German Made Weatherby .257 Magnum Mark V

Huh. I didn't know about Sauer. I bought a German-made Mark V in 1971. I guess I was buying the design moreso than the name, though. Many years of sub-MOA.
 
Don Fischer said:
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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Yes Don, J.P. Sauer did make this one but I'm not sure about how much of it they actually made. I think they were in Belgium when Belgium companies were trying to prove their manufacturing abilities. Weatherby switched to Howa in Japan when the Sauer costs got to be too much. I've asked Weatherby for the history on this rifle but haven't heard back yet. Everything I just said is from online research so it may not be 100 pct correct.
 
This is more what I was after with the first re finish job. It's a little darker than the original but not so dark as to mask the tiger stripes. I just put the last of 10 coats of finish on it and now it will cure for 72 hours.
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My rifle serial number is 28779 with no prefix. According to what I can find that would make it a FN Mauser made in 1960 and not a J.P. Sauer. Anybody got any different info. Still have not heard back from Weatherby so I'm trying to figure it out on my own.
 
Finished the stock today and put it back together. Weatherby's are supposed to be free floating I think and this stock fits really tight on the fore end. Rather than make it free float and adding pillar posts and bedding, I ordered a Boyd's XX Claro Walnut Platinum stock with all the trimmings. I'll still have to bed it but I won't have to mess with the original stock.
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if weatherby would refinish the rifle I think I would have tried that first. my weatherby looks a lot like yours, but I have decided to leave it as is.
 
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My Mark V needed the forearm free-floated before it would really allow tight groups. I installed a Canjar trigger, which was a dramatic improvement. The proverbial "breaking a glass rod".
 
Fairly certain the older Wby's were set up with fore end pressure for the long light barrels. Mine (Japanese) did significantly better after free floating it. However the accuracy only held for about 20 rounds, until the copper was cleaned out. Course it is not a target rifle.

The early German made were held in high regard, unless it had a slower twist used with the heavier bullets.
 
Thanks for the responses. I think I'll leave this stock alone since it is basically original and whatever value the rifle has would be better with the original stock. The Boyd's stock I ordered is designed for free floating and will have the pillar posts installed. I'll just have to bed the action with Acraglass and I should have a good shooter.

As for the refinishing, I'm not sure what prompted the previous owner to apply urethane with a brush in their attempt to refinish the stock. Had they used a quality black china bristle brush it might have flowed out but I think they used a cheap throw away brush that left big brush marks and a few hairs behind. They even painted over the recoil pad! Yeah, not pretty at all. Before I refinished it, I searched for as many examples of my rifle as I could find and determined that this was a good compromise overall tone. The thing I found out about most pre-Mark V (Still a Mark V but before the patent was granted) is that no two are exactly alike, they were all pretty much what we would call custom today.

I'm hoping that when I'm done I'll have a good shooter but I seriously doubt it will compete with my McMillan G30 Dynasty 270 WSM.
 
I've got a lot of input from Weatherby websites and my rifle is a 1960, Pre-Mark V. That means it was a Mark V with the patent still pending. The serial number without a letter prefix and the "Made in Germany" marking on the Barrel make it a FN Mauser Action.

It's definitely one of the originals and like many of those it could be a one off but with the serial number on the upper end I think they were pretty well standardized at that point.

As for value, the asking price even with the scope was way out of line but I ended up getting it at a fair price. The others I was looking at were way overpriced. I will look for the same guy next time the Show is in town.

I put a Leupold Vx3 4.5x14-40 on it that I had but it needs lower rings since it's almost 2" to center of bore from center of scope. It will work for now. The Talley rings are on order.
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I've gotten away from Accraglass. Found it to be too soft. Even tried the gel stuff.
I've since switched to Devcon.
 
std7mag said:
I've gotten away from Accraglass. Found it to be too soft. Even tried the gel stuff.
I've since switched to Devcon.
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Acraglass is ok if it's also pillar posted. It's just there to take up the shock and ward off the potential cracked stock with the magnums. Devcon, MarineTex or JB Weld do a better job when it's not pillar posted.

I use JB Weld to bed my scope bases on my magnum rifles if they use #6 screws. Haven't broken a screw since.
 
I've gone and drilled/tapped all my base screws to 8-40. I got a great deal on a Delta drill press, and bought a machinist vice for it.
Then bed with Devcon, putting release/shoe polish on the rifle, so the bedding sticks to the base. Just in case i ever want to sell one.
 
std7mag said:
I've gone and drilled/tapped all my base screws to 8-40. I got a great deal on a Delta drill press, and bought a machinist vice for it.
Then bed with Devcon, putting release/shoe polish on the rifle, so the bedding sticks to the base. Just in case i ever want to sell one.
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Many of the mounts that I buy dont have enough material at the screws to drill them out for #8 screws. My Mcmillian uses #8 screws but I still bed it. I only use release on the screws. I use resizing lube. I have a Smithy Mill, Drill and Lathe that works great for gunsmithing tasks. I can even ream a barrel but I haven't done it yet. I have put a target crown on my Model 70 30-06 that helped it a lot.

I'm considering getting a Vanguard/Howa 1500 and totally accurizing it. That would be a fun project.
 
Got an email from Weatherby. My rifle is a pre patent Mark V. The action is by Sauer & Sohns of Germany. Current average value is about 1200.00 and I got it for 1100.00 so it's nice to know I didn't overpay. Now that I know that it's nothing special and not a collector, I'm going to pillar bed and free float it. Might as well have a gun that I can shoot decent groups with.
 
I meant the Howa action.

Speaking of which, does anyone know who is making the 2nd gen Vangard?
Had a first gen. Worst rifle i ever shot! Was happy to see it go. Buuuttttt...

I've been really wanting the 257 WM. Unfortunately the Vangard series would be all i could reallistically afford.
 
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