Brass prep.....300 weatherby

280ackimp

Active Member
Jul 4, 2017
166
28
New Hampshire
Gents,
I recently read an article by John Barsness who advised for hunting guns he doesnt do too much for brass prep, weight sorting or neck turning. This is a deviation from all the tied and true handloaders!!

I have found myself the owner of about 250 rounds of 300 WBY mag brass. Some came wih the rifle and some came from a buddy who doesnt handload. The headstamps all indicate Weatherby manufactur (NORMA) but the weights indicate about a 6 grain difference in the headstamps.

two questions -

1. Anyone ever see this much swing among the same manufactiurers and did you have a problem or variations with your loads ?
2. If you shoot Weatherby rounds what brass have you bought and liked ?


Thanks
 

JimP

Administrator
Mar 28, 2016
7,313
8,696
72
Gypsum, Co
I have never weighed each case individually to see what they weigh before I reload them. But then I very seldom load the cases to the maximum load possible anymore.

For loading my .340 Weatherby I picked up a couple hundred new brass from Norma and have been working my way through them. But for any of my other reloads I don't worry too much about it. I just do a good case inspection before reloading them and go.
 

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,342
4,727
83
Dolores, Colorado
I'm with JimP on this. I shoot a .300 Wby and have about 250 cases that I got from a friend who used to work at Weatherby in California. I have never weighed them and probably never will as I don't load them that hot. If you are really concerned, here is what I was taught (by a bench rest shooter) many years ago. Take a light weight case and a heavy weight case and fill them with water and measure the difference. It is the internal capacity of a case that really will determine how much powder you can put in it safely.
 

Triple BB

Active Member
Jun 22, 2013
296
16
Wyoming
I don’t sort and weigh cases for anything except my long range gun. In that situation, I’m going for consistency and to control as many variables as I can.
 

Timr245

Very Active Member
Jul 21, 2016
586
400
Northcentral PA
What they’ve all already said. My 300wby shoots .770 groups at 100yds. For hunting rifles I simply neck size and trim. Weatherby’s are freebore to keep pressures down so I always load multiples of the same load with different OAL’s to see which one shoots best when developing. Generally, the closer to the lands, the more accurate it gets.