Hi FISHNFRANK,
I know that Weatherby has a stellar reputation. They sure market beautiful rifles, However, I've never seen a Mark V that was worth a plugged nickel. My friend had a couple. Kiss was a better group than either shot. My Model 700 shot circles around his Weatherbys. His bullets got there faster, but where they got was anyone's guess.
Long barrels seem to be all the rage among newer big game hunters. For me, I want no barrels longer than 24". I love .270 Win rifles with 22" barrels. I wish I had a .308 Win carbine. I could put that dude through a whole lotta serious hunting work.
When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to Weatherby's South Gate store. He told me then and many times thereafter that Weatherby had serious quality control issues. He told me that the then gold standard of factory rifles was Mannlicher-Schönauer. He did like excellent craftsmanship of Sako. But he also said that the then factory Model 700 rifles were hard to beat for the money. BTW, my dad knew a whole lot about metals and metal craftsmanship. He could look at a metal part and precisely replicate it.
There's a huge difference between Sako & Tikka. While they're manufactured by the same firm, that's where their similarity ends. But for the money, Tikka is a an excellent bargain.
I know nothing of the X-Bolt. People who own 'em love 'em. Others have said that the best Browning rifles came from FN, Belgium.
Browning owns Winchester. I'm not sure where new Winchester rifles are manufactured. I do have a Featherweight with CRF. I will admit that I bought in to the CRF marketing gimmick. It's a very good rifle, but inferior in every way to my Model 700, especially accuracy. BTW, my Model 700 will feed upside down. While I was proving to myself that it would, I remember thinking, "I sure swallowed that bait. Who the hell chambers a round while upside down?" It's a good action, but it isn't better than a Model 700 action, which isn't as good as a Sako action.
One of these days I'm gonna get around to selling my Featherweight. The only reason I've kept her around is because she's chambered in .308 Win.
If I were to start anew, I'd buy a Sako in .280 Rem and never need another rifle for any North American big game.
BTW, there were many times I've gone on Rocky Mountain hunts with only one rifle: either a Sako AV or my Model 700 .270 Win.
My advice for anyone looking for a new big game rifle is to look to Finland. If it's a Sako, he'll have the best available.