Jr1972
Well-Known Member
Hello all, I am down to either a Montana X2 or a weatherby Weathermark. Just seeing if anyone has any experience with either rifle.
Montana or weatherby?
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I don't know the Montana I do know the Weatherby.
Strong, not very light. Accurate for hunting. Very flexible in chamberings.
I like the trigger.
Jr, I own several Weatherby and am very happy with them. One of my friends bought a Montana X-2 and it is a great rifle that shoots Sub-1\2 MOA with hand loads. It is a 300RUM with a nice trigger. The Montana is stainless and the Wby is Creakoted chromoly with both having carbon fiber/Kevlar stocks. The Mark V Wby is guaranteed Sub MOA (.99) with very good customer service. I've read some bad reviews on Montana customer service. My friend asked for the load data for his rifle and was told he had to pay for the data. However Weatherby doesn't give specs on their ammo either. Looks like the Montana is $400 less than Weatherby's $1700 MSRP. Good luck with whichever you choose
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
I will never own another Weatherby and feel they are overpriced for the lack of quality you get. On the outside, they are nice, but they use crappy barrels, and their factory-set freebore is WAY too long to get any kind of accuracy out of a rifle that is picky. If it shoots factory ammo good, it will shoot handloads, but if it is picky with factory ammo, then you will probably never get it to shoot like you want it to.
This is just my experiences with owning and constantly fighting with an AccuMark that was a lemon for 6 years. And Weatherby did nothing about it, despite the "guarantee". So I eventually traded it off, because the whole rifle was garbage...The trigger, barrel, stock, etc...The action was the only part worth keeping, so I decided best just to scrap the whole thing and start over with another Rem 700 5R Milspec.
If you are hell-bent on a Weatherby, I would actually recommend a Vanguard over a MK V rifle in stock form.
This is just my experiences with owning and constantly fighting with an AccuMark that was a lemon for 6 years. And Weatherby did nothing about it, despite the "guarantee". So I eventually traded it off, because the whole rifle was garbage...The trigger, barrel, stock, etc...The action was the only part worth keeping, so I decided best just to scrap the whole thing and start over with another Rem 700 5R Milspec.
If you are hell-bent on a Weatherby, I would actually recommend a Vanguard over a MK V rifle in stock form.
lightbulbI know more happy customers for both the Montana and Weatherby rifles than not!lightbulb
Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
That's the way I feel about Burris scopes. I believe Burris makes good scope. But Burris doesn't like me. The customer service lady told me, "You must be getting every reject we ever made." Only Mark V out of four or five, I don't remember would not shoot under an inch at 100 yards.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, Weatherby builds a beautiful rifle... But like Townsend Whelen said... "Only accurate rifles are interesting." And that is one thing Weatherby has yet to prove to me, that they can build a rifle that is not super-picky about what ammo you shoot out of it, or cannot reproduce consistently accurate rifles for the price-range they set them at.
Not trying to **** in anyone's wheaties, just stating what I've seen over the years. A good Weatherby is a good Weatherby, but a picky Weatherby (which seems to be more often than not) is a complete pain in the butt to get shooting. Even some Weatherby fans are brave enough to admit this. Their Mark V action is VERY strong, and is built like a tank. I hope they can figure out that freebore is not the answer, and that screwing-over your customers by building a rifle with cheaper a button-rifled Criterion barrel, for an increased price over the price of rifles that were once offered with cut-rifled Krieger barrels, is not a good selling point.
I hope Weatherby sees this and realizes that money is not everything. You put out a sub-par product for the same price, as a good product you built a name and solid reputation on, is not the proper way of doing business. Saving a few shekels here and there all in the name of corporate gains is not the way to be run a business you pride yourself in with your own last name. Do Roy proud, put out the same quality products you used to produce. And while it may be beautiful on the outside, looks won't put meat in the freezer.
Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
MudRunner2005,
For sure I agree with you about how picky some Weatherbys can be. I have one.
It seems you have imputed to Roy Weatherby what you want. I had a friend, the late John Lachuk, who was Roy's friend when Roy was selling cars. He also was an avid hunter so followed Roy's life. Another guy I worked with was the late Robert Klienguenther who was a gunsmith for Weatherby Company. Both of these gentlemen said Roy was not interested in anything better than 1 1/2" at 100 yards with factory ammo.
At least Ed Weatherby is more in the money business and produces synthetic stocks and lots of options that are more for function than beautiful wood. He also sets the more accurate rifles to the side so that those customers who are interested in better accuracy have the opportunity to buy one that might be better than some of the others. I personally talked to Roy about the .30-378 and 7-.300. He was not the least bit interested in either. Ed came out with the .30-.378, .338-378, and 6.5-.300. There is a difference at Weatherby now.
For sure I agree with you about how picky some Weatherbys can be. I have one.
It seems you have imputed to Roy Weatherby what you want. I had a friend, the late John Lachuk, who was Roy's friend when Roy was selling cars. He also was an avid hunter so followed Roy's life. Another guy I worked with was the late Robert Klienguenther who was a gunsmith for Weatherby Company. Both of these gentlemen said Roy was not interested in anything better than 1 1/2" at 100 yards with factory ammo.
At least Ed Weatherby is more in the money business and produces synthetic stocks and lots of options that are more for function than beautiful wood. He also sets the more accurate rifles to the side so that those customers who are interested in better accuracy have the opportunity to buy one that might be better than some of the others. I personally talked to Roy about the .30-378 and 7-.300. He was not the least bit interested in either. Ed came out with the .30-.378, .338-378, and 6.5-.300. There is a difference at Weatherby now.
JD250
Well-Known Member
my experience with my weatherby has been terrible I've got an accumark that I have been trying to get to shoot for three years with no avail at all I will never own another one they are way over priced in my opinion and when I called weather they said they only guarantee my gun so shoot 1 1/2 inch with factory loads because they just recently started the sub moa guarantee. I find it pretty hard to swallow the $2500 price tag on a gun that will only shoot 1 1/2" and I have another buddy who just bought a 6.5-300 mark v ultralight that is going through the exact same thing we've both put just about every combo of bullet and powder through them with nothing even breaking the 1" mark... just my two cents...
Jr1972
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the input everyone. I was hoping that someone might have had some range time with either rifle. I am looking at the new weatherby with the re-design, not the older version. I just looked at both and now have thrown the Christiansen Mesa in the mix too!
Hired Gun
Well-Known Member
I'm a huge Weatherby Mark 5 fan due to my excellent experience with them since they switched to the shroud mounted safety. The customer service has always been stellar from free replacement barrels that had lost accuracy, free stocks that got cracked from falling and refinished deluxe stocks that the clear finish had checked on that were 30 years old. They make a dandy platform for custom rifles too.
Over the last couple years I have had my hands on a few Montana's and being in my line of work I only get to see the bad ones so my impression of them is not favorable. I understand the concept but it's so poorly executed on the few that I've seen I have come to dislike them.
Over the last couple years I have had my hands on a few Montana's and being in my line of work I only get to see the bad ones so my impression of them is not favorable. I understand the concept but it's so poorly executed on the few that I've seen I have come to dislike them.
Dr. Vette
Well-Known Member
And you did nothing about gripe, and never contacted them regarding your issues. You assUmed that since you got it to shoot under 1 1/2 inches - under their guarantee but not under your standard - that they wouldn't do anything about it. However, you love to bash them on LRH every chance you get.
At least tell the truth if you're going to continue your incessant complaining about the rifle.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Since you seem to be 100% positive about all the things I did or did not do and all the steps I took to attempt to fix the defective rifle... Yes, I DID contact Weatherby, and they said that since it shot under 1.5" when it was new (before it started degrading) it was not their problem. They accepted no responsibility for the factory defective barrel, despite the ultra-low round-count.
It was easier to just accept their response and move on, than to fight it. By that time I was already completely over the rifle and cartridge anyway, and had mentally moved-on to better things.
So, next time you're trying to be a smarta$$ when you don't know 100% of the facts, it might be best just to keep quiet.
