German Made Weatherby .257 Magnum Mark V

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LineStretcher

New member
I went to the Big Reno Gun show today. I walked the entire show twice and found 4 257 Weatherby Mark V's. None of them were in great condition but all were good. 1 was the Japanese made version the other 3 were German made. It was then just a matter of haggling. They started at 2750.00 and all had glass but nothing I really wanted. Finally got one guy to pull the glass off, an old Leupold that was fogged and I got the rifle for 1100.00. It was one of the German's.

Weatherby rifles hold their value because you can send them back to Weatherby and they will restore them to like new and all I pay is the shipping. The guy I bought it from didn't seem to know that. The other three would barely move on their prices and made a point of telling me about the Weatherby policy.

Ammo is 90.00 a box of 20 and I stopped by Sportsman's Warehouse and picked up a couple of boxes. I'm ordering a set of Redding dies and I'll reload these 40 rounds until the cows come home. LOL

Update: After cleaning the barrel for over 2 hours, (soak, clean, repeat), I finally got all the copper out of it and the lands are crisp as the day they were cut. The stock looks like someone painted it with a paint brush and they did but that's factory and they lost a lot of sales because of it. I'll be refinishing it this winter when the snow is ass deep on the hunting grounds.
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Nice rifle!
The stock still looks better than Savages.
I've cleaned/ stripped them and a nice light stain shows some actual nice wood on the Savages.

Have been wanting a 257 WM for some time now.
Might have to get another cheap Savage 111 in 7mm Rem Mag and order a barrel from E.R. Shaw.
 
Thanks, I was pretty happy to find it at this price. Have you ever looked at the muzzle velocity of this little .257 WM (6.5mm) round, 3600 fps is pretty impressive.

I almost feel like a vindicated reloader now. It's definitely far less expensive to reload for this gun than it is to buy. Still not going to pay for all the reloading equipment I have. LOL.
 
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Not ALL ammo is $90 for 20. You can buy Wby branded Norma ammo made in Sweden for $35-40 and occasionally over-run or blem ammo from Nosler for the same price. Even Nosler top end ammo isn't that much.
 
"...Weatherby rifles hold their value because..." They don't hold value any better than any other commercial hunting rifle. Mind you, the German made rifles were made by Sauer until it got too expensive. Still doesn't mean they hold their value any more than any other rifle. Certainly not because you can send it back to Weatherby. Ruger does that.
Current MSRP for a Mk V is $2300. You can have a Sauer in .257 for $1,799.99 via Guns International.
"...more like 6.35mm..." Not using math. .257" converts to 6.5mm.
"...90.00 a box of 20..." Only Weatherby and No$ler brand run that kind of money. Both of which are over priced at the best of times. Hornady runs about $50 per 20. At Midway. Bit less at Graf's. 100 grains only Weatherby ammo runs $40 at Cabela's.
 
Keep in mind that unless you do minimum shoulder bump back, those cases will last maybe 8 rounds.

Maybe less, have not reloaded any Weatherby stuff.
 
"...Weatherby rifles hold their value because..." They don't hold value any better than any other commercial hunting rifle. Mind you, the German made rifles were made by Sauer until it got too expensive. Still doesn't mean they hold their value any more than any other rifle. Certainly not because you can send it back to Weatherby. Ruger does that.
Current MSRP for a Mk V is $2300. You can have a Sauer in .257 for $1,799.99 via Guns International.
"...more like 6.35mm..." Not using math. .257" converts to 6.5mm.
"...90.00 a box of 20..." Only Weatherby and No$ler brand run that kind of money. Both of which are over priced at the best of times. Hornady runs about $50 per 20. At Midway. Bit less at Graf's. 100 grains only Weatherby ammo runs $40 at Cabela's.
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Humm, should I respond or not... Nah
 
Could not suffer another minute looking at the crappy finish on the stock. Sanded it down, stained it dark walnut and I'm putting 10 coats of Hellmans Clear Gloss Spar Polyurethane in the spray cans. This is after 3 coats. When I get to 5 coats it will dry for a week and the get sanded with 2000 grit. After the last coat is fully dried it will get sanded with 2000 again and then rubbed out.
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Of course if i build a 257 WM, then i might want to build a 6.53 Scramjet...

I wonder if i could talk Lazzeroni into necking down the 7.21 Tomahawk???

Lightened up the tip some, but i like it!! Keep it up!
 
So here's the before and after. The pics dont really do it justice or show the brush Mark's in the original finish. After it dries for a week or so I'll polish it out and turn the glossy finish into a deep shine.
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std7mag said:
Of course if i build a 257 WM, then i might want to build a 6.53 Scramjet...

I wonder if i could talk Lazzeroni into necking down the 7.21 Tomahawk???

Lightened up the tip some, but i like it!! Keep it up!
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What, 3600 fps isn't fast enough? LOL.. The rosewood tip had deep scratches in it and it was originally that way. They used a filler to try to cover them up. I uncovered them when I sanded off the finish. Rosewood is really hard so theres no way to sand the scratches out. I did the best I could and left it at that. If it ever gets stolen and recovered, I know right where to look to identify it. Gives it character. Hey. it's my story. LOL.
 
"more like 6.35mm..." Not using math. .257" converts to 6.5mm."

Which would mean that a 6.5x55 and 6.5 Creedmore are .25 caliber?
 
Mobuck said:
"more like 6.35mm..." Not using math. .257" converts to 6.5mm."

Which would mean that a 6.5x55 and 6.5 Creedmore are .25 caliber?
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This is correct. The .257 bullet is 6.5 but the bore is 6.35. In the UK caliber is determined by bore size at the lands so this is where he's getting that number. I live in the USA so I'll go with what we use here. Sometimes Wikipedia confuses people.

Makes you think why bother with a Creedmore. The answer is simple. The creedmore does almost the same thing but in a smaller short action round that fits in a AR 10 chassis. The 25-06 is pretty close but true to Weatherby form, the .257 WM kicks its butt. They say Roy Weatherby once took a Cape Buffalo with a .257 WM. I think I'll stick to Antelope and the occasional Mule deer.
 
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The refinish job started to wrinkle in a few spots so I stripped it again. It wrinkled because I didnt let the stain completely dry. 2hrs just wasnt enough. Most of the stain came off with denatured alcohol which surprised me. The rest took a lot of work. Pain in the butt. I got in a hurry and I should have known better.
 
LineStretcher said:
So here's the before and after. The pics dont really do it justice or show the brush Mark's in the original finish. After it dries for a week or so I'll polish it out and turn the glossy finish into a deep shine.
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Boy that looks a lot better! Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but weren't those German Weatherby's made by J.P. Sauer? In the early 70's Sauer did a rifle for colt. It was a beauty!
 
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