The hyperbole and analogies used above are both over-the-top and misplaced. The middle of the bell curve, slightly or moderately above average quality weatherby rifle is not a "high performance tool", its a $2000-$4000 mass produced push feed rifle with an odd stock. Comparing superbikes and porsches to a weatherby is a strange analogy for me as I could list of a dozen guns of manufacture that might better fit that description but certainly none of them are going to be called a weatherby. (Hartmann & Weis, Heym, Dakota, Mauser, Griffin & Howe, Rigby, Watson Brothers, etc.)
There are actually two debates going on so its best to separate them: Weatherby RIFLES and Weatherby Cartridges. I find Weatherby cartridges of 30 caliber and above to be needlessly overpowered, damaging to their actions, and they provide no significant improvement to maximum point blank range worthy of the trouble. The second debate is weatherby crafted rifles, which are average quality rifles for the semi-custom range and I'm not sold they have a major competitive advantage in comparison to many other options at their pricepoints.
Good points
@rookhawk. I agree, at least partially. I was generally referring to Weatherby cartridges when speaking of high performance. Come to think of it, I personally do not associate a gun with "performance". Engineering, quality, finish, looks, accuracy, materials, etc. are more what comes to my mind.
The Wby
rifles are pretty average in MY view. Having been spoiled probably by a childhood in Europe, I personally do not associate the Wby brand with out-of-the-ordinary gun quality. I only own one, it is OK, but I prefer the quality of - take a pick among what's in my safe: Mauser 98 (the well crafted ones, because truth be told there also are some pretty crappy ones), Mauser 66, Sauer 90, Steyr Mannlicher Luxus, Dumoulin (on Mauser action), Heym (Classic Big 5), Griffin & Howe (on Brno action), or even CZ 550, etc. No contest here. I also fail to see what could be better in a Wby Mark V over a Winchester 70 Classic, and I confess to preferring controlled round feed to push feed, although, honestly, I have yet to see one push feed fail in close to 45 years of hunting and shooting with folks using push feed guns (European or American).
The Wby
cartridges are
objectively high performance cartridges. Maybe needlessly for some (and I certainly respect that), but very usefully for others (which I respect too). I personally limit myself to 400 meters ethical shooting when I hunt (although I shoot steel quite well past 1,000 meters), so I am not part of those who want hyper velocity and light bullets to snipe game at 700 yards, but
I will tell you very specifically what I like in the mid caliber Weatherby cartridges: a .300 Wby 200 gr or a .340 Wby 250 gr zeroed at 300 yards will be +4 to 6" high at 100 and 200 yd and -9" to 11" low at 400 yd. So, I put the horizontal cross hair on the belly line between 0 and 200 yd (and hit the heart 6" higher); I aim dead center at 300 yd; and I put the horizontal cross hair on the shoulder line at 400 yd (and drop into the lungs). Additionally, I have the reach and the horsepower to make a quartering away finishing shot on about anything for which the two cartridges are intended (small, medium and large plains game). This has worked remarkably well for me in places with open spaces, from Europe to USA to Canada, on anything from roe buck to moose. And I would gladly add a .257 Wby if I was not a bit concerned that it might be a bit light on some combo hunts. And, honestly, this is where the 150 gr load for the .300 Wby shines. Could I do the same with a .300 Win and a .338 Win, probably, but not with such simplicity.
This is where mid caliber Wby cartridges shine, not in the additional paper PBR (which I agree is not all that impressive) but in the field use of an additional hundred yard of zero. When hunting in denser places and shorter ranges, I am partial to full stock Mannlicher-style guns (Steyr, Dumoulin, etc.) and I trade the .340 Wby for a .338 Win and the .300 Wby for 7x64; 7x65R; .270; .256; 6 mm depending on the game and - mostly - the mood of the day. Now you may agree or disagree with my rationale, but at least I offer one, and ... hopefully ... it may offer value to a reader here or there...
To finish with Wby cartridges, while I DO agree that Wby speed for DG cartridges (.375 and up) is out of MY context, I appreciate the flat shooting characteristics of the .300 Wby and - especially - .340 Wby, and their recoil is (to ME) perfectly acceptable in what I would call realistic guns. My .340 (see
https://www.africahunting.com/media...stainless-new-haven-made-300-wby-rifle.61218/) weighs in at 10 lbs 9 oz (which is pretty standard despite some earlier comments on the thread about supposedly unwieldy 11 lbs guns on safari) and produces a recoil energy of 36 ft lbs. For comparison my .416 Rigby (see
https://www.africahunting.com/media/cz-550-416-rigby-rifle-mauser-66-458-lott-rifle.61217/) weighs in at 10 lbs 10 oz (which is also pretty standard) and produces a recoil energy of 55 ft lbs. We do not hear too many folks bashing the recoil of the .416 Rigby, do we? Yes, I know that the .416 Wby recoil more (~80 ft lbs to be specific), but so does my .458 Lott, which at 9 lbs is too light (for ME) and I can only blame ME for it because it did not recoil so much when it was a .458 Win. And if you want a 6 lbs .340 Wby, have at it, this is a free country, but do not come crying on my shoulder, and do not ask me to shoot it LOL.
I guess the part that ticks me off a little bit in all this - and this should probably be my last post on this subject before I annoy too many folks LOL - is the doctrinal tone of some pronouncements by some folks. Tell us that gun brand XYZ is not YOUR cup of tea, it is quite appropriate, but spare us please the final and universal condemnation that gun XYZ, cartridge ABC, or whatever, is a complete POS (because of YOUR sad experience with it). And for Pete's sake, spare us the undocumented, third-removed hearsay of this or that gun failure. If half of what is written on the internet was true, gun makers would have been sued out of business a long time ago.
The reality is that for every fool who shows up in camp with a brand new canon (insert here the gun brand and the caliber you want), there is a quiet guy who shows up with the same gun and/or caliber and handles it perfectly. Yep, there are (verified) PHs who have horror stories on Wby guns and calibers, but there are also just as many (or more?) who have seen many folks handle them very competently. The aforementioned bell curve alone (and the statistical distribution that it represents) testifies to that ;-)
So, when we are done bashing Weatherby, what about talking about guys who hit the rear trigger of their double under recoil and blame the gun for doubling on them? or what about talking about "factory" loads that blow up guns and turn out to have been ludicrously overloaded reloads? or what about loose screws or slipping sears on "factory" guns that turn out to have been butchered by home-grown 'gunsmiths'? or what about wandering zeroes on scopes that turn out to be poorly mounted? or what about (oooh!) 'expert' opinions from folks who have never even handled or fired in their entire life gun XYZ or cartridge ABC - I know, I am getting onto thin ice here LOL - etc. etc. You get my drift ;-)
Let the Weatherby lovers love their Weatherby!
emoji? I think naysayers need that on occasion!
