Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom – Superb 20 Round Box

Description

The 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum is the fastest production 6.5 ever made, and the Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom is the load that makes the most of that: a light monolithic bullet driven to 3450 feet per second.

• The Fastest 6.5 in Production
• Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom Specifications
• Honest Notes on Living With a 6.5-300

The Fastest 6.5 in Production

Weatherby necked the 300 Weatherby case down to 6.5mm and produced a cartridge that does something no other production 6.5 does: it launches a 129 grain bullet at 3450 feet per second. For context the 6.5 Creedmoor sends a similar bullet at around 2900, and the 6.5 PRC at roughly 3100. The Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom is in a different class entirely on velocity.

What that buys is a trajectory that barely needs thinking about inside 400 yards, and enough retained energy for elk at distances where a standard 6.5 has run out. At 400 yards this load is still moving 2678 feet per second with 2054 foot-pounds, which is more than a 6.5 Creedmoor produces at 200.

The Hammer Custom bullet is turned from solid copper with a deliberately short bearing surface. Less bearing surface means less friction and lower pressure at a given velocity, which is precisely what an overbore case like this one needs. On impact the nose petals shear away and radiate outward while the shank drives straight, producing deep penetration with a wide wound channel.

Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom Specifications

Being solid copper, the Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom is lead free and legal anywhere non-toxic ammunition is required. Weight retention is essentially total, which matters when a bullet arrives at very high velocity and a conventional cup-and-core would come apart on the near shoulder.

The velocity comes at a real cost, and it is worth being direct about it. A 6.5-300 burns close to 90 grains of powder per shot behind a small-diameter bullet, and throat erosion is correspondingly severe. Barrel life is commonly quoted between 700 and 1200 rounds. That is not a defect; it is the arithmetic of pushing a 6.5 bullet this fast.

Muzzle blast is substantial and most rifles wear a brake, which makes hearing protection mandatory rather than advisable. Cases are reloadable boxer-primed brass, and given what factory 6.5-300 costs, most owners end up handloading.

• Cartridge: 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum
• Bullet weight: 129 grain
• Bullet type: Hammer Custom monolithic copper
• Muzzle velocity: 3450 feet per second
• Muzzle energy: 3409 foot-pounds
• G1 ballistic coefficient: 0.510
• Lead free: yes
• Case: brass, boxer primed, reloadable
• Series: Weatherby Select Plus
• Rounds per box: 20
• Manufacturer part number: M653129HCB
• UPC: 747115452033

Honest Notes on Living With a 6.5-300

Buy the Weatherby 6.5-300 WBY 129gr Hammer Custom if you own a 6.5-300 and hunt open country where the flattest possible trajectory earns its keep. It is also the right choice where lead-free ammunition is required.

Skip it if you shoot high volume. Between ammunition cost and barrel life this is a cartridge you hunt with and sight in with, not one you practise with. Own a 6.5 Creedmoor for that.

Skip it for deer inside 250 yards. The cartridge works, obviously, but you are spending barrel life and money on an animal that a far smaller round handles, and the meat damage from a close-range hit at 3450 feet per second is not trivial even with a monolithic bullet.

Other Hammer Custom loads: the 270 WBY Mag 134gr Hammer Custom and the 300 WBY Mag 195gr Hammer Custom. If you reload, 6.5-300 WBY unprimed brass is available. Weatherby publishes complete Select Plus ballistics charts on its own site.

MAG5 Firearms stocks Weatherby Select Plus ammunition and the Mark V rifles chambered for it. If barrel life concerns you, ask us before committing to a 6.5-300 build.