Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Weatherby Ultra Lightweight 300 can it shoot?

I had the SBGM in 300 WM. Basically the ultralight.

I killed several elk with it - one at 425 yards.

Carried very nicely and shot fair.

Would not shoot very well at all with a bipod.

I had the authorized service center give it a trigger job & I tried all kinds of combinations of techniques to make it shoot better. Tried 10 different premium factory loads. Had the action bedded. Tried free floating the barrel. Tried a pressure point up by the forward section.

I shot probably 500 rounds through it and it pained me because I wanted to be in love with her but I just couldn't get over the nagging feeling she wasn't all that I deserved for the money and effort I put into her.

Again, she did kill many a beast but I didn't trust her to go the distance like my sako finnlight.

Everything is a trade off, one way or another. A very light, easy carrying rifle won't be as easy to shoot off the bench or shoot long range as a heavier one. I guess one needs to decide what's the most use a rifle will get and choose the best one for that application.

I have a hunting buddy who uses a Sendero. He carries it on antelope hunts and when I asked him why he packed such a heavy rifle, his comment was it was worth it when he made the shot. And that gun really works for him.

I guess we all need to have enough rifles such that we can pick the right one for a particular hunting situation. Always need an excuse to buy another gun...

DF

Heavy rifles are deadly, otherwise why would we pack them?

The Ultralight is a pleasure to carry but I consider it a 300 yard rifle or less. That is just fine for most hunting situations. Mine is a 25-06 and I carry a second rifle for long shots because of lack of accuracy in the Ultralight. The first shot is around 1 MOA and predictable. The very light barrel moves all over the place after the first shot though so follow up shots are a crap shoot. I have placed a shim under the barrel (in addition to the one embedded at the factory) to improve this but it is still not as good as a free floated sporter weight barrel. A sporter weight barrel or heavier does an excellent job at long range shots but the light Weatherby has its limitations. I don't have any issue with shot stability given the light weight. It has a good trigger and pulls on target very fast. That 60 degree bolt throw is incredibly fast when it comes time to jack the next round in. It is a great big timber rifle but I would not trust it to a 600 yard elk shot that the .300 Wby cartridge is capable of.

I personally have never ever seen or worked on one that did. I have had a 270 WBY and currently have a 257 WBY and they shoot very well.

For some reason the 300 WBY in this chassis does not shoot. I think it deals with the violent cartridge vs the slim barrel.

However you just might get lucky....

I returned my 300 ULW to Weatherby( was there on vacation, actually south of there) about 1 1/2 years ago due to a stock with air pockets, they restocked it and ended up having to skim bed it to shoot well enough. Gave me 2 targets they fired at their outdoor range, one a .830" 3 shot group and the other was right at .850".

Allen

I have a 300 weatherby ultralight and have used it for years to hunt elk. I would use it to shoot 600 yards if needed. But my longest shot to date is 400 yards on an elk. It is American made though.

Mine shoots very well and kills real well.
Everything from Coastal Blacktail deer to Kodiak Brown Bear have hit the dirt with the Ultra Lightweight WBY.



IMHO It really doesn't kick that bad either, my 115 lb wife has killed bucks with it and my son killed an antelope with it.



The tightest grouping factory ammo was the Weatherby loads in 200 gr Nosler Partition.
Farthest kill was a 668 yard blacktail deer.




I've relegated her to the safe for some time though since I went on my first date with her more petite sister the .257 wby.