Thread: Weathered Weatherby WSM woad devewopment

Well kicked off load development for the Weathered Weatherby WSM today.
Started by checking my jam measurement.....threw that out the window as the jam is much longer than both the magazine and longer than the action can eject without removing the bolt
Anyway not the end of the world the 145gn eldx never seemed to mind a bit of jump.
So I have started just shy of mag length which is still longer than SAAMI spec anyway which is handy as I'm picking it'll be a compressed load of 2225 adi powder anyways.
SAAMI spec is 2.785" C.O.L mine are loaded to a C.O.L of 2.840" which gives an ogive measurement of 2.241" as per below pic.
I have loaded a small charge ladder of 3 different weights starting at 70.5 going up to 71.5gn just to see where things are at (who knows I might get lucky 71.5 was my go to load in my old 270wsm).
Running Federal brass this time so will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
Loving the new chargemaster link and the frankford arsenal co-ax press is proving to be very consistent.

Well made it to the range today to test my initial charge weight ladder.
I got some surprising results

70.5gn: 3111fps, 3110fps, 3113fps S.D: 1.4 fps
71gn: 3137fps, 3148fps, 3135fps S.D: 7 fps
71.5gn: 3146fps, 3164fps, 3183fps S.D: 23.6 fps

The seating depth will need tweaking as the lowest S.D grouped the worst grouping

70.5gn= 1.95" 3 shot group
71gn= 0.5" 3 shot group but only 2 shots on paper as my mates dog jumped on me as I was taking the shot

71.5gn= 0.79" 3 shot group which is OK but by far the highest S.D

Notably it shoots the federal blue box 130gn factory ammo OK 1" 3 shot group at 100y.

I'm gonna do a wee seating depth ladder with the 70.5gn load see if I can't tune it to shoot tighter groups, I'm not totally unconvinced that the first group was the worst because it was the first group I shot with the rifle.
I guess the seating ladder will tell
Hoping not to burn through too many components sorting a load for this so fingers crossed

All in all I'm very happy with the velocity, it seems to shoot faster than my old Sako for the same charge weight.



70.5gn group



71gn group



71.5gn group




Also of note the scope is definitely gonna need to change, the old bushnell AR 4.5-18 is not amazing in clarity or eye relief at full magnification

Try setting seating die via the blue box just for shots n giggles. Might give good/better place to start..maybe

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Try setting seating die via the blue box just for shots n giggles. Might give good/better place to start..maybe

Different projectile 130gn sp vs 145gn eldx was gonna try Saami spec and maybe 10 or 20thou either side of that. Knowing me 20 thou in 10thou steps

The other option is the berger seating depth ladder..... i think 10thou. 60thou and 120thou from memory

@dannyb I had the same rifle/cal as my first wsm. Bought it second hand, previous owner had sanded out the pressure pad at end of stock to float the barrel and I was getting groups like yours - 2 close and 3rd away a bit. I had it bedded and my groups became a ragged hole. Mine loved 140g nosler B/tips @3150 with 2209. I loaded them to just fit in mag box.

Originally Posted by wsm junkie

@dannyb I had the same rifle/cal as my first wsm. Bought it second hand, previous owner had sanded out the pressure pad at end of stock to float the barrel and I was getting groups like yours - 2 close and 3rd away a bit. I had it bedded and my groups became a ragged hole. Mine loved 140g nosler B/tips @3150 with 2209. I loaded them to just fit in mag box.

Mine has pressure point still, gunsmith reckons bedding will improve. Tempted to drop it back to him to bed it before progressing any farther.

Two different weights yip but same jump to lands lol

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Two different weights yip but same jump to lands lol

Sorry Micky the point I was trying to make (badly apparently) is that the 130gn sp in the federal is a lot shorter and fatter, the long pointy eldx pills would need to be seated a lot deeper on what is already a compressed load.
Probably not feasible. I think I'll get it bedded first then try a seating ladder including to original mag length load and see what comes of it.

yeah all good...waaay back in 1900 plus nuts n bolts ,when I still used factory stuff...the Norma 150s were SMALLER than PMC 130s by a huge margain.... the 130grn sivertips by winchester are still to this day where I seat projectiles for mighty 270w ....the only exception being those 170grn fenceposts lol...actually you have rifle to use them few I sent you again LOL.
you will find its sweet spot,you know it,I know it.....I may have sleepless nights over all the components you use to do it..but I know you will get there.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yeah all good...waaay back in 1900 plus nuts n bolts ,when I still used factory stuff...the Norma 150s were SMALLER than PMC 130s by a huge margain.... the 130grn sivertips by winchester are still to this day where I seat projectiles for mighty 270w ....the only exception being those 170grn fenceposts lol...actually you have rifle to use them few I sent you again LOL.
you will find its sweet spot,you know it,I know it.....I may have sleepless nights over all the components you use to do it..but I know you will get there.

I'd like to use as few components as possible to be fair, hence dropping the rifle back to the Smith tomorrow for bedding before messing with anything else.

Picked up the wsm from the smith yesterday after having him bed the chamber end of the action.
Made a trip to the range to run my best 2 S.D loads over the chrono again.
Pleasant surprise, the 70.5gn load stacked 3 rounds into a neat 1/2" 3 shot group, the s.d stretched out a little to 14.5fps but still more than acceptable
The 71gn load shot similarly good but is a max load so I have decided to stick with the 70.5gn load to give a bit of a saftey margin. The primers are quite flat and there is the faintest of ejector swipes visible on both charge weights but I'm happy.
The bedding has taken this rifle from shooting 2" 3 shot group to a 1/2" 3 shot group.
Average velocity came to 3113fps over 6 rounds with the SD of 14.5fps

Thats a good outcome. It's such an easy caliber to get to shoot well. With all projectile weights up to 150grn. Why it's not more popular for general use is beyond me. It's about my maximum tolerable recoil without a suppressor and a pussy with one. Can be shortened without much velocity loss.

And @Micky Duck should be relieved load development completed in just 15 rounds

Ill have to remember that one for next time. My mates dog jumped on me. Oh fuk I dont have any mates

Originally Posted by blip

Ill have to remember that one for next time. My mates dog jumped on me. Oh fuk I dont have any mates

Proof in the pudding, i got nothing to prove