Weatherby – The ExhaustNotes Blog

Reloading and Shooting the .300 Weatherby

I’m in the money with the Mark V .300 Weatherby now, but it took some doing to get there and the journey isn’t over yet. My recent reloads with this rifle were all over the place at 100 yards. I suspected it was more me than the rifle (or the loads) and I was probably right about that. This rifle has serious recoil, way more than I am used to. I was developing a flinch in anticipation of getting whacked by the Mark V.

I have a friend who shoots the .300 Weatherby a lot, and he’s about the same size as me. I thought about him a bit, mentally picturing him on the range, and then I realized: He uses a shoulder pad. It was a click or two on Amazon until I found the Caldwell recoil shield.

I had the Caldwell recoil shield the next day, and I had to play with it a bit to find how to wear the thing. I bought the thickest version, figuring that if some is good, more would be better.

I next researched the Internet to find ways to improve my bench rest technique and I immediately found two improvement opportunities: Parallax, and how I positioned the rear rest.

With regard to parallax, it’s a real thing and a real issue. Most scopes don’t have any adjustment for parallax, but the 4×16 scope I have on the Mark V does. To adjust for parallax, you set the rifle in the rest and put the cross hairs on the target. Then, without touching the rifle, you move your head around and see if the reticle moves around on the target. On a scope with parallax adjustment, what I read is that you ignore the markings on the parallax adjustment and move your head around, adjusting the parallax adjustor until the parallax is minimized. I couldn’t completely eliminate the parallax on my 100 yard target, but I was able to greatly reduce it. After making the adjustment I looked at the scope objective (the parallax adjustment feature), and what do you know, it was right on the 100-yard mark. I guess those Weaver boys knew what they were doing.

I had a rifle with me that has a non-parallax-adjustable scope and checked it for parallax at 100 yards, and wow, when I moved my head around the reticle was moving around a good 3 inches on the target (left to right, and up and down). To control parallax with a non-parallax-adustable scope, the trick is to get your eye in exactly the same spot every time. In fact, that’s good technique with any scope.

The next thing for me was to get the rear rifle rest directly under where my face rested on the stock. You can see the front and rear rest in the large photo at the top of this blog (I use Caldwell equipment). The idea behind getting the rear rest directly under where your cheek contacts the stock is that the downward force from your cheek is transmitted directly through the stock into the rear rest without flexing the stock. It may not seem possible (or even detectable), but if your face is ahead of the rear rest or behind it, you will impart a torque into the rifle and it can be enough to shift the point of impact at 100 yards.

On to my loads: I reloaded the next set of .300 Weatherby cartridges, going with 73.0 grains of IMR 7828, the CCI 250 magnum primer, 200-grain Sierra MatchKing bullets, and every trick I knew of to improve accuracy. This is a relatively light load. I neck sized three different sets of brass (fireformed .300 Remington cases made from .300 H&H brass, Remington .300 Weatherby brass, and Weatherby brand .300 Weatherby brass). I have a Lee .300 Weatherby collet die that squeezes the neck down to size, and I used brass I had previously fired in the Mark V rifle. I also seated the bullets out much further (the reloading manuals all show the cartridge overall length to be 3.560 inches, but I seated the Sierras out for an overall length of 3.718 inches). The Weatherby Mark V rifles have a lot of freebore. The cartridges still fit in the magazine and the bullets did not contact the rifling, so I was good to go.

It was a quick trip to the West End Gun Club and I had the range to myself. I got everything set up, pulled on the Caldwell shoulder pad, and went to work. The Caldwell shoulder pad was awkward at first (as you might imagine), but it was wonderful. The .300 Weatherby Magnum is still a beast, but the Caldwell pad did its job. It greatly alleviated my fear of getting clobbered every time I squeezed the trigger and my groups tightened up immediately.

So my groups were way better, but I had a new problem. Many of the cases were sticking in the chamber after firing. The bolt would rotate freely, but the cases didn’t want to come out. When I pulled harder on the bolt, the extractor popped over the rim and the case stayed in the chamber. I had to tap the cases out with a cleaning rod. Other than the cases sticking, there were zero indications of excess pressure. No flattened primers or anything. The Remington cases were sticking almost 100% of the time (both the fireformed .300 H&H cases and the .300 Weatherby Remington cases). The Weatherby brass did not stick in the chamber, although a couple felt like they wanted to.

On to the good news: My best group was a .608-inch 3-shot group at 100 yards, which ain’t half bad on a fire-breathing monster like the .300 Weatherby. Before you trolls tell me I should shoot 5-shot groups, I will share with you that in my experience it’s pretty difficult to get animals to sit still for five shots. If your dead set on being critical, let’s get your butt out here. I want to watch you shoot 5-shot groups with your .300 Weatherby.

The next morning, after cleaning the rifle, I rechambered a couple of the fired Remington cases, and then when I withdrew the bolt the cases stuck in the chamber again. And again, I had to tap them out with a rod. The Weatherby brass did not, but it was tight. I measured each of the cases that stuck, and they all met the SAAMI .300 Weatherby specification. My conclusions are:

- - I don’t have an excess pressure situation. I loaded at the bottom of the propellant range, the bolt rotated freely, there were no pressure signs on the case base, and the primers were not flattened.
  - Neck sizing on my .300 Weatherby Mark V is not a good way to go (notice I said mine; your mileage may vary). I full length resized one of the cases that stuck (a Remington case) and it chambered and extracted easily. Weatherby brass is better (but it is hard to get).
  - I need to full length resize when reloading for this rifle.
  - The Weatherby Mk V extractor is weak. For a dangerous game rifle, that’s not a good thing. Maybe the extractor spring is weak.

I think the real issue was the neck sizing approach. I’m out of IMR 7828 propellant (powder goes fast with the 300 Weatherby) and no one seems to have any in stock, so I’ll try either H1000 or IMR 4831 next. Like we always say, stay tuned.

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I reload with Lee Precision equipment.

Vanguard Safari First Shots

Last week I wrote a blog about my .300 Weatherby Magnum Vanguard Safari, and I recently spent a bit of time with it on the range. In a word: Wow! This is a most impressive firearm, as is the .300 Weatherby Magnum cartridge.

Before the rifle arrived, I called both Leupold and Weatherby to ask which rings and mounts I should use to mount a 4X Leupold scope. Both told me they didn’t know because there are so many possible combinations of rifles and scopes (which kind of surprised me; you’d think they would know). The Leupold tech rep suggested I try their dual dovetail mounts and low rings and he gave me the part numbers. (so it was off to Amazon for both). The Leupold guy said he didn’t know if what he suggested would work and if it would clear the scope’s bells, but that’s what I ordered and it worked like a champ. The Leupold scope has a lot of eye relief and it just looks right with the low mounts. The matte finish on the rifle, the mounts, the rings, and the scope looks good.

Good buddy John asked about how I sight in a scope, and I thought I would explain that here. I don’t use a boresighting device. The idea of sticking something in the muzzle doesn’t appeal to me, as it is the most sensitive part of the rifle and any nicks or dings in this area will hurt accuracy significantly. My approach is to:

- - Set the rifle up on the rest, pointing it at a bullseye downrange.
  - Remove the bolt.
  - Look through the barrel and center the bullseye at 50 yards in the bore. I use the rear opening of the barrel and the front opening of the barrel (which visually form two concentric rings) like a peep sight, getting the circles formed by both centered on the bullseye.
  - Bring the scope’s crosshairs onto the bullseye without moving the rifle on the rest.
  - Fire the first shot.
  - Make scope adjustments accordingly for subsequent shots.

I can usually get the first shot within 10 inches of the bullseye using the above approach. A couple of times I’ve got it within 2 inches of the bullseye on the first shot, and this was one of them. I took some photos to make my explanation easier to understand.

First, set the rifle in the rest and have a target at either 25 yards or 50 yards:

Next, center the bullseye in the barrel:

Then (without moving the rifle), bring the scope’s crosshairs onto the target:

At this point, my approach is to fire one shot to see where it hits and then make adjustments. My first shot was the one at the lower right in the target below. I cranked in 15 clicks of elevation and 15 of windage, and my next shot was near the middle of the orange bullseye.

That was close enough to get me started. I then moved a target out to 100 yards and fired a few groups. This was the third group, and it measured 0.865 inch.

Not everything ran as smoothly as that target above suggests, though. About a third of my .300 Weatherby Magnum ammunition (all ammunition I reloaded) had difficulty chambering or would not chamber at all, and the rest of the groups were all much larger than that .865 group shown above. I was pretty sure the chambering difficulties were affecting accuracy, but that one good group showed the rifle had potential.

I recognized that the chambering difficulty was the same problem I had encountered with my .257 Weatherby Magnum Ruger No. 1 rifle. A traditional resizing approach didn’t work on the .257 Weatherby Magnum cartridge, and when I called Sierra about it, they told me turn the resizing die into the press an additional quarter turn after the die contacts the shell holder. I think there’s another issue as well due to case distortion due to the neck expander dragging during the resizing operation. If the cases are not well lubed inside the case neck, the dual-radius Weatherby shoulder is more easily distorted upward when withdrawing the case from the resizing die (more easily distorted, that is, than would be a conventional non-dual-radius case shoulder). The trick is to lube the inside of the case neck and to do the extra quarter turn of the die into the press. This addresses the neck expansion longitudinal distortion, takes out all the clearances in the reloading press’s pivot points, and accounts for any springback in case exterior dimensions.

I went home, pulled the bullets on the .300 Weatherby Magnum cartridges that wouldn’t chamber, resized as described above, cleaned the cases thoroughly, and then reloaded them.

On the next range visit a few days later, every round chambered easily, and wow, the results were good. My first group was the one at the top of the target shown below (it measured 1.452 inches). I dialed in five clicks left the Leupold and fired the next two groups in the two lower targets. The group on the left is 1.191 inches, and the one on the right is 0.871 inch.

Note that these 300 Weatherby Magnum groups were fired with a 4X scope at 100 yards. It’s not easy to get great groups with a rifle that smacks you authoritatively each time you squeeze the trigger (the .300 Weatherby Magnum is one potent SOB). My load was the 180-grain Remington jacketed soft point bullet and IMR 7828 SSC powder a grain or two below max, and I’m not done yet. If my shoulder and my wallet hold out (and I can find components) I’ll bet I can get a ½-inch out of this rifle.

Take a peek at an earlier blog on three rifles chambered for the .300 Weatherby Magnum!

Three .300 Weatherby rifles. Click on the photo to read the story.

What’s it like meeting Roy Weatherby? Hey, take a look!

Roy Weatherby in his office in the old South Gate facility. I met Roy in that office and had a nice conversation with him. Click on the photo to get the story.

How about a Ruger No. 1 in .300 Weatherby Magnum!

One of the world’s classiest rifles…a Ruger No. 1. This one is chambered in .300 Weatherby. You can get to that story by clicking on the photo.

Hey, how about an earlier standard Vanguard in .300 Weatherby Magnum!

Bought used but in as new condition, this Tupperware-stocked Vanguard is unusually accurate!

More gun stories? You bet! Just click here!

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A Tale of Two 300 H&H Magnums

I had the 300 H&H Mags out last week, and when reloading the brass from that range session, I noticed a bright ring around some of them about a quarter inch above the belt. I did the inside-the-case check with a bent paper clip and sure enough, I could feel the sharp step of the brass thinning. Uh oh. Impending case separations. I had reloaded this brass once too often.

Case separations are caused by case stretching, which progresses each time you reload a cartridge. You can check for impending separations by examining the cases closely (you’ll see a bright ring, maybe evidence of gas escaping, or maybe even the beginnings of a crack above the case head). You can also make a tool from a paper clip to feel for a circumferential notch inside the case. That’s what I do, and I could feel the notch on these cases. They were at the end of their useful life.

I don’t know how many times I had reloaded these cases (maybe something like 3 to 5 times?), but rather than risk an impending case separation, I tossed the brass (all 50 pieces). It felt like a crime against nature, but it was necessary. I had two more boxes of 300 H&H brass (100 rounds) tucked away, so that will be the next lot that I load. I had tumbled the old brass for several hours, and maybe that was a good thing because it let me see the warning signs and the faint beginnings of circumferential cracks. Time to move on and start with fresh brass.

Evidence of a escaping gas on a fired 300 H&H Magnum case. The “belt” is the larger diameter just above the case base.

A classic impending case separation. You can see that the case has already started to crack. This would separate if I loaded and fired it again.

When I started this blog, I didn’t intend for it to be another reloading tutorial, but here we are anyway. Let’s get back on the two 300 H&H Magnums. I guess to start, allow me to tell you a bit about the magnificent and classic 300 H&H cartridge. It goes back to shortly after World War I, when the venerable English firm of Holland and Holland introduced it as an African plains game cartridge. I know, I’m coming across as snooty, and to tell the truth, I’m not entirely certain what “venerable” means. But it sounds like it fits.

300 H&H reloads. I use 150 gr Winchester bullets I bought about 6 years ago. I got a good deal on those bullets and I bought about 700 or so. I should have bought more, as I can’t find them anywhere online. I think I have about 200 or 300 left. You can see a bright circumferential ring above the case base on the lower cartridge, warning that this brass was past its useful life.

The 300 H&H was the absolute hottest .30 caliber cartridge in those days, and the belted 300 H&H cartridge just looks cool. It became the basis for nearly every magnum round that followed, including nearly all the Weatherby chamberings, the 7mm Remington Magnum, and a bunch more. The 300 H&H round won the Wimbledon 1000 yard match in 1935, and in 1937 Winchester offered it as a factory chambering in their Model 70 (assuring it’s survivability well into the future). Did I mention it just looks cool, too?

So to continue the story, I had to have a 300 H&H, and because I had a Weatherby 7mm Mag that I couldn’t get to group well no matter what I tried, to me the solution was obvious: Rebarrel it in 300 H&H. Which I did. 35 years ago. I’ve been shooting it ever since. It’s the one you see in the big photo at the top of this page, and if you don’t feel like scrolling up, here’s a view from the port side:

A custom 300 H&H Weatherby Mark V. This is a magnificent rifle.

The cartridge stamp on my custom barrel.

The 300 H&H Weatherby is a fabulous rifle. It has a Timney trigger my Dad put in it while I was overseas, and it breaks like glass. I enjoy owning it, reloading for it, and shooting it.

Then I picked up another 300 H&H rifle maybe 7 years ago: A Model 70 Winchester. The Model 70 in 300 H&H is not a commonly-encountered rifle, and I searched a while to find this one on Gunbroker with the fancy walnut I wanted. Trust me on this: It looks even better in person. And this one is a shooter. It deserves a better scope, but it’s still a beautiful rifle.

Sometimes people ask why I always find rifles with the nicest wood. It’s because I look for them!

The Model 70 stock from the right side of the rifle. It’s unusual to see this kind of walnut on a production rifle. I recognized that when I saw the rifle on Gunbroker, and I pulled the trigger.

Anyway, one day last week was one of those days when I woke up and knew I needed to get out and shoot some 300 H&H Magnum. So I did. These are some photos from that range session. I think it was a Monday. It was cold and windy as hell with gusts up to 60 mph (that’s the bad news), but because of that I had the range to myself (that’s the good news).

I shot my standard 300 H&H load. It’s one that has done well for me in the Weatherby, and it does equally well in the Winchester. The load is 60 grains of IMR 4320, a CCI-250 large rifle magnum primer, the 150-grain Winchester jacketed soft point bullet I mentioned above, and an overall cartridge length of 3.600 inches. You won’t find this load in any of the newer reloading manuals, but I still have the manuals I used years ago, before all the latest and greatest gee-whiz propellants came out. That’s where I found this one. And wow, does it work! Check out the 100-yard groups on the targets below, and remember it was a cold and windy day when I shot these.

The inexpensive Bushnell on the Model 70 was at the end of its elevation adjustment range and the rifle still shot a little high at 100 yards. I shimmed the front of the scope up .010 inch, which should get me a foot lower on the target at 100 yards (if you do the math, each 0.005 gets you 6 inches at 100 yards). I should be in the scope’s adjustment range after shimming, but I haven’t fired it again to make sure. I’ll check it the next time I’m out there. Longer term, though, the Model 70 will get the scope it deserves (and that will be a Leupold).

Edit: I learned that the manufacturer has discontinued IMR 4320 propellant, so the bad news is that when I deplete the little bit of this wonderful powder I have left, I need to develop a new load (and I guess that’s also the good news, as it means I get to play around with developing a new accuracy load). I’ll probably start with IMR 4350, as my research indicates it’s the go to powder for .300 H&H. Nobody has 4350 in stock right now; hopefully, that will change soon.

One more update…on a subsequent trip to the range, the shims did the trick for the Model 70; the Bushnell scope can now be adjusted to put the shots right where I want them.

More fancy walnut: Check!
More accuracy loads: Check!
More gun stories: Check!

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John Wayne’s Weatherby

We were in Oklahoma last week and it was awesome. It was an opportunity to visit with a wonderful friend and see the sights. And folks, Oklahoma has them. One of our stops was the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. It’s an amazing place with a collection of Native American artifacts, rodeo trophies, art, sculpture, firearms, and more. The guns on display were impressive, and one of the firearms that caught my attention was John Wayne’s Weatherby.

I’ve always admired John Wayne, and I love Weatherby rifles. This particular rifle was of interest for several reasons, not the least of which was John Wayne’s connection to Weatherby. I remembered seeing John Wayne in Weatherby ads decades ago, and I knew he appeared in at least one of the magnificent Weatherby full color catalogs. I found the photo I remembered in my vintage Weatherby catalogs, but it didn’t show Mr. Wayne with this rifle. Then I did a search on “John Wayne’s Weatherby” hoping to find a photo showing him holding the rifle you see in the photo above, but I did not find it. Wayne appeared in several photos and advertisements, though, like the one you see here:

An early ad showing John Wayne with a Weatherby rifle. It’s not the rifle I saw in Oklahoma City.

The Weatherby in the Oklahoma City National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum was interesting from several perspectives beyond the fact that it belonged to John Wayne. Take a look:

This is very early Weatherby, built on a Mauser action. Weatherby used Mauser and other actions before he designed his proprietary Mark V action. Note the dark finish on this rifle.

Optional extrended checkering with a fleur de lis, skip line pattern. Note the scratches and dings; this rifle was not a safe queen. John Wayne rode this one hard!

Extra-cost fancier-than-stock checkering on the fore end. Some of the dark finish is worn away near the rosewood fore end tip. Did Wayne pay Weatherby to have a darker finish applied, did the rifle darken from too much oil over the years, or ???

A shot of the Mauser action and an early proprietary Weatherby four-power telescopic sight. Note that the windage and elevation turrets are in line on top of the scope, rather than today’s practice of placing elevation on the top and windage on the right of the scope barrel.

An ivory or maple stock inlay, darkened along with the rest of the stock. The inlay was almost certainly done in Weatherby’s custom rifle shop.

So there you have it: John Wayne’s Weatherby at the Oklahoma City National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. We enjoyed our time there, and I’ll add more photos from the Museum in subsequent blogs. If you’re in the area, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is a spot you won’t want to miss.

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A .30 06 Mk V Weatherby…

After a couple of months of not being able to shoot because the creek was too high, good buddy Greg and I were finally able to get out to the range this weekend. It was sorely-needed range time, and I brought along two rifles. One was the .375 H&H Safari Grade Remington you read about a few blogs down; the other was a very nice Weatherby Mk V you haven’t heard about yet. It’s the one you see in the photo above.

This particular rifle is a bit unusual. It’s a Mk V Weatherby (Weatherby’s top of the line bolt action rifle), but it’s not chambered in a Weatherby magnum cartridge. This is one of the very few rifles Weatherby has offered over the years in a standard chambering, and in this instance, it’s the mighty .30 06 Springfield. You’ve read about the .30 06 on these pages in earlier Tales of the Gun blogs. It’s one of the all-time great cartridges and it’s my personal all-time favorite.

So, back to the Weatherby. There were four things that made this rifle particularly attractive to me when I first spotted it on the rack in a local Turner’s gun store: The stock was finished in their satin oil finish (not the typical Weatherby high gloss urethane finish), the rifle had an original 3×9 Weatherby scope, the .30 06 chambering, and the price. It checked all the boxes for me. Those early Weatherby scopes are collectible in their own right. I like an oil finished stock. And the price…wow.

The Weatherby was something I knew I had to have the instant I saw it, and (get this) it was priced at only $750. This is a rig that today, new, would sell for somewhere around $2500.

The shop had this Weatherby on consignment at $750. It would have been a steal at that price; I got it for $650.

Pretty walnut on both sides. Weatherby builds a fine rifle.

Back in 2008, when the Great Recession was going full tilt and still gaining steam, there were fabulous firearms deals to be had if you knew what you wanted and you weren’t addicted to black plastic guns. Nope, none of that black plastic silliness here. For me, it’s all about elegant walnut and blue steel. I carried a black plastic rifle for a living a few decades ago. Been there, done that, don’t need any more of it.

When I spotted the Weatherby I asked the store manager about it. She told me it was a consignment gun, and when I asked if there was any room in the price (it’s a habit; I would have paid what they were asking), she asked me to make an offer. So I did. $650 had a nice ring to it, I thought.

“Let me call the owner,” the manager said. She disappeared and returned a few minutes later. “$650 is good.” Wow. I couldn’t believe I scored like this. I felt a bit guilty and asked her if I was taking advantage of the guy who had put it on consignment, and she told me not to worry. He needed the money, I needed the rifle, and the price was good for both of us.

The Weatherby had a few minor dings in the stock and the finish was a bit worn in a few places, but the metal was perfect. Because it was an oil finished stock, it was a simple matter to steel wool it down and add a few coats of TruOil, and the Weatherby was a brand new rifle again.

TruOil and fine walnut…a marriage made in Heaven. TruOil really brings out the grain. You can leave it glossy, or knock it down to a luxurious subdued satin finish with 0000 steel wool (which is what I did on this rifle).

I’ve shot this rifle quite a bit over the last 10 years and I knew it shot well, but I hadn’t recorded which load shot best. I had several loads I’ve developed for other .30 06 rifles over the last few decades (like I said above, it’s my favorite), and I grabbed three that have worked well in other rifles. The good news is the Weatherby isn’t fussy. It shot all three well. The bad news is…well, there isn’t any bad news. It’s all good.

A few favorite 30 06 loads developed for other rifles. They all worked well in the Weatherby, too, as you can see below.

The Weatherby did well with all three loads. All were fired at 100 yards. If you’re going to develop loads for your rifle, start lower than these and work up. These loads worked well in my rifle; you need to roll your own to learn what works well in your rifle.

The first load is one with a lighter bullet that has worked well on Texas jackrabbits in a single-shot Ruger No. 1. I found that load back in the 1970s when I spent entirely too much time chasing rabbits in the desert east of El Paso. It’s the 130 grain jacketed soft point Hornady with a max load (52.0 grains) of IMR 4320 powder. Yeah, the first two groups were larger than I would have liked, but don’t forget that I had not been on the rifle range for a couple of months. Folks think that shooting off a rest eliminates the human element, but it does not. I was getting my sea legs back with those first two groups. It’s the third group that tells the story here, and that one was a tiny 0.680 inches. If I worked on this load a bit and shot a bit more, this is a sub-minute-of-angle rifle.

The next load is the hog load I used in a Winchester Model 70 on our Arizona boar hunt last year. That one uses a 150 grain Hornady jacketed soft point with 48.0 grains of IMR 4320 powder. It shot well in the Model 70 and it shoots well in the Weatherby, too. The Weatherby averaged 1.401 inches at 100 yards with this load. The point of impact was about 3 inches lower than the 130 grain load described above.

The third and final load I tried this weekend was with a heavier 180 grain Remington jacketed soft point bullet. I had originally developed this as the accuracy load for an older Browning B-78 single shot rifle (I’ll have to do a blog on that one of these days; it, too, has stunning wood). This is a near max load (48.0 grains of IMR 4064 propellant) and with those heavier 180 grain bullets, recoil was attention-getting. But it was still tolerable, and the average group size hung right in there with the 150 gr load. It averaged 1.456 3-shot groups at 100 yards. Like they say, that’s close enough for government work. Another cool thing…the 180 grain load point of impact was the same height above point of aim as the 130 grain load, but the group centers were about three inches to the left of center.

There’s one last thing I wanted to share with you before signing off today. Good buddy Greg is an accuracy chaser like me. He was out there with his rifles this weekend trying a few of his loads. When I measure group size, I always use a caliper. Greg has an app on his iPhone (it’s called SubMOA and it’s free) that allows him to simply take a photo of the target and it computes group size and a bunch of other good data. I always wondered if the results from Greg’s iPhone app were as good as the real thing, so I asked him to take photos of two of my targets and tell me what the iPhone app felt the group sizes were. He did.

I measured this group size with a caliper and found it to be 0.680 inches; the SubMOA iPhone app clocked it at 0.640 inches. That’s a 0.04 inch difference, or 5.8%. That’s pretty close, I think.

I measured this group size to be 1.245 inches; SubMOA found it to be 1.200 inches. That’s a 0.045 inch difference, or 3.6%. In both cases, the SubMOA program found the group size to be smaller than my measurements.

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All spun up…a real hot tamale!

I experienced something recently I had heard and read about in years past, but I had never personally experienced. I’d been wanting a .257 Weatherby No. 1 ever since they became available. To understand what that means if you’re not a single-shot rifle aficionado like I am, I need to start with a bit of background.

Roy Weatherby was a southern California entrepreneur who developed a line of ultra-high-velocity rifle cartridges in the 1940s and beyond. Weatherby built a rifle company around his proprietary cartridges, and they are fine firearms. Roy has gone to his reward, and he was one hell of a man while he was with us. I met Weatherby in the early 1980s and I know of what I speak, but that’s a story for another time.

Next bit of information: Of the several cartridges that Mr. Weatherby developed, his personal favorite was the .257 Weatherby. It’s a very, very fast quarter-bore (a .25-caliber cartridge) that has a huge brass case holding a lot of propellant, which vents all its fury on that little bullet when, as they say, the hammer falls. The cartridge is wicked looking. The thing resembles a hypodermic needle, and if you’re shooter and a reloader like me, you get all gaga over such things. The .257 Weatherby has muzzle velocities approaching 4,000 feet per second. To put that in perspective, consider that the 5.56mm NATO round, the one used in the so-called assault rifles and our US Army M-16, is “only” a 3,100 fps cartridge. The .257 Weatherby is super fast. It’s the fastest .25-caliber cartridge there is. In that caliber, there’s nothing faster.

Next bit of gun info: One of the most desirable and beautiful rifles in the world is the Ruger No. 1. It’s a single-shot rifle, which means you load one round at time. When I hear my gun buddies get their shorts in a knot about the “gubmint” limiting us to 10-round magazines, I have to laugh. That’s nine more than a real rifleman needs. One shot, if you’re doing things right, is all it takes.

Next point…last year, Ruger offered their No. 1 single-shot rifle in a very limited run chambered for the .257 Weatherby cartridge. I love the Ruger No. 1 and I always wanted something in chambered for the .257 Weatherby cartridge. For me, it was a no-brainer. I had to have that rifle, and I finally found one (at a good price, and with nice wood). It’s the one you see in the photo at the top of this blog. It’s awesome. Circassian walnut with nice horizontal streaks, a 28-inch barrel, and chambered for the ultimate round. The stock looks good from both sides, too. Take a look…

The excitement with a new rifle like this (beyond the pride of ownership and the dreams of distant hunting trips) is developing a load that groups tightly. Usually, I can get a rifle to shoot into an inch at 100 yards with the right combination of powder, powder charge, bullet, primer, seating depth, and the other variables in cartridge development. It’s a mini-engineering development program, and finding the right recipe is a big part of the fun. Maybe someday I’ll do a blog on that, too.

So I started with my first load, which consisted of 87 gr Hornady bullets, and varying loads of IMR 4350 propellant (what most folks would call the gunpowder, but we reloaders call it propellant). The rifle was grouping okay (nothing great; I haven’t found the perfect load yet), when I got to the last load to be tested. It was a max load, which means it had the highest propellant charge I was testing that day.

None of the loads showed any pressure signs (like flattened primers or difficulty opening the action). That’s what you watch for, to make sure you don’t create loads with excessive pressure.

Even the max load seemed okay, but when I fired the first shot I saw from the hole it made on the target that it was tumbling. After firing the next four, two more tumbled and, not surprisingly, the group had opened up significantly.

It was a lousy load from an accuracy perspective, but here’s where we get to the “never seen this before” before part of the story.

Here’s what the target looked like…

Now, for the really interesting part. Check out the bullet hole at the 7:00 position…the one at the lower left (the target was mounted on its side).

Here’s a closeup of that bullet hole…

Check out the comet-like trail starting at the top of this bullet hole…

The dark roostertail you see above is the lead spraying out of the bullet’s copper jacket as the bullet disintegrated in flight. Some of the bullets disintegrated sooner and started tumbling before they hit the target. This one was breaking up as it went through the target!

Like I said, I had heard of this phenomenon before, but I never actually experienced it firsthand. The muzzle velocity, according to my reloading manual, was just under 4000 fps. Just for grins, I calculated the bullet rpm at that velocity, and by my reckoning, it works out to something approaching 300,000 rpm. That little puppy was spinning, and between the centrifugal forces the bullets were experiencing at that rpm and the aerodynamic heating at those speeds, they were breaking up in flight. That’s fast!

Interesting stuff, to be sure.

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