Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Weatherby Mark V - To buy or not to

Hello fellow outdoorsmen and firearm enthusiasts. This is my first forum post so I'll quickly introduce myself.
My name is Karl, I am a farmer from Germany and primarily hunt roe deer and wild boar. I'm big on everything safari and old school American hunting and hope to experience it myself one day.
I'm looking forward to a lot of interesting discussions and arguments on the topic of hunting, firearms and everything outdoors on this site.

That said, I'd like to ask some opinions on a gun I'm interested in. Specifically a used Weatherby Mark V .300 Wth Mag made by Sauer in the 1970s.
This one seems to come with a single set trigger and EAW swing off mount bases. The seller claims that the bluing is very good and says that he has never fired the rifle.
Depending on my auction skills I could probably get it between 500-700€ and I don't really want to spend any more than that for a gun I probably don't need and that shoots pretty expensive ammo.
This gun would be a complete gimmick for me, since I already have a very adequate hunting rifle (Heym SR21 8x57), but I somehow want it.

Here's a picture:


What do you think?

Good afternoon Karl,

Although I'm far from a regular contributor and mostly keep a watching brief on the Forum, I have to say it's nice to have someone on board that's closer to home. Judging from your summary above, I would congratulate you on your English which appears to be of a very high standard.

All I can say is that you must have some big roe where you are! If you want the rifle for a bit of fun then for the money that you expect to pay for it, I would say go ahead and buy it, especially if you reload your own ammunition. Personally however, I would leave it alone and find something that is more calibre appropriate for the game that I normally shoot. .300 Weatherby is a lot of rifle that I'm not sure is necessary for boar let alone roe.

Good luck,

Tim

Welcome aboard. If you like it, can pay the money, and think you’d have a blast, I’d get it and use it.

Welcome Karl!! I always love to see members from my ancestral home. I have an insatiable interest in German firearms from the late 1800's to the mid-1950's. Wonderful firearms.

To your question. I am of the opinion that if it puts a smile on your face, then you need it. While that stock design does not appeal to me I think those are some of the best Weatherby's ever made.

Where I live in the Missouri Ozarks there is little concern of my garden being invaded by Elephant, Rhino or Cape Buffalo but I have a 450/400......just in case.

I don't know how much "500-700€" this is. But that looks like a nice rifle.

If you can buy it for a reasonable price buy it. It will not do anything a 243,270,308,6.5x55 , 30-06 will do on a small deer.

The strength of the Mark V is second to none. I’ve owned some German Weatherby’s. They are top quality. They were built before 1980. Can’t remember exactly when Wby moved production to Japan. All that being said the recoil of a 300 wby is not for the beginner. Mike

I found the 300 WB in the MKV in the recoil department to be quick and painful. Took me a lot of concentration to shoot it, and then I had about a 10 shot tolerance. I've owned two. To be fair, the LOP for me was too short in its factory guise, and at the time, I was a notorious stock crawler due to the fact that I was too vain to purchase prescription shooting glasses.

It's too much gun for Roe deer and Boar. Unless your shooting at distance.

They are a quality firearm. Bullets have just now caught up to Weatherby speeds. Do not go cheap with optics.

Buy it is always the answer.

^^^^This^^^^

You already know it's not needed to kill your game more dead, but if you have the idea it will be more exciting that is a reason and legitimate desire! Go for the excitement of a louder boom, harder recoil, see if the blast scorches the grass in front of the muzzle.

I'll say buy-it too, but I'll throw another caution in here too.

Some of the German Weatherby's from this period suffered from "salt wood" which was much more common on the Browning rifles. Salt was used to accelerate drying of the wood.

I ran into one of these not long ago. The selling price was very low, due to significant flecking on the barrel and action that the seller attributed to improper storage.

I asked the seller to remove the barreled action from the stock, and it had extreme corrosion below the stock line. The bore was unaffected, but even at the $500 price tag I could not convince myself it was a good value.

Another way to easily detect this is to remove one of the buttplate screws and examine for corrosion.


Looks like maybe a Canjar trigger?

Hello karl, as an owner of a pre patent 1961 mark v in 300wby I'd say go for it if it's something that interests you and is in budget. Mine is ported and fair on the bench. I will say with it being s german made mark v it is going to run light for cal bullets as Roy intended (150gr at 3500fps) because of the 1:12 twist. You can get away with some heavier bergers but best to stay under 165gr if going monolithic. Cheers

Notwithstanding the prior comments, I own 4 Mark Vs in .30-06, 7mm Weatherby, and .300 Weatherby. A .300 Weatherby is not for the faint of heart. Mine shoots extremely well and I have learned to shoot it without recoil induced problems. It is the most accurate of the bunch with 168 grain TTSX bullets. Get a sturdy scope, preferably one proven on an accurate rifle.

I never thought that I would like or use a 300 Weatherby. I used to tease one friend that he should get a bazooka instead. Then I picked up a steal of an older Vanguard for $260 with a terrible trigger. Put a $100 Timney in it and it shoots under an inch and has been tremendously effective on deer & elk. Hit a large cow elk at 500 meters and she did a backflip.

This year the large mule deer dropped immediately and the elk slid 15 yards downhill in the snow. The sons in law & son all asked for it as first choice on the “which guns do you want to inherit?” list. So keep your practical hunting rifle and have fun with your exotic toy.

greetings. regarding the weatherby, first make certain it doesn't have salt wood. if necessary, have a gunsmith check it out. second, recoil from a 300 weatherby is more than MOST men can handle. for roe deer and hogs i'd suggest a 308win, 7mm-08 if a short action fan or 270win, 30-06 if a long action .ammo for these mentioned were readily available when i was in your country. good luck with whatever you select.

Much of my family are mark v .300 wby fans for PA whitetail. We've got the scars between our eyebrows to prove it........

Karl,
I was born in Wurzburg in 1963, so welcome!

I carried a .300 Why Mag for a couple of years. Beautiful rifle, flawless operation, very accurate.

It beat the hell out of me.

So buy it, because you can, but then get something a little more forgiving.




P

That seems like an excellent price even at your higher range. The problem will be once you own it you will have to go to Scandinavia for Moose and Africa at least every other year to put that rifle to it's best use. This will lead to trips to Kazakhstan or other "Stans". and then of course you will want to try it out in Alaska or Western Canada. In addition to ammunition costs these other expenses could escalate quite a bit.

Just kidding and the 300 would be excellent for oversize boar. For Roe buck they might become too dead. I have been known to shoot the occasional hill country deer with a 300 magnum and they are not much larger than a Roe Buck.

If the safety is on the bolt -- buy!