2 questions concerning the 257 Wby Mag

First (since all my books are still hidden in storage) I find NO starting load for IMR 7828 on Hodgdon's site. Recommended starting and max loads would be appreciated, along with recommended loads with this powder. (Buddy already bought it)

Second as he discovered he wound up with 1 pound of 7828, and another of 7828SSC - is there a difference in data between them?

Thanks in advance - Mark

You can fill that case with bullseye if you're not going to seat a projectile. Has he got a projectile in mind, or is it a secret?

While I think Hodgdon says that they’re interchangeable, in my .270 Weatherby, I had to redevelop my loads when switching between them. I ended up decreasing loads a couple of grains when using the SSC version.

My Hodgdon book lists the following for IMR 7828:

75 grain bullet...……...max load is 73 grains for muzzle velocity of 3824 FPS
87-90 grain bullet...…..max load of 71 grains for MV of 367 FPS
100 grain bullet...…….max load of 69 grains for MV of 3466 fps
117-120 grain bullet....max load of 67 grains for MV of 3324 fps

all starting loads are reduced 5 grains

Data manual # 26
I'd work up either powder but have not found any of the SSC powders from Hodgdon to be any different than the original powder.....except of course the length of the kernel

Major OOPS - he's using a 100 gr Sierra BT spitzer (thinking Gameking)

Using Hornady brass, my factory 24” Vanguard makes 3,600fps shooting 100gr bullets (Etip and Swift S2) over 72.5+/- grains of regular 7828. I worked up from 71gr (3500fps).

And my last Hodgdon manual (2015) goes up to 73gr with Wby brass and the 100gr Speer BT. They got 3655fps from a 26” tube. No starting load listed.

Hodgdon also has their data online.....

The OP asked for starting data.....

Speer #15 lists a starting load for 100 grain bullets of 67.0 grains of IMR7828 and a CCI 250, giving 3306 fps.

Hornady #9 Lists a starting load for 100 grain bullets of 60.3 grains of IMR 7828 SSC and a Fed 215, giving 3100 fps.

Nosler #5 lists a starting load for 100 grain bullets of 65.0 grains of IMR 7828 and a Fed 215, giving 3237 fos.


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Major OOPS - he's using a 100 gr Sierra BT spitzer (thinking Gameking)

>>you need a better bullet like 100gr.Nosler Partition,Swift A-Frame,Barnes bullet those 100 grain sierra bullets will blow big holes in animals or just blow up and not penetrate well. trust me i have been shooting 257 Weatherby Mag.s a long time use a better bullet

OP asked for both starting and max data, and my research of this same matter a few weeks ago revealed 73gr as max from several sources, including folks here on the forum. Of course, chambers, barrels, bullets, brass, and powder lots vary, so one should always work up, preferably with a chronograph.

Mark,

Steve's reloading pages: http://stevespages.com/257_10_100.html


7828, starting load 64 grains, Max load 78 grains....100 grain bullet...

even with my reload manuals out of storage, I have been consulting this site, for probably the last 12 to 15 years first...

I'll second this statement. I'm a huge 257Wby fan, and a Sierra fan as well, but I would never recommend mixing the two. The velocity provided by the Wby calls for a tough, premium bullet - unless your buddy never plans to take a shot closer than about 250yds. It's a rare hunter that can say that and mean it. One of the longest trailing jobs I ever experienced was after a 50yd broadside shot using the cheap 100gr SP Weatherby factory ammo. It exploded and didn't penetrate. It had worked fantastically up until that point when all my shots had been across bean fields at 250+ yards. I switched to handloads using the 100gr Barnes TTSX. No more issues, near or far.

+1. If you plan on big game hunting (and why else would you shoot a 257 WBY?), then you are going to want a tough bullet to deal with the ultra high velocity, at least at any sane distance.

The Sierra BT is one of their tougher bullets. It can still shed it's core at Weatherby velocities but for load work up and longer ranges it should do fine. For general use I would also choose a mono, bonded or partition bullet. The monos are good for less meat damage but still drop an animal PDQ.

There was one post on culling in Australia with I believe the 80 grain Barnes 257W and they thought it was a bad combo. This is difficult for me to believe after seeing how well the 100 grain Barnes worked, but I believe they shot several 100 animals and all who used it universally condemned it.

In my 257Wby, I'm able to use 100gn SGK's and 100gn TSX interchangeably regarding POI out to 500yds, so I often practice w/the SGK's.

The SGK's positively "KERSPOLODE" on steel out to 500yds. The SGK would be well down the list of bullets I'd choose for hunting with a 257Wby. It's not that I couldn't, I just wouldn't.

myself i like Reloader 22 powder works better in my 257 Weatherby Mag fills the case better and has been a reliable hunting load here in Minnesota when its cold too. but i now only use good bullets for hunting Nosler Partitions or Swift A-Frame and there are some other good choices too.good luck,Pete53

Forgot to mention, Ramshot Magnum has given me the best velocity, accuracy, and consistency. The last 5 I ran over the Chrono back in Aug showed an extreme spread of 27 and SD of 8. The stuff meters like a dream through a Culver style measure as well. Should easily be able to get +/- .2gn with just about any dropper and consistent technique, my Harrell's is +/- .1 with Magnum.

My brother in law shot a small deer at about 100 yards using a fairly hot load with a .243 with 100 gr. SGK. The deer took off showing no sign of being hit. I knew the usual escape route and I found it 300 yards away on the neighbor's place. The bullet had turned into shrapnel on contact. A .257 Weatherby is bound to be worse. I have used 165 gr. SGK in a .30-06 with good results.

We asked somebody to quit hunting on our property with 100 SGK loads in a .243win, as they were losing too many deer and hogs with zero blood trail. No way I'd want them in a 100gr/.257wby.

Were you able to gather any good information as to the location of the hits?

On a couple. The deer were sometimes found at 40-60yds from impact with chest hits, but it was blind luck finding them in the thick stuff. Most of the time there were so many tracks on the ground that actual tracking wasn't much of an option, so we just busted brush and looked for dead animals. Exits were not the norm when bone was hit on a shoulder shot, although pure lung hits did generally exit and often left a blood trail. The shooter has recently moved to a 7mm-08 and has had less problems. I also loaded them some 100gr Partitions if they want to continue on with the .243win.

We (me, friend, nephew) haven't had those problems on deer with the 95 gr. SST or Bal Tip, or the Fusion in factory rounds. My friend may move to Partitions "just because." I've loaded the 80 gr. TTSX this season, but I haven't lined up on a shooter yet. My spot was crawling with small horned (even if not small bodied) spikes last weekend, and I didn't feel like paying a club fine.

What is a "club fine"? Just curious ...

Tom

I'd have more faith in the Fusion or NBT than the SGK in the .243win, but that's just me. The 165gr+ SGK is a great deer bullet in the 308 and 30-06, I know that for sure.

The club/lease to which I belong has fines for voted upon infractions like shooting undersized deer, button bucks, et cetera.

Tom[/quote]

The club/lease to which I belong has fines for voted upon infractions like shooting undersized deer, button bucks, et cetera.[/quote

This doesn't sound like a good management practice. TPWD encourages shooting spikes. Even more so if it is an older spike that may be genetic or past it's prime. This is not encouraging shooting fawns or button bucks but anything yearling or larger. Texas Parks and Wildlife has monitored spike bucks on several Wildlife Management areas and their reports are some spikes will always stay small, some can become decent deer, but all of them will be a year behind their peers.

Some areas of Central Tx. were over run with spikes before they became legal, hunting helped reduce the numbers and balance the population better. I have also watched as two mature bucks were fighting a spike would sneak in and breed the doe. This may be ranch lore but I have heard it more than once. If a big spike gets in a fight with another buck it can gore the other back. When full branched antlered bucks do this the depth of any woulds is limited by the other tines, although I have seen lethal wounds dealt by an eight pointer. That one gored his rival in the jugular vein.

Your Club should have a consult with a game management pro, some states offer this for free. Conditions could be different in Louisiana so if this is way off base my apologies as I have only hunted waterfowl in Louisiana.

I want to shoot larger spikes, but there are powers that be who are of the opinion certain members will abuse the idea. There were a couple of decent sized ones that would eat really well that I could have easily nailed.

A 2.5yr old spike always needs a bullet, but I can understand it creating more problems than it solves if there were exceptions to a "no-spike" rule.

Club? Lease? So ... you have to pay for a place to hunt? Are you in the United States?

It suits my present circumstances and I'll leave it at that.

Mathman understood. One rotten egg can spoil the whole bunch and the definition of a cull can be variable especially after the shot.

Taking a guess that this is Louisiana , 80% of the state is privately owned . With the exception of a few meager refuges , hunting is pay to play and has been for a very long time .

I thought maybe something like that.

We're lucky here (Oregon, but most of the west is the same) to have a great deal of public land managed by BLM, USFS, state forestry, and others which are open to public access.

Some of the very large timber companies are starting to charge for access to land which used to be open to the public as well. Frankly, I think we need to reconsider the breaks we gave those companies .. property tax, corporate income tax, zoning to minimize expense to them .. if they are not going to play nice with the people who are subsidizing them by paying higher taxes to offset what they are not paying for but consume .. law enforcement, firefighting, etc. They are would not like it at all if they have to pay the actual market value of the services they consume in the way they are expecting the public to pay for access we wish to "consume."

This is the biggest single reason I oppose sell-off / privatization of public lands. It forces a caste system where we should have none.

Thanks for the replies, gents. I'll step out and stop dragging things off topic.

Tom

A little over a year ago I left an Oregon based timber company ... we had open access to company lands for the most time but it had to be restricted the last several years because somehow , land users kept catching it all on fire ..

I can see both sides . But as a hunter I do envy much of the west and free land access

Sounds like a place I'd never want to live. Whatever happened to the "Southern hospitality" you hear so much about ? Looks to me like it's just a bunch of bullshyt and Southern folks in general are stingy as hell when it comes to letting folks hunt. I've never had to pay to hunt in my life and presently have permission on about a dozen different properties in 5 counties here. Didn't have to do anything but ask on any of them. These damned yankees are just rotten, stingy pricks I tell ya.

very strawmannish and uninformed but ok

Yes, he just doesn't want to deal with a lot of idiots on pubic land,,,

You need to get out more. East Coast vs West Coast hunting is another animal especially public land. If western hunters think their public land is crowded, try hunting some southeast public land.

You obviously use your abundant charm to gain access.