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 ??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks again all ! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[E4aker]

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

 

[E4aker]

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. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif 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 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[E4aker]

I loaded 300 gr. sierra's in the mark 5. The freebore is so long that it is impossible to reach the lands with about any bullet and still make it fit in the magazine. When I loaded the 300 gr. to .12 into the lands I had to pull the bolt to even get a live round out of the chamber.

 

[PA PA]

I have worked & hunted w/ the 338/378. The best powder seems to be Retumbo, & a case full of it. I found the heavily compressed load could be slightly reduced if I used Winchester mag rifle primers, this helped get less run out on a loaded round (less compression). I like the 225 gr. Barnes XXX, it also is the most accurate. I get 1-3/4" 3 shot groups @ 300 yds typically. A great benefit is the Weatherby break, recoil is very low.

Respectfully PA PA.

 

[RDM416]

I have owned several Wby's including a 338/378. They have all shot reasonably well after a little work. Bedding the action, floating the barrel, and trigger work. Squaring the bolt face and lapping the lugs also helps. A combination of all the above can turn one into a pretty good shooter. My 416 has been rebarreled by Shilen, and my 338/378 has been totally worked over by Kirby and turned into a 338 Kahn.

Brass is expensive but unless you load to excessive pressures will last for many loading, so not really a big deal.

Even with the 26" barrel the 338/378 will outperform the 338 Edge. The Wby case just plain has more capacity, quite alot more. I'm definatly not knocking the Edge though, it is a great round. I do own a 338 RUM, the Edge is about 100 fps faster than the RUM, but that still does not put it in the same class as the 338/378.

I've said quite a lot without answering your question......I would not expect better than the Wby guarantee of 1.5" from a factory rifle and maybe not even that. Simply not good enough for a long range rifle. Put a new barrel on it and do some work to it and you can have a real shooter. But if you are going to do that your options really open up.

IMHO the 338/378 cartridge is a good high intensity round (even better if you turn it into a 338 Kahn), but the Wby rifles seldom perform to LR standards without some work.

 

[Hired Gun]

The Accumark in 338-378 that I regularly work with likes 225TSX's with RL-25 at 3300 fps. This one doesn't even have the trigger adjusted. Shoots 1/2" 3 shot groups with no cooling between shots. My personal Accumarks are all bedded now and shoot better than that. My best 3 shot group 300Wby Accumark from a hot barrel is right at 3" at 885 yards. The load is 200AB at 3100 fps. The wind just died and I had to shoot with a hot barrel. Earlier that same day none of us could even hit that target.
After skim bedding my 3 Accumarks make a lot of these.

 

[bigrockets]

I have an Accumark in 338-378. My gun will shoot 1 MOA at 200 yards all day long. Accuracy all depends upon who is loading the components and how well they match each other, how much care is taken with each cartridge. I reload my ammo because the factory Weatherby ammo is redicoulously expensive.

it also depends upon how well the gun was built at the factory. to say that all Weatherby's roll off all the assembly line the same just ain't so. each barrel is a bit different, each machine process is a little different.

In my opinion Weatherby makes an exceptional rifle for the money. I had a Weatherby Mark V in .460 WM. it also shot very well.

Are you gonna take it over to Afganistan and snipe Taliban from 1000 yards, or shoot elk at 300? I heard tell that some 1000 yard shooters have been having good luck with the 30-378. If I had it to do all over again would I buy a Weatherby Accumark in 338-378? I sure would. It outdoes most all of the .338's hot rods by quite a bit. Look at the down range energy and drop. Pretty **** flat for a big .338 bullet!

I love my gun. I have a Bushnell Elite 4200 8 X 32 with AO on it. A really nice combination. The muzzle brake works good on the gun, makes it about like shooting a 7mm mag.

Yeah my Weatherby 338-378 is an accurate one. I keep it spotless and I take a lot of care in my reloading.

 

[Pdvdh]

So far, the Weatherby sounds like a crap shoot with respect to out of the box accuracy. I mean a gamble.

 

[bigrockets]

Well ultimately you have to make the decision on what to believe about the gun. I've found that like most things that people want to take to extremes requires some adjustments some minor some major. It just depends on how much you want to put into a gun in terms of price. Sure a custom made gun is gonna shoot great but how much better in terms of dollar to performance. Let's say your out of the box Weatherby shoots at 2MOA at 200 yards. You paid $1600.00 bucks for your new Accumark. ( dont' know what's retail on this bun now days). You want better accuracy so a custom made gun shoots a bit more than 1 MOA at 200 yards, and the gun costs $3000.00. Is a MOA at 200 yards worth $1400.00 more dollars? Can you spend $1000.00 to rebarrel the Weatherby and float the action to get nearly the same results in accuracy? Is a custom made gun something you want to take out in the field and get it wet, muddy, scratched up?
You didn't say what sort of game or hunting you had in mind which will also shape your decision.
You sound like an intelligent person to me. Weatherby didn't get to the position they are in today by making mediocre rifles. I'm sure you will come to a wise decision for yourself. It has been interesting to me to read all the different experiences everyone has had with this particular rifle and cartridg combination. Shooting the 338-378 is like no other rifle I've ever shot. It is well behaved, doesn't hurt you because of a poorly designed stock, has a very effective muzzle break, is finished well, has a rugged composite stock and it looks good too. It has a Kreiger Criterion 28" fluted stainless barrel. The cartridge generates a lot of heat and will heat the barrel to the point of creating heat waves within 3 or 4 shots in 45 degree weather here in the Pacific Northwest. The fluted barrel allows the barrel to cool much faster than a standard contour barrel. I like the overall package of the gun. Like I said it has great ergonomics, which is something that should be considered besides accuracy. I have a custom made Sharps 1874 Long Range Express Rifle made for me by C Sharps Arms Company. It is in .50-140 X 3/12" I shoot a 698 grain cast spire point in it with 125 grains of FFG black powder. It recoils harder than any rifle I've ever shot. Harder than my .460 Weatherby magnum. It has a XXX fancy stock and I'm wondering if the cast off or on of the stock is right for me? If you do decide on a custom made rifle be sure to ask them about the stock the length of pull for you, really needle them about it because you have to live with it after it's made. I know you know all this stuff just a little reminder.
Like I said earlier in my reply I like my stock out of the box Weatherby just fine. Some of the other shooters here haven't been as lucky as I have I guess. Who knows why? This is my experience with this rifle.