.340 Weatherby Magnum

A .340 Weatherby Magnum cartridge in between a .308 Winchester cartridge and a 9×19mm cartridge.

Type

Rifle

Place of origin

United States

Production history

Designer

Roy Weatherby

Designed

1962

Manufacturer

Weatherby

Produced

1963 to present

Specifications

Parent case

.300 H&H Magnum, full length

Case type

Rimless, Bottlenecked with venturi shoulder

Bullet diameter

.338 in (8.6 mm)

Neck diameter

.366 in (9.3 mm)

Shoulder diameter

.495 in (12.6 mm)

Base diameter

.513 in (13.0 mm)

Rim diameter

.530 in (13.5 mm)

Rim thickness

.048 in (1.2 mm)

Case length

2.82 in (72 mm)

Overall length

3.6 in (91 mm)

Case capacity

98 gr H₂O (6.4 cm³)

Primer type

large rifle magnum

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
200 gr (13 g) SP	3,221 ft/s (982 m/s)	4,607 ft·lbf (6,246 J)
225 gr (15 g) SP	3,066 ft/s (935 m/s)	4,696 ft·lbf (6,367 J)
250 gr (16 g) SP	2,963 ft/s (903 m/s)	4,873 ft·lbf (6,607 J)

Source(s): Weatherby

The .340 Weatherby Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced in 1963 by creator Roy Weatherby in response to the .338 Winchester Magnum. The .340 Weatherby Magnum uses the same .338 in. diameter bullets as the .338 Winchester Magnum but it does so at greater velocity than its Winchester competition. Reloaders may have trouble matching the published Weatherby velocities as Weatherby factory ammunition is loaded to maximum specifications. Weatherby no longer loads the 250gr. round-nose cartridge pictured but continues to load the 250 gr. Spire Point and 250 gr. Nosler Partition. Weatherby has also expanded their factory loads including Nosler Ballistic-tip and Barnes TSX bullets complementing the powerful cartridge. Currently A-square is the only other factory ammunition producer of the .340 Weatherby Magnum which has led to limited popularity of the caliber. In field tests the .340 clearly out performs the 300 Ultra mag, .338 win mag. and even rivals the larger .375 H&H, providing a much flatter shooting and harder hitting performance.

This cartridge is powerful enough for even the largest North American game and is suitable for most African game as well.

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Wikipedia