257 WBY vs. 300 WBY

[ing]

I am going to purchase a Weatherby rifle this year.  I can't decide between the 257 or the 300.  I'm leaning toward the 300 because I already have a 25-06.  The 300 is a great all around cartridge, but the 257 is a real performer also.  I will be hunting mostly deer with this rifle.  I just thought I'd ask you guys your opinion.  Which do you prefer and why? 

[257 Wby Mag]

For straight buck huntin, the 257 is perty hard to beat. Line it up against your 25/06 at the range, or in the field, you will notice a distinct advantage. Been pondering the 80 grain ttsx, 17'' of drop at 500 yards? 300 weatherby ain't a bad thing either. Check out the Ultra Lightweights. Later

[Slider]

7mm 

[jackelope]

7mm weatherby or rem?

i just picked up a 257 wby and have not fired it yet... it sure is a flat shooter and should flatten pretty much anything i plan to use it on.  for a deer rifle i'm not sure why you'd need the 300wby. recoil would be heavier and i imagine the ammo would be pricier.

[Mike450r]

I have one of each.  For mainly deer I would say .257.   They are both great, but...

I loaned my .300 to a friend for a deer hunt.  He shot a decent sized blacktail that was on the move freehand at about 100 yards.  Hit right smack in the hind quarters.  The deer dropped and was stone dead by the time we got to it which didn't take long.  Both hind quarters were essentially wrecked.  I have shot a few deer with it as well and there is still excessive bloodshot with a well placed shot.  The .257 isn't exactly meat friendly with it's extreme velocity just not as much carnage as the .300.

[jackelope]

mike450r what bullets are you shooting in the 257 that is wrecking meat?

[littlebuf]

what kind of recoil does the 257 have? im looking for a rifle my wife and daughters could use and i have never shot a 257

[jackelope]

the 257 wby is a magnum...i don't know about the recoil, but i'm pretty sure it's not a kid friendly kicker.
maybe a 257 roberts would be something to  look at in a 25 cal.

[Intruder]

Unless you're just enamored with owning a Weatherby, save your dough and by a 30-06. If you feel you gotta own a Weatherby then get the 300.  Kinda redundant to own two 25 cals. Honestly, if you're just hunting deer that 25-06 is gonna cover about 90% of all your deer hunting needs.      

Edited...
Didn't see your recoil posts.  For a small women or child you might want to consider a 243, 257 Roberts, 260, or 7mm-08.  Again, I'm not sure if you are just dead set on owning a Weatherby or not. 

I'd also suggest buy the Mark series gun.  The Vanguard is just a Howa rifle.  They're decent but not truly a Weatherby.

[bearpaw]

Both are great calibers with outstanding ballistics. The 257 wtby has very little recoil due to the light weight bullets and still gets it done in style. But the 25:06 is a good gun and if you don't already have a .30 cal I would suggest you cover your bases and get the 300 wtby so that if you ever decide to hunt something bigger you are not having to visit the gun shop again....except of coarse in the event that you just like having lots of guns!   

[JoshT]

For straight buck huntin, the 257 is perty hard to beat. Line it up against your 25/06 at the range, or in the field, you will notice a distinct advantage. Been pondering the 80 grain ttsx, 17'' of drop at 500 yards? 300 weatherby ain't a bad thing either. Check out the Ultra Lightweights. Later

Shooting 100 grainers I didn't notice a difference between my .25-06 and my .257 Roy at ranges that didn't require a rangefinder (inside about 350 or so) and after that even a monkey can turn a turret... that's why the .257 doesn't live at my house anymore. The 80 grain TTSX does look cool... but at 500 it's not drop... but wind that'll eat your lunch (but you know that)... and the 80 TTSX has a BC rougly equivilent to a ping pong ball. I like the .257 when running the 115s though... it has a good advantage there. But, running slow powders like Retumbo and Magnum allow for 3200 with a 115 in the 25-06... that's only about 200fps slower than the Roy... and it takes a 26" pipe to do that with the .257.

The .300 Roy is about the most gun that folks can shoot without starting to get a little nervous... it's a handfull... but a manageable one. A 200 grain bullet at 3000fps is no joke... on either end. I'd split the difference and go 7mm Roy... mine would run 120s at 3600 and 160s at 3100... I'd not want to play catch with either of those projectiles... and recoil was about half what the .300 is.

[Intruder]

Pretty sound right up by JoshT...

[whacker1]

JoshT said it very well.

If I were to buy a gun in that neighborhood, I would be looking at the 25-06. 

[jackelope]

The most over-the-top cartridges among these, using the lightest bullets in their caliber suitable for even the smallest big game animals, can gain a few more yards, but at the cost of their versatility for use on larger game. For instance, the .300 Ultra Magnum with a 150 grain bullet at a MV of 3450 fps has a maximum point blank range (MPBR) of 335 yards. The .257 Weatherby Magnum with a 100 grain bullet at a MV of 3600 fps has a MPBR of 337 yards. The .30-378 Weatherby Magnum with a 165 grain bullet has a MPBR of 342 yards. The .300 Weatherby Magnum with a 150 grain bullet at a MV of 3540 fps has a MPBR of 343 yards.

These are radical, over-bore cartridges shooting the lightest practical bullets, and they average a MPBR of 339.25 yards. This represents an average increase in MPBR of less than 15 yards (4.6%) over the same cartridges shooting heavier bullets of far greater all-around usefulness. By almost any standard that is a poor trade-off.

Compared to the .270 Winchester, with its MPBR of 305 yards with the versatile 130 grain bullet, we have gained an extra 30 to 38 yards of MPBR (a 10% to 12.5% increase). In the case of the .300 Magnums, the price for this modest increase in maximum range is about a 60% to 300% increase in recoil (depending on the specific caliber), a similar increase in muzzle blast and the cost of ammunition, and a decrease in general utility! Seen from this perspective, only the .257 Weatherby makes any kind of sense, as at least its recoil is on a par with the .270 Winchester.

Of course, where I live, a box of .257 Weatherby cartridges retails for almost exactly three times as much as a box of .270 cartridges ($45 compared to $15 at my local discount store as I write these words). I know, because I own a .257 Weatherby rifle and I bought a box of Weatherby factory loads yesterday (120 grain bullets at 3305 fps, a MPBR of 317 yards). This is an excellent general purpose big game load for the caliber, nearly as versatile as the 130 grain .270 load, and I really like my .257 Weatherby rifle. But even I have to wonder if a 12 yard (3.9%) increase in MPBR can justify a 300% higher price for ammunition!

[Intruder]

that's some great info too Jack!