McPatrickClan

Do you create your own "custom" rounds to kill prairie dogs with the .308?

McPatrickClan

So is the .50 cal the biggest? Or just a really big one?

gilliland87

It's the biggest within reason. I mean I can show you guys making custom 20mm bolt guns but that's just not for everyone and could not even tell you the legality without some research there is always someone going to the next level just because they can.

McPatrickClan

And am I right that after you have the brass stored up, there really is not any "special" costs associated with reloading any wildcat-type round?

gilliland87

Some wildcats are rather notorious for being hard on barrels. 22-250(not a wild cat but has same issue), 6.5-.284 are two I personally have experience with. My 6.5-284 burnt a Lilja tube to the point my groups were spreading out again in 1400 rounds. where as a .308 shooter can get 5000-8000ish before wear and erosion become issues. All these things add up to the total cost of ownership of a rifle.
As to the brass question reloaded brass does wear out. I am not that familiar with the .257 Weatherby but a good question is Does it have a parent case of a more common caliber? Example The 270 Winchester started life as a modified 30-06 case before It became popular. What I am trying to say is make sure you can feed your gun even if you have to resort to resourcefulness.


I said the 22-250 was not a wildcat- It was originally and still is depending on your view point a wildcat (but c'mon you can buy it at walmart for heavens sake, that's pretty mainstream in chambering there)

Stevew

If you think you might ever end up elk hunting my vote would go to the 308. The 257 Weatherby is a fine round. The cost of brass, amount of powder required would have me looking at the 25-06 if I was going to go with 25 cal, it only gives up about 200 fps.

__________________
Glock 22, GP100, S&W mod 60, Colt Delta Elite, Colt Govt 380, Ruger Single Six, Ruger Bearcat, Colt New Police

HotGuns

.The 257 Weatherby is an excellent round.
The one thing that I do not like about Weatherby's are the fact that they have a lot of free-bore. They do this to reduce pressure and it does not help the accuracy at all. You cant really "load to the lands" or set your bullet right on the lands or a few thousandths off for maximum accuracy because the bullet is usually not long enough.

Also, they tend to heat up sporter sized barrels really fast. After two or three shots you'll start stringing them if your barrel isn't free floated or a heavy barrel.

The parent case is a .300 H&H case that is shortened and necked down, so its a lot of powder in a fairly small throat which leads to short barrel life.

Reloading any Weatherby case can be a bit tricky. Rather than having angular shoulders they are radiused and they need to have a lot of case lube on them to work right, and the die settings are more critical than average.

The cases are expensive. Thats really the biggest drawback that I can see. Look at any website and Weatherby cases are at least twice as expensive as others.

__________________
AR. CHL Instr.

To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson

atctimmy

Hello again McPatrickclan.

We've had a similar chat about rifle brands. Here is the truth. Dead is dead. A .257 WMag and a .308 will shoot through both sides of a 300 lb whitetail. High powered rifles are seriously lethal and it’s more important to have good shooting skill than what caliber you shoot.

There are two schools of thought about ballistics and you will most likely be in one or the other (I try to haunt the middle). Light and fast (9mm /.257) or slow and heavy (.45/ 45-70). They both kill animals dead.


Advantages of .257 wMag:

Light recoil.
Very flat shooting (great for pronghorn or mulies out west).

Advantages of a .308:

Somewhat light recoil.
Hits hard like a 30-06.
Made by every rifle maker.
Designed to be very efficient and inherently accurate.
Is .30 caliber so there is an almost infinite number of bullets and loads available to use.
Very flexible.
Nato uses it so plenty of ammo around in a SHTF scenario.
Cheaper than the .257.

I could keep going.

__________________
I have Post Tree Stand Mirage Disorder.

atctimmy

.50 cal is the largest that is legal to own (without the paperwork).

__________________
I have Post Tree Stand Mirage Disorder.

McPatrickClan

Thanks Timmy! I know I can count on your good take on it when I show up to chat about rifles. I'm not crazy! I just love chatting about this and honestly, this is teaching me a lot about why you would choose one caliber/make/model, etc. over another. There are differences and I enjoy knowing why.

Unfortunately, I do not have as much time as I would like these days to go out & hunt/shoot so the next best thing is chatting about it!