Weatherby .224 Magnum Mark V Varmitmaster.

Timothey

Do you plan to shoot the rifle? If so, I will point out that Redfield's are not the best period scope you can get. I have a model 53 (?) in .2218 Bee that was made the second year of manufacture -- 1949 or 50. It is less of a quality rifle than the Weatherby, yet I would not have put a Redfield scope on it. I ended up putting a Kollmorgen on it, and they have a grand story all their own. If you can find a Weatherby scope, that would be a no-brainer. If not, look for a Kollmorgen or an early Leupold.
 
Timothey

Do you plan to shoot the rifle? If so, I will point out that Redfield's are not the best period scope you can get. I have a model 53 (?) in .2218 Bee that was made the second year of manufacture -- 1949 or 50. It is less of a quality rifle than the Weatherby, yet I would not have put a Redfield scope on it. I ended up putting a Kollmorgen on it, and they have a grand story all their own. If you can find a Weatherby scope, that would be a no-brainer. If not, look for a Kollmorgen or an early Leupold.
Thanks. I don't think I will shoot it any. I have a few other rifles that I really like to shoot. Great advice. I'd never heard of a Kollmorgen scope before.
 
I have no experience with
Timothey

Do you plan to shoot the rifle? If so, I will point out that Redfield's are not the best period scope you can get. I have a model 53 (?) in .2218 Bee that was made the second year of manufacture -- 1949 or 50. It is less of a quality rifle than the Weatherby, yet I would not have put a Redfield scope on it. I ended up putting a Kollmorgen on it, and they have a grand story all their own. If you can find a Weatherby scope, that would be a no-brainer. If not, look for a Kollmorgen or an early Leupold.
I have zero experience with Kollmergen, never even heard of them. But I was putting a lot of scopes on guns in the 60s and 70s. I was lucky enough to be able to afford the very best, even back then. At that time Redfields was FAR superior to Leupold. If Leupold had been better I would have bought them. I owned more than 40 Redfields from 1967 to 1973, and not one Leupold, despite the fact the Leupolds cost quite a lot less. No idea which looks clearer 50 years later as I have no 50 year old Leupolds, but the 50 year old Redfields are still pretty darn good. Near dark or dawn, new scopes are better, broad daylight, I challenge you to show me the difference even to high end modern glass. Lots of light makes glass difference harder to see.
 
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You might be interested in the story of Kollmorgen. They made submarine periscopes during WWII, and ran out of business with the end of the war. The owner looked for a way to keep his workers busy and his factory open, so started making rifle scopes. I find them the clearest scopes around. Of course they are fifties era scopes, but ahead of their time.
 
You should post this on weatherbynation.com my friend 224king probably has some insight that you'd be interested in. At one time he probably had one of the largest private collection of 224's, i've purchased many from him as he is only a few hours from me here in texas. Anyway it seems i've seen this topic before come up, but can't recall the thread on the nation that covers it.

She's a beauty, i have 5 224's myself one i shoot and 4 queens along with many other mark v's i've collected left and right handed to pass along to my 6 kids sometime.

Ammo/brass - you can find 224 on gunbroker, like anything else rare it's higher than a giraffe's *** at the moment, I said i was never going to shoot mine either. Man wait till you do you'll start looking for more. I have 224 models and 22-250 models, both are fire crackers. I've taken whitetail deer with my 22-250's, prob will take my 224 this year, but great varmint guns with factory ammo. The 250's of course have more factory options. I shoot 60 grain partitions, and 55 grain factory watherby ammo in my 224's both shoot clovers. The 224/22-250 varmintmaster in 24" barrel is one of the coolest carry around guns to shoulder and shoot in the woods. IMO

Gotta shoot it even for just a few times to the range, its what she was made to do! LOL :)
 
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You should post this on weatherbynation.com my friend 224king probably has some insight that you'd be interested in. At one time he probably had one of the largest private collection of 224's, i've purchased many from him as he is only a few hours from me here in texas. Anyway it seems i've seen this topic before come up, but can't recall the thread on the nation that covers it.

She's a beauty, i have 5 224's myself one i shoot and 4 queens along with many other mark v's i've collected left and right handed to pass along to my 6 kids sometime.

Ammo/brass - you can find 224 on gunbroker, like anything else rare it's higher than a giraffe's *** at the moment, I said i was never going to shoot mine either. Man wait till you do you'll start looking for more. I have 224 models and 22-250 models, both are fire crackers. I've taken whitetail deer with my 22-250's, prob will take my 224 this year, but great varmint guns with factory ammo. The 250's of course have more factory options. I shoot 60 grain partitions, and 55 grain factory watherby ammo in my 224's both shoot clovers. The 224/22-250 varmintmaster in 24" barrel is one of the coolest carry around guns to shoulder and shoot in the woods. IMO

Gotta shoot it even for just a few times to the range, its what she was made to do! LOL :)
Great ideas and will do. This .224 is my first Weatherby and I'm looking at a couple more that have gotten my attention lately. Wow! You've got some heirlooms it sounds like. I've got a few of my Dad's old guns to pass down as well to the kids and grandkids too. Thanks for the ideas.
 
You might be interested in the story of Kollmorgen. They made submarine periscopes during WWII, and ran out of business with the end of the war. The owner looked for a way to keep his workers busy and his factory open, so started making rifle scopes. I find them the clearest scopes around. Of course they are fifties era scopes, but ahead of their time.
I'm going to check them out. A lot of history behind these old scopes and Weatherby's alike. Thanks for sharing.
 
Hi all, I just inherited a sweet Varmintmaster in excellent shape and would like to put a few rounds through it. Jumpin Jehosaphat the price on factory ammo. Any experiences to share with alternative 224 that doesn't break the bank?
 
Don't shoot it, you'll like it and yes ammo and components are higher than a giraffes ***!

Search and be patient is all I can add. I have several and made deals over the years on ammo and components. Maybe weatherby will make more runs but it's still high! Congrats is it a jap/german? 24/26 inches barrel?
 
Hi all, I just inherited a sweet Varmintmaster in excellent shape and would like to put a few rounds through it. Jumpin Jehosaphat the price on factory ammo. Any experiences to share with alternative 224 that doesn't break the bank?
It looks like Midway USA might have some brass, I'd buy a few boxes and look for dies if you're a reloader, this stuff is never going to be cheap and there is no alternative(s). Back in the day I saw this coming and picked up about 40-plus boxes of new brass when it was something close to reasonable for my .224 Wby Mag... try to stay under bullet weight of 52gr if you want accuracy. Good luck. Cheers

 
I want to congratulate you on the purchase of a fine rifle. My best advice is to clean it and take it out and enjoy shooting it. Thats why it was built!! I own 3 Weatherby Mark V Rifles. ( and one Mark 22 and 1 Italian Regency ) My rifles shoot very well, when they are clean. I find hand loading for all three calibers very easy. Save your Brass, Don't be afraid to buy Once fired brass , especially if you can examine it before you buy it at a gun show. If you can find Brass that was put back into it original yellow boxes with the Animals on the box, so much the better. Please allow your barrel to cool between shots, especially on hot summer days My 270 Weatherby mag often needs almost 2 full Min when the temp is in the 80's . Remember there is a tiny littler ball bearing inside the bolt, so if your going to tp open the bolt to clean and lube the Firing pin spring , open it up on a towel so you don't loose that little ball bearing. Treat your rifle like its a fine watch, and you will have many years of Fun and Accurate shooting ahead of you. The Weatherby Customer Service Dept has AKLWAYS, been helpful to me. Weatherby used to have a HISTORICAL SERVICE. I used it when I purchased my 12 Gause Regency around 2000/2001. It cost 25 Dollars then, the letter they sent gives you the date of Mfg, and the first Gun shop it was shipped to and the date of that shipment!! I have that letter framed. Welcome to the Weatherby family. We are all a bit screwy, but we love to talk about our rifles.
 
Hi all, I just inherited a sweet Varmintmaster in excellent shape and would like to put a few rounds through it. Jumpin Jehosaphat the price on factory ammo. Any experiences to share with alternative 224 that doesn't break the bank?
I would search the classifieds on here daily. I believe this will be your best route.
 
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