with out a dought- the 257 weatherby is the best all around cal. from ground hogs to elk it will do it all. why waste your money on anything else?
Because there are so many options that are better choices?
A .257 Wby will take small varmints but it burns too much powder and has too much recoil for a heavy day at dog town. That is .223 territory. At best a .257 Weatherby makes a good choice for occasional varmints at extreme ranges.
For elk-sized critters the .257 Wby is limited at most to bullets running 120g. While a lot of elk have fallen to various .25’s, my opinion is the 6mm’s and .25’s are on the smallish side for elk. This even though I’ve seen a 6x6 bull that was dropped in its tracks. The problem I have is not with what happens when things go right as it is with what happens when things go wrong. My preference is towards fatter and heavier bullets for elk.
The .257 Wby is a flat shooter and makes an excellent choice for long range antelope, deer and sheep. The truth, however, is that most such game is taken at ranges where the flat shooting characteristics of the .257 Wby make little difference. In other words, for most purposes a .25-06 or even a .257 Roberts is just fine.
I’m not a big believer in having a “one gun battery” even though for over 20 years my only bolt rifle was a 7mm Rem Mag that I used to take prairie dogs to elk. These days I have a heavy barrel .22-250 for dog town and multiple rifles in the 7mm and up bore size. The 7mm Rem Mag and 160g bullets have been my most used rifle for elk and it has never let me down. Frankly, for elk I would choose my 7mm Rem Mag, my .308 Win, one of my .30-06s or my .300 Win Mag before I would choose a .257 Wby.
My favorite rifle is my .257 Roberts, however, and consider its 22” barrel a perfect match for a .25 caliber. With 75g V-Max it is an excellent long range p-dog riifle, easy on the shoulder, easy on powder consumption, and recoil is light enough you can often see the hits or misses. With 100g TTSX at +P velocities (3200+ fps) or 110g AccuBonds (3150+ fps),it makes a heck of a choice for antelope and deer sized game. When I take it on combined mule deer/elk hunts it gets loaded with 120g A-Frames running a smidge under 2950fps. While I don’t hunt elk with it specifically, if a good opportunity arises and it is what is in my hand, chances are I’ll take a shot.
.257 Weatherby? No thanks. I’ll stick to my 7mm Rem Mag and up for elk and for less I much prefer the Roberts – or even a standard .25-06.
