appearance of being one.
Actually, the chrome moly
action and barrel are plated
with a tactical grey Cerokote
non- glare finish, which
provides resistance to rust and
corrosion. If you're thinking
that such treatment is
unnecessary because stainless
steel won't rust, you're
mistaken. While stainless steel
is far more rust resistant than
chrome-moly, it will rust under
the right (or wrong) conditions.
The matte grey finish on the
Weathermark is impervious to
scratches and scuff marks and
doesn't give off reflections to
spook game on a sunny day.
The Weathermark has a
hand-laminated Kevlar and
fibreglass Monte Carlo stock
that is pillar-bedded with
compound around the recoil
lug and under the rear tang. The
stock is black white spiderweb
accents and rightside palm
swell. A Pachmayr Decelerator
buttpad helps reduce felt recoil
which in any case is minimal
with a .308.
My test rifle came already
mounted with a 2.5-10x40
Bushnell Elite 4500 scope in
Warne XP7000 low rings. Thiswas designed to handle
cartridges of .30-06 length and
the bolt stop has been
shortened and the magazine
blocked off for the .308. Years
ago this kind of thing was
common, but today it is
regarded as being a sloppy
practise. It would, of course,
certainly been nice if
Weatherby had also offered a
third shorter Mark V action
specially tailored for cartridges
in the .308 family. However,
the longer action does have
some advantages to offer.
The original Varmintmaster
action was scaled for the .224
Weatherby Magnum which had
a maximum cartridge overall
length of 60mm compared with
a maximum OACL of 71.375mm
for the .308. American gun
writer Layne Simpson opened
up the Varmintmaster action,
lengthened the magazine and
with a few minor modifications
chambered it for a wildcat
based on the .308 case necked
down to 7mm (today's 7mm-08)
that came within the
parameters for .308 cartridge
OAL which is about a 13mm
shorter than for the .30-06. A
shorter action makes for shorter
bolt travel and a shorter,
handier overall rifle length. If
Weatherby had modified their
Varmintmaster action instead of28 | SPORTING SHOOTER _ MAY 2018
The test rie
came
mounted with
a Bushnell
Elite 4500
scope.”
TEST
REPORTStandard Mark V
Weatherby
Weathermark
Manufacturer: Weatherby Paso
Robles, California, U.S.A
Model: Mark V Weathermark
Type: bolt action
Calibre: .308 Win. (tested), .270
Win., 7mm Rem. Mag., .30-06
Barrel: 600mm long #1 contour
Oeverall length: 117 7mm
Weight empty: 2.8kg
Safety: 2-position on bolt sleeve
Stock: black textured composite,
Monte-Carlo style
Barrelled action: chrome moly,
Cerokoted
Magazine capacity: 5+1
Price: round $2750.00
Trade enquiries: Tasco Sales.
Pty. Ltd. PH: (02) 9938 324 4
Website: http://www.tasco.com.auSPECS
high-quality variable scope
features a one-piece, cold-
molded one-inch magnesium
aluminium tube. The scope's
lenses are fully multi- coated
with a magnesium-fluoride
coating, and the external
surfaces are finished with
"RainGuard" - Bushnell's
proprietary water-repellant
coating which dramatically
reduces external fogging due to
drastic temperature changes
and distortion caused by water
clinging to the lenses surfaces.
Rain drops simply form into
droplets and then fall off the
glass leaving no beading of any
kind. It's really quite amazing
and offers a big advantage for
the hunter who goes afield in all
weathers. Naturally, the scope
is filled with dry nitrogen gas to
prevent internal fogging. The
scope has eyepiece focusing
and 1/4-minute click
adjustments that are accurate,
consistent and repeatable.
Overall, the image offers good
contrast, resolution and
brightness comparable with
more expensive glass which
makes it an excellent
companion for the Weathermark.
The Weathermark's receiver4
5
4
Single stage L X X match-grade
trigger is adjustable for weight
of pull down to 1.13 4kg, has flying
“W” logo on its face.5
One-diameter bolt has six lugs
in banks of tow. Bolt face is
deeply recessed and houses
plunger ejector and claw extractor.ON THIS PAGE