Starting with a brand new Mark V 300 Wby

[Autorotate]

Howdy...1st time poster....but a long time lurker Lots of great info on here.

I've done quite a bit of searching on here, before posting my question below.

I ran across a bargain of a buy a few months ago I couldn't pass up...and now find myself the owner of "new" never fired rifle listed below:

Weatherby Synthetic Stainless
26" #2 Contour barrel
300 Weatherby Mag

I'd like to squeeze the most performance I can out of it as a Western hunting rig, and wanted to obtain the boards opinion if I'm headed down the right road before I start spending some money.

Stock: I like the idea of a Bell Carlson Medalist stock for the features/price point. I've called, and it sounds like I'll be able to drop my receiver/barrel assembly right into this stock. Am I going to need to glass bed this despite it having an aluminum bedding block to get the most consistency out of the rifle?

Trigger: Can anyone recommend a gunsmith that could work a Weatherby trigger down to 2 to 2.5 lbs? I can't seem to find the thread that referenced a gentleman in Montana....I hate to replace it with a Timney, when I've read that these can be reworked to be great triggers.

Barrel: Contour #2 and Weatherby pressure points....am I going to go backwards accuracy wise with the Bell Carlson Medalist free floated stock? It's not really in the budget right now to re-barrel it...still scope shopping!

Thanks in advance for the replies.

 

[specweldtom]

Auto, Welcome to the site.

.300 Wby is their most popular caliber, with good reason. Very versatile. A couple of observations; the factory stocks have tip pressure and the #2 barrel usually benefits from it, but may move point of impact around depending on rest point and pressure, weather changes, (temperature). Weatherby guarantees 1 1/2" 3 shot groups with factory ammo. Some of them won't deliver that out of the box, and for most of us, that's not good enough anyway. I wouldn't count on the factory tupperware stock to be as accurate as a good stock with the insert. I'm not familiar with the B & C stock, but it almost has to be better than the factory stock. Sometimes a Mk V will shoot great right out of the box, so I would try it that way and see how it does. If it's not satisfactory, put a good stock on it and try that. Don't mess with the action, trigger or factory stock, in case you have to send it back to Wby. Once you work on anything they can disclaim any warranty, including the accuracy warranty. If the stock doesn't improve accuracy, it may help to bed on top of the chassis and let the barrel float. If floating doesn't work, you can always experiment with incrementally adding tip pressure. If that still doesn't help, you're probably going to need a custom barrel. All rifles are individuals and may take some time and expense to find the right combination, but in my opinion, the Mk V is well worth building on if you just can't get it to shoot like you want. I expect 1 moa or better from sporter weight barrels, and 1/2 moa or better from heavy barrels, and the .300 Wby can do that if you get the right combination of barrel, stock, and ammo, and of course the shooter.

The Wby triggers have a captive spring in them that can be changed, and the trigger can then come down to 2 1/2 lbs or so, but not with the factory spring. I've never changed the spring because I like a 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 lb trigger, with no creep, on a working gun. If you P/M me, I have some info on the trigger, but if you adjust it, Wby won't do anything on the gun until you authorize them to replace the trigger with another factory adjusted trigger. It's the 8 lb lawyer at work, I suppose.

When you are looking for a scope, look for one with at least 3" of eye relief, unless you are going to shoot a brake. The #2 barreled factory rifle is light enough to develop high recoil velocity, particularly with heavier bullets, 180's, 200's, etc.

Good shooting, Tom

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I would like to add to that good info that I have done a bunch of these and have probably ten right now to work on. These stocks are wbys cheapest. Doesn't mean their bad because some like them because they are lightweight. Not much strength in it though. Rarely will one shoot well out of the box because there is so much pressure against the barrel that can come from any direction. By freefloating the barrel and bedding the action most shoot very well for most hunting accuracy out to 500 or so yards. If not put the T bed and a little pressure on the front and that may do it. If not you have an excellent action to work with for a custom like the 338-300 ultramag if you wanted to step up. I agree they are the best actions for the ultramags because of their length and strength. Other than a custom that is. If you don't want it and you want your money back I will buy it. The 300 wby is one of the finest calibers ever developed for hunting and I would shoot it if I were you. For longer ranges you can easily get a 200 grain bullet over 3000 fps with a 26" tube.

 

[Autorotate]

$250 on a stock or reloading supplies

Thank you for the responses....your insight only arms me with more questions.

Would the $250 I'd spend on the Bell Carlson Medalist stock be better spent on purchasing dies, caliper, scale, tumbler, case lube, powder, primers etc to start reloading...

I received an XL650 for Xmas with the Belted Magnum Powder measure...I know this reloader is maybe a bit of overkill, and probably not ideal for Magnum rifle reloading, but it's the one I've got.

I know each of these guns is an individual, and what works for one gun doesn't work for another....and now I'm thinking I'd be better off putting that money towards working a load up for the rifle, vice putting a stock on.

I'm starting to realize I have no "inexpensive" hobbies

Thoughts?

 

[J E Custom]

Autorotate

You will probably need both ( Stock and Reloading equiptment)!!

Start out like Specweldtom and Long time ranger suggested with
factory ammo and then a stock change,then after all these changes
if still not satisfied then start reloading.

The reason for using factory ammunition in the begining is because
it will give you a starting point for your reloads ( bullet weight and
velocity).

Good Luck
J E CUSTOM

 

[Ian M]

I have the same rifle and can share a bit of experience. First, my rifle does not like Harris Bipods, probably because the factory synthetic stock is bending or flexing. Shoots much better from a pedestal or sandbags. The trigger is adjustable and can be taken lower by a skilled smith, mine is fine for hunting so it is stock. Best bases for any Weatherby are made by Richard Near, Near Manufacturing - Rifle Scope Bases if you like the strength of a one piece rail. His tactical rings are superb also. I also found it tough to match the accuracy I get from factory 180 Hornady ammo, but reloading saves money and lets you shoot more.
As for a stock, I hope to replace mine sometime but it will be with a McMillan Weatherby pattern stock. McMillan and B&C have both supplied stocks to Weatherby I believe. I have a new DGR MarkV and it has a B&C and is a fine shooter. Regardless they should be skim bedded with something like Marine Tex.
Good luck with your new rifle, the .300 Weatherby is a wonderful cartridge. Hope you get the rifle shooting well.

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Good post. Like I said the factory stock is just not stiff enough for most folks and your right a bipod bends the stock. It can be stiffenned but a good stock is better. Great about the 180 flat base hornady's. I found this out back in the mid 70's. For some reason the 180 flat base interlocks shine in all 300 mk 5's. My accuracy load of 82.5 grains of H-4831 shoots .5 inch groups in most of these rifles assuming they have been accurized and has been my standard for 35 years to see if it is a shooter. Also 86 grains of 7828 shoots very well in most.