Smith to re barrel MK V?

[DrewN]

So I've always wanted a LH MK V. Picked up a nice West German from a CalGunner last year. Great balance, great handling. The "problem" is that it's a 22" #1 profile. In .300 Weatherby. Which is clearly less than ideal. Weatherby doesn't have #1 profile barrels anymore, so going to a 26" #2 or whatever would ruin the balance in my opinion. And I don't really need another 26" .30 magnum. So what I'd like to do is keep it 22", but re barrel in a nice medium pressure cartridge. I'm leaning toward 9.3x62 because it's a West German gun, but I could be talked into .35 Whelan no problem. Clearly I'd like to match the finish on the receiver, so I can't just send it to Jim Hart. Anybody got a recommendation for a smith to do this conversion?

[Calif Hunter]

There will be bolt head differences as the .300 Wthby has a magnum case head diameter while the .35 Whelen or .30-06 type cartridges will have a smaller bolt face. A gunsmith can tell you or post here on what will be involved.

[Imageview]

I recently was going to use Spartan precision for a rebarrel job. Ended up selling the rifle instead, but found them very informative and helpful to deal with in figuring out what was involved and would be needed.

[DrewN]

There will be bolt head differences as the .300 Wthby has a magnum case head diameter while the .35 Whelen or .30-06 type cartridges will have a smaller bolt face. A gunsmith can tell you or post here on what will be involved.

Hmm. True. .375 Ruger maybe?

[SanJoseMarkp]

Marc at Spartan is a great guy who does great work. He built my last couple rifles and 2 extra caliber barrels for my swap barrel gun. but I am not sure he does bluing all my stuff has been Cerekoted.

The bolt head size may be a problem, check with Marc may be able to source a .308 bolt for a mark V and then fit it to the action if the external sizes are the same on the 2 bolts.

As far as matching the finish not sure anyone can truly match a barrel to a previously finished receiver. I assume it's bluing, that would be really hard to match without stripping the receiver and redoing both the receiver and barrel at once.

EDIT: just looked at the mark V page the bolt diameters are definitely different between the standard calibers and magnum ones so could only rechamber for a magnum caliber. the .375 would work

[sigstroker]

The number of lugs is different too.

[hermosabeach]

OK-

So I know I am an Idiot- but here is my take

Option 1- Load light load for the 300 weatherby

125 grain at minimum load is a light load

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/300-weatherby-magnum/

3150 FPS with IMR 4350
2500 FPS W/ 220 Grain w/ min load

(35 Whelen- 225 grain 2400-2800 FPS - so about the same bullet weight and velocity as a light 220 in 300 weatherby)


or a 150 grain at 3050 FPS

That puts the energy around a 30-06 which is barrel life and recoil friendly

--
Option 2- sell the gun and buy what you want...
The cost for
1- barrel
2- Bolt
3- smithing
might be more than a new firearm


How will you use this rifle?
Hunting in CA where you cannot use lead ammo?
Hunting outside of CA?

Deer or larger animals?

[hermosabeach]

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/35-whelen/

[DrewN]

OK-

So I know I am an Idiot- but here is my take

Option 1- Load light load for the 300 weatherby

125 grain at minimum load is a light load

https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/300-weatherby-magnum/

3150 FPS with IMR 4350
2500 FPS W/ 220 Grain w/ min load

(35 Whelen- 225 grain 2400-2800 FPS - so about the same bullet weight and velocity as a light 220 in 300 weatherby)


or a 150 grain at 3050 FPS

That puts the energy around a 30-06 which is barrel life and recoil friendly

--
Option 2- sell the gun and buy what you want...
The cost for
1- barrel
2- Bolt
3- smithing
might be more than a new firearm


How will you use this rifle?
Hunting in CA where you cannot use lead ammo?
Hunting outside of CA?

Deer or larger animals?

Eh, just looking in the safe for projects honestly. My initial plan WAS to just load 200 grainers at the minimum. My "arsenal" is lacking much over .338, but the .375's seemed more than I needed. The .375s do have the correct rim and pretty darn close OAL though.

[Calif Hunter]

Yes, and you can handload that .375 down to be comparable to a .35 Whelen. The .375 Ruger is a pretty short round, though, while your MKV action is a long, magnum length. You could make it a .375 H&H and load it moderately. I shot a .375 H&H in Africa on several animals and it did not seem to recoil very badly with full loads - certainly not as much as my .300 Wthby seems to. Perhaps it is more of a push than a jolt.

[DrewN]

Yes, and you can handload that .375 down to be comparable to a .35 Whelen. The .375 Ruger is a pretty short round, though, while your MKV action is a long, magnum length. You could make it a .375 H&H and load it moderately. I shot a .375 H&H in Africa on several animals and it did not seem to recoil very badly with full loads - certainly not as much as my .300 Wthby seems to. Perhaps it is more of a push than a jolt.

Hard to go wrong with .375 H&H, plus I don't have one.

[sigstroker]

You could get it chambered in something like 7mm SAUM. To use long bullets it needs a long action, so hopefully it'll feed well in a magnum action. It's probably a handloading only proposition, I don't know if any factory ammo is made any more. It's less punishing than .300 Weatherby and pretty flat shooting.

edit: Actually, Nosler makes 7mm SAUM ammo, but it's as expensive as .300 Weatherby ammo, so you'd want to handload anyway.

[DrewN]

You could get it chambered in something like 7mm SAUM. To use long bullets it needs a long action, so hopefully it'll feed well in a magnum action. It's probably a handloading only proposition, I don't know if any factory ammo is made any more. It's less punishing than .300 Weatherby and pretty flat shooting.

edit: Actually, Nosler makes 7mm SAUM ammo, but it's as expensive as .300 Weatherby ammo, so you'd want to handload anyway.

I'm fine with .300 Weatherby, but it's wasted with a 22" tube. I also might or might not have suffered an ill considered Lazzeroni infatuation in my younger days, hence no need for another 26"+ .30 magnum. Not "no need" enough not to buy this gun when it popped up in the marketplace though obviously

[M1NM]

may be able to source a .308 bolt for a mark V and then fit it to the action if the external sizes are the same on the 2 bolts.

The wimp --- er non magnum bolts used 6 lugs not 9. You may end up having someone make and fit the barrel then send it out to a premium company for polish and true hot salt bluing. It will be very hard to match the original Weatherby/Sauer bluing.

[DrewN]

The wimp --- er non magnum bolts used 6 lugs not 9. You may end up having someone make and fit the barrel then send it out to a premium company for polish and true hot salt bluing. It will be very hard to match the original Weatherby/Sauer bluing.

True, this project might just not be worth it. It will kill stuff plenty dead with a 22" barrel for sure.