Just got off the phone with the youngest sister’s youngest boy. He wanted a deer rifle, so he bought a 257 Weatherby. He called to tell me that ammo costs $5 a round. I wish he’d called me first. Totally clueless about the present state of ammo avails.

I told him to get a 223 bolt gun if he wanted to shoot on the weekends.

Weatherby ammo is always high.

I wanted a .240 wby at one point, $100 a box…

Gotta reload for that gun, very nice caliber. There won't be a Texas deer standing that gets hit with that.

Yes, he has to reload. I told him to buy a Lyman loading manual and a Hornady (they have bullets) manual and to read them. Then order what he wants, if he can get it. Still expensive at $2 a case. I suggested H4831, which is available (last time I looked), LRM primers, and I suggested a couple of Hornady bullets. So, read the books, buy the components, and drive here for a couple of days and I’ll teach him the ropes and he can load on my gear while being supervised carefully.

Or, I suggested he check with Custom Reloads of Dallas.

I will also suggest he buy a 223 for cheaper shooting and keep the 257 for hunting. I think he’ll see it my way.

Love the 257wby. Everybody should own one

Weatherby loads some .257 in their silver box line that is pretty reasonable….more like $3/round vs. 5. 100 grain soft points if I remember correctly.

On Gunbroker and perhaps AmmoSeek it can be found for about $60/box plus fees. It doesn’t really make sense to buy individual boxes that way, of course.

RL25 is what I reload my 257 with. Can reload 100 rounds with one pound of powder.

I have a 257 and dies/components for sale

I've never had a 257 Weatherby. I was going to ask why not just a 25-06 until I pulled up the stats on the Weatherby. Holy moly, that is a hammer. I may have to put one together but the cost of brass scares me.

Make sure he wears hearing protection.
The round can really do a number on unprotected ears.

I’m gonna state a very unpopular but true fact….


The .257 wby doesn’t kill any better than a .270 win.


This is coming from a .257 wby owner. If I could snap my fingers and have mine rebarreled to a .270 wby mag I would do it in a heartbeat.

If I had to guess it's popular because you don't have to use a hold over out to probably 400 yd. That was a big deal back in the day when no one had rangefinders, and once a scope was adjusted you didn't dare touch the elevation knob.

Its extremely flat shooting, and generally chambered in very sexy rifles ( the Weatherby Mark V Accumark is the one I own ) and its a great round for whitetails. But, like I said, if you are expecting it to kill better than say a .270 winchester or even a 7mm-08 your gonna be disappointed.

I love Weatherby rounds but its probably the 2nd most over-hyped round after the 6.5 creedmoor. It excels in its narrow wheelhouse, which is Whitetail Size game at longer ranges, but again, its not quite the Thor's Hammer its made out to be

Also worthy of note is that a 270 will push a 110 gr Accubond about the same MV as the 257 Wby will push a 110 gr bullet. And then there’s that $5 per round for that 257 Wby. I wish the sister’s kid had called me first.

Price of ammo is relative…until quite recently the .257 was only chambered in expensive rifles and due to the nature of the round, one normally doesn't go target shooting with one. Ammo availability is a concern however and if you find a round it likes, by all you can at the time as you may not be getting any more of it. I’ve waited 3 years to be able to find my Nosler loading with no luck.

What rifle did he buy?

I don’t remember him telling me which rifle. I just assumed that it was a Wby. I invited him here, with gun, but we didn’t discuss when.

Reloading in weather this cold is something I avoid anyway. Don’t want to find a great load at 30ish degrees and use it at 80 degrees.

I can’t find weatherby factory loaded 120 grain nosler partitions anywhere. That’s the only load I’ve ever shot through my Rem 700 and it loves them. Down to my last box. Granted it’ll last a year or two as it’s strictly a hunting rifle

there is 3 or 4 boxes in THF classifieds

mines hammered Pronghorns, WT, Elk, Aoudad and Mule deer. And yes its an easy hold over with not much thought.

My 28 nosler hammers too, it will roll things at 800 yards, but it's twice the recoil

6.5 CM kills but doesnt hammer like 257 for the 28 though

I dont even pay 5 a shell using Dallas Reloads. I’ve got brass on 4th reload also.

I've killed all those animals sans the Pronghorn with my .257. They all died. But the results wouldn't have been any different than had I shot them with a .270. A .257 wby isn't in the same league as a 28 Nosler.

I think people (myself included) purchased one thinking they are gonna get 7mag performance with .25-06 recoil. Its not a slouch but it's not a wrecking ball. I'm considering rechambering mine to a .270 wby.

I do like the round and its performance on whitetail sized game, but it not gonna do something that a .270 won't do.

I also probably would not shoot another Elk with mine, but would with a .270. Dang sure wouldn't shoot a moose with one, but if I had to shoot one with my .270 i would give it a go.


I am debating on using it on my next Mule Deer hunt, but my .300 is lighter and hits harder. Unfortunately for the .257, the only thing I really have a use for it is on South Texas hunts

what do you think 7 mag performance should look like?

I have yet to have an Oryx, Elk, Aoudad or Mule deer take a second step…


Ive also killed mule deer and aoudad with my 28. The only difference is range. It will reach. Up close its just louder with more recoil. I bought the 28 solely for longer shots, like aoudad at 6 to 7 etc.

what I'm trying to say is bigger the caliber the longer the range, but under 400, why take the recoil abuse of 28 nos or 7 mag, whats the real advantage?

I'm not saying go bigger. I'm saying you can get pretty much similar results from a regular old .270