I have an old Weatherby Mark V in .300 Weath Mag that I use as back-up when guiding on larger plains game. I'm quite happy with the factory trigger and, although it has a very lightweight barrel, it shoots 220 grainers very accurately.

My question is about the 'faulty' safety: When the safety is engaged, then the trigger pulled - as when you forgot that the safety was ON - and the safety then pushed to the "fire" position, the shot goes off without any finger near the trigger! Is there a fix for this?

Sometimes I use this rifle as a "loaner" for clients. Americans just love it!. They are warned to not use the safety malfunction and just before shooting - if I don't myself forget - to not forget to set the safety to fire before pulling the trigger.

However Germans and European clients are mostly used to using "set" or "hair" triggers. They complain about the heavy trigger and offer the fact that the trigger is too heavy as excuse for any botched shots - caused IMHO more by their fear for recoil than trigger pull weight. But a client is a client and always right! Does anyone know of any set or hair trigger that can be fitted to this action? Hopefully the same trigger will solve the safety problem?

Thanks for any suggestions.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Andrew I may be wrong here so it will need verification as I personally have not worked on a weatherby trigger to date.
Now with that said I would imagine that a good smith could adjust it to a level of safety and reliability that would satisfy you, and your clients.
I do know that I have a weatherby here that is set at one pound and functions reliably, and it is a factory trigger.
You might also want to post this in the gunsmithing forum to see what they have to say.
Good luck.

I would never hunt with a rifle with that condition. I've never owned a Weatherby and so can't speak for that particular brand of rifle but the possibilities for misadventure with any rifle with that condition are so vast that I would only take it to the nearest smith to have the problem corrected.
All of my hunting rifles are pretty much set at a uniform 3.5# break but I have found that if one is shooting from a bench, if one will dry fire a rifle a few times before actually shooting live ammo, his subconcious will make an adjustment to that particular trigger.
You might try having your clients dry fire the loaner rifle(s) several times before shooting at game.

I would not (and never did) let any client EVER use a set trigger, unless on his own rifle!

As I do not know their safety habits, their shooting background, etc., I'd much rather them miss the biggest trophy that ever lived than let them risk anyone else's well-being by foolng with a very light trigger with which they were not familiar.

How do you think the PH Association would view a client or a member of your staff being shot because you gave the client a rifle he could not manage?


As to the safety not working...that is usually because the cocking notch is allowed by the mechanism to go just a hair forward when the safety is applied. Then when the trigger is pulled and the sear moved downward a bit, the sear cannot rise back up into the cocking notch when the trigger is released by the shooter's finger. So, when the safety is taken off, there is nothing holding the firing pin back.

The cure is usually to cut the cocking notch back just a tad, so that the sear has room to rise back up into position when the trigger is released. Then when the safety is taken off, the sear is in a position to retain the firing pin. That may not be the case in your Weatherby make of rifle, but it is what I would suspect. Any gunsmith or person familiar with triggers should be able to amend that.

If it is an over-ride type of trigger in the Weatherby, it is a bit more difficult to repair, but the principle is roughly the same. Only in that case, one of the support levers inside the trigger mechanism is probably not going back into place, and that relationship needs adjustment....again something any real gunsmith should be able to do.

Weatherby triggers are quite easy to adjust. They have two (2) hex fittings, one for weight of pull next to the trigger and one for overtravel (inside the action I can't recall). If you email Weatherby, they'll gice you instructions on how to properly set. I think you probably have the pull set too light. jorge

Hopefully it's a Sauer Weatherby. Take off the stock, located the furthest part forward is a set screw, should be an allen head. Loosen it, now you can take out the pin, just above the set screw.
You should now be holding the trigger seperatly from your rifle. Clean it with varsol or equivalent.
Now, take your bolt out. To dismantle the bolt, pull the firing pin back, far enough to turn it one turn. You should be able to enage the safety on the pulled firing pin, this will allow you to turn the bolt shroud and dismantle the bolt.
Clean the parts and inspect for wear. Your sear should have crisp 90o corners.

I think it is time to suggest here that the safety problem is likely not quite the same thing as a simple trigger adjustment problem.

If the trigger is set too light, it would often release the firing pin when the action closes, not just when the safety is moved to "off" after the trigger being pulled.

Triggers don't hold strikers back when safeties are moved to "off" and the trigger has been pulled with the safety "on", because the sear or the support for the sear is not being allowed to move back into position after the trigger is pulled. That may, rarely, occur because of dirt in the trigger, but almost never because of trigger adjustment alone. They are two different functions.

At this point, I'd simplify the whole approach and urge you to take it to a competent trigger-smith. NOT sombody at the gun club or one of your friends who "knows a lot about guns".

Ack! Get that thing sorted out quick! A possible AD due to known equipment issues is bad juju! Yes safe rifle handling is paramount but introducing a known problem into the equation is not acceptable I am glad to see you look for a solution to this.

John

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback and sensible suggestions. Some clarity may be required. I personally NEVER engage a safety on any firearm. No, thats wrong! I always engage the "point the end of the barrel in a safe direction" safety. But the mechanical gadget is IMHO just something that makes you feel comfortable and distracts from the importance of safety rule No. 1.

The first time the "shot goes off when safety is disengaged" was noted was many years ago. But it was then not recognized as a problem. I was stallking a very nice duiker - don't normally hunt such small animals with a .300 Weath.Mag., but I was after kudu when the beautiful duiker was seen. Got ready for a shot, duiker ran off. Engaged safety [that was many years ago and I have not yet finally started using only my No. 1 Safety rule] and crept forward. Got a clear shot; Pulled trigger. Pulled trigger harder. Oh, sh*@t! Safety is still on. Disengage safety. Bang! Duiker runs off untouched. I then thought that I must have had my finger on the trigger and never really thought through the whole process.

Recently my rifle was given to a target shooter and very knowledgeable about firearms in general English hunting client as loaner. At the bench he dry fired a few times. Loaded a round and gotready to shoot. Set safety on and shifted for more comfortable possition. Aimed. Pulled trigger. Pulled trigger harder. then he took his finger totally off the trigger and disengaged the safety. Bang! This time I actuall saw that he did not have his finger near the trigger when shot went off. We tried repeating it, with barrel pointing safe direction! Happend every time. As one of you suggested the rifle went straight back to the safe. Now it needs to be taken to a gunsmith for repairs. But I don't want to just have the problem repaired and still have a rifle that German clients find has a too heavy trigger. They are all (?) used to very light set triggers! In fact most of them cannot hit the target well without a set trigger. The Weatherby has a very crisp about 3.5 pounds [measured with simple fishing scale] trigger: Germans find this too heavy!

I will for sure contact Weatherby and take a printout of their instructions & explanations as well as the clear advice given here along to my gunsmith.

JKS, please reast assured that I don't EVER want to risk anything with faulty equipment. Fortunately this is the end of our hunting season and the rifle is not urgently required.

Thanks again to all for feedback.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Andrew, I found this trigger assembly.

" I personally NEVER engage a safety on any firearm. No, thats wrong! I always engage the "point the end of the barrel in a safe direction" safety. But the mechanical gadget is IMHO just something that makes you feel comfortable and distracts from the importance of safety rule No. 1."

Andrew,

I don't have and probably will never have your hunting experience. That said I do disagree with your view/use of a safety on a firearm. Yes, again muzzle discipline "rule #1" is always foremost. Period. BUT unless a hunter/shooter always carries a firearm with an empty chamber and only chambers a round before firing a properly functioning safety is a secondary precaution. Again, if one ONLY chambers a round RIGHT before firing I might agree with the no safety aspect.

I ALWAYS TRY MY BEST to practice muzzle discipline and demand that of my hunting partners. Whether varminting or big game a wavering muzzle is corrected. However slips and falls do happen and snagging on branches etc is a big possibility in the field and having a rifle HOT and off safe IMO is foolish.

I believe a properly functioning safety is a nice backup for proper gunhandling. It is not foolproof (and I KNOW and treat them as such) but can add another layer of help.

I would raise a stink and possibly wouln't hunt with even my trusted buds if I new they were loaded hot off safe when moving.

Again, If your talking about chambering a round right before the shot I'll relax a little. As far as no safety just muzzle discipline no thanks IMO.

I don't imagine a no safety double rifle would have great appeal or approval to most. If a rifle fires when going from "safe" to fire it is a malfunction/defect that needs to be corrected. I don't think that should condemn the use of a safety as a matter of practice.

John

I have just been reading the chapter on the Weatherby MK V in Stuart Otteson's book 'The Bolt Action'.

It appears that the MK V has, over the years, had two quite different safety catch mechanisms, and at least two different trigger mechanisms. I can't figure out, from what has been posted here, just which units Andrew's rifle is fitted with. It seems to me that any of us trying to diagnose exactly what the problems with it are, while lacking those fundamental details, is a chancey business at the best!

My advice, Andrew, would be to take the rifle to a competent gunsmith - I reckon you are in too deep water to risk 'remote diagnosis' and do-it-yourself repairs.

Something is definitely wrong with the gun. I would not hunt with it till I had it fixed by a competent gunsmith. This sounds like a dangerous situation. Even though folks are never to point the muzzle at anyone or anything that could be harmed, many people fail on this law of gun handling once in awhile.