Weatherby rifles

I answered a thread on another forum (24 hr campfire) on what to expect in accuracy from a WBY rifle. Some positive some negative.
So I answered this.







340 bee















460 bee factory ammo



416 bee

BTW as of 2017 all bees are guaranteed to shoot moa or less, not just the range certified ones!

Weatherby rifles are capable of excellent accuracy, and your evidence is quite convincing. I was always able to find a load that satisfied the owner of every Weatherby I worked with. Well, except for one--a 460 Weatherby. The owner was upset because three separate loads only gave 0.5 MOA. He expected better, but didn't want to pay for the work. :mrgreen:

Fotis - I think you could make a 12 gauge with buckshot shoot tight groups...

A Weatherby 12 gauge that is... :mrgreen:

Guy

My 300 printed a few one holers when I shot it a lot. Really impressive shooting there...but I don't envy trying to get tiny groups with a 378 or 460!

Seeing those groups has me thinking about my Whelen project. I was concerned about getting the throat length correct, but given the amount of freebore in a Wby, I think I am wasting my time (based on those targets). At most I will have 0.020" jump to the lands with a standard reamer, far less than the Wby chambers, so it doesn't seem like it would be worth the expense of having a reamer custom ground.

Great work there.

DrMike":39hfllpl said:

Weatherby rifles are capable of excellent accuracy, and your evidence is quite convincing. I was always able to find a load that satisfied the owner of every Weatherby I worked with. Well, except for one--a 460 Weatherby. The owner was upset because three separate loads only gave 0.5 MOA. He expected better, but didn't want to pay for the work. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

That's crazy Mike! Dang, 1/2 MOA with one of the most powerful hunting rifles.... And he wasn't satisfied.. Dang...

I've only got one Weatherby in my safe but I'd gladly put another one in there were I to find the right one.

People always like to cut down other products but as Fotis has shown the bee family can stay with any of the other manufactures with accuracy.
All you need is patience and a great eyes, you sir have both .
Thank you for the post and photos.

Blessings,
Dan

Guy Miner":34iqetpe said:

DrMike":34iqetpe said:

Weatherby rifles are capable of excellent accuracy, and your evidence is quite convincing. I was always able to find a load that satisfied the owner of every Weatherby I worked with. Well, except for one--a 460 Weatherby. The owner was upset because three separate loads only gave 0.5 MOA. He expected better, but didn't want to pay for the work. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

That's crazy Mike! Dang, 1/2 MOA with one of the most powerful hunting rifles.... And he wasn't satisfied.. Dang...

Click to expand...

The crazy part, Guy. The owner was severely handicapped and likely incapable of every going to Africa. I explained that it was more than enough to drop an elephant at 25 yards (which had been stated as a goal). Not good enough. :shock:

Good grief!

Nice gun Scott!

Fotis,

That's some impressive shooting.
All of your Weatherbys are shooters.

JD338

DrMike":3usi05r4 said:

Guy Miner":3usi05r4 said:

DrMike":3usi05r4 said:

Weatherby rifles are capable of excellent accuracy, and your evidence is quite convincing. I was always able to find a load that satisfied the owner of every Weatherby I worked with. Well, except for one--a 460 Weatherby. The owner was upset because three separate loads only gave 0.5 MOA. He expected better, but didn't want to pay for the work. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

That's crazy Mike! Dang, 1/2 MOA with one of the most powerful hunting rifles.... And he wasn't satisfied.. Dang...

Click to expand...

The crazy part, Guy. The owner was severely handicapped and likely incapable of every going to Africa. I explained that it was more than enough to drop an elephant at 25 yards (which had been stated as a goal). Not good enough. :shock:

Click to expand...

Geez,how small an elephant was/is he after? :roll:

Those are all excellent Fotis. Nice shooting, rifles and loads.

There are two Mark V's I am very familiar with. Both shoot "OK" groups.........................

This pic shows two targets. The one in the foreground is a .340 using factory ammo. Under .5" at 100 yards.
The one in the rear is a 300 wby which is even less.


This is that same .340 wby with my hand loads @ 100 yards


300 wby @ 300 yards


340 wby using my hand loads @ 300 yards




It would be accurate to say that I am a wby fan boy....................... :lol:

Ain't nothing wrong with those Chuck!

The smallest group I was ever able to shoot was a Model 70 XTR in 270 Wby with a friend's handload with 90 gr Sierra HP (sorry do not know charge or powder); three shots went into 0.181" at 100 yards. Have seen some other small groups from Wby rifles, just have never shot a one hole group with one myself...but that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things! LOL

I know a long range shooter who works for a local gun shop. He is their "expert" on most things there and many customers will ask him to "sight in" their new rifles. Him and I have talked on many subjects including the quality of Weatherby rifles and he is a huge fan boy of them because they are so accurate out of the box. Using factory ammo he can't remember one rifle not getting under 1" @ 100 yards. Most will get .75" with a few going .5" or better. All using factory ammo.

Some folks are real Roy disciples and will praise him for being all-knowing and all that. For me, not so much. However, I will give credit when due and his rifles shoot, are well made & seem to be able to shoot accurately in the field. I've always been able to hold a Weatherby steady in the field, more so than other stock designs at times.

They don't carry in the hand as well as a lighter rifle with a thinner fore stock will, that is for darn sure and the Mark V's are heavy. For hiking around all day with that rifle in your hands it will not compare to a M70 that is 2 pounds lighter and fits your hand like a glove. And you might curse that wby after a few hours for being such a beast but, when you settle into a shooting position and have to place a bullet across a canyon expecting the animal to know it was hit, the wby comes through.

Chuck:

Your load with the 340?


BTW the only Bees I found to be sometimes problematic were the ones made by SACO in Maine.

FOTIS":12mbb3hv said:

Chuck:

Your load with the 340?


BTW the only Bees I found to be sometimes problematic were the ones made by SACO in Maine.

Click to expand...

88.4 grains of 7828SSC using a 240 grain North Fork. Found good accuracy with them about 3.70" for over all length, (almost as far as I can with the mag).

It's a good stout load for sure and I would not want to go much higher. No pressure signs and I am assuming I have a fast barrel as factory loads get around 3040 to 3050 with 250 gain bullets. My hand load with the copper NF. is at 3027 fps. With that bullet I get 7 jugs of water at 25'. And that 7th jug has a pretty good dent in the back!

So far game animals have been taken with factory ammo, 250 grain Spire Points. Mostly deer and as Scotty likes to give me heck, a really good turkey load! I will say that it gives one shot kills with one deer stumbling 60 yards after it's heart was blown out of the body. Everything else has dropped in it's tracks. This fall that rifle is going on a bull elk hunt in Colorado. Expecting good things with that load.