quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
So, what’s the barrel life with the 257 Weatherby? Can you get through a box of ammo before you have to replace it?

The Weatherby Mark V Lasermark with its deep blue/black steel, and the nicest walnut,laser carved,wood stock you could ever ask for, is a think of beauty to drool over.It does shoot very well.
I will never shoot it enough to even worry about barrel life. It comes out of the safe rarely.
It would be like asking a gorgeous women to cook and clean for you, then remind her that the toilet is clogged and needs her attention.

If one shoots a 257 Wby enough to get the barrel warm, it probably won't even get close to 1,000 rounds before the barrel's accuracy goes noticeably south. Throat erosion occurs rapidly in such overbore chamberings. Bullet seating depth changes quickly, if the shooter wants to maintain a consistent jump to the lands. Roy Weatherby developed his cartridges for the hunter who wanted high MV and flat trajectory. Weatherby rifles are definitely not made for high-volume varmint shooting. The guys who shoot varmints a lot -- think prairie dogs -- take multiple guns to a shooting session, then rotate among them as the barrels become hot.

I've shot 2 Weatherby rifles, and sighted in a 300 Wby for my prior boss. I find the rifles' recoil quite snappy for their bore size, and thus truly accurate shooting is a challenge. It's not what I want from a rifle.

I expect to eventually shoot out the barrels of all my rifles. Done it twice with a 6.5CM. Two different AR15s wear new barrels. My 308's barrel is beyond expected life -- I'm just sending rounds to understand how quickly its accuracy goes south. Barrels on two other AR15s are getting long in the tooth, but holding up for now. However, I'm just in the little leagues when it comes to consuming barrels. I regularly shoot with competitors who've shot out a dozen or two barrels.

If I really wanted a mechanical work of art that I didn't shoot, I'd probably invest in Purdey long guns.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Weatherby rifles are definitely not made for high-volume varmint shooting.

Thanks. For some reason I had gotten the impression that this thread was about varmint rifles.

quote:

Originally posted by TampaSIG:
To the wise ones on the board- I want to add a varmint rifle to my arsenal. I have every deer and up caliber of bolt action you can imagine, several ARs, shotguns out the wazoo, etc.

What would caliber would you choose for a nice bolt action varmint rifle (coyotes and down)? May suppress but not required. Say 300 yards-ish given realities of my property.

Thanks

I have a Kimber of Oregon Stainless Single Shot Varmint rifle in .221 Fireball. It is extremely accurate and a pleasure to shoot. Plus, it's cheap to reload.

Here is a typical 100 yard ten shot group:

quote:

Originally posted by armored:

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
So, what’s the barrel life with the 257 Weatherby? Can you get through a box of ammo before you have to replace it?

I will never shoot it enough to even worry about barrel life.

Same here. Depending on who you ask, barrel life is anywhere from <500 to 2000+. Either way, at a box of rounds per year (if that) it'll outlive me.