re: 6.5-300 Weatherby Reloading Data

Yes, I have two traditional ones, a prochrono and a caldwell. I have not broken down and gotten a radar chrono. Yet.

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Would you rather shoot a 1.5" (100 yd group) at 3,510 fps, or a "clover leaf" group at 3,408 fps ?

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For a hunting gun it is a compromise. I want the fastest load that will still shoot MOA. I won’t give up 200 fps to go from a 1” group to a .7” group. Neither will I normally shoot the fastest load because they typically aren’t all that accurate. For me, it is finding the load that gives me the best velocity while maintaining adequate accuracy.

You don’t need a gun that will shoot one ragged hole to kill a deer.

This thread reminded me I need to go test some loads for my 280 AI...and also some others for my Swede.

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always love these folks who think anything that wasn’t around when PowPow was doing it is dumb.

Roy Weatherby had a vision and it’s been proven to be effective. Speed kills. He created the round way back in the day for himself. It’s fast, flat, and deadly.

Also the barrel life argument is weak for a hunting rifle. Let’s say it’s 2000 rounds. That would last most hunters multiple life times even with lots of practice.

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I agree with all of this. But I also come back to this, if you need to routinely kill something over 200 yards you need to work on your hunting skills and spend more time in the woods than you do at the range.

To routinely kill a deer sized animal between 200-300 yards, does not require anything modern. I understand its fun. But it doesn't make you a better hunter, just someone that spends more time on the range.

I'm not knocking how other guys do it, I don't really care here in the south. But I will knock extreme long range shots out west because it gives you an absurd advantage shooting across ridges and valleys at animals that can't possibly have any idea you are around.

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if you need to routinely kill something over 200 yards you need to work on your hunting skills and spend more time in the woods than you do at the range.

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I am guessing you haven’t hunted too many clearcuts, bean/cornfields or powerlines/pipelines.

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animals that can't possibly have any idea you are around.

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That’s what you want whether you are toting an ultra mag or a homemade recurve bow.

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25-06

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260

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Two criminally overlooked cartridges.

As much as I have touted the .257 Weatherby mag, there honestly isn’t much that it does better than a .25/06. It just costs a little more to shoot and gets there a hair quicker. The .25/06 is what hooked me on a .257 bullet for deer and what led me to the .257 wby, which then led to the 6.5-300.

I mean, how can you know what is THE BEST cartridge if you don’t shoot them all? Plus when I die someone will get a LOT of cool guns and reloading equipment.

ETA: there was an interesting not exactly scientific study from some huge commercial operation that tracked the number of animals that were killed and recovered vs. wounded and got away by caliber. If memory serves, they had percentages for .243, .257, .264. .277. 284. 308, and .338.

Interestingly, the “best” caliber, or the one that had the highest percentage of kills, was the little old .257 bullet. I don’t think that is because it is anymore deadly, it is just because typically someone who is carrying a .25 caliber deer rifle has done some shooting.

What's everyone's thoughts on the 6.5 RPM? I'm looking for a fast 6.5 without 80-90 grains of powder per throw like the 6.5- 300 or 26 Nos

I’d only be concerned that it would fade away, and since you reload, that shouldn’t be a problem.

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I am guessing you haven’t hunted too many clearcuts, bean/cornfields or powerlines/pipelines.

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I’ve hunted plenty. Like I said if that’s your cup of tea that’s fine. Let’s not act like you are really hunting you are just shooting an open area.

I’m more in favor of learning the game and getting closer to where they are coming out. If you don’t think they come out in the same spots every time you are right and wrong. Game rarely come out completely random spots.

The point of using a long range gun is you don’t have to hunt, you can sit somewhere and cover many many spots where the game can or will come out. I get it. I’m not advocating for recurve hunting where you have to be under 30 yards. I’m simply implying that if you need to shoot 500 yards you really aren’t hunting the game, you are shooting a field.

I’ve personally never had an issue limiting myself to under 250 yards. There’s a lot of variables that come into play over that range, and as far as I’m concerned if I can’t get within 250 yards of game I call it a win for them that day. Part of the thrill of hunting to me is learning the game well enough to get as close as possible. I enjoy watching the game from a far and attempting to get closer.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with shooting long distances. It’s just not my cup of tea for hunting game as a hobby.

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Let’s not act like you are really hunting you are just shooting an open area.

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So hiking 30 miles on an elk hunt to get within 300 yards is not hunting?

Cmon man. This is a garbage take, even if you limit it to guarding corn piles out of box stands. It goes down to the "if you dont do it by hand than it aint hunting"

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IMO, if you don't use a chrono when working up loads you're wasting your time, bullets, powder and money. ALL barrels have an "accuracy node" where a specific velocity provides the most accurate load/smallest group. To identify the AN, you need a chronograph.

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This makes no sense. Nobody needs a chronograph to tell them anything. You can figure out velocity without one. People do it every day. People have also loaded ammo and went shoot without them and had no problem. It's nice to have but its definitely not needed. I have one and I seldom ever use it.

People that shoot extreme long range don't always use them either.