The .240 Weatherby Magnum was developed in 1968 by
Roy Weatherby
Roy Edward Weatherby (4 September 1910 — 4 April 1988), was the founder and owner of Weatherby, Inc., an American rifle, shotgun and cartridge manufacturing company founded 1945. Weatherby created an entire line of custom cartridges, and was ...
. In the development of his own
.240in/6 mm cartridge, Weatherby was significantly influenced by both the success and the limitations of the
.244 H&H Magnum cartridge devised in England by his friend and colleague
David Lloyd. It was the last cartridge to be designed by Roy Weatherby.
[The .240 Weatherby Magnum by Chuck Hawks](_blank)
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Design
The .240 Weatherby Mag. is a proprietary cartridge used only in Weatherby rifles. This particular Weatherby case is unique: other than shape, it isn't physically based on other Weatherby cases, having the same rim diameter and a similar length to the .30-06. It utilizes the traditional Weatherby rounded double shoulder and a belted case with a length of 2.496in, significantly shorter than the 2.8in case of the .244 H&H Mag.[The .240 Weatherby Magnum by Chuck Hawks (subscription required)](_blank)
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Performance
In terms of velocity, the .240 Weatherby Magnum was once the fastest commercially produced 6 mm cartridge. There were several faster wildcat rounds available, but the .240 Wby. Mag. outclassed the 6 mm Remington and the newer .243 WSSM by about .[Compared: The .243 WSSM and .240 Wby. Mag. by Chuck Hawks (subscription required)](_blank)
/ref> However, the lightweight .243 WSSM 55gr Ballistic Silvertip now outpaces Weatherby's offerings according to some.
Loading data from Western Powders puts the .240 Wby. Mag. at over with a 62 grain Barnes bullet.
While favoured by some varmint hunters, the .240 Wby. Mag. is not much liked by some reloaders because the case cannot be formed out of any other brass; one either has to buy Weatherby ammunition or reload used Weatherby cases which tend to be more expensive than those for more common cartridges. With heavier bullets the .240 Wby. Mag. makes for a good deer hunting cartridge, but it does tend to require a long (>.) barrel in order to achieve peak performance.
See also
* List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 HM2,2 .17 HMR, 2.5 .17 wsm, 3 .22LR, 4 .22 WMR, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm/35 SMc, 7 .22 Hornet, 8 .223 Remington, 9 .223 W ...
* Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/ submachine gun and rifle/ machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the sa ...
References
Cartridge Dimensions
at Steves Pages
mm)/240%20Weatherby%20Magnum%20page%20209.pdf .240 Wby data
at Accurate Powder
External links
Weatherby Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:240 Weatherby Magnum
Weatherby Magnum rifle cartridges
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Magnum rifle cartridges