Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 240 Weatherby or 25-06 Rem for Coyotes, Deer, Pronghorn ?

Out of curriosity, I went out in the shop and ran a new W/W .270 case thru my .240 Wby Bonanza Benchrest FL resizer. I greased the case up good with Imperial die wax and it still took a bunch of muscle power to make it happen. I was using the Redding Big Boss and I had to "man handle" it to get it done. No matter how hard I cammed the big press for max penetration into the die, I couldn't get the "belt" sized small enough to chamber in the rifle. The case diameter ahead of the belt was fine but the belt was slightly too long. The new round was too long and would need to be trimmed.

To get the belt pushed back enough to work, one would have to get thinner shell holders or cut some off the bottom of a sizing die to squeeze the round in far enough to swage the belt back another .005", or so. The formed case had a rim of pealed brass on the leading edge of the belt that had to be ground off. Even if it fit the gun, it's a crude looking piece of work. I'd post a photo, but no one would be impressed.

Way too radical and crude an operation, even for me. I'll gladly pay the price for Norma .240 cases. Making .257 Wby brass from 7mm Rem Mag is OK, this operation isn't. Saving money is one thing; forming .240 Wby brass from other cases is not a viable or practical option. IMHO.

FWIW,

DF

Big Redhead,

I tried it because Jim Carmichel tried it, and reported that the cases came out of the .240 die looking perfect, or something like that. I'm sure the exact quote could be located somewhere in my collection of Carmichel writings, but I ain't gonna bother.

I've read some good things about the .257 WBY. It might be worth a look.

MD and all

I wasn't trying to put anyone down. I just think trying to form a belted case from a non-belted case won't work worth beans. Think about what you would end up with. The "belt" would be formed by the bottom part of the case body folded inward at a right angle and laying against the inner-top surface of the case head. If the "belt" were in the correct location it might be made to fire, but holding up to anything like 60kPSI seems quite unlikely, even once.

Dirtfarmer, shortening a sizing die by removing material from the bottom would not make the base of the case go any deeper into the die. It would make the neck and shoulder go deeper, but not the base. However, a shorter (thinner?) shellholder would if the material was removed from the top of the shellholder.

Removing material from the top of the shell holder OR from the bottom of the sizing die, should allow the case to be pushed further into the sizing die, enough to swage the "belt" another few thousands of an inch shorter, such that the case would chamber. The neck and shoulder would have to take care of themselves on this first pass. Once the brass fits the chamber, then the next sizing wouldn't have to be so severe. One could set the shoulders back just enough for easy bolt closure and go from there. The belt's not critical to headspace, case just needs to fit in the chamber so the bolt will close.

I would probably remove metal from a designated shell holder. You can be sure I'm not going to be grinding on a Bonanza Benchrest FL sizing die!

DF

Big Redhead,

I dunno about that. Cartridge brass is pretty flexible when new, and cases vary considerably in head "height."

Some people with .30 Newtons have fired belted brass in them for years. The case in front of the belt flattens out, which in theory should weaken the case. But so far as I know, nobody has died as a result.

All I know is that if I HADN'T tried to size an '06-based case in a .240 die, then some reader would have written in to the magazine, pointing out the error of my ways. You wouldn't believe how many nitpicking gun-magazine readers exist in the world. Or maybe you would.

I could make it work if I had to. I'm glad to say that I don't need to.

DF

Well, yeah. I'm just sorry some other gun writer tried it, so the rest of us had to.

I just can't imagine why I'd ever spend the money on a .240 WBY over a 25/06, other than the oddity factor of the .240.

In my case, I just happened upon a used HS Precision SPL in .240 Wby. and bought it right. That led to working up loads, etc. I've owned a 25-06 in the past and it was a great rifle, but I traded it for something I thought I wanted more, can't even remember what.

The quarter bore is probably more versatile, but I'm enjoying this .240 Wby. The .240 should do well as a Pronghorn, Whitetail and hog killing machine. For bigger, meaner stuff, I've got firepower to cover about any possibility one could imagine, so this rifle doesn't have do anything other than what it was designed to do.

And, as you well know, with us gun nuts, it doesn't have to make sense...

DF

The oddity factor is the exact reason I'm gonna buy a Vanguard S2 .240 Weatherby, when they're available. No other reason to, as I have a 6mm, a .243, a .25-06, and a .257 Weatherby.

See, I told you. You have a problem..............Not enough guns

Enough guns? Is that possible?

Nope. Like having too much money

Dang, I've got a project that's way too overdue. And it's kind of a combination of all of the above.

For lots of years, my favorite antelope round has been the .25-'06 and my gain-twist (11" to 9") Pac-Nor barrel shoots the 100Ballistic waaaay fast.

Anyway, I'm always willing to go faster, so a couple of years ago, I picked up one of those Remington 700 SPS Stainless Steel/Synthetic rifles that Sportsman's Warehouse had specially built. You know, the ones with the 26-inch barrel in .257 Weatherby. I've messed around with the rifle quite a bit ... actually, done everything but fire it I've floated the barrel, Marine-Texed the recoil lug recess and action and dicked with the new-fangled trigger (it's a dream @ 3-pounds). And I fitted it with Leupold QR bases and low-rings and mounted a Leupold 4.5-14 scope.

Then, I called Richard Beebe and he sent me just about every Redding die possible. Hey, the dies are Comp-everything and there's a full compliment of TiN-plated bushings for dealing with the neck-sizing.

I KNOW a guy can neck-down .264 or 7Mag cases, but in the interest of science I used some of my Cabela's VISA points and picked up 100 Weatherby-brand .257 Weatherby cases. This sincerely hurt my feelings, it's the first time in over twenty years that I've actually BOUGHT consumeable complents, but I have absolutely no contact at Weatherby, so I actually had to spend money for components ... horrors, horrors, horrors!!!

Anyway, actually BUYING cases, especially those unreal-expensive cases, sorta pissed me off. It is an impossible concept, a handloading writer actually BUYING cartridge cases. But I did.

I have lots of bullets; I'll center on the Nosler 100-grain Ballistic Tip and the Hornady 100-grain SP Interlocked. And I've got a decent supply of those, until I run out.

Powder? I'm thinking prolly IMR-7828 or thereabouts.

Anwyay, one of these fine days, I'll actually have to venture out to Douglas Ridge Rifle Club and shoot this gorgeous-looking rifle. Everything looks and feels perfect ... Hell, if looks could shoot, it's a half-incher right now.

Report to follow ... in a month or six.

Steve

Steve,

You got it bad, brother. Makes me feel a lot better about myself.

DF

I'm jealous. Nobody ever "gave" me reloading components, ever, whereas Steve complained about having to actually pay for a hundred cases - once. Life is good, eh brother Steve?

DZ-back in the days I ran a 257 Wby quite a bit and my normal day to day load was 7828 and 100 Horns. I used it here for all that moves from mice to elk and it did it's work quite well.

Tough combo to beat for most anything that moves in the ark.

Dober

Yeah, life is very, very good.

Absolutely, I was laughing at myself the entire time. The industry has been wonderful to me and I was poking fun at myself. You never want to take me very seriously ... I surely DON'T

The .257 Weatherby, the way I have it set up, is gonna be a fun ride.

Steve

You have a new 257 Roy in the lineup, Steve-O?


I would like to do another 270 Roy myself, but I have always had a thing for the 0.277" bore.