.270 Weatherby Mag

[Millsworks]

I am seriously considering a project.
I have an old Ruger m77 tang safety rifle in .270 Winchester.
I have had it for sale for over a year with no takers. It was originally purchased for my son who was 15 at the time. He never really liked it. He liked the newer tactical looking guns and ended up getting him a .308 in a Ruger American on sale and later a 7mm mag in a Rem. 700.
The old tang safety .270 just collected dust.
I'm not a fan of the .270 myself. It burns quite a bit of powder and has decent recoil for it's performance, to me.
Think I may do a rechambering to .270 Weatherby Mag and would love to hear from any who has done this also.
It's a good accurate gun with a 1 in 10 twist , 24" barrel.
Hopefully I can gain 100-150+ fps with 140s and add the heavier 160s to what I can feed it.
Has anyone had a good or bad experience either doing the job or in the performance of what they got after all the trouble was taken?
I will likely rechambering it myself and send out the bolt for opening to a decent and hopefully affordable smith.
Any advice or recommendations?

 

[HighDesertSage]

Just my $0.02:
I looked at the load data, and I would say that your performance increase would be 150 FPS AT BEST. Its just not that much faster than the standard .270. Is the extra cost in reloading components, ammo, and the cost to do the work really worth it? The cost of brass alone doubles, and if you don't reload...ouch. Its $60+ bucks for a box of factory accubonds.

I think a better option would be to try some of the new powders that Alliant has out in your old standard .270. You can hit 3000+ FPS with a 140 GR bullet. http://www.alliantpowder.com/reload...?gtypeid=2&weight=140&shellid=63&bulletid=465

You can do the same with even a 150:http://www.alliantpowder.com/reload...?gtypeid=2&weight=150&shellid=64&bulletid=367

But if it makes you happy and you want something to tinker with, go for it

 

[belly-deep]

I am not aware that the tang safety Rugers ever came with a 24” barrel.

But if your original complaint with the 270 Win is recoil and powder burning efficiency, then you are only going to find things get worse with a magnum.

And how does the barrel shoot now? A lot of those old Rugers weren’t very accurate. No sense in rebarreling a bad barrel.

In short, your plan doesn’t make much sense to me if those are your current complaints and stated goals.

 

[brockel]

Id try some RL26 in it instead of going 270 weatherby

 

[mtmuley]

What were you asking for the tang Ruger? mtmuley

 

[ccc23454]

This is pretty good sized job for the gain. Is bolt face even big enough? What about freebore? 24"
Aint ideal for the wby. Just sell rifle and put towards new one, in end i think you will be happier, i have several Mark Vs i paid under $700 for and most were almost new condition. if you want a wby caliber by a weatherby rifle, or get a cheaper standard caliber rifle.

 

[Millsworks]

I was after 400.00 for a very good looking rifle that has a timney trigger, limb saver recoil pad and groups around 3/4" at the hundred with 130gr. Accubonds and Reloader 19 powder.

Haven't gotten better than 2890fps. ( At least that shot well anyways) out of the gun with 140s. It shoots the 130s the best and gets just over 2,900fps with those. It has never liked 150s.
Not a sloutch I know, but my .260 rem pushes 140 and 129gr bullets faster, more accurately, and with far less powder and recoil.
Don't think I can be happy with a .270 win after all that.
Lots of guys around here unfortunately think similar as I about the .270 and that makes it a tuff sale.
I bought the old gun pretty cheap and it handles well and as I said it looks good too.

It is a project my son and I talked about doing if it didn't sell.
I am well aware that a good 26" barrel is needed to fully get the performance from the Weatherby Mag. But a couple inches shouldn't cost more than 75-100 fps at most, I hope anyway.
The cost to rechambering should be less than 150.00 if I send the bolt off for machining, along with the 40.00 to rent the reamer.
I'm fully aware of the work involved and a couple days labor is what I expected to get it done myself.
Hopefully I can hear from someone who has done a rechambering to .270 Weatherby Mag and has some real world numbers to share on performance and labor.

 

[Millsworks]

Forgot to add,YES it has a 24" barrel. It's the only tang safety I have ever owned and is certainly very old. It's possible that it had a new barrel put on it at one point. But as far as I know I am certain the man I bought it from didn't do anything to it himself.

I may still sell it. But I won't give it away that's for sure and I do like the way it handles.
I have no personal problem with recoil, but inefficient things bother me. That being said, if I can't make a viable improvement to it then I won't go forward with it.

 

[Millsworks]

Just my $0.02:
I looked at the load data, and I would say that your performance increase would be 150 FPS AT BEST. Its just not that much faster than the standard .270. Is the extra cost in reloading components, ammo, and the cost to do the work really worth it? The cost of brass alone doubles, and if you don't reload...ouch. Its $60+ bucks for a box of factory accubonds.

I think a better option would be to try some of the new powders that Alliant has out in your old standard .270. You can hit 3000+ FPS with a 140 GR bullet. http://www.alliantpowder.com/reload...?gtypeid=2&weight=140&shellid=63&bulletid=465

You can do the same with even a 150:http://www.alliantpowder.com/reload...?gtypeid=2&weight=150&shellid=64&bulletid=367

But if it makes you happy and you want something to tinker with, go for it

I have done the data research myself long ago.
Noslers data shows Reloader 19 as pushing a 140 @ 3,003 fps and that is similar to what I got at best without good accuracy. So I dropped I back a bit and it shot well enough.
But Noslers data shows the .270 Weatherby pushing 3,295 fps with 140s out of a 26" barrel.
That sounds pretty smokin quick to me.
Not to mention the .270 win can't handle 160gr+ bullets at all and the Weatherby sends 160s out at over 3,000fps , again though all that is from a 26" tube.
Don't know what loss the 24" will realistically have. But it is hard to believe it would be more than a hundred or so fps, and that I hope is going to be more like 50-75.

Again maybe someone with some first hand knowledge can shoot a little light my way.

 

[mtmuley]

You don't like inefficient things and you want to go .270 Weatherby? Better twist it for the biggest of .277 bullets then. mtmuley

 

[HighDesertSage]

I have done the data research myself long ago.
Noslers data shows Reloader 19 as pushing a 140 @ 3,003 fps and that is similar to what I got at best without good accuracy. So I dropped I back a bit and it shot well enough.
But Noslers data shows the .270 Weatherby pushing 3,295 fps with 140s out of a 26" barrel.
That sounds pretty smokin quick to me.
Not to mention the .270 win can't handle 160gr+ bullets at all and the Weatherby sends 160s out at over 3,000fps , again though all that is from a 26" tube.
Don't know what loss the 24" will realistically have. But it is hard to believe it would be more than a hundred or so fps, and that I hope is going to be more like 50-75.

Again maybe someone with some first hand knowledge can shoot a little light my way.

Just sharing my experience with you, but I have found Nosler's load data to be about 100 -120 FPS consistently shy of what actually comes out of the barrel. The powder companies seem to be a lot more accurate with their velocities. Hodgdon shows a 140 in the 270 Weatherby at 3100 to 3150 FPS, and that's with a 26" barrel. At those velocities I think it's absolutely reasonable to expect 50 FPS loss per inch of barrel. So that puts you at 3000 - 3050 with a 24" barrel. Which is basically a .270. I get out 2925 with a 140 bullet out of mine with a 22" barrel.

Like I said if your looking for a project and something to tinker with, have at it if it will make you happy. Just don't expect to see any significant increase in performance.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

If you aren’t getting expected velocity from a standard 270, what makes you think you’ll achieve listed velocities with the Weatherby?

If you want to do it for the sake of doing it, we all understand. However, I doubt it’s something that will ever make sense financially or ballistically.

 

[Millsworks]

I get the velocities that are shown for the loads I have used ,or very close to them.
Some hear should take a better look at the data and what I am asking assistance about.
Thanks for you guys input, nun the less. I do realize the delima.
That's why I had it for sale to begin with.
But according to what I see the gain should be 150- 250fps in the Weatherby. That sounds like a pretty good deal for 175.00 or less job.
I formally appologize to all the .270 win. lovers out there.
Didn't mean to call your girl friend fat or anything like that. But I certainly believe the Weatherby to be far more of a performer.
But in my situation it may be that the performance isn't worth the trouble.
Would sure like to hear from someone who has done a rechambering.
Not a rebarrel job. Not a new caliber purchase.
The 1 in 10 twist is what the Weatherby is barreled in normally . So the only things needed other than the reamer is the bolt face diameter up sized to 0.532 and maybe a mag follower adjustment. The Weatherby Mag is actually shorter in overall length than the .270 win. ,so I will fit nicely into the mag well and action.
I certainly don't need a new rifle as i.own many now and would just like to make use of this one if I can.
If I do all the work myself it would cost less than 50 bucks. But I have never done a resize on a bolt face and feel it's best not to risk a goof.

That is if I do the chamber upgrade at all.
Still I thank you guys for your point of view.
Need some input from another DIYer if I can to help me decide.
I probably already have to many projects now. But this one is interesting. Not many guys left that do this stuff themselves. I know I'm weird for doing most of what I do and this wouldn't be the worst idea I've ever had.
But it may be closer to it than I realize just yet. Ha,ha,ha......

 

[belly-deep]

Sounds like you had your mind made up before you even asked the question.

Report back with your results when you get done.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Have fun, and my girlfriend is not fat

 

[1_pointer]

If you can do the action (might be needed to get it to feed) and chambering machining yourself, I say go for it! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I personally wouldn't pay to have that work done on a tang safety Ruger, nor could I do it myself. It'd probably be cheaper to sell that rifle and buy a magnum actioned rifle in 270 Weatherby or to have one rebarreled to that chambering if you really wanted one.

That said, lots of folks are reporting ~3000fps with 150gr bullets in the 270 Win using R26. Me personally I'd give that a whirl before I did a rechamber if an increase in performance is you're biggest desire.

PS- A 6-06 with an 8 twist barrel on that action would be fast and fun...

 

[Deleted member 20812]

My bad. You get the listed velocity but it shoots poorly. Let me rephrase. What makes you think a max Weatherby load will shoot accurately?

Better yet, why ask a question you don’t like the answers to? Good luck in your project.

 

[Millsworks]

I'm gonna have to stew on the idea a while before I take the leap.
I haven't talked to anyone as of yet that has actually done a conversion in these calibers. I want some feedback on real world gain before I push forward.
I won't be putting a new barrel on it, as that is too costly and without doubt not worth the trouble. But it may not be worth a rechambering either if it won't improve much.
Most all data shown for the .270 Weatherby is with a 26" barrel. I'm aware there is good reason for that.
If my mind was made up I would have already started. But the rifle does look and handle well, and it groups pretty good with 130gr. bullets. Not a super good shooter, but sub moa .
Maybe I will run into someone who has a .270 Weatherby that has a 24" barrel, and can at least give me good performance data.
Appreciate all the input. I sure agree that velocity data can be off alot sometimes and that's mostly what has me concerned. I do hate to fix something that's not really broken.

It may be that it will shoot terrible in a short barrelled magnum set up. Only one way to find out about accuracy. But it won't likely shoot any better groups than it does now.
Again thanks for the comments, and more often than not collectively you are all probably right. It's a small margin of balance between cost , efforts and performance.
It may just go back up for sale here during income tax time and save me some time.

 

[Millsworks]

Thanks MTTW . I am very interested in the velocity of the 140 and also the 160gr loads, even if just factory rounds.
I have talked to some smiths about it and they seem to think it is a good performer with the 24" barrel. But many smiths think any project is worth doing. Especially if you want to pay them to do it.
Very helpful if you are able to give some first hand data.
As of now I'm going to hold off on a decision till I get more velocity data.
Good to know the twist rate for your barrel also. It's likely a 1-10 as I have.
I am unfamiliar with the FAN trigger or rifles. I have always hated a rough ,hard or worse, a inconsistent trigger.
Thanks so much in advance.

 

[1_pointer]

Velocity difference between a 24" and 26" barrel wouldn't be something I'd worry about. Probably only 100fps or so difference.