German Made Weatherby .257 Magnum Mark V

Howa is making them all as far as I know. The Vanguard is similar to the Remington 700 from what I understand. The Mark V is also made in Japan by Howa. I believe they both have screw on barrels which makes for some interesting upgrade options. The Mark V has several Krieger barrel options now. The Vanguard, if it's is the same barrel as a 700 has a ton of after market barrels available for it. The 700 action is not the best but it can be accurized and a lot of shops are out there doing just that. I'm thinking about a Vanguard but I'm also thinking that a plain Jane 700 might be a less expensive starting point with the same end point.
 
So in other words i may as well buy a used Savage in 7mm Rem Mag and call E.R. Shaw for a barrel.
It's going to be a hunting rifle anyways, not like i'm going to be shooting strings at an F Class competition with it.

Can get away with donor gun and new barrel for about $600.
 
std7mag said:
So in other words i may as well buy a used Savage in 7mm Rem Mag and call E.R. Shaw for a barrel.
It's going to be a hunting rifle anyways, not like i'm going to be shooting strings at an F Class competition with it.

Can get away with donor gun and new barrel for about $600.
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That sounds like a plan. I have a Thompson/Center Encore Hunter with a 7mm Rem Mag barrel. It also has a .500 and a .308 barrel. I've never shot it. Got from a friend that needed some cash. Its supposed to shoot very well.
 
My .257 Weatherby Magnum Mark V is now a super custom deluxe.. (my own designation not Weatherby's).

Since my last post, the rifle barrel inlet was opened up .030 to allow for free floating. I installed aluminum pillar posts front and rear and then bedded the action and posts in JB Weld. Following that I filled the floor plate inlet with JB weld and then milled it and the proud set posts perfectly flat.

Once all the milling and trimming up was done, I checked everything for fit and then changed out the 1960 trigger for a new Timney that I set to 2.5lbs. Finally I fixed a couple of blemishes on the stock that I did, (darn Dremel slipped), and sanded it with 2000 wet/dry to level the finish and then re sprayed it with three final coats of Helmsman Spar Urethane.

I revisited the barrel cleaning scenario and found it was still puking out copper so I soaked it in 10% ammonia then cleaned it with Hope's #9. I just kept doing that until I think I have it all out. It was cleaned like a regular rifle for so many years that it was several layers deep in copper and carbon.

Getting the right scope bases did prove to be challenging because two out of three orders and numerous visits to local sources resulted in them all but one trying to sell me Remington 700 bases. Finally, I found out about Warne bases and rings and they fit perfectly. I went with Weaver style rather than Picatinny because they were thinner. The rings are also Warne permanent low height. Still, I just barely got it to the ideal 1.5" off center of bore. The Scope is a Leupold VX3i 4.5x14-40mm that I've had in my safe for a while now.

Worthy of mentioning is that the bolt is now smooth as glass and all the slop, (wasn't much to begin with), is completely gone. I suspect that over time (50+ years), the repeated tightening of the floorplate screw and humidity changes caused the wood fibers to crush. That might have been putting stress on the action. With the pillar posts, that can never happen again.

Next week I'll take it out to the range and see how it shoots. That will determine whether it becomes a mantle piece or a tool.

Before, Just after I bought it at the gun show
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After
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Beautiful rifle! A lot of Wby's are sold off because owner thinks barrel is "shot out". Bought one such 257 wby, and the barrel had so much copper in it, it shot for crap. Took specific copper cleaner to it repeatedly, if memory holds from 25 years ago, used Barnes cr-10. Shot pretty good then, but walked. Free floated the barrel and started getting outstanding 3 shot groups with flatter based bullets. Needed to completely clean bore after 20 rds to maintain the accuracy. If you try the heavier bullets and don't get the accuracy you want, might consider checking twist rate of barrel. It might be 1::12.

While I have no definitive proof, speculated mine shot much better with flat based bullets due to the jump to rifling. Nosler 100 gn Partitions shot particualry well.
 
zeke said:
Beautiful rifle! A lot of Wby's are sold off because owner thinks barrel is "shot out". Bought one such 257 wby, and the barrel had so much copper in it, it shot for crap. Took specific copper cleaner to it repeatedly, if memory holds from 25 years ago, used Barnes cr-10. Shot pretty good then, but walked. Free floated the barrel and started getting outstanding 3 shot groups with flatter based bullets. Needed to completely clean bore after 20 rds to maintain the accuracy. If you try the heavier bullets and don't get the accuracy you want, might consider checking twist rate of barrel. It might be 1::12.

While I have no definitive proof, speculated mine shot much better with flat based bullets due to the jump to rifling. Nosler 100 gn Partitions shot particualry well.
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Funny thing about copper fouling, it's what keeps the barrel from becomming shot out. Fast rounds will burn up a barrel quickly compared to slower rounds. Look at a .308 compared to a 6.5 Creedmore. The excessive freebore of the Weatherby's promotes the necessary copper fouling that in the end preserves the barrel. It's a pain but it's a good pain. 10% Janitorial Ammonia is your friend if you own a Weatherby.
 
You probably already know this,but I want to make sure.

I agree,if you do the math 6.5 mm converts to about .2559.

What gets confusing is bore diameter is not groove diameter,and both get used for naming cartridges.

The right bullet diameter for a 6.5 mm is .264

The right bullet diameter for a .257 is .257

You do not use .264 bullets(,the proper size for 6.5 mm rifles),in a .257 WBY

And .257 bullets are wrong for rifles designated 6.5mm,such as 6.5 Creedmoor,6.5x55,etc

Nice rifle.

If you still aren't sure,thats not an FN. Its the WBY action.

I have never owned one,but,IIRC,you have a fat bolt body,the diameter of the locking lugs. IIRC,6 (?) locking lugs in two rows,60 deg bolt lift,instead of the two lugs of a Mauser.
 
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The action is Weatherby built by J.P Sauer and Sohns in West Germany. The barrel is also a cold forged Sauer barrel. The rifle was assembled in Southgate, California. It was built in 1960 but I'm not sure when it was first sold. The bolt is Roy Weatherby's 200,000 psi, 9 lug Magnum Bolt that he tried to get FN Mauser to build but they would not so he switched to Sauer who said they would build it. Roy found that guy's were loading really hot loads and he didn't want anyone to get hurt so he designed the 200,000 psi bolt and added the three ports to it so if a case did separate the gasses would blow out the side rather than back into the shooters face. I just got the Weatherby history book yesterday. Good read.

As to the rest of the info you provided, thank you, I did already know that but maybe someone else can benefit from it. Good info.
 
Uh oh, apparently my .257 was pregnant and gave birth to 3 Walmart Vanguard Deluxe's today. The top is a .308 Win, next is the 270 Win, next the 257 Mark V and last the .243 Win. 249.99 each. The .243 has a cracked stock and was 349.99 but we didn't see it until after I had bought it and there are no returns even if you haven't left the store yet. They threw me a 100.00 Gift Card and I called Weatherby but they're closed on Fridays. No big deal really, it's going to get a bench rest stock anyway.

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old roper said:
LineStretcher, If you action was build by Sauer it would have prefix p. If your action doesn't have prefix it was build USA.

http://www.weatherby.com/support/authenticate-history.html
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Actually it is a JP Sauer & Sohns. Its known as a Pre Mark V built prior to the patent. The action and barrel were both made in Germany and then shipped to Southgate for final assembly. FN Mauser would not build a 200,000 psi action and bolt so he got Sauer to do it and the end result was the Mark V.
 
Wow that is nice! I sure am envious. I have numerous Weatherbys and I love them all. Boy those pictures and that caliber made me lose it for a minute. I must have been making sounds or something. My wife had to look over my shoulder to make sure what I was looking at.:D
 
Thank you!
Chaparral said:
Wow that is nice! I sure am envious. I have numerous Weatherbys and I love them all. Boy those pictures and that caliber made me lose it for a minute. I must have been making sounds or something. My wife had to look over my shoulder to make sure what I was looking at.:D
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LineStretcher. Actually those action where made here in the US. Might want to read history of Weatherby.
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Wikipedia is wrong. I have the actual Weatherby book that identifies exactly where my action was made. The proof is on the barrel with German Federal mark and the Kiel insignia. My rifle is what is known as a pre-Mark V marked with patent pending and made in Germany (not W. Germany) My serial number does not have a letter prefix.

It is true that the final assembly was done in South Gate, Ca. Very early Weatherby Actions were made in the US at South Gate but they moved manufacturing of the actions and barrels to FN Mauser and Brevix (france) first but when Roy Weatherby found out many owners were shooting really hot loads he asked FN to make the action and bolt capable of handling 200,000 psi. FN said no, it would be too costly so Roy contacted J.P. Sauer and Sohn and they said yes. This is when the bolt changed from Mauser to what they are today. Mine was made in 1960 but I have no info as to when it was first sold.
 
It's almost done. I was at Scheels in Reno, NV today and they have a huge inventory of scopes. I had a Leupold VX-3i on it and was going to put lower rings on it but then started looking at scopes and comparing them. I was looking at scopes in the thousand dollar range when he handed me a Vortex Diamond back and I compared to the VX3 and then the VX6. The Diamondback is their hunter line and I was so impressed with it, I took it home.
I got the 4x16 42mm HP model which is the top of the Diamondback line. Field of view at 100 yards and 4x is impressive and having side focus down to 20 yards beats the VX3 which has no parallax correction.

The last thing I need to do is wait for the Boyd stock to arrive and put it on. I spent a lot of time on this stock and I'll retire it so that if I ever get rid of the rifle the next owner can decide which one they want. Always good to be able to sell a Weatherby in original condition.

The sun shade is a bit of overkill and I doubt I'll ever use it when hunting.
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I fully understand why you think you are correct, the Weatherby history can be very confusing. Weatherby has confirmed my conclusion and is sending me a signed certificate of Authentication. I'll scan it and post it here when I get it.

Weatherby sponsor's the Weatherby Nation forum and you can get some great information there if you wish. Their only history checker is currently down while they switch to new software. They do have a listing of serial numbers and date ranges and by that you might think that my 1960 rifle was either built by Brevix or FN Mauser and in fact some of them were still being produced by those folks but they would have both had the Mauser bolt so there's the difference.

As I said before, you will not find a FN or Brevix rifle with a PFI bolt in it because they did not make the actions that the bolt fit. The PFI bolt is a 200,000 PSI bolt and the J.P. Sauer and Sohn's action is the only one it fits.

The term pre-Mark V is used to describe Mark V rifles that were being built while the patent was still pending. The serial numbers do not have a letter prefix but to confuse that a little more there were several that were produced after the patent was approved and the "patent pending" statement on the action was dropped. Soon after that they placed a P in front of the serial number. The letter designation used today makes it easier to identify where the rifles are made. Today, all Weatherby Actions are made by Howa in Japan.
 
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Got my Boyd Platinum stock today. It fits like a glove. I still want to bed the recoil lug.Its a straight butt versus classic Weatherby drop but the length of pull at 13 3/4 fits my long arms much better.
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