240 Weatherby Magnum advice

[Jevaughn]

Anyone have experience with the 240 Weatherby? Ever since my neck surgery I've been overly recoil sensitive. Customer I'm doing some custom carpentry work for is a big Weatherby guy, has quite a collection of them and after he and I were talking, he mentioned I should try the 240. He swears by the 257 and says the 240 is less recoil than that, and he hates getting kicked.
I didn't even know there was a 240, and my limited experience with Weatherby is with the larger calibers like the 300 and a 460.
He's going to send one home with me to try out along with some ammo and if I like it, keep it. He says it's an extra he has, and it's got a scope already.
I know ammo is expensive for anything Weatherby, but I reload and 243 cal pills are easy to come by, only issue might be sourcing the brass and finding a powder that works. But, heavier rifle, wood Monte Carlo stock, but that's all I know of the gun. Just looking for any input on what to expect.

 

[boatbum101]

243 on steroids , + 3 - 400fps . Overbore barrel burner , super flat trajectory . 100gr bullets for pronghorn / deer . Error on tougher side for slugs due to increased impact velocity . Cases are expensive & can't be formed from others . Set dies up to headspace on shoulder , not belt . Powders say W 760 / H414 on the fast end & say H 1000 / 7828 on the slow .

 

[Rebel_Rider1969]

Headshot, 223.

 

[Jevaughn]

243 on steroids , + 3 - 400fps . Overbore barrel burner , super flat trajectory . 100gr bullets for pronghorn / deer . Error on tougher side for slugs due to increased impact velocity . Cases are expensive & can't be formed from others . Set dies up to headspace on shoulder , not belt . Powders say W 760 / H414 on the fast end & say H 1000 / 7828 on the slow .

I'll get a few boxes of various Weatherby factory ammo in different grain projectiles along with it. That should give me plenty of brass for a hunting rifle as long as I don't end up struggling to develop a load. Not sure what the life of that brass is with annealing before each reload. As rarely as I get into the woods these past few years, 20-30 rounds can last me a long while. Based on what I've read about barrel life, it's definitely not going to be a range gun. I wouldn't even bother reloading for it except I like tinkering with loads

 

[Baddog 0302]

If you are worried about recoil ,research which brakes are ; 1.most effective in reducing felt recoil , and 2, which brakes produce the least noise at the rifle's action, close to where your ears are.

 

[Recondo 101]

I own a few 6.5s, might actually be a 6.5 kind a guy. The 240 Wetherby is really an answer looking for a question in these SE woods. You can load it down, but, why?
The 260 or 6.5x55 will do every thing you need to do in the SE woods. Even the 6.5x06 is way more than is really needed at SE normal ranges for hunting if you want a 6.5 caliber rifle.
The 260 with a good barrel and 120s will shoot .100 inch groups at 100 and based on the 308 is easy on the recoil and cheap to make and load for.

 

[boatbum101]

Is it a Mark V rifle ? If so recoil would be considered on the light side . Probably talkin' 8.5 - 9lbs w/ scope . Now that's in theory , recoil is extremely subjective . Problem is factory ammo will be full power , it is a Weatherby & velocity is king . Not an inexpensive caliber to shoot . Load yer own , reduced loads & save wear / tear on both you & gun . I'd imagine w/ not oversizing cases ie just enough to chamber .001 bump & moderate loads 5 - 6 X reloads would be reasonable . Factory level loads will reduce that + premium bullets because of extra m/v . Most bullets that size are made for lesser vel of the 243W & 6mmRem . FWIW , Weatherby factory ammo was loaded by Norma for many years .

 

[Jevaughn]

Is it a Mark V rifle ? If so recoil would be considered on the light side . Probably talkin' 8.5 - 9lbs w/ scope . Now that's in theory , recoil is extremely subjective . Problem is factory ammo will be full power , it is a Weatherby & velocity is king . Not an inexpensive caliber to shoot . Load yer own , reduced loads & save wear / tear on both you & gun . I'd imagine w/ not oversizing cases ie just enough to chamber .001 bump & moderate loads 5 - 6 X reloads would be reasonable . Factory level loads will reduce that + premium bullets because of extra m/v . Most bullets that size are made for lesser vel of the 243W & 6mmRem . FWIW , Weatherby factory ammo was loaded by Norma for many years .

Yeah, Mark V Deluxe, either Swarovski or Zeiss optic on it, if it follows with everything else he has. I haven't seen the exact rifle yet, just the extra one he had in the safe he opened that didn't have an optic on it yet. He said he had another one with an optic mounted and zeroed he'd clean up and send home with me to try out and keep if it worked out for me. Definitely a pleasant surprise and probably the single biggest value 'tip' I've ever gotten for work performed. Long time, repeat customer who I've done a lot of other work for over the years, super nice guy, wealthy, but also very down to earth. I'm excited to at least try it out, and yeah I've been doing some research on loading for it, hardest thing to source is the brass and I'll get some factory ammo to test out so I'll have some brass from that.
Any tricks to sizing belted cases? This will definitely be my first attempt at doing so once I find dies for it.