Weatherby Mark V
 

Made in Japan or Germany??

Both and the USA....

Currently they are USA made. Older ones were Japan (Howa) and older yet are German.

What to get? Best made?

In my opinion the best Weatherby is the Vanguard, better rifle, generally more accurate, all for less than half the cost of the clunky Mark V.

Had many vanguards from 243 to 257, 7mm rem mag and 300 win. S1’s, dbm’s, original sub moa ‘s and s2. Realy like the sub moa 243 and 30-06 was a good one also. Have one mkv deluxe in 270wby and find it an awesome caliber. In the market for an other one but wonder if japan or gemany is best.

Any of the Mark Vs, no matter where they are made are generally excellent guns. They have nice wood, great finish on metal and wood and deep bluing. It is still the strongest action made commercially, and for use with Weatherby cartridges there is no better match. The ones currently being made in the USA are all guaranteed to shoot sub MOA. Most of the other MKVs I have had would shoot sub MOA with factory ammo and all would with hand loads.

The Vanguards are a nice rifle but there are very good reasons they sell for half what a MRKV does.

I have owned two Mark V rifles, neither would shoot moa or better with any load that I tried, and I did try many loads.. On the other hand, my Vanguards were sub moa rifles. The Vanguards used to have a better accuracy guarantee than the Mark V, despite costing half as much, and I believe that there was a good reason for this. Some people have had excellent results from the Mark V, and some haven't, accuracy seems to be inconsistent.

I'd second the inconsistency. I have two weatherby's; a Vanguard II TR in .223 and a Backcountry (a lighter version of the Vanguard) in 30-06. After trying out a number of loads in the .223, it's settled into roughly 0.75 MOA. With the 30-06, however, despite trying countless loads/brands, I can't get groups consistently closer than 1.5-2 MOA. I've been on the phone with Weatherby about it - they were great to chat with and had a couple ideas but thus far, none of them have worked. Granted I haven't tried everything, it's been a disappointing follow-up to the tac-driver .223 I started with.

I would definitely recommend the newly manufactured Mk V. Better triggers and has the accuracy guarantee.

I'd get a donor MkV action, any source country, and have it [re]-barreled, stocked, and triggered with good aftermarket components.

I have mine specifically chambered for the nosler partition ogive, with a longer fatter high-precision barrel and it's a tack driver now. With the original bbl and stock it just looked nice.

I had a couple Accumarks about 8 years ago, a 257 and a 300. I bought them new but I'm not sure where they were made. They were probably the most accurate rifles I've owned. I'd still own them today if they were about 2 or 3 pounds lighter.

I'd say the German built Weatherby's are better, and accurate..

Ive had three Mark Vs. Still have two. They’ve all been good shooters but far and away my favourite is my West German manufactured .300 Wby. It’s a never sell item. Other was an Accumark also in .300 Wby and it shot really well but didn’t need the redundancy so it sold.

I’ve had three Vanguards as well. .204, .223 and .257 Wby. All were good shooters but the .257 takes the cake. Factory 115 gr BTs were so good I didn’t think that I should even bother handloading for it but true to form, economics of shooting a Weatherby dictate doing so. 115 gr Bergers are the pill of choice in there now.

I really do like the short bolt throw of the Mark Vs and I much prefer a wood stock on them. Just my preference. Dollar for dollar, the Vanguards have proven to be good value in my experience. Series one, you’ll definitely want to do the trigger.

Not all the same.
 

Some of the German made ones had different rifling twists for the velocity market with lighter bullets.

https://i.imgur.com/zLfp5fh.jpg

Had a few over the years. Kept two.

Upper rifle is a "Patent Pending" 1960 German Mark V in 270 Weatherby Mag.
All original except the finish.
This is what it does:

https://i.imgur.com/cAxutuH.jpg

Lower is an early '70's German Mark V in 300 WBY.
Barrel has been replaced due to excessive use.
It shoots pretty much the same.

Kind of obvious where my bias lies... :)

Cheers,
Nog

that was funny...:sHa_sarcasticlol:

for a second I thought you might be serious

always liked this grouping pic Nogg......

Thanks Buddy.
One of my better days for sure!

Cheers,
Nog

Ok and mow to keep it going, what about the market value be for the japan and the germany? I would price my japan at 1600$. A nice pretty good hunting deluxe model in 270 wby. Shot 3 deer in december and January. No tracking blood. Nice kleen kils.

I just rechambered a 270 to 270 wby mag and client is gettingn3495 fps with 130 gr. That’s fast !

Mark V. Have an extremely strong action and excellent gas protection . The Vangard is a fine firearm but doesn’t compare in those areas

I really don't want my 460 lighter than it is. Even with a really big brake it could actually be a pound or two heavier some days.:) It is a Japanese LH model, very well built and finished and will shoot cloverleafs at 100.

That said, I really like my LH 257 Ultra Light, which is a recent US made piece. Very little kick from the 257 and a real pleasure to carry. The 26" light fluted barrel heats REALLY fast but 99% of the time I never shoot more than one shot at game. It has a consistent first shot POA=POI and it will really reach out. It will print 3 shot groups that look like one hole at 100 yards. 3500 FPS with a 117 BTSP makes a very big impression when it meats an animal.

For a hunting gun the Weatherby line of Cartridges are hard to beat for flat shooting and massive Hydrostatic shock, fast kills. They aren't target guns but they really do what they were designed for exceptionally well.