WEATHERBY ACCUMARK V 338/378- WHAT ACCURACY TO EXPECT ?

[Down Under Hunter]

Hi all,

Just interested to get everyones thouhgts on this.
I have been weighing pros and cons of a high performance 338 for long range hunting. I am now weighing up a decision between a factory 338/378 accumark brand new to a custom 338 edge. The difference in the price of the rifle will be $ 1200 +, and as I am looking at using the big high bc bullets like 300 smk, I am interested in everyones thoughts on if the extra money will be worth it ? I have many friends telling me that I should just buy a factory 338/378 and with the money I save, put the scope of my choice on it. However I don't know what to expect in accuracy from the factory rifle. It also has only a 26" barrel so I'm wondering what velocity it will give compared with a 30 " barrelled edge ? Just looking to make a smart decision. I could afford either, but still I am not quite sold either way. Any thoughts ??? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Thanks again all ! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Earl Fouraker]

I was in your same situation. I went out and bought a weatherby 338-378. The gun was a very well built rifle. I unfortunately could not get the rifle to shoot. I tried 2 different factory loads and several handloads...300 gr. sierra's, accu-bonds, 200 gr. NBT. The best groups I could get were around 2 moa at 100 yds. Some as much as 5". This in my opinion is unacceptable. I contacted weatherby and they told me to return it to one of their repair centers and they would have it fixed as soon as they could. So angry with the situation I took the rifle into my dealer where i bought it, traded it on a savage and a scope. I have a 30" pac-nor 338-300 ultra barrel on order that should be here this week. You can buy one of these from pacnor in the contour of your choice for $400. That is for their premium stainless steel, super match, hand lapped, chambered and treaded for the caliber, number of grooves, crown and twist of your choice. You can pic up a new savage action for around $300 with an accutrigger. Bell and carlson Duramaxx stocks are around $100. So for around $800 you can have a 30" 338 edge that will easily do 1/2 moa. Savages are easy to work on and you can change barrels and bolthead to fit endless calibers in the comfort of your home. I have a pac nor barreled 6mmbr that shoots consistently in the low .2's with sierra 107 gr. matchkings. Just my $.02

[J E Custom]

Down Under

Weatherby guarantees 1.5 MOA or better.

I bough one that shot about 1 MOA with factory
200 gr Nozzler Partitions at 3254 fps.

After instaling a forend tip pressure screw(an
old trick for light barrel rifles)I was able to tune
the load down to .317 5 shot at 100 yrds.

Not bad for a factory rifle.And for $1200 more dollars
you could always have a custom barrel screwed on if it
did not make you happy.

Just a though
J E CUSTOM

[Earl Fouraker]

I have seen weatherby's that shot like a house a fire. I'm sure the one I bought was just a lemon, and probally could have been corrected if I would have sent it back to the factory for repairs. One thing to note about weatherbys is that they have an extremely long freebore. It is hard to load bullets near the lands and still get them to fit in the magazine.

[huntinfool18]

look at it in the long run, the money you would be saving buying the factory gun you would spend that much on ammo in a very short period of time and surpass the price of the custom with in a year. if you went with the custom edge you know it would shoot good and would be saving alot of money on ammo or just be able to shoot it alot more. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] just my way of looking at it.
huntinfool18

[Dan B]

I did load work for a 338-378 just like you are researching. I fired 200rds of various powders and bullets to find out that it liked just about the cheapest .338" bullet on the market...225gr Hornady Interlock.

IMO...good guns will shoot a lot of loads well and a few loads GREAT! Tempermental guns will shoot most loads crappy and maybe one load decent.....and that's exactly what this gun did!!

[Down Under Hunter]

Did any of you guys shoot the 300 smk from the mark 5, and if so, could you get them to fit the mag or only single load. Also what velocities did you get ??

Thanks [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]