Weatherby bolt rifles love them or hate them?

I love the Mark V. One of the strongest actions out there!

My Dad wasn't a hunter so I didn't go on my first deer hunt until 1965 and 1966 when I was in college with one of my roommates. I used borrowed rifles on those hunts.

Then in 1967 I decided that I needed my own centerfire rifle so I ordered a .30-06 barreled action and semi-inleted stock blank from Herter's. Having seen and liked the looks Weatherby rifles in sporting goods stores so I tried to make my Herter's stock look like a Weatherby.

In 1977 I built two more rifles and again patterned their stocks like Wby Mark Vs with fancy walnut from Fajen. And in 2002 I bought a Rem 700 in .375 RUM, and I immediately re-stocked it in a Laminate blank from Richards, and again patterened it like a Mark V.

It wasn't until 2009 that I finally bought my first Weatherby rifle, a .300 Wby Vanguard. Again I patterned that stock like a Mark V using AA Fancy Walnut from Richards.

In 1977 I found a 5 panel wrap around checkering pattern from Brownell's that I liked, and I hand cut that pattern on these last 4 rifles.

I was able to develope sub moa handloads for all of these rifles and have used three of them on multiple international hunts.

About 10 years ago I liked my .300 Wby Vanguard so much that I bought 2 more Vanguards chambered in .223 and .308. They are both stainless in Weatherby's Griptonite stocks, and they have become my weekly practice rifles shooting 200-400 yd steel at our range.

I hate to take my Fancy stocked .300 Wby out in foul weather, so a couple of years ago I bought two more Griptonite stocks, one for a foul weather stock for my .300 and the other for my Rem Model 700 7mm RM.

Here's my 3 Vanguards and close up pics of the 5 panel checkering that I did on my .300 and three other rifles...

Permit me to go OT but still Weatherby related. The finest .22 auto I ever owned was the MK 12 by Weatherby. Super accurate right out to the box, best squirrel gun EVER. Beautiful wood didn't hurt my feelings either. Also, stolen by a druggie and never recovered....

Concerning bolt guns, I LOVE the wood on every Weatherby I ever saw. Once had a Vanguard with which I shot some exotic ranch game. Can't for the life of me remember what I swapped it for.

I've never owned a Mk V, but I really like them. One of my bucket list guns is an Mk5 in .378 Weatherby Magnum.

I was offered a shot from my mate's .460Wby Mk5, but I declined... it was a left-handed rifle which felt weird in my hands, as I'm a right-handed shooter, and with a rifle of this recoil, I passed... I wish I had fired it now.

I've owned quite a few Weatherby Vanguards, though, over the years. A .300Wby, a 270WSM, a .257Wby and 2 .300WMs...
I've really liked all of them, and my current one, a 300WM, is a keeper.

For the money they are head and shoulders above everything else, and in my opinion, they can't be beaten.

Russ

You might have been better off shooting the 460, from what I hear about the velocity of recoil from the 378.....Glad you like your Vanguards.
A rifle builder in FW Texas told me that when he had to thread up a Howa barrel to a different receiver, that the metal fairly popped as it came off the barrel, whereas a Shilen barrel had once continuous curl of metal peeling smoothly off. He said he thought the Howa barrel was much harder, and a Vanguard barrel is a Howa, from what I have heard and read, no?

I used weatherby V accumarks in 338-378 weatherby in Alaska for 12 years when I lived there .They are super accurate with my reloads down to 1 inch at 300 yards with Nosler 250 gr partitions .I put those two rifles through total hell in Alaska everything it could deal me they came out with flying colors always .They are really like giant varmit rifles and only 9.5 pounds loaded with sling and 6x20 power nikon scope .
I bought a custom mark V in 416 rem mag with a mcmillian stock .Its super nice was a 257 weatherby before .Its smooth as butter awesome rifle .I have a 3006 vanguard that was fiberglass and I changed it to a 1975 vauguard walnut stock thats beautiful .The vanguard is the best rifle made under $1000 now .Its a 1 inch rifle at 100 yards smooth as butter .I depended my life on my weatherby rifles in Alaska no problems .I do want a 32 inch barrel 338-378 for longer range .Today Weatherby rifles are built bertter than any others .

I have a MK5 6-lug backcountry guide in 280AI- I love the rifle. I hate the cerakote on the bolt, it’s sticky.

Dad has a vanguard talon in 300WBY- awesome rifle, super accurate. Had to have the chamber honed due to failure to eject using factory ammo. Done under warranty quickly.

Brother and dad both have 307’s
Brother’s is a 307 field in 280AI very accurate easy to use
Dad’s is 307 Alpine CT- probably the nicest sub $2000 rifle I’ve shot. Just very well made and easy to shoot well.

Color me a modern weatherby fan. I hate the design of the old stocks.

I listened to my cousin to get my first mark V accumark in 338-378.He said sell guns you dont really use to get the ones you really want .I had several which were decient rifles but only shot 1.5 to 2 inch groups at 100 yards good hunting rifles but not tackdrivers .The people that got them were happy with them so I got my first mark V never looked back now have 4 .Those rifles will out last many generations thats for sure .I put silicon grease on mine and they bolt like lightning .There is only one thing on Mark V I dont like thats that you have to take the safety off to open the bolt thats the only fault I find .I want mine where I can open the bolt with the safety on .

I love the Weatherby MkV. The 340 was the first rifle I purchased for myself out of college, since then it’s been quite a journey down the MkV rabbit hole.

Pretty big fan of the Vanguards. One reason is, while attending CST, we used its twin, the Howa 1500 for our project rifles. I've liked them ever since and have around a half-dozen Howa/Vanguard in the safe.

Have never really explored the Mark V.

Would love a couple of the Weatherby Europa's that Sauer made. 8x68S and 9.3x64 Brenneke would be must-adds.

My old weatherby vanguard 257wby mag shot ok but never well. I wasn't a fan of the pressure point bedding at the end of the stock, to me it was inconsistent and caused flyers.

Mawzer308 said:

My old weatherby vanguard 257wby mag shot ok but never well. I wasn't a fan of the pressure point bedding at the end of the stock, to me it was inconsistent and caused flyers.

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I had the same problem. The action actually warped under recoil and turned white. (As plastic does when you bend it) I bought an HS precision stock for her and all is well!

The Weatherby collection...




Plus a Stainless/Synthetic .340 WBM Mark V that I haven't scoped.

I once owned a Mark V in .378 WBM, the recoil was tremendous, and now I regret selling...


I've never suffered from buyer's remorse, but seller's remorse is a different story.

Haven't read every comment yet but Weatherby actually offers 3 actions. The Mark V, 307, and Vanguard. All 3 are vastly different actions but have proven their quality time and again. Personally I am not a fan of Weatherby Magnum cartridges, they are just flat out inefficient and don't have much space in my personal collection. That being said for some reason that 257 Weatherby is going to find a slot in my safe and I have no good reason for it.

Personally I have a Mark V 30-06 and my wife has a Vanguard Camilla in 6.5cm. The 30-06 is a rather new addition so I can not attest to its accuracy and reliability but it seems solid and shoulders very nice. The vanguard may be the most frustrating rifle currently in my safe because it is so damn accurate with everything I have fed it! As someone who loves to tinker and build custom loads it is infuriating that I can not beat a factory group with this rifle! Despite my petty frustrations this little rifle has been a godsend for teaching my wife to hunt. It fits her like a glove with the smaller stock, is easy on the shoulder, and shoots with any high end rifle in my safe. She has taken a half dozen mule der and whitetails with it now and nothing has made it more than 50 yards! Absolutely will be adding a second one for kids down the line.

I have 2 Vanguards (308 and 7mm-08) and they were both very picky about what ammo they would shoot accurately. The 308 only likes 150 grain SST handloads while the 7 mm- 08 likes 120 grain Barnes TSX handloads. They both are sub MOA - anything else was 2" - 3" groups at 100 yards. I tried every cheap and match grade ammo out there but these were very difficult guns to get to group.

The pickiest MkV I have is the 6.5-300 Arroyo. It would only reliably shoot 127 gr Barnes to my recollection.

Mk V 300 Wby is my poison of choice. Lots of fun to shoot.

BourbonTrail said:

Mk V 300 Wby is my poison of choice. Lots of fun to shoot.

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Mine too.