Author Topic: 240 Weatherby straight  (Read 1878 times)

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Offline Nobade

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240 Weatherby straight
« on: October 08, 2007, 01:32:00 AM »
In an effort to get the biggest bullet possible in a standard bolt face Remington, I've been thinking about using the 240 Weatherby case blown out straight to make a .416. Does anybody know if this has been done before? I don't want to reinvent the wheel if reamers are available under some other name. It should work pretty well, being able to headspace on the belt and performance should be in the neighborhood of the 450 Marlin since it'll be a little skinnier and a little longer.
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Offline Graybeard

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2007, 02:06:18 AM »
Would that make a .416" or a .429"?

The .240 Weatherby is merely the .30-06 case with a belt. The .444 Marlin case is merely a slightly shortened '06 with a rim rather than rimless. I'd think if you blow it out straight it would take .429" bullets rather than .416". Least wise that's what I "think" I recall.


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Offline Nobade

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2007, 01:05:04 PM »
Yep, you could possibly get .429" bullets in it, I'm not sure. It's only .452 or so in front of the belt - a little smaller than an '06 case. But I wouldn't want to do that since there aren't any (or at least many) good .429" rifle bullets available, but lots of .416" ones. And RCBS makes a dandy .416 mould.
"Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I'll break the lever."

Offline Mikey

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2007, 02:20:14 AM »
I think one of our members blew out his 06 cases to make a rimless 444 using 429-430 diameter bullets - think he used a M48 Mauser action for this project.  Last I heard he was enjoying his project and using heavy bullets, 300 grains and heavier and both he and the rifle loved it.  Mikey.

Offline jedman

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2007, 06:17:17 AM »
I believe the .416 bullet would be your best choice if you are thinking of cutting off the case at the shoulder for a case length of around 2.00".         Jedman
Current handi family, 24 ga./ 58 cal ,50-70,  45 smokeless MZ, 44 belted bodeen, 44 mag,.375 H&R (wildcat),375 Win.,357 max, .340 MF ( wildcat ), 8 mm Lebel, 8x57, .303 British, 270 x 57 R,(wildcat) 256 Win Mag, 2 x 243 Win,2 x 223 Rem. 7-30 Waters &20ga.,

Offline BS

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2007, 03:53:53 AM »
I used a .411 bullet and shorted the case to run thru a short action.[pistol]

It can be seen at:

http://webpages.charter.net/fam-strick/web/hunt.htm

I made my own dies, then bought and reworked a set of Hornady .405 Win......they work fine.

With a 14.5" barrel it is about equal to a .358 Winchester for bullet weight and vellosity.

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Offline Lone Star

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2007, 07:54:45 AM »
Several friends in Alaska did pretty much the same thing in the 80s but with a slight neck on the case.  They wanted to duplicate the .400 Whelen but with a belt to eliminate headspace issues.  As I recall they built three riflles and succeeded in killing moose, caribou and bear.

.

Offline BS

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Re: 240 Weatherby straight
« Reply #7 on: November 15, 2007, 03:12:20 PM »
Speaking of head-space off the neck......I turned the belts down to .215 and set the belt head-space to .217 instead of the standard .220.  I checked about 100 belts and found they run up-to .005 under......that is how I came up with the .215.

Opening day for whitetail here in MI.......and I just added a 8pt. to the list of one shot kills with the .41..........100yd shot, quartering away............broke the far shoulder but did not exit.......300 grain Hornady SP at 2100 fps [muzzle]..........bullet recovery tomorrow!

The reason to go with a .411 is the cost of bullets....................Midway has Blems for $11 per box...........$16-19 reg price. Use 41 cal pistol bullet for plinkers, just slow them down to 2100fps and the shoot fair. I also have shot Hawk bullets........the 300 .035 jacket shoot great...............but cost $36 for 50.  No custom dies, just use .405 Win.

Most 416 ammo is made for higher velocity.....................you might get 2300 with a 300 grain in a 22" barrel........I have shot .416 with 300 grain Hawks and a  .035 jacket out of my custom 40-90 at 2500fps with superb accuracy......[three shots under 1/4"] at 100 yds from the bench.....................$37 a box...........If you load longer bullets, the powder capacity goes down.
The key is to find a the right bullet.
http://www.hawkbullets.com/

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