I find it interesting that when Weatherby first came to my attention (circa 1970) they were the most expensive mass-produced rifles on the market. Now they are some of the least expensive, and from everything I've read, very excellent firearms indeed.

My father-in-law has this gun in .30-06 and it truely is and amazing rifle, I sighted it in for him last season and it was almost a religous experience haha. Thanks Mr. Petzal!

Correction: the Nosler's are 110gn Accubond bullets, not 100gn as I incorrectly wrote. My S2 was making sub-1" groups @ 100yds even before I was done with powder work-ups on the 100gn TSXs. Great rifle---YESSSSSSSS!

So I guess Ed Weatherby figured he could sell a whole bunch more $450 rifles than $1,500 rifles with a better margin!

Dave,

Any timeline on a review of the new Ruger American?

I thought a stainless barrel was a blued barrel just not a chrome moly.

I am glad they figured out the trigger and did away with the Sub MOA distinction. At least it shows they are paying attention and fixing the problems people are experiencing.

Mine is pre MOA (new distinction) and when I had a local gunsmith do a trigger job it was wonderful but then I noticed the safety would not engage..... when he fixed that problem the trigger was back to its old creepy self. It is like running your fingernail across a chalk board. It still shoots about a .625" group @ 100 yards with .257 Weatherby factory ammo.

Wish I had the money for a new .308. I would buy the Winchester. HA! Is it just me or do other people not like the rubber inserts in their stock? They always seem to wear out or come unglued.

There is/wuz a line of Left Handed clothing with left handed zippers and buttons.

$500, sounds like quite a deal for a top notch rifle. What calibers would you folks recommend to me for midwestern whitetail hunting, and maybe some day, a Colorado elk hunt? Something without too much kick, please.

Oh, and can someone explain why hand loads offer superior accuracy? Seems like the pros at the ammo makers would have their assembly lines tuned pretty well, to the point where doing it by hand would offer more downside than upside. Please educate me, much thanks on both fronts.

Thanks for the info on what you used for powder, etc. I recently bought a $1200 made in America.308 that is fussy to an extreme. I use 150 gr gamekings and appreciate advice on good powder to use with them.
Maybe I'll just swap my rifle for a Weatherby.

Any thoughts on this rifle in .300 Weatherby Mag?

Mark .270 Win: The S2 as a 300 Wby Mag would be awsome. I have a circa 1995 Vanguard 300 Wby Mag with an S2 trigger. I got the trigger from a guy who likes the Timney triggers better than the 2-stage ones on the S2s. Handloaded 180gn Hornady's from that rifle before the new trigger shot 1.5" wide groups at 300yds from a bipod. I tested out some other handloads last week and the group was .96" @ 100yds and that was with two different powder loads. Also, my 300 Wby shoots better with a Sporter stock than it did with the original black synthetic stock.

Dave,

If I remember correctly, you are also of the left-handed persuasion. Does it bother you shooting guns made for those folk who are wrong-handed? Do you even care at this point?

Thanks,
Jake

Ooooo. I've been toying with the idea of picking up a new rifle before next hunting season – 25-06 probably – for antelope and open-country deer. Now I’m really tempted. Don’t tell my wife.

Dave, As mentioned here on earlier posts I got my hands on one of the first S 2's in 300 Wby. Mine has the 2.5-16X mdl 6500 elite Bushnell scope with Tally QR rings. It is no problem to get 3200 fps with Barnes 168 gr TTSX bullets and they are MOA accurate. Looks to me like a 26 inch barrel is not needed with modern powder. Last fall it smoked a nice whitetail 268 yds across a Missouri pasture. This will no doubt take care of any elk on the planet. The bolt throw does not bother me at all. The safety is a little stiff and needs a good shove to get it to the fire position. Honestly recoil from this rifle is not even close to the whack I get from my Remington 700 Classic in 350 Rem mag.

Dave63go, Hand loads are usually more accurate because your brass is fire formed to the rifles chamber. Also you can tailor your ammo to a particular rifle. For example my 300 has a 24 inch barrel therefore it makes sense to choose a powder like IMR4350 over something that is even slower burning like H1000. The very slow powders burn less completely in the shorter barrel and the result is a big muzzle blast. By trying several combinations of bullet, powder, primer and brass you can almost always come up with one or more loads that will beat factory ammo in accuracy. However, factory velocity is often tough to beat or even match.
BTW My testing indicates you can safely push a Barnes TTSX bullet faster than a same weight lead core bullet such as the Nosler partition. TTSX bullets have very high BC's that result in very flat trajectories.

Del in KS, Fordman155 and WA Mtnhunter,

Thanks for the feedback on 34" versus 26" barrel for .300 Weatherby Magnum. I will have to evaluate caliber choice. I have a .270 win (my favorite) and 7 mm rem mag so not sure on next caliber, but like this rifle. Wanted a heavier caliber for elk.

To Jakenbake: I do shoot left-hand. I've been shooting right-hand guns for so long that it no longer really bothers me. You can get used to anything.

To John C: It's not just Weatherby; just about everyone uses 24-inch barrels on standard calibers and 26 inches on magnums. I have no idea why. From a ballistics standpoint you certainly don't need them.

As for a carbine S2, I'm all for it if it's in .308 or .260 or 7mm/08. Chambered for a bigger cartridge, the muzzle blast is inhuman. My own 7mm/08 has a 20-inch barrel, and I like it fine.

WA Mtnhunter,

No left hand in the Vanguard is really just a matter of cost. It is very expensive to tool for another action to be built left hand. Also it's expensive to build another mold for the synthetic stock. It's hard to justify the expense for the number of LH guns we sell compared to RH. Hope that helps explain it. With that said, we have considered it and you never know what the future holds.
Ed Weatherby

Mark .270,

The 7mm Rem Mag with a 150 or 160 grain bullet is an excellent elk choice. Our gang has taken more elk with 7mm magnums than other calibers I guess because that's what we used. Not much tracking either!

But one needs any excuse for a new rifle!

Ed, You can thank WAMtnhunter and Beekeeper for getting me started on Weatherby rifles. Almost bought a MK V back when it cost a month's pay for a buck sergeant but the store clerk talked me into a Remington. That was about 1973 give or take a year. I do like my S-2 and will likely buy more.
BTW You orta give ol' WAM one of them S-2's for all the good publicity he has given you over the years. Me thinks Weatherby's are 'bout all that good ol' boy owns.

Mr. Weatherby,

As a left handed shooter I have long appreciated the mere fact that a major gun company would even acknowledge those of us in the 1 in 14 bracket. However, we are a market and if you think about it, an almost guaranteed market to the company willing to provide rifles to us sinister types. With the Weatherby name and Vanguard cartridge selection, even at a slightly higher price the market is there.

Business is business, but gun companies have always been guarded when marketing left handed guns. Typically they are offered in limited chambering’s and that in itself limits sales. I once had a Ruger rep tell me that left handers only buy rifles in 30/06, .270 and .300 Winchester Magnum with a straight face. Well duh... When I reminded him that is all that Ruger offered he glared at me as if I were an idiot.

The company that is willing to bring a quality left handed gun to the market and include a modest selection of non-vanilla chambering’s will develop a loyal following. Weatherby rounds are pretty non-vanilla by the way. The Euro based companies offer far more variety in left handed guns than do US makers, Tikka is a good example. However, Beretta only imports a fraction of the available left handed guns to the US from Tikka. If left hand guns sell in Europe, why not here?

If memory serves back in the days when Howa had their own web site I recall seeing a left handed action listed. It also seems that Legacy also had a lefty M1500 listed briefly but no longer does.

I won't buy any lefties unless I lose my right arm! LOL

There are Mark V's in limited models and calibers, as I recall. There are the occasional lefty Mark V used rifles out there too.

WAM that was close and I am aware of the engineer mentality. My son is one. Hard to hold the calipers and snap a picture by myself.

I thought WAM might have had Ed there for a moment and I might end up buying my first Win..270. Ending up with a Mk V was a fluke for myself being such a spendthrift but when my girl friend now 23yr as my wife asked about a rifle it was a Mk V.240 Wby. I think it was John Lachuk writing the article for G&A back in "81" and I was eating those numbers up and liked the taste...fast & flat. I found the trigger on this piece broke like glass its consistancy was unmatched by anything in the safe(close 2nd Contender). These HOWA made rifles, mine happens to be a 1500 S&W and after bedding the rifle, 1/2 dollar groups all day @200yds hot or cold, 150, 154, 160, 162, 175 gr bullets were the norm. The most accurate Howa rifle was my lawyers Wby Vangard his first and only rifle shot better than mine and it needed nothing but ammo as it always thought it was in a match. I'm a lefty as are my wife & boy, the Mk V.300 & BDL 700 30-06 are our left hand rifles. A .270 SS Vangard might have been the ticket for me, we handload is the reason we don't own one(.270), my excuse...its perfect who needs that! ? Nice try WAM, I won't say Ed blew us lefties off 'cause he does build rifles that you only need to pull the trigger once but the cheek piece on the right would be nice.

dtownley

Ed and the Weatherby boys DO make some fine Mark V rifles for lefties. You just have to get off that hip to bring one home.

I'm sure tired of suffering from Dep's disease [ lefthand ] myself and being told that no you can't have it your way. Do you realize that being left handed is the last minority that doesn't have a protected status? Even the blind have those chirping crosswalk signs and those aggravating yellow bump walkways that when you run over them with a full cart of stuff that falls out on the ground. I know that left handed people outnumber blind people at about a 1000 to 1 so where's our perks? I think it's time for some new laws that say if you offer it in right hand you have to offer it in lefthand. We can be subsidized by the government as a new classification of protected citizens. Just think when you see a rifle that you like you won't have to hope against hope when you ask if it's available in left handed like a bum on the street asking for spare change and them looking at you like the pathetic defective DNA meat tube that you are. With this new law Mr. Weatherby will get the extra money that he needs to flop the plans on a CNC machine to crank out left hand rifles and throw us lefty's a bone. Dep I think that you should be our general to lead the charge because the troops are ready to go. I'm sure Obummer will surely get behind our cause for justice. What say you Dep?

dtownley,
Getting off that hip is an old saying that refers to getting up and reaching into the back pocket and retrieving the wallet. Could also be useful to get off the azz and get a job to pay for it! LOL

DakotaMan

I have used a two-lug action longer than others myself. I had no issue with the 90 degree throw until I discovered a better mousetrap. How much better? Not that much, but better. I still shoot and hunt with both.

dtownley

If it is a Mark V in excellent condition, I would consider sending it to Weatherby Custom Shop for retrofitting the brake. Non-OEM modifications seldom add to the value of firearms. Just a thought. If you plan to keep it for a long time, then it doesn't matter.

WOW.this gun sounds so good i think i'll have to get one!

WAM, this rifle was in great hunted shape and when the fella that sold it said he would take 400 for it, I cloud nined as another LH.300 that looked keel hauled was passed on. So I feel MK V rich as it shoots as well as the wifes .240(always under an inch @100yds), the Mag-Na Port is to preserve the lines as much as my shooting prowess. I shoot this firearm very well and to develope a flinch would just annoy me. My wife shoots her .338WM very well if she thought for a second she shot better than me I would hear it all over the College. I won't even shoot clay pigeons with her after she schooled some friends and myself with a pistol grip 12ga. *#@!*&!@ show off...we could have been having an off day ?

Mr. Weatherby,
Could you please offer this fine, well priced rifle in your father's and namesake's .270? The REAL .270....the laserbeam .270....the under represented, misunderstood, yet superior .270...the Weatherby .270 magnum??!! I love my Mark V Deluxe in .270 WBY magnum and would love to see this caliber get the recognition it deserves over the more trendy .270 WSM. Seems that Weatherby's should be chambered for Weatherby calibers. Just my $.02

WAM, the nice thing about my used Wby, is the used Leupold 4X12AO(nice glass), the Dr. I handloaded ammo for bought me the .300 dies then gave his .300(a german short throat,near zero freebore) to his sister ? So all good things Wby are kinda falling softly in my lap and I am taking them as a sign. Quit smoking, exercise everyday, and will start eating better...uhh less. Two years back I portered my .300 about the bush down here and found it as tireing as my wifes.240. That S&S line was a giggler.

I bought a Vanguard last year in 270 Win and put it into a Boyd's thumbhole laminate stock with a Bushnell Elite scope. My grandson shot a nice doe last fall with it. 386 yds and it dropped on the spot. There are days I wish I could be young again - just for a little while :-)