My new rifle and position on "which deer gun should I get"

[lewdogg21]

I got a 257 Weatherby for my birthday so from now on the only acceptable answer to "what gun should I get for deer" is going to be "A 257 Weatherby".


All of you who say otherwise, well Kest made me a "secret mod" and I will just delete your posts.

FWIW 224 Weatherby mag is the ideal deer gun for North America. It's a weatherby and it's the closest we can get to 223.

Carry on calgunners!

[jmonte35]

I got a 257 Weatherby for my birthday so from now on the only acceptable answer to "what gun should I get for deer" is going to be "A 257 Weatherby".


All of you who say otherwise, well Kest made me a "secret mod" and I will just delete your posts.

FWIW 224 Weatherby mag is the ideal deer gun for North America. It's a weatherby and it's the closest we can get to 223.

Carry on calgunners!

I've wanted a Roberts or weatherby for so long....jealous man. Perfect Deer gun IMO.

[MJB]

Seen elk go down with that gun......good choice

[Don@Tahoe]

Doesn't that rifle and caliber have an association to it? Kinda like the Porsche Boxster being a chicks car.....

[Toptuna]

Always wanted one of
Those.

[chicoredneck]

Very nice. What rifle specifically?

[lewdogg21]

I've wanted a Roberts or weatherby for so long....jealous man. Perfect Deer gun IMO.

Thanks! My Dad took 5 deer with it last year and years ago I traded him a 257 AI for a 270 Vanguard so I've really been missing that 25 caliber for about 5 years now.

Doesn't that rifle and caliber have an association to it? Kinda like the Porsche Boxster being a chicks car.....

So is it wrong that I got the stock inlay colored pink? Don't worry. I'll be that guy with all Sitka gear on the day of our calguns D5 hunt. It will be so new I'll have to cut the tags off while we are glassing at daylight.

Very nice. What rifle specifically?

The vanguard S2. Same as my dad has so I'll try out what he reloads for his and hopefully both of them like the same loads. Basically he uses the 100 grain TTSX for hunting. It's extremely accurate in his rifle.

I'm going to try a Bushnell Elite 3x9x40 on it. If that doesn't give me enough eye relief I have a new VX-1 3x9x40 to use.

[Annonymous]

For someone who doesn't reload, what kind of ammo availability and bullet selection is there for calibers like these? Besides online, would I be out of luck if I had to pick up a box at a gun shop?

[lewdogg21]

For someone who doesn't reload, what kind of ammo availability and bullet selection is there for calibers like these? Besides online, would I be out of luck if I had to pick up a box at a gun shop?

I typically only go to sportsmens warehouse and it's pretty good. You can go with the sierra softpoints which would probably work fine for CA deer. IIRC they are $39.99 a box of 20. The TTSX in 120 grain are like $79. I think the 100 grain TTSX are like $50 or $60.

Really the key is once you find a load that works buy like 3-4 boxes of it. Then you aren't at wallyworld the night before the opener.

Over at 24 hour campfire there is a thread about a guy who took a kodiak bear with an 80 grain ttsx. I haven't read it yet and don't advocate that but it's probably an interesting read.

[180ls1]

For someone who doesn't reload, what kind of ammo availability and bullet selection is there for calibers like these? Besides online, would I be out of luck if I had to pick up a box at a gun shop?

If you dont reload its not a gun for you.

[zio707]

Well Happy Birthday Lew, hope you break it in on a nice one this year.

[jmonte35]

If you dont reload its not a gun for you.

That's really not accurate. The same could be said about any gun. My father-in-laws .257 is phenomenal. Accurate with any garbage round you put in it. I've only seen a handful of rifles like that but some will shoot anything accurately. Either way once you find the round that works just buy a bulk purchase. Even my .300 win mag I have a stock of bullets for. I love the federal fusions and you can't find them every where.

If you are even a halfway decent planner you will be fine with any "off-brand" caliber. Most guys that shoot a .257 aren't target shooting much it wouldn't make sense to buy the gun for that reason. But for the average hunter who will shoot <100 rounds annually it is a fine round.

[NytWolf]

If you dont reload its not a gun for you.

That's a misnomer.

Reloading makes sense when you shoot a lot. A 257 Weatherby Magnum is a barrel burner (if you believe that). Counter-intuitive.

I don't reload and I hunt with my 257 WM. Doing the math, I break even at about 1000 rounds. Even with zeroing my rifle, I shoot about 20 rounds per year. That is 50 years. Should I reload? No.

[Divernhunter]

I have that rifle/cartridge. I also have a 25-06 and 257Roberts.
If you want any reloading data I have done quite a bit shooting over the chrono for speed and accuracy. PM me if you want it. For most of it I also have the target cut outs of the groups.
When using TTSX bullets I plan to use 80gr but I think I have test data for 100gr. I also have data for 100/115/120gr Nosler PAR. I have data for 100/120gr Swift A-Frame and I believe 100gr Sirocco. I strongly do not recommend using Nosler BT bullets in that cartridge from experience with pronghorns.

[180ls1]

That's really not accurate. The same could be said about any gun. My father-in-laws .257 is phenomenal. Accurate with any garbage round you put in it. I've only seen a handful of rifles like that but some will shoot anything accurately. Either way once you find the round that works just buy a bulk purchase. Even my .300 win mag I have a stock of bullets for. I love the federal fusions and you can't find them every where.

If you are even a halfway decent planner you will be fine with any "off-brand" caliber. Most guys that shoot a .257 aren't target shooting much it wouldn't make sense to buy the gun for that reason. But for the average hunter who will shoot <100 rounds annually it is a fine round.

Yeah i see your point but for that guy specifically i stand by my statement. I see he lives on the edge of the condor zone and we all have to worry about going lead free in the future i feel there are better choices out there.

Can you make it work? Absolutely.