Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Roy Weatherby

Back when I was a young punk his guns hit the shelves, and I wanted one for a long time. Then I found out how effective the Browning M2 was and got over it. Nonetheless, I still think they are remarkable pieces of craftsmanship.

Years ago a friend of my Dad’s bought a new M-70 .300 H&H, got it opened up to .300 Wby. That was a big deal back in the day, a cheaper way to have a .300 Wby.

I cringe now thinking how many Pre-64 .300 H&H’s were turned into Wbys. They weren’t Pre-64’s back then, just M-70’s. We’re talking late ‘50’s.

Seems Wby promoted that, pushing his new round. Wby was a great promoter. Maybe why Pre-64 .300 H&H’s aren’t that plentiful. Not sure how many were made, percentage converted. Must have been a bunch ending up as Wby’s.

DF

Yup, speed sells and Roy took advantage of that. Back in the late 70's several guys in my neck of the woods bought 257 Weatherbys to hunt coyotes. They did buck the wind but a thousand rounds of barrel life was about the max.

I pay special attention to pre 64 Winchesters when out and about. I saw a clean one at Bass Pro in Council Bluffs a year ago. The 300 H&H was Xed out and restamped 300 WBY. My thought was why in the heck would anyone do that? You are right, they had no idea what they had, nor how bad they were screwing up its value. Kinda of like when my dad was stock car racing with 57 Chevys. He sure ruined a lot of 2 dr hard tops back in the day.

People do alot of retarded things look at all the great old shotguns that got poly choked or a cutts or a weaver. No end of stupidity in people. Still happening look at all the dipshits voting democrat. I rest my case..mb

I would hardly call modifying Your gun, to fit Your need or wants, Retarded

Yes indeed. We Americans have this crazy affinity for “factory original.” Adjust/alter the gun to suit the hunter and the purpose.

I’d rather have a nice painting on the wall than a whole vault full of factory original Winchesters or Belgian Brownings, and I like them both. Life’s too short…

Old Ugly would be case in point. I sure wouldn’t call him retarded. He may take issue that.

DF

I remember growing up in PENN and most of used 30-30s, 35 REM, etc. But some of my friends wanted 300 WBYs, they usually bought Vanguards.

Thanks for a great video link. When I was about 10 years old I was blown away by the magazine advertisements for Weatherby rifles & cartridges. I had never seen anything like one of Roy's rifles, with that rakish stock design, the fore-end tips, the inlays, and especially that super shiny gloss finish. Not to mention that guys like John Wayne were Weatherby owners. When I got older and more knowledgeable about rifle cartridges that double radius shoulder, to me, just screamed "power, performance, and velocity". My only Weatherby is a Vanguard in .257 Wby. but I am very fond of it. Buddy of mine has several including a 300, a 340, and a 30-378 and I do all the reloading for his rifles & mine, (I'm retired; he's not), I consider them all to be reloader cartridges.... Have you seen the price of factory ammo in Weatherby chamberings lately?

Amen; Phil.

LGS in my area had an early WBY built on an FN Mauser action in 257 WBY. Dang, that rifle was beautiful. It sat for quite awhile before it sold.

And those rifles can be bought at a much lower price point. Plus, if you really want to get nit picky, the 300WBY is a better cartridge than the H&H parent. You can put a lot more firings on the old WBY, than you can on the H&H. I'm thankful I found my $499 300WBY that was rechambered on an original 300H&H. I later threw it in a Brown PoundR, when I found that cheap as well. Bottom rifle shown in this pic:


The rifle above it used to be an H&H as well, but now it's a 338WM with a custom barrel on it. We do things to pre 64 model 70's, even you do my friend. Speaking of that, I saw an original 358w fwt the other day for right around $3,500.00..

Another fine 300WBY:


My first 300WBY was built on a M1917, and was one of my favorite rifles. I foolishly sold it in the late 90's. That reminds me of an original WBY rifle I had in my hands once. It was also built on a sporterized M1917, but built by Roy Weatherby. About 15 years ago, when I saw that rifle, they were wanting $2,500.00 for it!!! A rifle I still wished I had the money for back then..

Somene mentioned the WBY cartridges as being a handloaders proposition. I can totally agree. When I bought my first 300WBY in the 90's, you could find components for cheap! That is the reason I started handloading.

The WBY cartridges are not as popular because of their price point. Hell, I couldn't hardly give away 2 boxes of 300WBY factory ammo!! Had it on consignement, since I have tons of brass got the ammo for free in a gun deal. Figured someone out there would buy factory ammo to shoot in their 300wby locally. It was on consignment for 6 months, and finally sold it for $35/box, right before the store shut down!!!


So, it reduced the price I paid on the rifle by $70.00. $63.00. Whoopie!!!!

Well yes and no. Somewhere along the line rifles and cartridges were deemed to be tools for essentially one purpose, i.e., killing or taking game and essential food, or opponents in war or self defense. It’s just recently that these same tools have morphed into collectibles and as such their inherent utilitarian purpose no longer matters. I know there are exceptions, the specially built Schuetzen and later target rifles and those finely carved and engraved bored and chambered art pieces but they really are the rare exception

And yes Mr. Weatherby was a great promoter and an original risk taking thinker so regardless the opinions of his rifles and cartridges let me ask, Do They Hunt ?

Rick

Yeah, just tools back then.

Those guys had no idea the price difference today, couldn’t foresee all that.

M-70’s were a cheaper way to have a .300 Wby. The Wby round was a superior round and it was promoted hard. So, why not buy a less expensive M-70 and convert it.

Seems I remember Wby doing that work. Is that right? Or did I dream that?

Anyway, there were a bunch done.

DF

I think they are still making fine rifles to this day.

i like my Mark 5 rifles i own i really like the 257 Weather mag cartridge the best because this cartridge shoots flat ,accurate with less recoil.

They sure are making fine rifles still.
Adam has a different vision than Roy or Ed had.
The new 307 Alpine CT i just got is the most accurate factory rifle i’ve ever owned……….

Adam’s a real impressive young man.

Read his bio.

DF

Wonder how many pre-64 M 70's .375 H&H's were turned into .375 Wby's?