Just bought a 340 Weatherby....now what?

[TXFlyer]

Couple of firsts so please bear with me...

First time poster (New to forum, glad to be here) and new 340 Wby owner (found a used "deal" I thought I couldn't pass up). It's a stainless Mark V (SS serial) with a Briley brake, Leupold rings/mounts and a 3-9 x40 Zeiss Conquest . The previous owner claims it wasn't shot much-- as they all do!

A little background info: amateur reloader (getting back into it after 10 yrs), have two .300 Win' s (my big guns) which have killed CO elk both times I've tried along with lots of misc critters.

Finally to my questions: I have read about Wby freebore. Are all factory Wby rifles made this way? Do all the reloading data account for this? If so, where would I get data for a custom bbl should I decide to rebarrel (with non- freebore)?

Thanks for the help, sorry about the long post.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Welcome!

Yes, all Weatherby rifles in Weatherby calibers have longer freebore. This is not necessarily a bad thing either. The down side to rebarreling with a shorter freebore is that a future owner of the rifle may not realize this, shoot factory ammo, and have dangerously high pressures.

Generally the Weatherby rifles will shoot just fine with their freebore. I would shoot it and see how we'll it shoots before contemplating anything else.

 

[TXFlyer]

Thanks for the reply. What's the "best" method clean a stainless bbl? I suspect this thing hasn't been cleaned and has been fouled up.

 

[Dr. Vette]

What method do you currently use to clean rifles?

Nylon brushes, nickel plated jags, carbon fiber 1 piece rod with bearings and BoreTech Eliminator are what I would use if it was here. Oh, and don't forget a high quality bore guide.

Many patches later it would be very clean.

 

[Boman]

Listen to Dr Vette, hes spot on. Do you know what bullet you want to shoot yet? Ive had really great results with the 225gr Barnes ttsx. Keep in mind most factory rifles shoot better with a dirty barrel. So clean it really well first and then shoot it. Good luck

 

[mrultramag]

you might just want to check the free bore just to be sure the gun wasn't rebarreled and the free bore reduced or eliminated. Just to be sure.... With sammi freebore and a 26" bbl you should be able to extract all the performance listed in the manuals from your 340 wby. with reduced or eliminated free bore you would have to back your loads down and wby factory ammo would be a big no no!

 

[TXFlyer]

It was sold as a barely used "factory gun" so I assume the barrel is as advertised, but I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the info.