Just picked up a used Mark V in the Ultra Lightweight With the factory Accubreak, 26 inch barrel..

Don't know if I'm going to keep it or not..

Whats everyone think of this caliber and gun ?

Suggestions on hunting ammo ? deer and elk

If you can get yours to shoot it is freaking deadly on elk with a 180 Barnes TSX.

I had one and killed a couple of elk with it including one big bodied bull and it did real well. The issue I had with the rifle was inconsistent accuracy. The rifle was very sensitive to any changes taking it out of the stock was like playing Russian Roulette whether you could get it to shoot again. It needed to be torqued precisely and even then it was a crap shoot. It would only shoot very specific loads and then when everything was tuned and right the rifle was about an 1.5" to 2" gun at 100 on a good day. In the end the rifle was just to finicky for my tastes.

I've got a buddy who has the same rifle in .300 Wthby and is having the same issues.

I'm a fairly new convert but the 300 bee is one of the most efficient big game calibers going, very flat shooting and hits hard. To my way of thinking less than 180 grain bullet is a waste of that big powder capacity. I have been shooting 180 grain Barnes TTSX st just about a maximum load and it shoots little bitty groups at 100 yards and steel out at 700+ yards reliably. It is about perfect for long range elk hunting.

I have two of them and have been really happy with the cartridge. It's my favorite 30 caliber. An Ultralite one would be even better.

quote:

inconsistent accuracy

I have an Ultra lightweight in .270 and have never seen "inconsistent accuracy" issues. I bought new and have around 120 rounds through it. Warm fall days in southern Utah, to full on winter storm cow elk hunts in January. Have yet to find a factory load it does not like. Trying Barnes 130 TTSX this year for elk.

I love the ultralights. They are a very fast handling and easy pointing rifle for me.

It is lively in 300 Roy, but will be nothing with the brake.

I had a .300 Weatherby in an Ultralightweight. It was very consistent but not in a good way. After fighting with it for awhile I rebarrelled it with a slightly heavier contour and chambered it in .300 Win. It was a completely different rifle after that, and I've hauled it all over the place.

There's many things to like about Weatherby rifles, but don't bet on them being great shooters. Ironically the cheaper Vanguards will consistently eat the Mark Vs lunch.

I have a 270 WM in the ultralight. It became a safe queen for 5-6 years because I could not get it to shoot under 4" @ 100 yards. I sent it to a factory authorized Weatherby gunsmith and they said there was nothing wrong with it. I changed scopes, I bet a dozen different loads, bullets etc. and still no better.
I complained to Weatherby over the phone and they said send it back to them directly.
I received it back from them suggesting I use 130 gr TTSX bullets and they said these rifles are very sensitive to the torque rating on action screws. They provided the rating and I have it noted somewhere.
I threw some loads together that chronoed about 3430 fps with the 130 TTSX and they shot into 1/2" @ 100 yards.
AS was suggested above, I think you may need to call Weatherby on the suggested torque rating if you are having issues with this type rifle. They will shoot but can be finicky.

Now there's a coincidence. I've got a Accumark in .270 'Bee that wasn't anything to write home about; until I tried TSXs. With those it shoots like a house on fire. The TTSXs are very close behind.

The torque specs given by Weatherby for the rifles with bedding block stocks is first 35 inch pounds on the rear screw, then 35 on the front. Next they are taken to 55 inch pounds on the rear then the front.

The wooden and Tupperware stocks are left at 35 inch pounds.

I have one now and have had 3 others. They have all been fantastic...with 130TSX and 168TTSX. The current version will also shoot quarters(the coin) with 150 Partitions. The 180s I have tried are a struggle to get under an inch and a half. My daughter shoots the current one with the 130s and they are amazing on deer sized game. The 168s would take a lot of flesh and bone to stop as well.

My friend just bought a new 300 Weatherby Ultralight. His only complaint is that the recoil is considerably higher than his standard Mark V. He has said the accuracy is no different between the two.

For those watching this post...
Managed to get the Weatherby Ultralight out to the range..
Ran a box of Remington 180 Core locks thru the barrel to break it in.. This gun loves them, I used the Rem ammo just because of the cost..
After a good cleaning and cool down I ran some Weatherby 180 gr. TSX and Accu bond thru with amazing results.. 3 inches high at 100 .. which puts it dead on at 300... 2 out of 3 rounds touching off the lead sleighed..

Got a good one here..

I had the Super Big Game Master in 7mm RM

I loved the rifle in many ways but after a year of searching for a accurate and fast load for the 160 grn Accubond I sold it off.

Nice rifle....just a shame it wouldn't come around

I have two identical rifles in .257 Wby Mag and .300 Win Mag, both in the Super Big Gamemaster configuration which slightly predates the Ultralight but is essentially the same rifle. The .300 has a shorter tube (believe 22 inches) and TRULY is an ultralight! I love both of these rifles and took the .300 to Africa on my plains game Safari. It proved extremely accurate with the Barnes Vor-tx ammo loaded with 180 grain TTSX Bullets. The .257 also loves the TTSX bullets (as well as the Nosler Accubond) and both rifles shoot at right about .5-.75 MOA.

-John

I love my 300 Wby. It is one of the best all-around calibers, in my opinion. I do think that the recoil might be a bit sharp in the ultralight, but there are some great reduced recoil loads that can be used for both deer and practice. One of the best I have found came from the Nosler reloading manual: 150gr Accubond/81.0gr H4831 for approximately 3000fps. It certainly can be loaded much faster and with heavier bullets. That is the great thing about the 300 Wby; it works on such a wide variety of game and is definitely an American classic. I hope you enjoys yours as much as I have mine.

I've only had my .300 Wby for about 5 years, but it's my favorite rifle. Mine is a Vanguard that I custom stocked that includes a recoil reducer and has a KDF muzzle brake. It weighs just under 10 lbs. I would not enjoy shooting this cartridge in an ultralight.

I've taken my .300 Wby on one African PG hunt, a New Zealand hunt, and on several western US hunts, including two Montana bull elk hunts.

The Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets retain most of their weight after hitting animals, so lighter than normal copper/lead bullets can be used. My hunting loads have been with 168 gr TSX and TTSX bullets, and most of the animals that I've shot with this rifle, including both bull elk, were one shot, DRT kills.

Hornady 168 gr BTHP Match bullets have a similar trajectory as my 168 gr TSX/TTSX hunting bullets, and I enjoy shooting steel with them out to 430 yards at my weekly trips to the range.

Sighted in at +2.5" at 100 yds gives me a point blank trajectory of +3" at 200 yds to -5" at 350 yds.