Crossroads with Guns - Wby Mark V

[GunJockey]

Hello all,
I'm a new member and first time poster, so if I am in the wrong section of the forum let me know. Also, if I have missed a search that would suit my questions, let me know.

Outside of that, I've found myself in a bit of a dilemma and am seeking some sensible advice or enlightenment...A little bit of back story to follow so you guys know where I am coming from. I also hate to be a bit wordy, but it is just how I am.

A couple of years ago I came across a Japanese made Weatherby Mark V, by serial number it was made between 1984-1986, in a .300 Weatherby Magnum. My dad's gun that he considered his "baby" was a Mark V in the same caliber. I had always wanted that gun, but my dad wasn't letting go of it so I decided to jump on this one. If I remember correctly I paid ~$900 for it, but the gun is basically brand new. It still has the gold screws in the action where it has never had a set of bases/scope put on it. It is in stellar condition, just missing the box.

Last year, my dad getting up in age, decided to give me his Weatherby. So now I have 2 Weatherby Mark V's in .300 Weatherby Magnum. My dad had his Weatherby Magna-Ported a long time ago, but it is still a little brutal to shoot when working up loads.

What I am looking for - I normally shoot a Remington 700 .308 mostly because it is cheap to reload for and comfortable to shoot, but as of the last few years I have been doing more western hunting (New Mexico, Montana, Colorado) rather than my normal deer blind Texas hunting. I am confident and competent with my .308 and feel it is an adequate round for shooting mule deer, but I don't really want to push my shots out past 450 yds. In all reality, the likelihood of me shooting ethically past 600 yds is very low. I just have a mental block against taking shots past that distance for some reason.

So to get to my question, I'm looking to stretch my hunting range out to ~600 yds (if necessary), but also give me a little bit better ballistics in that 3-500 yd range as well. I feel like the .300 Weatherby would be an adequate round, knowing that there are a lot of options out there, but this is a gun I already own. I just don't know if the Weatherby is really an ideal platform to begin putting a little bit of money into. My father-in-law says I should just sell the newer Weatherby (since no sentimental attachment) and put that money into another build. The aftermarket availability coupled with gunsmith familiarity is much higher for a Remington 700 (as an example), but I just don't know if I would really end up any better off. I have no intentions of doing anything to my dad's rifle, because I am sentimental to that gun in particular, but I'm open to either doing something to the other Mark V or just going a different direction all together. I've honestly gotten a lot of mixed opinions with this to be honest and it has done nothing but confuse me more.

My idea with the newer .300 is to just buy a B&C stock from Stockys, have a muzzle break put on, and maybe take the gun to get cerakoted or something along those lines to give it a more durable finish for hunting. I would probably end up spending another $850 right there before I even buy bases/rings and a scope which could easily be another $1,000.

Other option is to sell the newer .300, and build a .300 Win Mag off of a custom 700 action or even just a regular 700 action, because I'm not going to be doing bench rest competition shooting...its just a hunting gun that I need to be dependable and not a killer to tote around while out west.

Anything you guys have to offer would be great...thanks in advance!

GunJockey (JP)

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Do your current rifles shoot well??

If so, work with them. If one needs work in the accuracy department, look there for your answer. I personally will take a bone stock m700 over a Weatherby any day, but you already have a couple of roys so the choice is not what to buy, but whether to keep...

 

[J E Custom]

My two favorite actions to build on are the 700 Rem and the Weatherby mark 5. The Remington because of the available aftermarket parts and the fact that the Remington responses so well to improvements. The mark 5 is in my mind one of the strongest actions and works great for big to really big cartridges.

Barrel quality is the biggest problem with all/most factory rifles and is the one thing that normally
improves the accuracy of any rifle if installed correctly.

If you want to keep one of the rifles because of sentimental reasons, keep your dads rifle as it is.
take the other rifle that has no sentimental value and re barrel with a custom barrel one size larger
than the factory barrel (It will still fit the stock with very little alterations to the stock and add strength and be more ridged. also have a good muzzle brake installed to tame the beast. this way it would still be a hunting weight rifle that would perform.

Just a recommendation

J E CUSTOM

 

[Dosh]

My two favorite actions to build on are the 700 Rem and the Weatherby mark 5. The Remington because of the available aftermarket parts and the fact that the Remington responses so well to improvements. The mark 5 is in my mind one of the strongest actions and works great for big to really big cartridges.

Barrel quality is the biggest problem with all/most factory rifles and is the one thing that normally
improves the accuracy of any rifle if installed correctly.

If you want to keep one of the rifles because of sentimental reasons, keep your dads rifle as it is.
take the other rifle that has no sentimental value and re barrel with a custom barrel one size larger
than the factory barrel (It will still fit the stock with very little alterations to the stock and add strength and be more ridged. also have a good muzzle brake installed to tame the beast. this way it would still be a hunting weight rifle that would perform.

Just a recommendation

J E CUSTOM

^Yes, if the factory barrel isn't accurate out to your max desired distance, rebarrel. My son's factory 300Wby shoots sub MOA with the 215 Bergers and the only upgrade done was a bedded B&C stock (the walnut was too nice to hunt with). He's a big guy, so the recoil doesn't bother him. I've rebarreled 1 of my 3 Mark V's with a #3 contour, it is easy to carry on hunts.
Good luck

 

[Rich Coyle]

GunJockey,

If you have not fired a braked rifle you will be delighted with the results. Since guns are loud with or without brakes I use Walker Game Ear muffs when I hunt and add ear plugs when at the range. I do believe with a good brake like Terminator 3 your .300 will recoil about like your .308.

Don't forget to have the trigger adjusted as light as you can safely stand.

 

[Korhil78]

Shoot the rifle to see how accurate it is. If it is accurate enough for you out to 600 yards then keep it. If it sucks then either make a custom off the action or sell it altogether. Your idea of accurate will determine this as well. Some people want tiny little groups and others only care about having a group the size of the vitals of the animal or smaller.

Since you are only doing out to 600 yards, you could also make it easy and get a scope with a ballistic reticle out to 600. That way, you wouldn't have to dial.

Don't get too wrapped up in how small of groups the rifle shoots. How well the rifle shoots is very important don't get me wrong but I believe the most important part of shooting is getting the bullet to go where you want it to. I see people all the time bragging about how their gun shot this tiny group at 800 yards and you look at the target that they were shooting at and the group is like 15" or more from where they were aiming at. If you shoot the gun and find out that it is accurate enough for you then put a brake on it and practice, practice, practice!

And again...don't get me wrong. Trying to squeeze out the most accuracy out of a rifle that you can by reloading, practicing, etc is really fun and addicting but I don't think that is what you are after with this rifle.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Your newer rifle - what is the barrel length?

If it is 24 inches, it is likely a #1 contour barrel. In that case, you might be better off selling it as-is, and finding a less expensive Mark V to modify or start with for a build. The small, thin barrel just won't be what you want for a longer range rifle, no matter how much I like Weatherbys.

Just something to think about when planning a build. Of course, if the newer one shoots very well, then go ahead and see what it can do.