240 Weatherby
I am thinking of this for my next acquisition? Opinions, ballistics, comparisons? I'll be looking at a build on a 03A3, mauser, or a savage action.
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Go with the 6mm - 284, it will save you a lot of aggravation and expense. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by rufe-snow
Go with the 6mm - 284, it will save you a lot of aggravation and expense.
I have a 6mm Remington. I guess this is more of a want or a curiosity. I have read that the 6mm-284 is a fine round however.
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I have a neighbor that has a custom 240 Weatherby, it's a pain in the azz to load for, and I've never been able to get it to shoot as good as I think it should. Brass is harder to get, and way spendy, if it were me I'd go with the 6mm-284.
For what it's worth.
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Im a big fan of the 240 weatherby. All the talk from people who have never owned one or shot one is apparent. Sure the brass is expensive but it lasts along time, the case is very strong. Loading for it is no more trouble than any other cartridge. It is very handy from ground squirrels to hogs to deer. I will never sell my German 240 weatherby-it is simply a marvel. The only thing I dont like about weatherbys is the trigger-so I bought a Canjar and never looked back even though I had to modify the triggerguard for the new bolt release mechanism. 0 -
ATHOMSON,
.240 Weatherby Magnum
Introduced in the Mark V rifle in 1968, the .240 Weatherby Magnum was the last of a dozen cartridges introduced while Roy Weatherby was alive. Physically, the .240 bears a strong resemblance to the British designed .240 Apex or .240 Belted Nitro Express as it is more commonly called. With a rim diameter the same as that of the .30-06, the Weatherby cartridge is suitable for any rifles with standard action lengths.
The .240 Weatherby Magnum represents about all the powder capacity that can be utilized with a 6mm bore with any degree of efficiency. When the 6mm Remington and the .240 Weatherby are loaded to maximum chamber pressures in barrels of equal length, the larger case will push all bullet weights 100 to 150 fps faster. Like other cartridges of low expansion ratio, the .240 needs a long barrel in which to reach its impressive performance.
The .240 Magnum is an excellent compromise in performance. Its relatively small bore size allows the use of lightweight bullets at extremely high velocity on varmints without excessive recoil, yet with a trajectory that will give any .224" centerfire a run for its money. Loading a 90 to 105 grain bullet in the Big Six transforms it into a fine deer and pronghorn cartridge.
With the exception of light, varmint weight bullets, powders of slow burning rate offer the best performance in this cartridge. Excellent choices are H4831, H450, and IMR-4831. With the lighter bullets H414, H4350, IMR-4350, IMR-4320, and H380 are better choices.
Source: Hodgdon Data Manual, 26th Edition
.240 Weatherby Magnum
This is a large capacity cartridge that can be utilized for both long range varminting as well as hunting. The case capacity is close to the 30-06, the 6mm-284 and the 6 x 62 Freres. Generally, this capacity versus the bore size is considered to be an omen of poor performance through wear and tear on the barrel. The Weatherby design is able to defeat part of this with the longer than normal neck which directs the plasma in a straight line as opposed to allowing it to impinge on the sides of the throat as the bullet exits the case. The shooter just needs to control the time between shots in order to allow the barrel to cool slightly before pulling the trigger again. This is a lot of powder to ignite and send down a smaller bore so the heat in the barrel will rise quickly.
I think too many folks blame a particular cartridge for inaccuracy when it's only one factor in the entire concept of accuracy in a rifle system. In many situations, it's a problem with one or more of the variables in the rifle/barrel or the shooter himself in relationship to the rifle. Just as many problems are scope/shooter related.
The other complaint stems from the anti-belt campaign that someone decided was important to pursue in order to open another portion of the ammunition market. Actually, the over-reaction to the belted cartridges is as ridiculous as most of the promotional programs aimed at stimulating the market to buy a new(er) product or to justify the existence of new(er) products. I use just as many belted cartridges for long range accuracy as I do non-belted cartridges with equal performance based on my abilities.
Screw the price of the brass. No, I don't like paying more for these cases but I don't need that many cases in the first place. I've been using the same 100 cases for load development and hunting loads for the last nearly dozen years. My cases that I segregate for competition have been reloaded 8 times and probably will go the other two times that I originally predicted with my loads.
The combinations I favor for my shooting are:
Re-25 and the 105 gr. Berger VLD, 105 gr. AMAX for Coues deer and antelope.
AA-XMR-3100 or Re-22 with the 87 gr. VMAX for varmints.
There are other combinations but these are the ones that I find provide the best accuracy versus velocity and energy.
The best part, for those folks who are concerned about magazine space, is that the OAL is 3.100" which is perfectly suited for use in the Mauser fixed magazines for the most part and will work in such custom actions as the Montana Rifleman, Surgeon and others.
Best.
ADDED:
sothere,
Here's another drawing of the .240 Weatherby that shows the same method of describing the total shoulder angle and not simply one side so you can understand that you have to divide by two (2) to get the angle you're used to seeing.
Best.0 -
With an 89+degree shoulder I would expect crushed cases similar to reloading the Weatherby Rocket.Unless you have a good deal of experience I would opt for the 6-284 0 -
HEY Athompson---As usual just another opinion---I've owned, shot, and reloaded for a WBY .240 MK 5 for years. It's gone but I loved it. I can't agree with a lot of what has been said here. It's no different than loading any other cartridge, as far as I can see. Keep it clean, and keep it cool (three rounds), and accuracy for me was sub MOA. The 89 degree shoulder mentioned by SOTHERE, (see diagram provided by nononsense), is the total angle between shoulders, not the usual way of noting shoulder angle. Really it is only about 4.5 degrees steeper than a 40 degree ackley. See my GB Auction No. 125477330. Try it you'll like it. Good luck 0 -
I bought a slightly used Weatherby Mark V Deluxe, in 240 Weatherby in 1975. This was a Japan manufactured rifle. I have used it primarily for long range rockchucking, but it has also accounted for one-shot kills on a nice muledeer, a small whitetail buck, and a 13 inch pronghorn. I used 95 grain Nosler Partitions and IMR 4831 for the game animals, but Nosler may no longer make the Partitions in 95 grains.
After purchasing the rifle and beginning to load for it, I could not get better than 1.0 or 1.25 MOA, even after tinkering with the pressure point on the stock barrel, etc. So I rebarreled it with a medium weight 24 inch Shilen, freefloating, and bedded the action, and then, after tailoring a load of IMR 4350 and Sierra 85 BTHPs, it would shoot about .6 MOA. I do not remember the grains, but I do recall that it was about 3300 or 3400 fps. Not hot, but not bad, either. This gun has probably accounted for the demise of 1000 rockchucks, out to 450 yards or so. The acrobatics can be very dramatic.
The Shilen eventually was shot out.
This has been an excellent rifle and cartridge. However, I do believe that sometimes better accuracy may be attainable without a belted case, because the nonbelted cases headspace on the shoulder, perhaps giving a more consistent result and better alignment.
I always used magnum primers, but do not know if this is necessary. I usually did not full length resize, but just enough to provide a snug fit and snug bolt close.
To my knowledge, Weatherby does not provide nearly as much freebore in the 240 as its larger cartridges. While I am no expert on freebore, it is my impression that freebore facilitates higher velocity, but may hinder accuracy.
This is a large case relative to the bore size, and it will heat up a barrel very quickly. The Norma cases are a bit pricey, but do last a long time, perhaps a dozen or so reloadings.0 -
ATHOMSON,
Personally, I think it would be a good aquistion. The .240 Weatherby is right at the upper end for useful capacity as far as 6mm's go. You can get tremendous velocity along with acceptable relative accuracy. By relative accuracy I mean what you intend to shoot with it. For target shooting .25 MOA or lower is normal. This is the one case where the .240 may not be the best choice. For varmint hunting in the field we would all love to get that, but it's usually more in the range of .5 MOA ...on a good day. Typically, 1 MOA will get most varminting jobs done. Hunting? I've heard everything from MO-pie-plate (2 of 3 is good for some, even) down to 'third hair on the left'. The Weatherby will certainly hold it's own here.
The big thing here is what yu plan to do with it? If you plan to put 4 or 5-of-5 into one hole then I don't think it's the round for you. If you intend to shoot varmints out to 800 yards or so it might be. It depends on how the barrel is throated. As that is going to be a real big accuracy factor. If you plan to hunt small to medium sized large game, (even elk if you use the right bullets) this round has a ton of potential!
Something nn mentioned about the belted case. One has to understand it's purpose. It may not prove effective for super-tight accuracy. But, what it has proven is it can be very accurate if reloaded right. Like .5 MOA accurate. The purpose of the belted case was to allow for expansion and contraction when firing full power loads in a rifle. It's not the best for longevity of the brass, but it's reliability factor along with it's "relative accuracy" requirements make it ideal for what the round was intended for. I will tell you that it may not hang with a 6mm-.284 on a target range, but neither will the 6mm-.284 hang with the .240 Weatherby for versatility in the field. The 6mm Rem and the 6mm Rem AI are kind of in the same boat. To get near Wby velocities out of the 6mm Rem you get a lot of bolt thrust. To eliminate that you use the AI case and that starts to cause feed problems...some rifles more-so than others. That can certainly be overcome. But for a standard case the .240 Wby takes no special care as does the 6mm AI or 6mm-.284.
FWIW, I had a good lesson in loading Weatherby cartridges when I got my .257 Wby. It wasn't a 'planned' aquisition, as I was at the time perfectly happy to not pursue those cartridges. But I ended up with it and after loading that cartridge for both myself and a friend I grew to appreciate the Weatherby design. Within it's design parmaters it will do what you want it to straight out of the box. Even better if the rifle is 'tweaked' to what it can perform to. I took this information and used it when reloading my friends .240 and he had great success with it. He was originally going to throw the brass away, saying he could never get Weatherby velocities anyways. Well, we achieved near Wby velocities and got better accuracy out of the handloads. I'd say that is worth trying the round. You will have less into the Weatherby than you will a 'custom' 6mm-.284. And if you don't like the rifle/round you can sell it for about what you paid.
-hope that helps0 -
When I said it was a pain in the azz to load for, I was referring to trying to get it to shoot to it's potential. After reading the above comments, maybe I'm trying to do the impossible. I can get 1 hole groups out of my 264 Win mag, my 270, 30-06 and 300 Win mag, but I have tried for two years to get my neighbors 240 to shoot like them, and if I get 1" I'm lucky. I guess you just can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I load for another neighbors 340 Weatherby, and have great results.
W.D.0
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