257 Magnum In Weatherby Vanguard

[mullthing]

Any opinions or experience on this rifle in a stainless synthetic?

[Lloyd Smale]

I had an older stainless gun. Bore was rough and it fouled in 10 shots to the point it wouldn't shoot even 2 inch groups. If I cleaned it after every 5 shots it would shoot great. Sold it and bought a cdl rem 257. I heard the newer vanguard 2s are much better guns. I know one guy shooting one that claims his is moa but ive never personaly saw him do it and hes a bit of a bragger.

[MJR007]

With the short barrel you would be better off with the 25-06, cheaper, less noise, and about the same vel. If the rifle came with a 26" barrel it would be different.

[brtelec]

I have to agree with MJR007. With a barrel shorter than 26" you do not reap the full benifits of a 257 WM or any of the Weatherby cartridges. I have been accumulating Weatherby rifles for the the better part of 30 years and have owned almost all the calibers at one time or another. The 257 WM is by far my favorite.

[Lloyd Smale]

got to argue that one. My 24 inch vanguard consistently did about a 100 fps faster then my 26 inch #1 2506 and 200 faster then my 24 inch custom 2406 bolt gun and is within a 100 fps of my 26 inch cdl 257. Ive heard the same with others that had 257 vanguards. Might not be true of all 257s but it sure makes a 24 inch barrel a non deal breaker for me. To me its about as silly as claiming a 2506 is useless with anything short then a 22 inch barrel when you see about every 270, 243, 6mm, 280 ect sold with 22 inch barrels. Theres nothing majic about a 2506.

[725]

Shot my buddies .257 WM. The noise and recoil wasn't worth the 100 - 200 fps increase for me. That's just me, however. Bought a .25-06 off a board member here and absolutely love it. Loud, for sure, but recoil is negligible and I expect less barrel erosion down the road. YMMV, of course.

[MarkP]

I have a 257 WM with a 30" bbl it was a full 200 fps over published data. I built it several years ago for a long range prairie dog rifle. At 17 lbs I found it to be too heavy to carry out into the fields with my other rifles and equipment. The impact of a 87 gr @ 3,900 fps was like a bomb.

The Rem 700 fluted stainless rifles in 257 WM would be a very nice setup.

[Lloyd Smale]

I don't notice any real difference in noise between them. There both plenty quiet with ear protection and they will both ring your ears without it.

Shot my buddies .257 WM. The noise and recoil wasn't worth the 100 - 200 fps increase for me. That's just me, however. Bought a .25-06 off a board member here and absolutely love it. Loud, for sure, but recoil is negligible and I expect less barrel erosion down the road. YMMV, of course.

[Lloyd Smale]

mark I have one of those remingtons and its a real sweetheart of a rifle.

I have a 257 WM with a 30" bbl it was a full 200 fps over published data. I built it several years ago for a long range prairie dog rifle. At 17 lbs I found it to be too heavy to carry out into the fields with my other rifles and equipment. The impact of a 87 gr @ 3,900 fps was like a bomb.

The Rem 700 fluted stainless rifles in 257 WM would be a very nice setup.

[dk17hmr]

I have been a 25 caliber fanboy since I was 16 and bought a 25-06. Currently have a 25-223, 25-06, & 257 weatherby.....non of which are vanguard rifles. The 257 is an excellent hunting round and honestly if I had the Remington cdl in that caliber I wouldn't need anything else. My 257 is custom built long range rig not a hunting rifle.
I did have a weatherby vanguard in 338 win mag for a while, I didn't care for how the rifle carried but it was an excellent hunting rifle. I'm not big on the weatherby style of stock. Action was one of the smoothest I have felt, including my several custom actions. From the bench my 338 was a 1" rifle no matter what load I ran through it. I only ever killed one animal with it, a cow elk at 459 yards, one through the chest and she went down. I did stretch it out to 800 yards a couple times and was rather impressed for a production rifle.