Anyone use a .340 Weatherby?

[Dave B]

If anyone shoots the . 340 Weatherby in any rifle (not necessarily the Weatherby brand), I'd be interested in what you are getting for accuracy, recoil, etc. , and any handloads that seem to better over others.

Thanks in advance!

D

 

[xplorer]

I shoot a . 340 made by Weatherby. I do not re-load, but prefer the Nosler bulletts which are available in the factory ammo. I also have some Barnes X, but have only used them for sighting in the scope.

I really have not measured accuracy in any scientific way that would help. I know that from one year to the next the rifle/scope sight-in is very repeatable when I check it prior to hunting season.

I can't give you an honest opinion on recoil since the rifle was ported by the dealer. Bottom line is that I have been very satified and would gladly buy another Weatherby product.

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1999 QC 4x4, Pac brake, DC nerf bars, K&N filter, trailer brake, Manik cow catcher, boost & EGT, RS9000's

 

[Dave B]

I KNEW there had to be someone besides me out there with one of these.

Mine is a 7 pound (!) custom job that I got mistakenly talked into... it is appears to be very accurate, but I'm debating doing a muzzle brake for obvious reasons. When you shoot yours during hunting situations, which I assume is without hearing protection, are you getting severe ringing ears??? I basically HAVE to put a brake on or get rid of it..... recoil is that bad... but kinda worried about my ears during hunting situations. Any thoughts???

 

[csutton7]

Dave B --if you think you're gonna dump it email me with the particulars--I may be interested---not that I really need it, but hey I almost bought one years ago, but opted for the 338 win mag(SAKO)---chris

 

[Okie-Go]

I have a 300 wby. I can't imagine shooting a 340,the kick would be something else. My 300 has killed everything it has been fired at. It is a Remington 700 classic rifle chambered for the 300 wby round. I hand load all the bullets.

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2001 quadcab slt 2500 HO 6spd. LWB,2wd,dk garnett red, trailer tow package,camper special, lock-right locker, 3. 54 gears,ez edge, speed liner,oversized stainless steel chicken slide,66 gallon in bed aux. tank,K&N air filter,Reese 20k hitch, Terry 2000 EX 30ft. double slide 5er, 2000 20ft gooseneck for haulin jeep, firewood and huntin stuff. 5X12 tagalong for haulin the 4 wheeler. Okie Newton

 

[The patriot]

Dave, I dont hunt, but I have a pair of Peltor tactical 6-s ear muffs. These amplify while not shooting, and deaden the sounds over 85 db. I had a hard time hearing range commands until I got these. I can now hear people on THE OTHER RANGE talking, and I have moderate hearing loss!!
These are directional, so you can hear which side the sound is coming from.
Theyre $150. 00 ish,(got them as a present) and well worth it.
Eric

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98 Quad cab 4X4 2500 12 valve,5 speed,3. 54 rears, 8' bed. Michelin 265 75 16 lr-E. Boost and egt gauges but basicly stock except for a "properly adjusted" AFC. Cat in the garage. Uniden HR 2510, Texas Star 1200 amp. 63,000 Mi as of 1/27/01.
NRA life member. High power/IDPA.

 

[Dave B]

Chris- I meet with the 'smithy today and am gonna talk all this over with him. I will certainly keep you in mind. This gun is very nice, Lilja barrel, blueprinted action, and custom Kevlar stock.

Okie: That is what THIS gun started life as! But the story is too long to tell here... you wouldn't believe it. AS FOR RECOIL, well, the first time I fired this thing, I borrowed a buddy's (cop) body armor, sandbagged it in on a good rest---when I came to my senses, my shooting glasses were stuck IN my face... not TO my face, IN my face. I looked like a raccoon for weeks. Gotta have a muzzle brake!

Eric: Excellent idea! In fact I have tried these, they are awesome. I/we (the hunting group) have even wondered why we shouldn't simply hunt with these Peltors in this case? We'd get laughed at, but I bet they now only would work, but keep your ears warm!

Off to the smith for consultation... ... .

D

 

[LSMITH]

I have shot several BIG rifles with muzzle breaks on them including a 378 Weatherby that weighed a little over 8 pounds. Brakes work very well, but there are a lot of different designs out there, some work a lot better than others. Personally I will never own a rifle that I cannot shoot without a brake on it, and that I will never own a rifle with a brake on it. The noise of a cannon with a brake on it is way too much for me to handle, and I have no desire to hunt with hearing protection on. One shot without hearing protection with a normal rifle (even a cannon) is not going to deafen you, one shot with a muzzle braked rifle made my ears ring for DAYS! I have shot a 340 in a Mark V, under 9 pounds with no brake, and recoil was stiff, but not unbearable. Have you thought about adding a pound or a little more to the rifle? I would certainly do that before adding a brake. Just my opinions.

 

[Dave B]

Met with the smith, and went over all the options, including a brake that is designed a little differently from all the rest, which takes a considerable amount of the recoil out (but not all), but also controls the blast in such a fashion as not to damage your hearing. I'll try this route first. If it works to my satisfaction, cool. If not, he has had people lined up to buy this particular gun before--I gave him permission to display it at Sportsman's Expos as an example, and it would sell easily. Then I'd obviously move back down the power scale a bunch for a new one.

This thing definitely kills on both ends #ad

 

[merryman]

I get a little tired of the debates abouat Amsoil vs LE, and DDs vs EZ (or allthose alphabet wars) lets start on one rifles;
My Remington Classic in . 338 Win Mag. , is plenty of gun with moderate recoil and muzzle blast---although when I shoot a box through in a short time on the bench, I begine to say ouch, and wish I had something more than the factor pad on it; I do wear hearing protection, but wish I had started doing so about 40 years sooner.
I really don't mind shooting it at all.
Well, as I look back on this, I don't think it was much of war starter.

Vaughn

[This message has been edited by merryman (edited 05-11-2001). ]

 

[mikepvg]

I too want too would rather keep my hearing & just deal w/ some recoil. Noisewise my Sako in . 338mag has an excellent deep sound to it compared to my Rem in 3006 & is extremely pleasant to hunt with. Shooting a hundred or more rds of . 338mag @ the range is another story... Always come back w/ a very tender shoulder no matter how much recoil pad I use! Shooting something w/ more recoil than a . 338mag would be all business & no pleasure to me.

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94 2500HD 4X4 5sp w/GearVendors O. D. 4:10 L. S. D. , K&N Oval w/ Pre-Filter, Straight Exhaust, Geno's Fumotovalve, AW-Direct Idle Controller, DiPricol Boost/Pyro/Fuel w/ Kevlar BSS line, Mag-Hytec Rear, 126K miles. Halon Protected, NRA Member. V1=Anti-"pinch" protection.
Credit for my wise Cummins Diesel procurement must go to "Flash" (Quarter Horse/Appaloosa) & his 4 legged pals!

 

[Bigsaint]

When y'all are bench shooting, try one of the "sissy pads" made by P. A. S. T. , they work real well (guess I'm a sissy too when it comes to bench resting with the big boys). Get the P. A. S. T. magnum + pad, it really does help. The largest rifle I have now is a . 416 Remington Mag. chambered in a Ruger #1 Tropical rifle. The rifle does not have a brake, but does have alot of weight and shooting off the bench is not a problem until I pass 40 + rounds, then it starts to hurt. Here's a pic.

#ad


Scott W.

 

[Dave B]

The first time I shot this cannon disguised as an elk rifle, I was on a bench... with the body armor, little sandbag between the armor and the recoil pad, all bedded into other sandbags. I haven't been clobbered that hard in years! The gun is just too light, weighing in at 7 pounds with sling, scope, etc. I should have known this would happen, but smith was pretty adamant the custom fit stock would take a lot of the sting out (OOPS). The good news is that it seems to be real accurate. We'll see how the brake works.

 

[RAMalama]

Dave B -
Your shooting position will exaggerate felt recoil as well. Bench shooting as well as prone will definitely increase felt recoil. At the expense of a steady hand, try firing that big belted magnum of yours sitting. Using wooden 'X' sticks on the barrel would bring back some of the support the bench offers.
Sounds dumb and it is simple but I'll bet you'd like the way the magnum feels fired from the sitting posisiton.
R/ Ian.
Certified: Firearms Instructor
Range Safety Officer
Range Master

 

[Forrest]

I can't imagine putting one of those up to my shoulder. I went for the Weatherby in 25-06 because the 30-06 wasn't fun to shoot because of recoil. A guy at work won a Weatherby. It's a Weatherby design cartridge, 460 necked to . 308! Got to be the flattest shooting cartridge around.

 

[drawson]

I have found that shooting these kick monsters too much are detrimental to good trigger control. I don't have a 340 but do have a 338 and a 375. The 338 is the hard kicking by far espicially with 250g+ bullets.
When I was younger and had too much ego I liked having such a cannon hunting everything. Now I prefer the 30-06 it will do most everything and can be shoot all day.

I have made up some good cast bullet loads for the 338 that run a 2100 FPS and are accurate to 100 yards and it has made this gun fun again.

 

[RAMalama]

Yeah and for the . 340, 250gr is almost as light as you can go! A gun that size would do the same to me, I'm just too intimidated by all that recoil and after just two or three rounds, I'd be flinching like the flinch master I am! My favorite do-it-all cartridge is the . 308 . It's no 30-06 but with medium weight bullets and medium sized game (below 225lbs) and at moderate ranges (inside 200yds) it kills humanely for me!
I even hot load some 125grs Speer TNTs (approaching 3000fps-26inch barrel) for some thin skinned varmint action. Varmints and a 30cal rifle? Not a good day to be a varmint!
R/ Ian.

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'95 2WD 3500 std cab, 4:10, 5spd. 68K miles all towing 35ft 14K-lbs triple slide 5er. Completely stock but learning...

 

[Dave B]

The original idea was to fix a disaster that another gunsmith had created, and come up with a lightweight, packable rifle big enough not only for our friendly western wapiti at longer ranges, but for Alaska type critters. I was skeptical about this gun/cartridge combination from the beginning. In all reality, a nice . 35 Whelen, . 338-06, . 338 Win Mag or one of the . 300s would be fine for what I'm doing.

As I said, I'll patiently wait for the gun to come back in a few weeks, and post the results.

Forrest: I'm not so sure your co-worker will consider that gun a "prize" after he shoots it!!! Ammo for that thing is like $90. 00 a box!

 

[Hammer]

I shoot the . 340 to some extent,,Mine is a benchrest rifle(light gun,16lbs or less)with a Nightforce scope,,Now mine is redone to a . 30 cal neck(. 30/. 340) for a better selection of bullets for competition,,Its a fire and smoke monster that bellows energy every time the trigger is pulled(no brake at all),,I would not give up on this gun as it will do most anything you want(not sure a deer is a wise victim,unless you treasure alot of hamburger),,The . 340 itself is a long range flat shooter,with a little tweaking is amazing,,My last outing last year with mine produced a 11. 5" group at 1000yds and was just right of center in heavy wind,,Now I do realize it is a bench gun but,accuracy is comparable,,When you are at the bench with the light guns(most here are shooting 6. 5/. 284 and . 308 combo's)its neat to hear my buddies tell me about the others reaction when the trigger is depressed,,My two favorite hunting pieces came off wildcat cartriges also,,One is a . 30/338 Dakota rifle(a resized version of the . 338 Win Mag) and a Lazzeroni Blackbird(my favorite,a hopped up . 264 Win Mag),,Both are flat shooters and devastating over 500yds,,Hope you keep this exquisite piece,its a real deal... .

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98, Flame Red, Quad Cab, 2500, 4x4, 5spd, Autometer and Cyberdyne gauges,Edelbrock Performer IAS shocks,TST#10 plate,16cm housing, B-D Exhaust Brake,Timing Advanced,K&N,Totally Amsoiled,Cat Muffler and Silencer ring ALL M. I. A. ,A BOMBING IN THE PROCESS!!