257 Wby or 270 wsm?
 

Which one and why? No handloading here...

I mean certainly either will take a deer, antelope, etc...and be pleasant to carry a lightweight rifle in the mtns, but in elk country with grizzlies, or brown bear country, I'm thinking you might need to take a .300mag or larger as a minimum in which case, who wants to shoot a magnum in a lightweight setup, so in those situations are you stuck carrying a heavy magnum?

For what purpose...???

I'm thinking kinda for a mountain type rifle, mule deer, eventually sheep, goat, etc...but probably mule deer before any of those, and probably many more mule deer hunts than sheep/goat, etc...maybe on antelope too.

not sure about using it on elk or caribou one day either, or sitka blacktail, perhaps, but not sure really about it on the shear size of elk, or the other hunts when you might run into a brown bear/griz, etc...

Do you handload? The .257 weatherby is a bad boy but ammo is pricey, if you dont handload id say 270 wsm. I love my .270 win and have never felt undergunned so im sure the short mag is every bit as good.

I've had the Wby...it is devestating on deer/sheep/antelope etc....in a 26" bbl, I was chrono on 100gr Hornady at 3405 fps....no real pressure signs.....this was a custom bbl on a pre war Mod 70 action.It IS a handload cal.....too many $$$ otherwise. A cousin conned me out of it....wish I still had it!
Dan

Rather wby. Just cain't like 277s.

The .270's taken alot of game. Ive got buddies that down mine for their .30 cals but in the proper hands a .270 can handle most hunting scenarios. Mind you in Florida we dont shoot much over 400 yards.

I have the 270wsm and it has flat put down mule deer from ranges of 85yds. to 550yds. Short action and a 24" barrel makes for a nice packing rifle. I got it in thought one day go caribou hunting. I would not be afraid to hunt elk or moose with it too.

I personally wouldn't have any of the WBY cartridges. Of those two i would opt for the 270wsm.

But for your application of a mountain rifle...
I'd look at the .260 Remington before either of the two you listed.

NEITHER...get yourself a 7mm or .300, that way you'll have alot more choices in bullet weight and if you'd like you could shoot either with 140-50 grain bullets to be about equal to the two you listed. Then you can always bump-up to the 180-220's as needed.... To be honest I think you might be better served with the standard 7mmRM or .300 WM..they can easily better both and are simple and available everywhere...