[macroy]

Hi Guys
Im new to the site and hope some of you can help me with some background on Weatherby. I am interested in purchasing a 257 or 300 magnum but have some questions regarding manufacture locations. I know they were made in Southgate, Germany and Japan. Are the guns from one location superior to the other locations? Are older guns of better or lesser quality?
I'm looking at a 300 made in Japan with serial number H120XXX. Can you tell me the year it was made? Are there good years and better years?
Thanks for your help
Macroy

[nathangdad]

has historically maintained extremely high quality manufacturing standards and this has been a key factor in their market success. So, I would not worry about the origination point of a particular rifle. If you wish to analyze quality from a historical design point of view I feel their current Mk. V action is superior to earlier actions.

Weatherby cartridges will be more expensive across the counter so you might wish to take this into consideration. However, they do deliver the promised performance.

I advise you to fire the Weatherby cartridge(s) for which you have an interest as not everyone is comfortable with the recoil and muzzle blast.
This does not mean you will not find happiness with a Weatherby cartridge -many people do- but rather just a friendly try before you buy bit of advice.

[samuel]

Without a model # it is hard to tell what you have,and a picture is worth a thousand words. sam.

[macroy]

Thanks for your responses. Sorry, I left out that the rifle Im looking at is a Japanese Mark V with a Weatherby premier scope but I dont have a photo to post.

[OggieO]

I just received a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in 300 Magnum made in Japan from the estate of my boss who passed away last month. The serial number is H123XXX. From the test target included with the rifle it was made in April of 1979 and test fired on April 16, 1979.

I also found out that the Japanese rifles were evidently made for Weatherby by Howa, who has a good reputation for quality.

I have started checking prices so I can sell it for his wife. So far it looks like they reasonably sell for $1,000 to $1,400.

Let me know what you find out about the Japanese Weatherby you are looking at because it may help me sell the one I have.

I have attached some pictures of the one I have so you can compare them to the rifle you are looking at. I don't know if it will work or not. This is my first time on a forum like this so this is one big experiment for me.

I hope this information helps.

[drbobc]

Different manufacturing dates have a lot to do with value. I know one person who spent 20,000 for a 220 rocket. These are the original weatherby rifles and as you can guess are worth a lot. We then move to JP Sauer made (west german) weatherbys which are still in demand particularly those 257 and higher. The howa made japanese are in demand particularly for the calibers 240 and down. For ex, I have a 26 inch 240 that soon will be worth about 4000 and it will be completely restored with a stock rebuild and refinishing and a reblueing. It will come with a B&L 21/2-8 scope. Of some interest are the German made but japanese assemled weatherbys (Gerpanese is a name usually given these). Soon I will have such a 340. These older weatherbys are going up in price. A friend of mine has about 80 of them and God knows their value. The really expensive weatherbys are usualy presents from Roy himself. For ex, the 300 that roy gave JFK and this is embossed on the rifle. Likewise would be Roy's gifts to John Wayne, Gabby Hayes and Chuck Yeager, I have seen some go for close to 30,000 dollars.

bob chronister

[Ray F.]

If any one has some information I would appreciate it. I just bought myself a Christmas present: a 300 Wby and the serial # is 104212. Paid $500.00. It has a Simmons4X12 scope. Feel it was a great deal.

Hope to hear from someone.

[SueMe]

Weatherby Nation - Spike Camp

The URL above is probably the best place to find information on serial#'s. I can give good information on the serial numbers for MKV that have the serial numbers starting with PB or BP. I don't have information on what you're asking.

I have a Mark V .243 Weatherby and l love it. BP005273. The guts were made in Jenkins Minnesota, and assembled in Brainerd Minnesota, but the Weatherby headquarters is in Atascadero,CA. made in the USA.