Setting up new 30-378 Wby Accumark

John C.

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
23
Location
Palmer, AK
My wife surprised me on my birthday with the gun that I have always wanted. I have a lot of hunting experience but to be honest have never shot anything over 150 yards. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can and hopefully become proficient enough to be considered a long range hunter. I do reload so I have that going for me, and I was able to secure some factory ammo and new wby brass from a guy locally at about half what they are asking in the stores.
However, options for scopes, rings, and bases has me more confused than when I started. I don't mind spending money and want the best possible setup for hunting, but don't want to get something that has way more features than I actually need.
My question would be what scope (brand, model, power, etc.) would you put on this rifle for hunting purposes if money wasn't a big consideration? Rings and bases? What about an illuminated reticle?
Thanks ion advance for any suggestions and/or advice!
 
First Congratulations on having a great wife... a few problem areas with the accumarks... Take a coil off the trigger spring and get the trigger pull down around 2-3 lbs and then they need to have the recoil lug bedded as they all seem to move in the stock.... I have set up a few of them.... scope wise with the Sightron III 6-24...This makes a nice package but it didn't have zero stops... I used a Ken Farrel 20 moa rail and his rings on my personal 30-378. But wanted my scope lower....I can't shoot prone so elected to use regular scope bases vs the rail and keep my scope as close to the barrel as possible.... The Ken Farrel system is good... I would find what ever scope fit me the best and to me zero stops would be a must .... Dave
 
Give us a price range, there's a lot of good options in each price range past $400 or so (much cheaper and the recoil becomes a problem with harming the scope in my experience)

Each price range gets you tougher scopes than the last, better features, and more reliable/accurate features of the cheaper ones. For example you might find a $400 variable scope with exposed turrets, but they won't be as accurate or have as good of a feel as that of a scope that costs $1500.

Also I always recommend Talleys for mount/rings, super tough and not too expensive.
 
I like the Talley rings for the Mark V reasonable and easy..the best I have seen though are NEAR mounts out of Canada they are nice!...shameless plug for me a have a Leupold 6.5x20 LRP for sale in the classifieds ..don't think you will find better for $750 and will get you past 1,000 with good glass.

I have struggled with the 30-378..I've owned 2 accumarks...one shot absolutely great with 165 grain factory BT, but marginal with almost anything else I loaded it with. I sold it to a friend a he is happy shooting 165s out of it--he uses it for predators if you can believe that...the next one I bought used at a gun show for $850..I tried a hellva lot of hand loads--mostly with 210 berger, 200 accubonds, and 212 and 225 ELDs--most loads were pretty marginal around 1.5 MOA--it shot 185 grain HSM into about 3/4 MOA ...in a fit of rage I cut 5/8 in off the threads and chambered with a 300 Norma reamer I had bought off here..the gun shoots consistently 1/2 to 5/8 MOA with **** near every load I try. Best move I've ever made.

I have a friend with a custom 30-378 it is a accurate hammer...it is on a sako 995 and is a shooter...I hope your luck with your accumarks is better than mine--it is a hell of a hammer for long range... Bed the recoil lug...that is good advice...let us know what you go with and how she shoots.

Ed
 
You are going to get a lot of different answers to your questions. Optics are personal preference in a lot of cases. There are many very good scopes on the market. Leupold VX5hd or VX6hd, Zeiss Conquest V6, Nightforce SHV or NXS, are just a couple that I recommend that you take a look at. The best bet is to go to a sporting goods store and look through several of the higher end scopes and pick the one that is clearest and has the features that you are looking for. I agree that some scopes seem very intimidating to someone getting into the sport. But, if you are going to shoot long range, these extra features will serve you well as you learn. Like parallax adjustment, turrets for dialing for distance and wind, a reticle that can be used for accurate holdovers or wind correction. As far as power settings, this is another area of preference. I like scopes with variable power in the 3-18 range. At the low end you can easily pick out game at short range and 18 power will easily take you to 1000 yards and further. As far as rings go, Talley is a good option. They are reasonably priced, well built, and light weight. Or you could go with a good picatinny rail and Hawkins or Nightforce rings.

Welcome to LRH and have fun while you learn!
 
The first 30-378 I built was a clone of the Thompson Long Range System..I found one of their mildot scopes used. This was going to be a purposely built Wolf Gun.. Using my Leica 1600B range finder and their mildots for fast action... A buddy wanted the rifle and I sold it to him and always figured I could find another used scope but never have..He has taken quite a bit of game with that rifle and system. Their scope is a 4-14 Leupold and I know many of the dial up crew don't like that system but for fast I think it worked pretty well.. You were stuck using the 180 gr Accubond Bullets at 3360fps when using this mildot system
 
Wow-thanks for all the replies/suggestions so far. This is great and really helpful.
I always splurge on good optics (every rifle I currently have has a scope on it that is worth than the rifle) so I am willing to bite the bullet to get the best scope for what I plan to do. Please keep an advice or suggestions coming
 
A couple mentions of having the recoil lug bedded. I will likely take it in to a gunsmith to get that done and the spring trimmed while I work on picking a scope. Since I really want this to be set up as well as possible, would there be any other modifications you would recommend while it is at the shop to take care of from the get go.
 
A great general purpose scope for this rifle would be a Leupold VX6 3-18x50. (If you are dedicating it to long-range only use a higher mag range might be in order.) I prefer this scope to Nightforce etc to save weight.

Let me know if you ever want to unload the rifle. I won't ask about you unloading your wife as it's clear you know you are a lucky man! Understand many of us are jealous of you — mostly for the rifle!
 
I have the 338 lapua range certified in the Wby. Mark IV. Great shooter. As others have said please have a gunsmith adjust the trigger down and have the recoil lug bedded before load development. As scopes go I would recommend the Atacr nightforce in the 5-25. Use nightforce bases and rings. Yes a bit heavy as scopes go but they are worth their weight in gold. Good luck with your load development.

Corey
 
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