Italian Weatherby Mark XXII *picture warning*

S

stickhunter

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Hi everyone,

A while back I asked for some information on early Italian-made Weatherby Mark XXIIs. I ended up buying one and she cleaned up just beautifully. I'm waiting for the weather to clear before I take her shooting, but in the meantime, here are some pictures to enjoy.

This is my first Weatherby, and the fit-and-finish are incredible. The receiver and barrel show almost no wear except for scope ring marks, and the only noticeable mark in the varnish are under the forearm where it was rested in a safe. The alloy trigger guard is starting to fade, which I understand is pretty common.

I must say, though, the high-gloss varnish sure makes me nervous with regards to dinging it up! My Marlin 7000 with its synthetic stock seems more practical, but that being said, the Weatherby has an unmatched beauty to it and the mechanicals are exceptional, especially the trigger group. It definitely has the feeling of a finely-crafted rifle.

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jjohnwm said:
Beautiful gun, wonderful condition. How often do you see a .22 that old in such great shape? Lovely.
Click to expand...

Can you believe that that rifle was actually in disguise as a well-used 22? When I received it, the action was covered with fine grey dust and the trigger was somewhat gritty. I tore down the action and found what looked like gauling of the aluminum receiver near the chamber, presumably caused by the steel bolt.

I cleaned the trigger group in my ultrasonic bath and wetted down the action with some Gunzilla. It was at this point that I noticed my thumb could scrape away some of the "softened" gauling... I breathed a sigh of relief and discovered that the grey dust had become clay-like inside the action.

If I showed you a before-and-after picture of the receiver internals you would not believe me. Once cleaned up the rifle appeared, in actuality, to have seen very little use and the rifling is extremely sharp and well-defined right through to the crown.

This rifle has a 41xx serial number, which I think indicates early-mid 60's manufacture --- as you said, pretty amazing condition for a 50 year old firearm.
 
Your Weatherby is a very early Itallian gun, as it has the steel checked butplate and no rosewood tip on the stock! The only problem you will find is the stock finish will crackle on you with age, as this was a untested Catylized Laquer of the day that Sako and Weatherby was using not knowing what would happen in the long run! But what a gorgeous gun! Mine has a little more figure than yours, but they are for sure twins! Congrats! Dale Z!
PS you still can order magazines from Weatherby for these!
 
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