Interested in Weatherby

Tron28

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Im interested in purchasing a Weatherby possibly in the 7mm mag or 300weatherby mag (in stainless-synthetic) with a muzzle break. Any info and or experience would be great. I love the action they use and the quality thats why im interested.

Thanks
 
Having owned two Mark V rifles and having fired them extensively,I was not at all impressed.The fit and finish were no better than many guns costing half as much,and the accuracy was very disappointing despite extensive load development.As for the brake,one shot without hearing protection is often enough to cause permanent damage to your hearing.Unless you intend to wear hearing protection while hunting,a brake is not a good idea.If you really want the weatherby name,go with the vanguard.If you want a higher quality rifle in the price range of the Mark V,go with a sako.
 
I have been looking around for guns for over a month and finally yesterday, I bought Sako 85 in 300WM. I havn'e shot it yet but after doing one month research, I think Sako is better then Weatherby.
 
I just bought a vangaurd in 300 wby mag, stainless synthetic, and i love the rifle, so far i have had my best luck shooting 165 gr factory loads, i have not had time to cook up any hand loads, as far as a brake goes, i personally would not hunt with one, i have found that the recoil is still manageable, if recoil is an issue there are many other calibers with excellent ballistics with a little less recoil, depends on what u wanna do with the gun. So far i have been shooting 1 moa at 200 yards with this rifle and have a total of 20 rounds down the tube, i should get better with some more practice, my best advice to you would be to buy what fits YOU the best, i can only say that so far this rifle is working great for me, and i do also like the sako and tikka's, i find the attention to detail is great but i was looking for something a little cheaper that i would not feel bad about getting a few scratches on.
 
Be aware that Weatherby doesn't actually manufacture any of it's rifles.Howa in Japan builds the vanguard and an American company called SACO currently builds the Mark V ,which has previously been built in Germany and in Japan by other companies.
 
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i have owned a number of mk-5s and they are nice guns , dont shoot any better than a remington 700, but the calibers used to be the attractor, you couldnt buy the weatherby calibers in any howa rifle or any remingtons, back then, i wouldnt buy a vanguard when you can buy a equivalent caliber in a remington 700, a better gun all around for me, sakos nice but too heavy, if you want the weatherby name buy the mk5, thats the real weatherby, wade
 
Contrary to what others have posted my experience with Mark Vs has been excellent. I've owned 3 recently, 2 USA built ones, both very accurate and well built. Now just got another 378 Japanese gun. Very well put together. Excellent FACTORY bedding with internal crossbolts. I'm a CRF Mod. 70 guy but I find these big WBYs to be very nice guns. If you want one check it out for yourself.
 
WBY Commentary

I've had 3 Weatherbys pass through my fingers thus far. Here is my highly biased personal commentary:

1. Mk V in .378. Excellent accuracy but a little heavy on the recoil. 3 shots and life is good, then contine to shot 4+ and immediately thereafter get a rag and sop up the bloody nose, eyebrow, etc.

2. Modern Varmintmaster standard action (scaled down from full size MK V) in 7mm-08. Shot less than 1/2 MOA with the factory Krieger barrel. Absolutely lovely looooong range target gun!

3. MK V in .340. With 185gr TSX bullets, and a full charge of RL-19, it was a veritable ~1/2 MOA laser beam, although you really needed to hang on tight to this bucking mother and avoid the massive desire to flinch to consistently make it do itty bitty tiny groups!!!

4. MK V Lasermark in .270 WBY (Owned by a friend)...... I've not personally shot it but I'm told it performs well. I can say from experience that a runty Manitoulin whitetail shot in the front shoulder with this smallbore beast using factory Weatherby ammo leaves one with precisely half a deer (the rear half!!), and a load of inedible bloodshot meat where the front half is supposed to be.

My biggest beef? The triggers are way better than most factory triggers, but for someone spoiled by the likes of the stellar Jewell aftermarket triggers, the stock WBY triggers suck and have limited adjustment ability for both sear and letoff whilst still remaining in the realm of safety.

My biggest praise? Stunning factory wood, excellent blueing, tremendous build quality & fit and finish.

They tend to be rather heavy which has kept them generally well coddled in my vault and has always compelled me to turn to more lightweight and less "safequeenlike" cost effective Remingtons whenever it came time to head to the woods for hunting season. God forbid I bruise one of these Weatherby works of art whilst sliding down a mud covered hill in the bush. ;-)

BTW: I also have toyed with several SAKOs. They are excellent guns, highly accurate, and I prefer them for general hunting use over a Weatherby as my consicence deprives me of less sleep if I happen to put a mark on them.... It somehow feels like a much lesser crime has been committed as compared to torturing a Weatherby with a scratch. Sakos are probably a better value for the $$ if one wants a really high quality gun with maybe a little less flash.
 
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Don't overlook the browning a-bolt, either. It shares the shallow bolt turn of the mkv.

One day I will own a mkv of my own. They do have a completely different feel than your 'average' remmy 700, tikka, savage or sako.

What's your price range? The major problem as I see it with the MkV is price. For the cost of one of these guns, you could almost start thinking of a custom gun
 
I own a Weatherby I enjoy it alot shoots it. Factory ammo will group great sub moa. I've been working on handload for a little while still haven't found one I like. But I know I will. I have shot and held many Sako's they are no where close to a Weatherby in my mind. The older ones maybe but the new 85's LOL I held two down at the local gun shop had the money in my pocket and I wouldn't have spent it on that rifle if it was half the price it was. I ended up walking out with a Winchester. If you are going to buy a 300 wby make sure your not recoil shy. Because it does kick and it kicks more than a 338 WM or 300 WM handloaded super hot. Hope that helps
 
Shot less than 1/2 MOA with the factory Krieger barrel.

Actually the so called Kreiger barrels used on factory weatherby rifles are in fact not made by Kreiger.These are button rifled barrels made by a company called Criterion which is owned by Kreiger.The real Kreiger barrels are cut rifled,which is an entirely different process.

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Rapid...ommon/viewPage.cfm&PageId=3352&CompanyId=1246

From the link above.
Q: What type of rifling process does Krieger Barrels use?

A: We use the single-point cut-rifling method only. Please note that some barrel makers advertise that they do cut rifling but are actually doing broach cutting. Broach cutting is a form of cut rifling, but the two methods are completely different. Please see page two of our catalog for a better description of the single-point cut-rifling method.

Q: Why is there some confusion that we might do button rifling?

A: In 1999, we started another barrel company Criterion Barrels that manufactures button rifled barrels for the O.E.M. market. These barrels are not directly for sale to the general public. Recently there have been some magazine articles written regarding this company which has caused some confusion. Be assured that when you order a Krieger Barrel, you are getting a single-point cut-rifled Krieger Barrel.

Calling a Criterion barrel a Kreiger,is like calling a chevette a Cadillac.All that they have in common is the same parent company.
 
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Krieger/Criterion

Hey Stubble:

You are absolutely correct. It is a sub to Krieger's mainstay business of benchrest barrels that uses an entirely different manufacturing process. I can say this though: The "criterion" barrel bore was very evenly polished with no appreciable tool marks, and while pushing a cleaning patch through it, had a similar interesting "minimal resistance" (or better stated "consistent") feel of a match grade barrel that you never seem to experience with a more pedestrian kind of gun. At the end of the day, it was very accurate and easy to clean with a minimum of copper fouling.
 
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There are a number of rifles that have better features for less money. Take a look at Kimber if you want a nice gun.
I owned the Mark V special varmint in 22-250 and it was an amazing shooter, nice fit and finish but the trigger had creep and I couldnt find a replacement for a decent price so I sold it to Wholesale Sports.
 
The "criterion" barrel bore was very evenly polished with no appreciable tool marks, and while pushing a cleaning patch through it, had a similar interesting "minimal resistance" (or better stated "consistent") feel of a match grade barrel that you never seem to experience with a more pedestrian kind of gun.

I am not saying that the Criterion barrel is not of good quality.I am just informing people that may not realize,that it is not really a Kreiger barrel.However,I am suspicious that Weatherby mentioned the Kreiger name to lure people that don't know the difference, into thinking that they were buying a real Kreiger barrel.Apparently their plan was successful.
 
300 Weatherby is the hardest kicking rifle I have ever owned. The stock design of the MarkV is all wrong. I sold the Mark V and got a rem 700 in 300 Wby put a KDF muzzle brake on it and it was a pleasure to shoot. I liked the caliber but not the Weatherby gun.
 
300 Weatherby is the hardest kicking rifle I have ever owned. The stock design of the MarkV is all wrong. I sold the Mark V and got a rem 700 in 300 Wby put a KDF muzzle brake on it and it was a pleasure to shoot. I liked the caliber but not the Weatherby gun.

Stock design is all wrong for you. my .300 WBY mark V deluxe, due to EXCELLENT stock fit, is easier to shoot than my .30-06.
 
Stock design is all wrong for you. my .300 WBY mark V deluxe, due to EXCELLENT stock fit, is easier to shoot than my .30-06.

Actually I find the balance of the mark V more at fault than the stock fit when it comes to recoil.The barrel contour is very light on most models and the action is quite heavy resulting in a very muzzle light gun.This causes more muzzle lift on firing than most rifles.The accumark has a heavier barrel and is much better in this respect.
 
I just raffled a Vangaurd in 275 Weatherby.
I didn't shoot the rifle, just took the barrelkd action out of the stock to ship it.
I would never buy one for myself, for one it's a bolt action!:D
However, besides that , the 700 Mountain rifle we did a few months back was a much better rilfe , smoother cycling , better finish on both metal and wood, and better balanced IMHO - this from a guy who HATES Remingtons!!
Sako on the other hand is a far more expensive rifle than the Vangaurd , so one has to compare apples to oranges I think.
Cat
 
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I am not saying that the Criterion barrel is not of good quality.I am just informing people that may not realize,that it is not really a Kreiger barrel.However,I am suspicious that Weatherby mentioned the Kreiger name to lure people that don't know the difference, into thinking that they were buying a real Kreiger barrel.Apparently their plan was successful.

Yup... there's a good chance that some folk won't do their homework and bite on the marketing BS as a result. In hindsight, I wish I had more accurately articulated my point, although the resulting controversial discussion has been nothing short of stimulating...... the criterion barrels seem to be of good quality and sure as siht shoot well enough (at least in the example I had the pleasure of experiencing) ..... they just ain't real Kreigers......
 
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