Weatherby rebuild

[Jimbeaux82]

In 1987, I bought a MkV Deluxe 7mm Wea mag, 24" No 1 barrel. Since then I have shot somewhere between 500 - 1000 rds thru it. Should have kept better count but did not. Anyway, for the last couple of years I have been trying to develop 160 gr handloads but they just dont seem to group like I think they should. So I decided to send the rifle back to Weatherby and have them convert it into an Accumark. I was very surprised that the cost to install an Accumark barrel plus stock on my existing action is only around $750. Sounded like a heck of a deal to me. So it now sits in the Weatherby Custom shop awaiting its surgery. Estimated time is 12-14 weeks. I have asked them to examine my stock barrel and give me an evaluation of its condition and if there is any throat erosion.

So I just now have to wait and then will begin working up loads for this rifle. I would like to shoot 160 gr Accubonds hopefully around 3000 fps or a little more with sub MOA groups.

Anyone here ever converted an existing MK V to an Accumark?

 

[Dr. Vette]

Interestingly enough I spent a LOT of time and effort a couple years ago trying to get Dad's stainless Mark V 7mm Wby to shoot the 160 AB. I tried different powders, primers, you name it. No matter what I did it would not shoot that bullet well.
I next put a bit of effort into the Berger 168 and a Sierra GameKing with not much luck.

Switched to the Barnes 150 TTSX and quickly found a sweet spot that is repeatable no matter what brass I use, how I prep the brass, you name it. That rifle loves that bullet with H-1000 powder.

An interesting notation that both didn't like the 160 AB - though I have another 7mm that has seemingly shot it OK, and is on my "to do" list with the leftover 160 ABs from a few years ago.

 

[Guy Miner]

What's the rate of twist on the 7mm Wby mag?

This isn't the first time I've heard of them excelling with 150's and down, but failing to shoot 160 - 175's well.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My 7mm Rem Mag custom Mauser does no shoot the BT Accubonds as well as it does the flat base Partitions. I have talked to several other Bee and Win 70 owners of 7mm Mag that have had the same issue with 160 AB's. Most of these rifles shoot the Flat Base 160 Partition fine. Just a suggestion?

 

[Jimbeaux82]

Twist rate is 1/10. I asked the Custom Shop if I could go with a 1/9 but they said 1/10 was the only twist available in the 7 mm Wea Mag.

Once I get the rifle back I will begin my load development. I have already stockpiled several bullets to try, 150 NBT, 160 NAB, 160 NPT, 162 Hor IL, 160 Speer GS. Will see what it likes best but was hoping to shoot a 160 gr high BC bullet as I regularly shoot out to 600 yrds, but may have to fall back on the 150 NBT if necessary.

 

[Guy Miner]

Not like the 150 is a bad choice, but I hope the 160's and other heavier bullets shoot well for you.

160 - 175 is the weight range that worked real well for me with my old 7mm Rem mag.

Regards, Guy

 

[FOTIS]

My 7mm bee Euromark will not shoot ANY boattail I tried in it. But it did 1" with the 150 Partition at 3275 and .65" with the 154 Hornady at 3320 fps. This is without a load work up. Just random loads.

 

[IdahoCTD]

Just curious why you didn't go with a custom barrel from a gunsmith over another factory tube? Since Weatherby isn't truing the action you could have had the same thing done for a similar price but with a better quality barrel using a gunsmith IMO. You also could have used a 9 twist barrel. I think at one time Weatherby was using Criterion button rifled barrels (Kreiger use to own them) which are good barrels but they aren't on par with their Kreiger cut rifled barrels that win tons of accuracy competitions every year. I think they do come with a 1 MOA accuracy guarantee from Weatherby though.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

I actually considered going with some of my local gunsmiths but the waiting time from anyone I would trust was not acceptable to me. Weatherby quoted 12-14 weeks and $750 which was in line with the other prices I have seen so I decided to go with them. Also, I have had several guns with work done by local gunsmiths that I was not happy with (crooked scope bases, crooked threads on flash hiders, etc) so I did not want to mess up my Weatherby.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I've had a rifle worked on by the Weatherby factory. I purchased a Lazermark (used) a few years ago that the previous owner had "set" against something hard multiple times. This result in dozens of "tick" marks along one side of the barrel which marred the bluing.

Weatherby was less expensive to reblue the rifle than anyone else I could find so I sent it back to them. Nothing like having a Weatherby receipt for work on a Weatherby rifle. It looks beautiful and I could not have asked for more. In addition they're really nice people to deal with.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[SJB358]

Looking forward to how the rifle turns out. I'd be just fine with my 7mm shooting 150-160 grain bullets. Run em fast like Fotis does and you'll be in great shape for hammering game.