Build a 7mm Weatherby mag

[Kingofthemountain83]

I have a Weatherby Mark V 7mm mag 26" barrel, that is in need of a new barrel and stock... Got to where the tightest groups I can get are about 2" at 100 yards with the occasional flier that may miss the target... 2 years ago I had the gun checked out by a smith, bore scoped the barrel and through it all... He said it was shot out and the stock developed some water issues over time... Not surprised by either of these things... He showed me on the screen, a lot of the rifling missing and the internal stock issues... I'm happy with the trigger and he said that was in good working order... Nice clean break at 3#... I haven't looked into anything yet and was just looking for ideas, recommendations, people, places, things you'd do to build off this action? It's the trap door model from 1986, made in Japan... Can it be converted to a detachable mag?

[b23]

Don't feel bad about your poorly shooting 7 Wby mag because you aren't alone.  Back in 1987 I was at a gun shop and came across a MkV in 7 Weatherby mag that seemed like way to good of a deal to pass up so I bought it.  It too was a Japanese made MkV and it was used but looked nearly new.  I was barely 18 at the time and still had a love affair with Weatherby's.  That rifle turned out to be hands down the worst shooting POS I have ever owned.  On it's best day it maybe shot two inch groups and it didn't really matter what bullet or ammo I put through it.  Ironically I shot a lot of game with it but back then most of my shots were usually well under 200yds.  Hunted with it for a number of years until Weatherby came out with the Accumark and I sold it and bought one of those in 300 Wby which turned out to be one of the very best shooting factory rifles I ever owned.

When rebarreling it the easy part is selecting a barrel because any of your top tier barrel manufactures Krieger, Bartlein, Brux, Hart, Lilja, Benchmark just to name a few will be good to go. 

As for what 7mm to have it chambered in I'd skip past another 7 Wby mag and instead look heavily at the 7 PRC.

I haven't paid much attention to Weatherby's for some time so I'm not sure who if any make a detachable mag conversion kit for MkV's so I can't help there.

[10mmg]

Food for thought. Many of the older 7mm WM had a slow 12 twist barrels making them tough to find a good load with the new better bc bullets. If I was going to re-barrel and keep the cartridge I would look for a faster twist that can handle the new heavy for caliber bullets. It has the ability to speed along like a 28 nosler wit heavy bullets if you can get the twist rate right.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Thank you b23 and 10mm... I hadn't even thought about rechambering it... It use to be a tack driver... I do like the 7PRC... Food for thought...

[str8meat]

Factory 7 mm weatherby barrels usually are a 1-10 twist. Kid at work has 1 and bullets over 150 rifle seems to be finicky. 140 Barnes shoot lights out in that gun, he isn’t a hand loader but keeps his brass and us handloaders do our part for him. If you handload have the brass , dies stw why switch chambering? Hart barrels make sure the best .284 barrels out there. Upgrade the nasty old weatherby triggers and a solid aftermarket stock and see what happens. I have found the best thing to keep accuracy is the action screws .

[Kingofthemountain83]

I've never reloaded but do have a press, die, and a bunch of brass for it... I planned on reloading but have never started... It use to give sub 1" groups with factory Weatherby 154gr spire points... They also worked great on deer and elk for cup and core bullets...

[b23]

They also worked great on deer and elk for cup and core bullets...

LOL!  You make it sound like cup and core bullets are a bad thing.  Don’t believe the over hype of others there’s nothing wrong with cup and core bullets they kill stuff just fine. 

[Kingofthemountain83]

They also worked great on deer and elk for cup and core bullets...

LOL!  You make it sound like cup and core bullets are a bad thing.  Don’t believe the over hype of others there’s nothing wrong with cup and core bullets they kill stuff just fine. 

I like them... Think they'd be better if they were bonded but hey... Had a couple separate on elk and a bear but did the job... Where would you get a stock from?

[poor_choices]

I’d consider a different chambering if you’re going to rebarrel it anyway. The standard Rem Mag and the PRC are probably the best options for a 7mm with factory ammo available. The 28 Nosler would be a good one too if you want the extra performance.

I don’t have any personal experience with this product or company, but I do know someone that used this DBM setup for a MK 5 and he was happy with it. I have used the Wyatt’s magazines used in this bottom metal and they worked alright for me.
https://www.lrplongrangeprecision.com/products/long-range-precision-1002-7024

[Kingofthemountain83]

I’d consider a different chambering if you’re going to rebarrel it anyway. The standard Rem Mag and the PRC are probably the best options for a 7mm with factory ammo available. The 28 Nosler would be a good one too if you want the extra performance.

I don’t have any personal experience with this product or company, but I do know someone that used this DBM setup for a MK 5 and he was happy with it. I have used the Wyatt’s magazines used in this bottom metal and they worked alright for me.
https://www.lrplongrangeprecision.com/products/long-range-precision-1002-7024

That is cool... I like that... I'd chose 7 PRC to rechamber... Need to find a smith in western WA...

[bearpaw]

I have a Weatherby Mark V 7mm mag 26" barrel, that is in need of a new barrel and stock... Got to where the tightest groups I can get are about 2" at 100 yards with the occasional flier that may miss the target... 2 years ago I had the gun checked out by a smith, bore scoped the barrel and through it all... He said it was shot out and the stock developed some water issues over time... Not surprised by either of these things... He showed me on the screen, a lot of the rifling missing and the internal stock issues... I'm happy with the trigger and he said that was in good working order... Nice clean break at 3#... I haven't looked into anything yet and was just looking for ideas, recommendations, people, places, things you'd do to build off this action? It's the trap door model from 1986, made in Japan... Can it be converted to a detachable mag?

If you like the rifle itself and want to keep it and just want it to shoot better, the most economical solution is to rebore the barrel to another caliber. You could make it a 300 wtby or a 340 wtby, after reboring you have new rifling.

I had them rebore a 300 wtby to a 340 wtby:  http://www.35caliber.com/index.html

[chukarchaser]

Wow I guess I got lucky.  bought a used 7WBY FM around 83 and was my primary for years with no problems, but I reload so things don't change much.  Gun is still MOA, or close enough.  I did throw away my leupold mounts and put Tally one piece as well as decrease my cleaning regiment a few years ago and that tightened things back up. 

What kind of stock and how did the smith detect the issues.  I love to learn new things?

[Kingofthemountain83]

Wow I guess I got lucky.  bought a used 7WBY FM around 83 and was my primary for years with no problems, but I reload so things don't change much.  Gun is still MOA, or close enough.  I did throw away my leupold mounts and put Tally one piece as well as decrease my cleaning regiment a few years ago and that tightened things back up. 

What kind of stock and how did the smith detect the issues.  I love to learn new things?

The stock is original from 86'... It looks great... Beautiful actually... They're Claro walnut (California walnut)... But has a high glossy clear coat... When my Dad hunted with it (he originally purchased it in 86') I do recall some instances of getting a mirror like reflection from him across the canyons when lighting was right... There was a time he wrapped the gun in camo tape but has since removed that... The smith found water damage around the barrel slightly warping/swelling the stock causing it to touch in places... I think mainly the right side and under the barrel... He also found a shim under the action screw, which he said should've never been acceptable for quality control at the time... This was 3 years after Ed Weatherby died and quality control obviously failed...   

[b23]

Where would you get a stock from?

With a MkV you'll be a little more limited on what's available to you then say if it were a Rem 700 or 700 footprint action but there are still plenty of options available. 

It'll largely depend on what type of stock you want and how much you want to spend.

Putting a new barrel on it and chambered using a reamer with less then "Weatherby" freebore a lone will make it a whole new rifle.  The one thing to caution if you go that route and you do go back to a 7 Wby mag is depending on the freebore used you may not be able to shoot some of the Weatherby brand loaded ammo.  Weatherby in the past has loaded their label ammo hotter knowing their rifles have a long freebore and if you shoot that same ammo in a rifle with less freebore it could result in heavy bolt lift or possible worse.  These are things you'll want to discuss with the gunsmith if you decide to go the new barrel route.

[Kingofthemountain83]

I have a Weatherby Mark V 7mm mag 26" barrel, that is in need of a new barrel and stock... Got to where the tightest groups I can get are about 2" at 100 yards with the occasional flier that may miss the target... 2 years ago I had the gun checked out by a smith, bore scoped the barrel and through it all... He said it was shot out and the stock developed some water issues over time... Not surprised by either of these things... He showed me on the screen, a lot of the rifling missing and the internal stock issues... I'm happy with the trigger and he said that was in good working order... Nice clean break at 3#... I haven't looked into anything yet and was just looking for ideas, recommendations, people, places, things you'd do to build off this action? It's the trap door model from 1986, made in Japan... Can it be converted to a detachable mag?

If you like the rifle itself and want to keep it and just want it to shoot better, the most economical solution is to rebore the barrel to another caliber. You could make it a 300 wtby or a 340 wtby, after reboring you have new rifling.

I had them rebore a 300 wtby to a 340 wtby:  http://www.35caliber.com/index.html

That's another great idea... My uncle bought a 300 Mark V Weatherby in 83', my dad bought the 7mm Mark V Weatherby in 86'... They were always shooting and arguing which is better and why, blah, blah... Funny to think that my uncle may still may win this argument after all... LOL     I shot them both side by side in my early teens, the 7mm was intense then, pretty manageable now... The 300 wholloped me... Recently the only 300 I've shot is a Winchester mag and they don't compare to 300 Weatherby... I'm not a huge fan of recoil... But shooting a belted mag I guess that's part of the course... My .50 Hawken is the worst recoiling I've dealt with...