.340 wby mag

[Aussie steve]

Hi Guys I'm new here but I cant help but wonder if there is something wrong with the .340 Weatherby magnum. I own a Mark V deluxe .340 and it is a far better round than the .338 Winchester that I traded in to get it. I can shoot both the 225 grain Hornady sp and the 225 grain TSX at 3100 fps and get close to 1'' three shot groups at 100 yards from a factory standard rifle. However it never seems to rate a mention in hunting forums, it's always .338 Win mag ,.300 weatherby, .300 Win mag, even the 8mm Remington gets more of a mention along with the other bigger .338 cals,  and I was just curious why, as it seems to me to be quiet an underrated but effective round
Cheers
Steve

[charles p]

I would assume it appeals to elk and bear hunters mostly.  Never shot one personally.

[drdougrx]

Welcome.

Cost I expect.  I have a 375HH and decided it would be used when my 300win was inadequate.  The 340 is clearly ballistically superior to the 338 and probably just as good as the 375 in most instances, but, it's kind of exotic for most tastes.  I'd buy one if I saw one a a descent price.

[Aussie steve]

As I said it just seems as if everybody has forgotten about the .340. Its harder to find good loading data for off the web though with some persistence it can be found, but info for the .338 win mag, the .338 Rem Ultra mag the .338-06/.338 A square and the .338 Federal abounds. As stated it far out performs the .338 win mag by more than the 100 fps that the reloading manuals give it so I thought it would be quiet popular over in the US. Its practically unknown here in Oz, where I am using it on Sambar deer(not quiet as big as elk, though the worlds 2nd largest deer), and it does as good a job as the .375 H&H.
As I said was just curious if there had been a fault with it somewhere along the line, like the .244 Remington that has hampered sales and popularity. Though being a good cartridge is no guarantee of everlasting popularity, the poor ol' .222 is an example of that.
Cheers
Steve

[nomosendero]

Yes, the popularity of a round does not by itself tell you how good a round is. The 6mmRem is a better round by most comparisons than a 243, but marketing/twist & timing was out of whack for the 6mm. Other examples are numerious indeed. I f you like the round & have plenty of ammo or components, what others thing is not an issue.

[tuck2]

I have only used my .340 Wby Mag to shoot elk.  I reloaded the Hornady 225 Gr bullet with Re 22 powder in Wby case primed with Rem 9 1/2 primers.  I first shot elk with a 270 Winchester , then a 308 Norma Mag. Now all I would take is the 340 Wby but it is a bit more gun than I need.

[Aussie steve]

Hi truck2 that's exactly the load I use, I have also found that I can substitute the Hornady bullet for a Barnes TSX and get the same velocity and very close to the same POI.
Steve

[jdt48653]

hay aussie steve,if it will make you feel any better,i have a 300whby mag id be willing to forfit
for that ol 340 ugly duckling!maybe thro in a 10 ga nef to boot?

[bud340]

I bought a 340 and 100 empty brass about 1980 and used it for all my shooting needs until 2 years ago when bought a # 1 in a .375 H&H.  The only problem I had was the stock broke under recoil.  I believe the dry climate here in Alberta shrunk the stock and it became loose and broke.  Weatherby were accommodating I sent them $475.00 and they sent me a good fiber stock.  About 75 % of the bluing is worn off the barrel and the stock has several beauty marks now but it still is very accurate.  The only lead it likes is Sierra Kameking 250 gr. at about 2750 fps-- 5/8 to 1 inch.  My Son claims the rifle now but if he didn't the brand new shinny stainless tropical with the composite stock .375 H&H would be sitting in the safe.  Oh yes because the lead only travels at 2750 it is very gentle on the brass.  I am still using the original 100 and have lost count long ago how many times they have been reloaded.  I like the .340

[Brithunter]

The only problem I had was the stock broke under recoil.  I believe the dry climate here in Alberta shrunk the stock and it became loose and broke.  Weatherby were accommodating I sent them $475.00 and they sent me a good fiber stock

    No the stock broke for several preventable reasons:-

1) The wood was not cured properly, they obviously used rubbish Kiln Dried stuff and charged top doller for it no doubt. Then it was not sealed.

2) The inletting and bedding was not done properly.

3) The owner/user didn't noting the movement or didn't check the screws for tightness.

    Yep Weatherby were nice to you they only charged you $475 for a piece of plastic which only cost about $10 to make, very nice folks there.

    Now before you ask ........................... no I do not own any Weatherby's and it's very ......................... VERY unlikely that I ever will. Having fired a few including a .460 Mkv I was not impressed and in fact have only seen two that even raised slight interst in me. One of those was not really a Weateherby being a Vanguard deluxe which was a very handsome rifle and seemes to shoot well too, the other was a .257 Weatherby which looked very nice but it would not shoot well due to a stupid owner who ruined the bore. The chambering would also be of no use to me even if hand-loaded. Roy was a wonderful sales man but I don't rate his cartridges at all.

[lgm270]

ON paper the 340 is a great round, but in my experience a little to much of a good thing.  The 338 Win is as much pounding as i can take. My compliments to hearty souls who can handle the 340. 

[Aussie steve]

Well there is certainly some different idea's about the .340 wby mag. I agree it is quiet hefty in the recoil department, but not near as attention grabbing as my .416 Rigby when stocked! Its interesting just to hear what other people think of it and its game getting abilities.
Cheers
Steve

[300S+W]

                                       
                         It's probably like the .30-06,SO good it's boring!

             

[Aussie steve]

Thanks guys for the opinion's
Steve.

[corbanzo]

Weatherby may have caused part of the overshadowing themselves.  I know that most gun stores I have been in you can find lots of 338 win mag ammo, not much .340weatherby, but one thing you do see around here is the .338-378 weatherby.

I would say that most shooters think that if there are going to step up to the cost of the weatherby, why not just go for the 338-378? 

[Drilling Man]

  When i was heavy into hunting brown bears i bought a 340 Wby...  The gun was a tank to pack around...  And in order to get the higher balistics it required a 26" bbl that's too long to take in the alders where the bears like to hang out...  The ammo is insanely expensive and a total rip off, especially considering the poor quality Wby. brass...  I just hated the recoil and muzzle blast BUT, the straw that broke the camels back was, it's the "only" rifle in my entire hunting career that failed in the field!!! Thank God it was on a moose and not on a follow up on a big bear!

  DM

[lgm270]

  When i was heavy into hunting brown bears i bought a 340 Wby...  The gun was a tank to pack around...  And in order to get the higher balistics it required a 26" bbl that's too long to take in the alders where the bears like to hang out...  The ammo is insanely expensive and a total rip off, especially considering the poor quality Wby. brass...  I just hated the recoil and muzzle blast BUT, the straw that broke the camels back was, it's the "only" rifle in my entire hunting career that failed in the field!!! Thank God it was on a moose and not on a follow up on a big bear!

  DM

As usual a great post, Drilling Man.  Your first hand experience confirms  my own suspicions about a  lot of the Weatherby hype.    I would be interested in hearing more about the failure of this rifle.

[Drilling Man]

  When i was heavy into hunting brown bears i bought a 340 Wby...  The gun was a tank to pack around...  And in order to get the higher balistics it required a 26" bbl that's too long to take in the alders where the bears like to hang out...  The ammo is insanely expensive and a total rip off, especially considering the poor quality Wby. brass...  I just hated the recoil and muzzle blast BUT, the straw that broke the camels back was, it's the "only" rifle in my entire hunting career that failed in the field!!! Thank God it was on a moose and not on a follow up on a big bear!

  DM

As usual a great post, Drilling Man.  Your first hand experience confirms  my own suspicions about a  lot of the Weatherby hype.    I would be interested in hearing more about the failure of this rifle.

  The short story is...  I fired the gun at a moose and when i bolted it, the bolt stop broke, and the bolt came out of the gun in my hand.  I fumbled around and got it back in, but at close quarters on dangerous game, that would not be fun...

  I knew another guy that lost the bolt out of his gun when he opened the bolt and climbed a rocky section on a mountain.  When he got to the top, his bolt was gone, never to be found...  Now, i would never have opened the bolt like that, but then again Wby. sure shouldn't have had the problem in the first place...

  I noticed in later rifles than mine, the bolt stop problem was fixed...

  DM

[Aussie steve]

Hi drilling Man, are you able to tell me the approximate age of that rifle? I don't want that happening to me even though I wouldn't point my .340 at anything dangerous. A bolt coming all the way out in your hand has got to be a worry.

As for the cost of the ammo, I use winnie .375 H&H brass, which is quiet cheap here in Oz, I fire form the cases with a light load of pistol powder and a chunk of pumpkin. I guess what I am trying to say is to my way of thinking the .340 wby is probably the best and most balanced .338 magnum round available. It can easily beat anything the .338 Winchester can do, with only 15 or so extra grains of powder, and from looking at my loading manuals its pretty close to the big .338 RUM and .338-378 wby which burn well over 100 grains of powder, and hence it recoils less, and wont burn the barrel out sighting it in.

Like I said it just always seems to be over looked for other .338 cals, so maybe its just a Weatherby thing?

Steve

[Drilling Man]

  Steve,

  The 340 i had would be over 20 yrs old by now, but if i had a Wby, i'd take the bolt out and look at the bolt stop.  The one in my gun wasn't "full diameter" it's entire length, and it broke off in a narrow section.  The one i put back in it, was full diameter...  I don't know how that one stood up, as i never took that gun in the bush again, i sold it...

  I fire formed my own brass too  BUT!  Wby brass is thinner and holds more powder.  My chronograph showed me that with FF brass you couldn't get as high of MV "without" upping the pressures above what Wby. brass wound have given.  Then cut the bbl length back to 24" and all you have is a good .338 Win. Mag. with more recoil and muzzle blast..at least that's how mine was...

  Of course, some guys hunt in the open and don't care if they are packing an artillery piece...and have to have every last fps at all cost...and that's ok, just not for me.

  DM

[Aussie steve]

Hi Drilling man, I have just checked my bolt stop, and it seems not to suffer from the same fault as yours.  Your right though if I was hunting deer over the dogs in rough country I'll take my .270 mountain rifle. But when stalking what I hit I want to stay hit.           Our Sambar deer arnt quiet as big as elk but they can be notoriously hard to put down. Not trying to sound like some guys who get a pet caliber and cant see others may do the job as well or better, nor am I trying to force my shooting style onto anybody else, just looking to learn some. Thanks for the info about the bolt
Cheers
Steve

[lgm270]

Hi drilling Man, are you able to tell me the approximate age of that rifle? I don't want that happening to me even though I wouldn't point my .340 at anything dangerous. A bolt coming all the way out in your hand has got to be a worry.

As for the cost of the ammo, I use winnie .375 H&H brass, which is quiet cheap here in Oz, I fire form the cases with a light load of pistol powder and a chunk of pumpkin. I guess what I am trying to say is to my way of thinking the .340 wby is probably the best and most balanced .338 magnum round available. It can easily beat anything the .338 Winchester can do, with only 15 or so extra grains of powder, and from looking at my loading manuals its pretty close to the big .338 RUM and .338-378 wby which burn well over 100 grains of powder, and hence it recoils less, and wont burn the barrel out sighting it in.

Like I said it just always seems to be over looked for other .338 cals, so maybe its just a Weatherby thing?

Steve

HI Steve. Really enjoyed your post.  A famous gun writer Ross Seyfried was a great fan of the .340 Wby and touted it as the ideal "all around" rifle, when loaded with 250 Grain Nosler partitions  and 250 Grain solids, as needed.  He was getting about 2,950 fps and said it was a great go everywhere shoot everything load in that you didn't need a wide range of bullet weights. Obviously he did not contemplate using the 340 for "varmints" but as a big game round.    I agree with your assessment of the .340 as probably the best balanced .338 cal rifle.  I wanted a .340 and planned to rechamber my .338 Win (on a full length M-70 action), but the pounding of the 338 Win Mag (long throated to seat 250 Grain Noslers with the bullet base seated flush with the case neck at 2,800 fps)  was as much as I could endure and I don't think another 100 fps would have been worth the effort.

I would enjoy hearing  some hunting stories about your .340 Wby if you are willing to share them. 

   

[Aussie steve]

Hi Igm270, I'd be happy to put up some hunting stories about the .340. I will be chasing after some deer soon and with any luck the .340 and I will get a bit of the action. I have only loaded mine with 225 grain X bullets as apparently some ppl over here were having trouble with the 250's in .338 win mags not opening up quick enough. The extra velocity of the .340 would probably make expansion reliable, but I thought I'd play safe and drop down a bullet weight.
Cheers
Steve

[lgm270]

Good luck Steve.  I look forward to hearing about your downunder hunting experiences with the .340. 

[swifty22]

Hi all, I see its been a year and a half since the last above so I'll chime in. My 1980's 340 WM is a single shot on a Savage 110 (orig. a 7mm Rem Mag) with a 26" Douglas #4, the stock is a direct pentagraph copy of my 375 H&H Win Super Express w/a Decerator pad, 16oz mercury recoil reducer in the butt and the barrel Integra-Ported (It really kicked before the mercury and the porting as it only weighed 8.5#. Right now it has my fixed 12x Leupold (hunting scope is a straight 6X Leupold) as I was shooting some ground squirrels w/some old ammo (225 Horn SP-85gr H4831).  I have never shot anything really needing this much horsepower but I have killed several WT deer, Antelope (really good plains rifle), Black Bear and several Coyotes, Skunks ect. All of my largest WT have been w/it mostly cause I use it the last couple days of the season in what the WA St. game dept. calls "late buck" but is actually before the rut and Thanksgiving. The last day of the season this year is Nov. 20. Anyway I've used 180 NBT, 175 original Barnes "X", 200 Speer, 200 Horn., 200 NBT, 225 Horn, 225 NPT, 250 NPT, 225 orig Barnes "X", 250 Horn RN, 250 Barnes Original SP spitzer's (.049 jackets, I found 3 boxes at a pawn shop), 250 Barnes original "X" the 275 Speer and an LBT 270 LFN cast.. The last couple of years I have used the LBT cast, 250 barnes original and the 250 NPT for deer as they seem to be the easiest on the eaten' parts. The absolute worst are the NBT (original soft ones) and the lighter Speer and especially Hornady's. I shot a 4x5 WT a few years back running at about 225 yards and hit it in the spine above the diaphram quartering away. Deer went down and I had to use a finisher (hard cast LBT LFN w/15 gr unique at the base of the skull) but when I skinned it the Hornady jacket was still in the spine about 2" in.
The 200 Horn. SP simply removes the back side of a Coyote as does the Speer. The Barnes Origl 250 SP (85 gr H4831) on a 3x4 facing me slightly turned right at 85 yds went in the front left of the chest and out the right hindquarter w/a simple 3/4" hole for the full 31" (wished I could have found that bullet).  I hunt with several rifles including a 6mm/Swift, 260 Rem, 7x57, 308, 06, 8 x 57, 338-06 (using Speer 250 Grand Slam-great game load to 250 yards), 9x57, 35 Rem, 375-06 Ackley and the 375 H&H but when it comes to puting them in the freezer I always get the 340 out. I expect when the barrel is well and truly burned out I'll have Delta Gun Shop/Clearwater Reboring rebore to a 375 Weatherby, nuthin but a bigger hole and I'll still use 340Wby/375 HH/8 mag/300 Wby cases for it to. -Muddy from NE Wa.

[yooper77]

As stated it far out performs the .338 win mag by more than the 100 fps that the reloading manuals give it so I thought it would be quiet popular over in the US.

Wow, faster doesn’t automatically equal better.  Just because the 340 Weatherby Magnum shoots faster than the 338 Win Mag, doesn’t mean it out performs it.

I have always wanted a 338 caliber rifle, but I didn’t want a belted magnum case, so I purchased a Weatherby Mark V Ultra Lightweight 338-06 A-Square.  Here I have a standard 30-06 Springfield necked up to 338 caliber all wrapped up in a 7 lb rifle with a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40 scope installed.  I haven’t reloaded for it yet since it just received it, but I am going to try 180 to 225 grain bullets to see how it performs.

yooper77

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

   Have had a /340 for several years now. So far it has only taken 2 elk and a very nice whitetail buck. Plus some coyotes. I like the .340 far better than the .338. I have a 375 H & H also, but to me the .340 has all the .375 has to offer plus good long range capabilities. One of the handicaps of the .340 was early Wea. brass was very soft, and did not permit loading to top pressures this is according to and old article by Bob Hagel. When he used good hard Win 375 brass, he was able to load the 340 into a star performer. I guess unless one is very well supplied with cash, reloading would be a must.....

[jro45]

I have the 338 RUM. That rifle will shoot those bullets really fast also. I've shot a big black bear with it but couldn't find it the next day.