Weatherby action for a 1000 yd. rifle

Tom Brush

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Sep 18, 2006
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I am thinking about building a serious long range hunting rifle for ranges out to 1000 yds. I have a Weatherby Mark V in .300 Weatherby. It is the blue action and barrel in the plastic stock. Is it possible to build an accurate rifle from a Weatherby Mark V action? I would replace the stock and barrel. I would eleminate the free bore but keep it in .300 Weatherby.
 
I too have a Mark V action from an Accumark that I would like to do something with maybe a 338 Edge. I would like to also hear the good and bad on this action from some of the gunsmiths on this site or should I just sell it?
 
Hi Guys
Ive got a 300wby Accumark. Here is a 3shot group @ 200m with 180barnes TSX
Picture052.jpg

All i done was adjust the trigger Maybe i have a wednesday Weatherby /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Im going to the local range to see how she goes at 1000y im hoping to get a 10" or under 5 shot group,Weather permitting,Ive shot rabbits @ 500m with this rifle Have not had a chance to shoot anything bigger yet,Only had the rifle for 2 months.

Cheers
 
The Weatherby actions are realy nice , very stiff , realy smooth , nice short bolt lift and they can be made to shoot with any other factory action which is pretty **** good.

BUT , the nine little locking lugs are a pain in the nuts to get all lapped and square so all nine make contact.
I have done two , one I hand lapped the lugs and the other I used the lathe like on a regular setup and to tell you the truth I think I'd rather hand lap the dang things. I don't know of many smiths that will actualy take the time and do it with any sort of excitment, alot of guys will just recut the action face and barrel threads and the bolt face not worrying about the lugs and they will probably shoot great and into some guys 1/2 moa prommise , but in my oppinion any job worth doing is worth doing right. I talked to Charly Sisk about the process and he admited that he would rather do a Rem 700 but diden't mind the Wby if thats what got the bills paid.

As far as strength , I personaly think that they are every bit as strong as the Rem 700 maybe a bit stronger , they will accept the big 378-460Wby case heads as well as the Lapua with ease.
If your looking to build a big long range hammer like the 338Kahn which is about a small click above the 300RUM in case capacity then they are great , IF you already have the action , if your gonna spend $1000 on an action to build your rig then get a custom and be kind to your smith !!!
 
I think its a great idea. I have thought about this a lot. For myself I would like to try to keep it kind of pure. To me this means I would do a 300, 30-378, 338-378Wby with spec freebore, A 30" fluted stainless Kreiger barrel with or without a brake in a Super Varmint Master contour. I would skim bed it into a a Bell & Carlson Medalist varmint stock in a custom color blend. Maybe a green or camo of some sort. It would look exactly like a long barreled super varmint master only with a punch. In 300Wby with the long barrel it should send 200 grain Accubonds out at 3300 or darn close to it. This would be a swell 1000 yard rig. Any of the bigger ones would just be gravey. Don't sweat the lug deal. According to Kreiger it is a non-issue for a Mark 5 to shoot well.
 
TOM

The answer is yes to everything.
The WEATHERBY can be made to shoot very well.

Hear are some of the things to do.
Have the recoil lugs laped (It is a pain but worth it)
Square the bolt face.
If you decide to go with a 378 size case open the bolt
face and replace the extractor with the proper one from
WEATHERBY (very easy).
If you intend to use factory loads keep the freebore,
Factory loads are to hot in rifles (weatherby) with no freebore.

If you dont want open up the bolt face you can go with the
300RUM and have a longer magazine (about 1/8 ")allowing
you to seat bullets long.

As far as strength goes years ago S.A.A.M.I performed
a series of destructive test on all commercial actions
by over loading to the point of destruction .

All but the WEATHERBY were destroyed (blown up) The WEATHERBY Flowed brass through the ports and could not be hammered open.

Have your gunsmith hold head space to a minimum(.001 to .002).

I recomend a laminated stock for weight and strength.

J E CUSTOM
 
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