Weatherby Rifles?

I was enamored with Weatherby back in the day. I don't have anything against them...almost bought a 30-06 over 15 years ago. I think the .257 Weatherby would be an interesting rifle to own. Alas, I work more and play less and already have a fine gun collection. I have a 7mm Ultra Mag in the closet that is my little sniper gun if I want to go long for the day and that is in a Remington....got it on clearance for a song and a dance. Should have bought the other one in the store too....I could have sold it for a nice profit.
 
Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the info, it definitely is confidence inspiring to hear your experiences. I just put a new scope on my 257wby and sighted that in over the weekend so that is a contender to go along with me to Africa for my 1st pg hunt!
 
The most consistant advice I was given for a rifle caliber is bring what you are use to shooting. Most rifles that would take elk or Mule deer is plenty for plains game. 30-06 is fine a 300 mag is excellent as it gives a bit more range. I would say the only draw back on your 257 Weatherby is ammo availability. If you luggage gets lost or your ammo gets lost then you will have to buy local. Also I was told not to get a caliber I wasn't use to the recoil. I haven't shot the 338 very much however I know if I was to use it on a hunt I would like to practice with it until I was use to the recoil and not jerking shots or flinching.
 
high velocities hardly apply on DG these days most serious hunters that own the odd 460,....reload, at a magical velocity of around 2350fps to 2400fps pushing a 500gr. this is probably the deadliest stopper comercially available today, put a 550gr in its throat and its a charging cat destroyer..........
If you can hit it!,,! :) :) :) ;)


what can i say i luuuuv em!
 
I am by no means an African hunting expert, but I do love my Weatherby rifle and have successfully taken many animals with it.

I have an OLDDDD Mark V in .300 wby that is my dedicated big game rifle and is the rifle I plan on taking to Africa (not only because it works well but also because it was passed down from my grandfather so it is very special to me).

I usually use factory loadings from Weatherby or Nosler, and I prefer to shoot either 180 grain Accubonds or 200 grain Accubonds (will take the 200 grain load to Africa). Accubonds are by FAR my favorite bullet for the wby calibers because they hold up well to the speeds and penetrate deep.

My other rifle in a Weatherby caliber is a MRC in .257 wby. I went with a MRC rifle instead of a Weatherby rifle because I wanted a lightweight rifle for hunting in the mountains. IMHO, there is no finer caliber for hunting mountain goat and sheep than the .257 wby. It is the perfect combination of low recoil, flat trajectory, and stopping power. It really works like a one-shot laser on goats. I just think that it is a little light for any of the big african game (I hunt elk with a .300 wby for a reason).
 
I bought a used Weatherby MK V German made last year. It's a 257 wthby and in mint condition. I can't wait to try it out. It came with conetrol mounts and a 3 x 9 lupy.
 
.257wby works as well in Africa as it does here at home as well with tsx's it does almost no damage to the tiny guys unless you contact large bone in which case it still does no more than anything else. The .338 will certainly handle anything that is marginal for the .257. Should be a good duo.
 
Thanks! I am looking at either a weatherby vanguard s2 in 338 win mag or a ruger hawkeye in 338, I can't quite decide which yet haha
 
I was perusing this forum the other day and noticed there weren't a lot of postings about hunting Africa with Weatherby rifles. I have a Vanguard s2 in 257 weatherby magnum and enjoy shooting it a lot. I've been kicking around getting one in 338 win mag as well, granted instead of buying another rifle i should pry put that money in the "safari fund" but alas, I am weak when it comes to good deals on rifles haha. The weatherbys I have fired and the one i currently own have shot very well for me and i was just curious if or why they don't seem to be as popular to hunt with in Africa as some other makes. If I'm incorrect in that assumption or missing something please let me know, you guys are a wealth of information. I'd love to hear some hunting experiences with the weatherbys if you guys have them!
Thanks,
Voodooracer
Perhaps we should specify what Weatherby means. I had a terrific Weatherby Vanguard rifle that was in 300 Winchester caliber. 300 Winchester is a great caliber and, using Nosler Partitions, I've shot numerous game animals including a 450 lb African lion that was killed with a single bullet. In my opinion Nosler Partitions [I haven't used A-Frames] have one minor problem. They generally mushroom up under the far side skin on medium sized animals. To be certain, this means the animal gets the full "benefit" of the bullet's power but it also means that you don't get a bleeding exit wound in case the animal must be followed up. The Barnes X hollowpoint is, perhaps, better. We just returned from a SA trip in which we used a .338 Winchester loaded with 210 grain Barnes hollowpoints traveling at 2,750 fps at the muzzle. 8 animals were shot from springbok up through zebra, waterbuck and greater kudu. In all cases the bullet exited, producing relatively small exit wounds conforming to the approximate doubling of caliber via expansion. No follow ups required but, if they had been we'd have had both entrance and exit wound blood to follow.

We also used my Weatherby magnum .416 on a large bull giraffe. The bullet is a 400 grain Barnes hollowpoint and is traveling 2,500 fps at the muzzle. The animal was standing in tall cover 100 yds away and the bullet struck him a little far back penetrating thick skin, ribs, rumen full of wet, undigested fodder, liver [the liver was unrecognizable mush], body wall with ribs and mushroomed perfectly under the far side skin. The bullet at penetrated maybe 4.0-4.5 feet of tissue before coming to rest. I've now weighed the mushroomed bullet and it weighs 399 grains. It retained 99.75 % of mass. The animal trotted 60-70 yds, stood and suddenly dropped dead.

My Weatherby .416 is very accurate but does have a muzzle break and a heavy recoil. I'm a little guy at 5'5" but, perhaps surprisingly, care little about recoil. I reckon a kick--even a hard kick--to the shoulder is unimportant. On the other hand, getting hit in the face by a rifle scope mounted on a rifle like this is no joke. I heard of one fellow firing a .416 who had his skull fractured by the scope. Therefore, I'm careful. I've mounted a scope with long eye relief. It's a Leupold 1.5-5.0 power which I feel is adequate for large and/or dangerous game at relative close range. I've also added a rubberized ring to the eyepiece of the scope. I've also put one on my .338 and plan to put such a protective device on my other scopes.

Other than the giraffe, the only other animal shot with my Weatherby .416 was a bull elephant shot with a 400 grain solid. My friend used my rifle and saw only the trunk trip and round of the elephant's back as it fed in tall bamboo, unwisely, he chanced a shot THROUGH the bamboo at a point where he estimated the chest to be. Either he miscalculated or the bamboo deflected the bullet--maybe both. As it turns out the bull was hit--through and through--low on the mid abdomen. Hit with a lesser weapon and the elephant would surely have been lost. As it was the bull went two or three miles leaving only one smudge of blood. We found it lying stone dead. I couldn't stay to examine the animal but the shot was too low for liver, kidneys or aorta. My guess is that the bullet might have hit one end of the spleen. It definitely would have struck small intestine. I rather imagine that the enormous pressures generated by the Weatherby caused massive disruption of mesenteric blood vessels causing the bull to bleed out. One of the advantages of an over-kill weapon [and the Weatherby .416 is an over-kill weapon, in my opinion], is the poorly placed shot. Animals that might be lost with lesser calibers are recovered when hit with a cannon.
 
Perhaps we should specify what Weatherby means. I had a terrific Weatherby Vanguard rifle that was in 300 Winchester caliber. 300 Winchester is a great caliber and, using Nosler Partitions, I've shot numerous game animals including a 450 lb African lion that was killed with a single bullet. In my opinion Nosler Partitions [I haven't used A-Frames] have one minor problem. They generally mushroom up under the far side skin on medium sized animals. To be certain, this means the animal gets the full "benefit" of the bullet's power but it also means that you don't get a bleeding exit wound in case the animal must be followed up. The Barnes X hollowpoint is, perhaps, better. We just returned from a SA trip in which we used a .338 Winchester loaded with 210 grain Barnes hollowpoints traveling at 2,750 fps at the muzzle. 8 animals were shot from springbok up through zebra, waterbuck and greater kudu. In all cases the bullet exited, producing relatively small exit wounds conforming to the approximate doubling of caliber via expansion. No follow ups required but, if they had been we'd have had both entrance and exit wound blood to follow.

We also used my Weatherby magnum .416 on a large bull giraffe. The bullet is a 400 grain Barnes hollowpoint and is traveling 2,500 fps at the muzzle. The animal was standing in tall cover 100 yds away and the bullet struck him a little far back penetrating thick skin, ribs, rumen full of wet, undigested fodder, liver [the liver was unrecognizable mush], body wall with ribs and mushroomed perfectly under the far side skin. The bullet at penetrated maybe 4.0-4.5 feet of tissue before coming to rest. I've now weighed the mushroomed bullet and it weighs 399 grains. It retained 99.75 % of mass. The animal trotted 60-70 yds, stood and suddenly dropped dead.

My Weatherby .416 is very accurate but does have a muzzle break and a heavy recoil. I'm a little guy at 5'5" but, perhaps surprisingly, care little about recoil. I reckon a kick--even a hard kick--to the shoulder is unimportant. On the other hand, getting hit in the face by a rifle scope mounted on a rifle like this is no joke. I heard of one fellow firing a .416 who had his skull fractured by the scope. Therefore, I'm careful. I've mounted a scope with long eye relief. It's a Leupold 1.5-5.0 power which I feel is adequate for large and/or dangerous game at relative close range. I've also added a rubberized ring to the eyepiece of the scope. I've also put one on my .338 and plan to put such a protective device on my other scopes.

Other than the giraffe, the only other animal shot with my Weatherby .416 was a bull elephant shot with a 400 grain solid. My friend used my rifle and saw only the trunk trip and round of the elephant's back as it fed in tall bamboo, unwisely, he chanced a shot THROUGH the bamboo at a point where he estimated the chest to be. Either he miscalculated or the bamboo deflected the bullet--maybe both. As it turns out the bull was hit--through and through--low on the mid abdomen. Hit with a lesser weapon and the elephant would surely have been lost. As it was the bull went two or three miles leaving only one smudge of blood. We found it lying stone dead. I couldn't stay to examine the animal but the shot was too low for liver, kidneys or aorta. My guess is that the bullet might have hit one end of the spleen. It definitely would have struck small intestine. I rather imagine that the enormous pressures generated by the Weatherby caused massive disruption of mesenteric blood vessels causing the bull to bleed out. One of the advantages of an over-kill weapon [and the Weatherby .416 is an over-kill weapon, in my opinion], is the poorly placed shot. Animals that might be lost with lesser calibers are recovered when hit with a cannon.
I forgot to mention, that Weatherby calibers have one real disadvantage. Off the shelf Weatherby ammo is--and always has been--ridiculously expensive. One box of 20 Weatherby .416s sells for around $170.00. Granted, this may be a drop in the bucket when compared with the price of an African hunt but still its a consideration especially when you consider that most ammo is burned during the sight-in procedure. I reload which significantly reduces expense. Also, another disadvantage is availability. One time a friend and I went to S.A. and the ammo for my friends 270 WEATHERBY never showed up. There was plenty of regular 270 ammunition available over but these rounds are useless in the Weatherby 270. My friend had to use my 300 Winchester. My guess is that this particular problem exists with most Weatherby ammo in SA. You likely won't be able to find any in your Weatherby caliber should your ammo disappear in transit.
 
As Spoonieduck said Weatherby rounds are ridiculously expensive. I am in the middle of a reloading project for my best friend. He shoots a Weatherby Mark V in 300 Weatherby. We were on the phone about 2 months ago talking about an upcoming Elk hunt. He was telling me a box of 300 weatherby costs $80.00. He got a reloading kit years ago as a gift and never got it set up. He has the dies and saved his brass for years. To make a long story a little less long, he sent the dies and brass to me. I am loading 5 boxes of 180 grain Nosler Partitions infront of Reloader 22. The cost difference is going to be extreme. I have not gotten it down to exacts but bullets, powder and primers are all he will have to pay for so it will be under $30 per box. If there is any powder left over the cost will be even lower. I would think in South Africa the price would be qutie a bit higher if the ammo is available. The 300 Weatherby is a great round it does't get enough over a 300 Win mag to justify the expense in my book, . Plus the availability factor incase ammo is lost in transit. I haven't bought my first rifle for Africa yet and there is no rush right now but as it stands if I do take a 300 it will be a winchester.
 
... I have a 7mm Ultra Mag...got it on clearance for a song and a dance...
Dang Eric, I didn't know you were such a good singer and dancer. :ROFLMAO:

... Weatherby rounds are ridiculously expensive. I am in the middle of a reloading project for my best friend. He shoots a Weatherby Mark V in 300 Weatherby. We were on the phone about 2 months ago talking about an upcoming Elk hunt. He was telling me a box of 300 weatherby costs $80.00...I have not gotten it down to exacts but bullets, powder and primers are all he will have to pay for so it will be under $30 per box.
Like I've previously posted, I've only had my 300 Weatherby for about 5 years, but it is fast becoming my favorite rifle. I've used it on several Western US hunts, a South African PG hunt, and a New Zealand hunt. So far I've shot 15 animals with my .300 Bee varying in size from a 30 lb Klipspringer to a Sable bull, two bull Elk, and a large Red Stag. All have been one shot kills with Barnes 168 gr TSX and TTSX handloads.

Even at todays inflated prices, my .300 Weatherby hunting loads with Barnes bullets, IMR 7828 powder, and CCI 250 primers cost me less than $22/box to reload. My practice rounds with Hornady 168 gr BTHP Match bullets, H 4831SC powder, and CCI 250 primers cost me less than $13/box to reload.

My favorite Elk bullet for many years was the 180 gr Nosler Partition at just under 3000 fps. Now, with my .300 Weatherby, my favorite Elk bullet is the Barnes 168 gr TSX/TTSX bullet at 3250 fps. :cool:
 
Buffybr, I'm so happy you have that muzzlebrake for your Weatherby and 375 Rem Ultra Mag, both would thump my shoulder.

Hopefully, when I'm on break from school and work I can come out to Montana to see that great collection of mounts. I can't believe it's been 10 years since we hunted together.
 
Dang Eric, I didn't know you were such a good singer and dancer. :ROFLMAO:


Like I've previously posted, I've only had my 300 Weatherby for about 5 years, but it is fast becoming my favorite rifle. I've used it on several Western US hunts, a South African PG hunt, and a New Zealand hunt. So far I've shot 15 animals with my .300 Bee varying in size from a 30 lb Klipspringer to a Sable bull, two bull Elk, and a large Red Stag. All have been one shot kills with Barnes 168 gr TSX and TTSX handloads.

Even at todays inflated prices, my .300 Weatherby hunting loads with Barnes bullets, IMR 7828 powder, and CCI 250 primers cost me less than $22/box to reload. My practice rounds with Hornady 168 gr BTHP Match bullets, H 4831SC powder, and CCI 250 primers cost me less than $13/box to reload.

My favorite Elk bullet for many years was the 180 gr Nosler Partition at just under 3000 fps. Now, with my .300 Weatherby, my favorite Elk bullet is the Barnes 168 gr TSX/TTSX bullet at 3250 fps. :cool:
The 300 weatherby is an amazing round. I tried talking my buddy into using Barnes bullets but he is a Nosler Partition fan so thats what he wanted to buy for the reloading project. I use the 150 gr TTSX
in my 30-06. It is one of the most accurate bullets I have ever used in that rifle. It has a 22 in barrel and is still getting 2850 fps.
 
Bruce, the 180 grain Nosler Partition was my bullet of choice for about 30 years in my .30 Gibbs for elk and larger animals.

In 2005 I did a cape buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe and built my .375 RUM for that hunt. Prior to the hunt I was discussing the soft point/solid dilemma with my PH and he suggested that I just use Barnes TSX bullets. The 300 grain TSX bullets were accurate and worked very well for me on that hunt as did 270 grain TSX bullets in that same rifle on another South African plains game hunt.

Barnes TSX bullets had worked so well for me in my .375 RUM, so when I built my .300 Weatherby I thought, new rifle = new bullets, so I tried the TSX bullets in my .300 Bee. I am very happy with the way both Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets shoot and perform in my .300 Weatherby.

I believe that accuracy trumps everything else, so I tend to shoot a bullet that is rated for the largest animal that I will be hunting that is the most accurate in my rifle. Both Partitions and TSX/TTSX bullets are deep penetrating bullets, and since the Barnes are accurate in my rifles, I haven't tried anything else.

Eric, yep, time flies. You're welcome anytime.
 
I have had a different experience I guess (different than the pro weatherby guys that have posted) . Mine has been very pro for 5-6 shots, then accuracy goes to shit. Have owned a laser mark in 300 wby mag and a vanguard in 30-06, both with the same problems. Don't get me wrong, have owned other makes with the same problem. Just that for the $$$$ there are better out there, without the barrel so close to the wood.
 
I have had a different experience I guess (different than the pro weatherby guys that have posted) . Mine has been very pro for 5-6 shots, then accuracy goes to shit. Have owned a laser mark in 300 wby mag and a vanguard in 30-06, both with the same problems. Don't get me wrong, have owned other makes with the same problem. Just that for the $$$$ there are better out there, without the barrel so close to the wood.

I recently refinished my 30-06 Remington. I bought it new in 1972 and it has been my main hunting rifle since. The accuracy was always acceptable if I did my part, about 1 1/4 inch at 100 yards. I decided to glass bed the stock and free float the barrel as long as I was refinishing it. I read an article written by John Barsnass, in Rifle magazine on how a properly free floated barrel should be. You should be able to moderately squeeze the barrel and stock together and not have them touch. The old dollar bill test wasn't enough to prevent the stock touching the barrel in extreme weather conditions. Anyway, I was amazed after my last trip to the range. I bought a new Leupold VX-II 3-9 x 40 with a bullet drop reticle to replace the old VariX-II. After I left the range on Saturday I felt about an inch longer. At 100 yards the bullet holes were touching each other and at 200 yards a 50 cent piece covered 5 shots. I have shot that rifle for 46 years and it shoots better now than it ever has. I know the job I did, improved the accuracy. However I have a Remington model 721 in .270 and the stock is touching the barrel in several places and is almost as accurate. I have yet to figure that out. It does have a longer barrel,24 vs the 22, on the 30-06.
My buddy said don't mess with it but I am thinking about glass bedding the 270 and free floating the barrel on that as well.
 
I have glass bedded the actions of all my bolt action rifles and I glass bedded then free floated the barrels of the ones with wood stocks. I also pillar bedded the actions of my .375 RUM and .300 Weatherby. With this work, all of these rifles have shot moa or better groups.
 
I have glass bedded the actions of all my bolt action rifles and I glass bedded then free floated the barrels of the ones with wood stocks. I also pillar bedded the actions of my .375 RUM and .300 Weatherby. With this work, all of these rifles have shot moa or better groups.

The results from glass bedding my 30-06 have made me a beliver. I am thinking of pillar bedding the next rifle I do as well.
If done correctly, the rifle should remain consistant no matter the weather situation. The material I use for glass bedding is West System epoxy with a special thickener that makes it extraordinarily strong. I found this stuff doing some repair work on my boat. It's so strong I believe I could make the pillars out of it.
 
I ignore the general stereotyped opinions some have about Weatherby owners. I love the Mk V action. It's so smooth, and IMO reliable because of that. I own three of them, and they never fail to fire in any condition. And, just like other rifles shooting other calibers, they kill what they're properly aimed at:

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thriller wrote on Bronkatowski1's profile.
Until this guy posts something on pay it forward free I would avoid him at all costs.
sgtsabai wrote on Buck51's profile.
If it hasn't sold by next week I might be interested. Stock would have to be changed along with some other items. I'm already having a 416 Rigby built so money is a tad bit tight.
The35Whelen wrote on MedRiver's profile.
Hey pal! I'll take all the .375 bullets if they're available.
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