Why is there not much talk about Weatherby Rifles?

[Dr. Vette]

I started with a Winchester in 300 wby, 33 years ago. Had the barrel and action nickel plated and put a bell and Carlson stock on it. Then I got a mark V in 300 ultra light. The rifle has always been a pleasure to carry. Always loved the 300 but found it was not perfect with the ultralight barrel and the trigger is just OK. I have other rifles with Jewell, Calvin Elite and other triggers and the Weatherby is not even close.
Personally, if I am getting up to the $2000 mark my next rifles are going to be a Christianson or a Fierce.
I have killed a lot of animals with the Weatherby and it has not ever failed me. JMO

The new ones have the TriggerTech triggers.

Having said that, I tune the Weatherby triggers to shoot 2 pounds every time. Only 1 of them got to that point without a bit of massaging, but when you do it they are great triggers.

 

[cbobclark]

I have several. None are new or plastic. They all shoot very nicely and the ammo is expensive. For sure.

 

[milo-2]

My only history with weatherby was a vanguard vgs, in 22-250, bought in 1984. It came with a 1 1/2" guarantee, it used all of that and more on occasion.

 

[Martin@Hin]

My all time #1 Weatherby is my 35 year old Lazermark in 340.
Nothing beads a .33 cal.
27" Douglass air gauged ,.850" at the muzzle octagon barrel installed by Gibbs ( one of his last jobs I think) .250"@200y with 275 Speer round nose bullets( no longer available).750 with Barnes today.
S&B 4x12x56 and a drop box mag.

 

[GW Hunter]

Been hunting with this one since 1981. It's a 7mm Mark V and ready to go back to Weatherby for a rebarrel and then dropped into a Weathermark LT stock. It definitely goes against the train of thought that Weatherby's are safe queens...

 

[PC Python]

I have two Mark Vs that started out as Ultralights. One was a 300 Weatherby and the other a 25-06. I wasn't pleased with the accuracy of either one so I had them rebarreled with heavier Bartleins. I also turned the 300 Wby into a 300 Win. They are both shooters now. I really like the Mark V action.

Once Triggertech starts offering the Mark V triggers I think I'm gonna install them too. The Weatherby triggers are OK but I hear lots of good things about the Triggertechs.

 

[WildBillG]

I have a Mk V action I am going to build off of. I chose the Mk V action because I new how strong they are. Also have a Sako in 300 Wby and a Rem in 257 Wby. Both shoot really good.

 

[PREDATORMAN]

i personally have never fired one but i know there isnt ever much talk on here about them. Is it due to not a ton of aftermarket support (im assuming that never really looked) and we all like messing with rifles lol. Are they just not a well built rifle for the price? Not accurate? Just wondering.

My personal time behind a Weatherby rifle is limited to building ammo for my Brother-in-law's 30-378. I can answer about accuracy of that rifle. It was a screamer with Barnes pills and accuracy was .75MOA. I was impressed but not enough to get one of my own. I was never into screamers. A few seasons later my BIL sold it and switched to a Rem700 300RUM.

 

[montana west]

I purchased a 270 vanguard in sny stock, a butler creek stock and I like the stock . while adjusting the trigger to 45 oz my favorite for hunting . I noticed that it had only one screw to adjust and it was very easy. then I noticed the trigger had Timney on the side and I smiled.. for 350. I got a shooter and it will clover leaf at 100 meters..

 

[066wally]

Most discussions are about issues with rifles. I have 6 Weatherby Mark V rifles, had a Weatherby Vangard, no issues with any of them. I have 3 other rifles that are chambered in Weatherby cartridges. I love them all and can't find time to shoot them. Anymore I'm more likely to hunt with a Weatherby chambered rifle than any other.
The trend these days just isn't with Weatherby except for the 6.5 RPM.

 

[Ernie]

Another possible factor is that the Weatherby Magnum cartridge chambers were cut with a rather long freebore.

The long jump made getting benchrest accuracy something of a challenge. Also, folks tended to go with light weight barrels to help with stalking. The whippy barrels also did not help precision.

BTW I know this from having strived for 1" groups in my L±H MK V 378 in the late '60s.. Best I could do was about 125 - 1.5" at 100 yards.

Shooting lightweight sucker from the bench was interesting!

This!

 

[Dr. Richard Gray]

I have a Mark V Deluxe .340 Mag with the Accumark brake and a 35X Weaver scope. I have not fired it in over a year, but when I did that, it was shooting a 2" grouping at 300 yrds. Since I own over 850 acres, I have my own range. Therefore; I have to wait until after crop harvest to do my fine tuning with the groupings. This is one costly gun to shoot for the pleasure of shooting! I do my own loads from the start. I have not fired a "factory" round through it. The brass alone is $2-$3, that is if you can find it for $2. I use only Norma or Weatherby brass. I love all of my rifles, but this is my favorite. You know i did my research on the brakes when I was considering the purchase of this rifle and it was either this one or a Browning BAR .338 with the BOS brake. Never got a chance to try the BOS brake, but the Accumark is unbelievable. My .308 calibers have more of a punch (no brake) than this Mark V. I would rate the Accumark up with the best. I also have a Ruger Hawkeye .375 with whatever brake Ruger uses, and after 10 rounds, you honestly don't care to squeeze the trigger on the 11th. Don't get me wrong the Ruger is a very accurate rifle, it just kick's like a Missouri mule. I will be doing some testing late this fall with some 300gr Sierra Match King and, shame on me "factory seconds" .300gr .338 bullets. I am just curious since the factory seconds have no ballistic coefficients. If they are even close to the Match King, the cost is significantly less. Yes I know these are multiple lot numbers and every bullet will have to be "miced" prior to using.

 

[Dr. Richard Gray]

I have a small arsenal of MK V's. They are my favorite. Bought a 416 Wby last week. They have been around for many moons, and are not the hot ticket. Ammo is expensive, brass is high dollar, and that turns a lot of people away. All of mine are excellent shooters.

I considered the .416 when I got my .340 Mag. Everyone asked me; What are you going to shoot with that thing?. My response was; anything I want to shoot. Hey everything you say is true, but I still love my Mark V Deluxe .340. Happy shooting.

 

[flyguy1]

I'm a huge Weatherby fan I own lots of MKV's I have had vangards and howas. I dont know why the popularity never caught on fully. Dont get me wrong I would hunt anything that walks with my 338/378. It has a brake and is a heavy rifle. I have some fancy wooded Weatherbys mostly as collectors I hunt with the composite stocked rifles most. If I have to pick my absolute favorite weathery caliber I would say 257/340/257/340/257/340 its a toss up of those two rounds.

I know one thing my dad never hunted or owned a Weatherby just because he hated the shape of the stock. That could be one thing.

Who knows...

Yeah, the "California" stock with the highly polished finish put a lot of us older guys off. A scratch on an oil-finished stock is kind of cool and easily remedied, but a scratch on varnish is, well, a scratch. Also, the "patrician" image of the wealthy owner compared to us mere mortals who shot Remingtons and Winchesters didn't help. Pretty laughable now as folks spend 10 grand on customs and 3 grand on a "so-so" scope.

Having said that, one of my friends who goes to Africa frequently shoots them exclusively, with great outcomes; .257, .270, .340.