My dad bought a Mk V 300 Weatherby Mag in West Germany in 1963. The rifle was made by J.P Sauer.

I'd get a Tikka T3 Superlite.  Light, accurate, and under $700.  You could spend the extra on better glass and ammo or reloading components.

I had an Ultra Lightweight in .30-06, loved the pointability and style but couldn't get it to shoot.  Sold it, bought a Tikka, haven't regretted it for a second.

.308 is a fine choice.  I hunt with a 7mm-08, 140 grain Partitions, haven't had to shoot a bull twice yet.  Only two bulls so far with it, but it did the job well.




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I have a Series 2 Back Country in .30-06, serial number VB0426XX.  When I attempt to load the rifle slowly, muzzle up or down, the shell on the left does not chamber.  Rather, it jams into the right side of the action to the right of the chamber mouth.  That's the first and third shell with 4 in the magazine.  I've tried 4 different manufacturers, all fail.

When I load horizontally there is no problem, regardless of speed.  If I load quickly with the muzzle up or down, the rifle only jams about half the time.

At first I thought it was the follower, so I replaced the plastic follower with the metal follower of my initial run Back Country (all stainless, same chambering).  I tried to get my original BC to jam but it fed flawlessly regardless of angle or speed.

Anyone else have this problem?  Can anyone diagnose and offer suggestions for a fix?  Besides the obvious "just don't load it slowly up or down angled." 

Thanks,

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Quote from: dubyam on January 20, 2015, 08:35:33 PM

Actually, he was selling the regular version, and had it mislabeled. It's the black stock, silver finish version. The last post (today) says no longer on the market. You might still hit him up and see.

That's what I thought, too, until I saw his username.  I know the guy, he said the flash made the rifle look stainless but assured me it was the Ceracoted S2.

Sure looked like mine, though.  I paid $650 for mine, NIB.


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Still looking.


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Based on what you described, pharm, I'd have to ask, did you ever take this issue up with Weatherby?  Because if 1.5-2moa is the best it could do with factory and handloaded ammo, it was outside the Weatherby guarantee, and they'd have fixed or replaced it if you sent it in.  Since you owned it nearly 15yrs, I'm confident you had time to at least talk with them about it.

Weatherby doesn't sell rifles you have to modify to get to shoot, in my experience (which is several dozen deep at this point).  They sometimes have a rifle slip by QC which doesn't own up to their guarantee, and as long as it's not been modified by the owner (and thus outside of factory QC) they have, to my knowledge, always made it right, when given the chance.

You chose to send it down the road, and that's also fine.  But your question right above me here, dictates that you don't have tolerance for things not working correctly.  I pray you never have to source a part (like the plastic bolt shroud) for your Tikka, as you'll quit liking them in a hurry when you can't get anything resembling service or parts availability from them, despite numerous calls and emails.  I know, because I watched a friend go through that on his T3, which has since been traded off (still broken and unshootable) for less than half what he paid for it.  I don't have anything against Tikka, though their rifles don't fit me well so I don't own one.  But I can't help but notice you had a rifle which didn't perform to its guarantee, and you didn't mention seeking counsel from the manufacturer about it, at all.  That's your prerogative, of course, but it doesn't give Weatherby a fair shot at resolving this for you.

I hope you enjoy the new rifle.  Maybe it will hold up well for you over the long haul.  I'm less than optimistic about that than you may be, however, based on my vicarious experience through a friend.

A fair question.

I contacted Weatherby several times and got suggestions from them (torque specs, etc) but I never sent it back.  Hindsight bring 20/20 it's easy to say I should have.  I felt that I shouldn't have to, which might be unfair.  Quality control is almost never 100% on anything, although you don't have to look far to find a story of an Ultra Lightweight that won't shoot.

Regarding your friend's Tikka.  His N is one, which doesn't say anything predictive about the Tikka experience I will have.  All 4 of mine have been tack drivers out of the box and have operated flawlessly.  I still hunt with my Accumark and I love my Back Country.  I just wish the UL shot as well as the others.


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The only rifles I would put up with anything over MOA from would be a lever actions. I sure wouldn't be taking 15 minutes to put three rounds down range.  I have sent a few down the road myself.  There comes a time when a guy just gets tired of messing around and wants to have it shoot already. I totally get the call to send it packing.  A rifle should be enjoyable not an exercise in futility.  

It took me years to accept that the rifle wouldn't shoot.  My other Weatherbys shoot well and I really wanted this one to meet my expectations.  I'm not one to send a rifle down the road on a whim but you're right, I got tired of the inaccuracy.



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Well, I hated to do it, but I sent her down the road.  Maybe the new owner will have better technique.

In the meantime I'm done with load development on her replacement which, interestingly enough, cost almost exactly half as much.







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Sold her.  Thanks for the interest.



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