action and the stock, running the front action screw through the hole in the tab. After tightening up the action screws, the barrel will be free-floated. Shoot the rifle again and see if the fliers go away. My guess is they will.

As for the tight chambering, that sometimes happens. It may be the ammo and it may be the rifle.

I had a 700 in .300 Winchester Magnum for a while that evidently had a slightly short chamber. I dunno whether it was the front of the chamber or the belt recess (probably the latter) but ALL factory ammo was a really tight fit. I solved the problem by lapping the lugs, but since you plan to try different ammo it may prove to be the one batch you tried. If not, I'd have Remington fix the problem.

I would have a gunsmith bed the action and give a generous free float on the barrel before you fired another round.

Change ammo.

Your barrel is copper fouled also. These fast rounds with bullets with a lot of bearing surface load up the bore fast and most 257's that I have owned/shot need de-coppering every 20 rounds max and some at the 15 round mark.

New barrels may copper foul a tad more than barrels that have been shot 50 rounds.

Good luck!

Update:

So, I switched out the ammo from the 110gr Accubond to the Wby Factory 100gr TSX loads, plus I free floated the barrel from the recoil lug forward.

Results:

Fired several three shot groups, and the groups were much tighter. I would still get a third shot flier, but the third shot was still respectable, keeping the group tight. The largest group was 1 1/8" while the smallest was ~ .75". Average group was right about 1", even with the flier.

After that, I tried to fire as if in a hunting situation, so I shot several 2 shot groups, with the two shots in succession...no waiting. I don't know if this is a good measure of a guns potential, but I figured that the first shot is what matters while hunting, and follow up if necessary. These results were favorable....three groups, each averaging just under .5". I would have shot more to validate the data, but it got dark on me. Time to pick up another box or two of the 100 gr TSX bullets and put the 110gr Accubond's on the bulleting board. I'm gonna work with the TSX for a while to see if it stays consistent.
The chambering is getting easier, but is still tight. I did notice that the bluing on the lugs is wearing out on a small portion of each lug. This is consistent with the "tightness" as it is only tight when closing the bolt, not when feeding the round or when opening/extracting the bolt.

I've always been a "set it and forget it" guy, but now I realize that I have a lot to learn when it comes to shooting. I plan on breaking out the rest of my hunting rifles to see what I can squeeze out of them.

Thanks for all of the help!