Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Weatherby Alaskan or Synthetic Stainless steel????????????????

How can you tell the difference?
I was told the Alaskan was NOT in fact SS but some kind of nickle plated finish. Any input ASAP?????????????

thank you



Are the Alaskans good or problematic somehow?

..............Hmmmm! Weatherby has a rifle called an Alaskan? Thought that Ruger made the Alaskan.

I owned a Weatherby Alaskan in 7mm Remington Mag years ago. It had a nickle finish.

Didn`t know that Wby ever made a rifle called an Alaskan. Must`ve been many moons ago.

I don't remember when I had mine, maybe, 15 years ago.

Are they good? bad? reviews? opinions?

Wby ventured into the stainless steel Mark V once but claimed manufacturing costs did not justify continued production. The nickle plated version was labeled as the Alaskan.

They're Mark V's all the same no matter the coating.

.............Just go get a MK5 Accumark.

Great rifle. I gots one.

Can`t see any reason how or why an earlier Wby Alaskan would be any better than a new Accumark.

+1...I love my accumark.

Ya want "stainless and Weatherby" in the same package. Get one of the new "Series 2 Vanguards"--two stage trigger, new beefed up synthetic stock, guarenteed .99 MOA,, and all that for a thousand less than a MarkV. I think the new Vanguard is offered in .375H&H. if big bore is your preference.
G

.............From the Weatherby site, there is no 375 H&H listed yet for the Vanguard Series 2s.

338 Win is as large a caliber as they go.

G, you have what I feel is the best rifle value, or one of the best, on the market today.

If I were Joe Blow deer hunter, a VS2 in 270 would be my pick of any rifle on the market today. Solid, dependable, accurate - guaranteed, SS, affordable.

Should Weatherby decide to make a SS VS2 in a 260 or 7/08, I'd probably grab one. If you must ask, I just like Short actions/rounds for what I do.

65BR - "6.5x55 - killing Mice to Moose since 1894.". Like your tag line...really enjoy my two (2) a CZ550FS and a Tikka T3. Homesteader

Howa Action which is the best action the MKV ever came in. It is nickel plated and should be a great great gun.

I got one too a 30-378 and I also love it.

The aforementioned alaskan is like new and 600 out the door...

Fotis , what is the alaskan chambered in ?

Fotis,
I called a buddy of mine who is more knowledgeable about Weatherby. He said that they came out with nickel plating instead of stainless as they felt if was as durable but allowed for a smoother action. They were made for 1-2 years starting in 1993. The process was found to be too costly and the model was dropped. SS became more acceptable in the market and Wthby. just joined in. He said mainly people don't even know they are looking at nickel, they just assume it is a bead blasted stainless finish.
I can add that when stainless steel first came out, I was at the S&W armorer school in MA.. They found early on that some SS parts would "gall" if they physically moved against each other. This resulted in a an excessive DA trigger pull and other internal problems. The easy fix was to change the "hardness factor" between the two parts and the problem was solved.
Good luck.

340 Bee

Nice. Is that barrel 26" or 24" ? Cabelas has one listed with a muzzle brake and they say it is a 26" barrel. The last Howa MKV I owned in 340 Bee was a 24" barrel.