Short barreled 257wby

[Zackw]

I’m looking to rebarrel my .257wby soon and was wondering if anyone could think of a reason, other than loss of velocity, why a short barrel (20-22”) would be a bad idea. I figure this cartridge has velocity to spare and a long barrel sucks in thick cover. I’m planning on getting a slim profile, so I thought that a bit shorter would increase stiffness and could help with accuracy. This is just a hunting rig, so I’m not concerned about cooking the barrel. Any thoughts?

 

[hodgeman]

A short barreled 257WBY doesn't make a lot of sense. You buy something like a 257 for the high velocities and flat shooting in open country (where a long barrel doesn't matter much).

It really sounds to me like you want a different rifle if you're hunting thick cover.

 

[Zackw]

You’re exactly right, higher velocity. A short barreled 257 wby is going to have higher velocity than a short barreled anything else.

 

[fatbacks]

I think that cartridge has a ton of powder and you'll be sending a huge amount of unburned powder out the muzzle - especially with a .257" bore. Based on my limited experience this will translate into a rifle that will rattle your head even with ear muffs and plugs, moreover, it will have pretty high extreme spread and standard deviation with velocities due to unburned powder variations.

If you have the brass and ammo and that's the cartidge you want to stick with, I'd say go for it. Just prepare yourself for a big boom. If you don't already have a suppressor it might be a good excuse to order one. When I shoot my 20" 300 WSM without my suppressor at the range, people always walk up to me and ask what I am shooting and say man, that puppy really barks.

 

[amassi]

If your set on a short barrel quarter bore magnum I'd probably build a fast twist 25 prc as the upper limit of case capacity

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[hodgeman]

You’re exactly right, higher velocity. A short barreled 257 wby is going to have higher velocity than a short barreled anything else.

You're likely right, but keep in mind that sending gobs of slow burning powder down a short, narrow tube is going to come with some very real drawbacks.

I had one with a 24" barrel and it gave up a solid 100fps to a 26" barreled version of the same rifle and a 28" would have been better still. Lopping one off to 20" would have some real velocity loss and the muzzle blast would be simply horrendous. It was horrendous at 24" come to think of it. I shot a couple caribou with it- it shot like a laser beam.

But, the 257WBY is an old design cartridge from before the days of range finders, dial turrets and high BC bullets. If you want a stubby gun that'll shoot long distances, there are much, much better cartridges to start with.

 

[Zackw]

I’ve currently got a 24” barrel on it. It doesn’t seem loud to me, and I’m still getting just shy of 3500fps with 100gr ttsx’s. Unfortunately it’s an older weatherby and still has the 1:12 twist, so any of the newer bullets are off the table. I doubt I’d go 20”, but a 22” doesn’t seem too far-fetched.