Weatherby Mark V Accumark 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum Bolt-Action Rifle

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn & Boge Quinn

June 22nd, 2016

 

Click pictures for a larger version.

 

 

 

 

 

Mark V nine-lug fluted bolt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two-position safety.

 

 

The Weatherby Mark V bolt-action rifle has been the choice of many hunters the world over for several decades. Since its introduction by Roy Weatherby in 1958, the Mark V has earned the trust of those who travel far to harvest the world’s most-dangerous game, as well as those who believe that high velocity bullets are preferred for hunting game of all sizes.

The Mark V has built a well-earned reputation for strength, accuracy, and reliability. Built to handle the high pressures of Weatherby’s proprietary magnum cartridges, the Mark V is one of the strongest actions on Earth.

The Accumark rifle reviewed here wears a fluted stainless twenty-six-inch barrel, and has the trademark Weatherby fluted nine-lug bolt. The bolt handle lifts only 54 degrees, leaving plenty of clearance between the shooter’s hand and the scope. The Accumark wears Weatherby’s new LXX trigger, which yields an excellent, crisp trigger pull. The rifle arrived with the trigger pull set at 2.5 pounds resistance, so I left it alone. The stock is a good-looking and highly functional hand-laminated composite unit, which incorporates Weatherby’s trademark raised Monte Carlo cheekpiece. The stock wears a spider-web dark gray finish, which is textured for a secure grip, and the butt is finished with an excellent recoil pad. The bedding block is a full-length aluminum unit. Weatherby lists the magazine capacity at three, but four worked just fine in this rifle, giving a total loaded capacity of five.

It has taken many years for Weatherby to enter the increasingly popular 6.5mm cartridge field, but in typical Weatherby fashion, they have jumped in with both feet, producing the fastest, flattest-shooting commercial 6.5mm cartridge to date. (Note: The proprietary 6.71 Blackbird is no longer catalogued by Lazzeroni.) The 6.5-300 Weatherby is considerably faster than the legendary 264 Winchester.

I have for many years been a fan of the 257 Weatherby cartridge, as it is one of the flattest-shooting cartridges available, but the new 6.5-300 shoots as flat, but hits harder, with a larger, heavier bullet. The 127 grain Barnes LRX load shoots almost as flat as the 80 grain Barnes 257 load, but carries sixty percent more bullet weight to the target.

When I first learned about the new cartridge in January of this year, I immediately requested to borrow one to take on my annual trek to the Shootists’ Holiday at the NRA Whittington Center near Raton, New Mexico in June. At the NRAWC, they have steel targets out to 1125 yards, and plenty of rocks out farther than that, making it an excellent place to unlimber a long-range rifle. The new Weatherby arrived in time for the trip, along with a couple of boxes of the 127 grain Barnes LRX loads, and in New Mexico, the rifle did not disappoint.

Before leaving for New Mexico, I mounted a Trijicon Accupoint 5 to 20 power scope in Trijicon rings atop the Accumark rifle. The Trijicon has very clear optics and a Mil-Dot reticle for precise long-range shooting.

While I fired at some steel and rocks at farther distances, I could only judge the groups out to the 800-yard mark. Firing on steel, the Weatherby would easily keep three shots under one minute-of-angle (MOA) on both the 600 and 800 yard targets. After firing three shots, I would allow the barrel to cool, and then do it again. Even with a steady wind blowing, the Weatherby lived up to its accuracy guarantee, every time.

Back home on my range in Tennessee, putting the Weatherby on paper at 100 yards, my results matched those of the test target which shipped with the rifle, consistently under one MOA, with some groups cutting that in half. The smallest group fired with the one factory load available to me, the 127 grain Barnes LRX bullet load, measured only three-eighths of an inch, center-to-center for three shots at one hundred yards. The largest group fired measured only five-eighths of an inch. Outstanding accuracy! As mentioned above, I only had the Barnes LRX bullet load here, but chronograph data showed it to exceed the Weatherby specs of 3531 feet-per-second (fps) muzzle velocity, clocking at 3572, twelve feet from the muzzle, which, according to my ballistics program, is a bit over 3580 fps at the muzzle. Smokin’! I have included here Weatherby’s ballistic chart for the 6.5-300, as I did not have the other loads here to send over my chronograph, but I trust Weatherby’s data on this.

6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum Ballistics

Bullet Type

Ballistic Coefficient

Velocity @ Muzzle

100 Yards

200 Yards

300 Yards

400 Yards

500 Yards

600 Yards

700 Yards

800 Yards

900 Yards

1000 Yards

127 Grain LRX

0.485

3531

3309

3099

2898

2706

2523

2347

2177

2015

1860

1740

130 Grain Scirocco II

0.571

3476

3276

3084

2901

2726

2557

2394

2238

2087

1942

1804

140 Grain A-Frame

0.401

3395

3122

2866

2624

2394

2176

1970

1776

1597

1435

1293

As shown in the chart, this new Weatherby cartridge carries a lot of power downrange. While I certainly do not advocate shooting at game at 1000 yards, the 6.5-300 retains enough velocity and energy to get the job done, even at that distance. For a 300 to 400-yard cartridge for taking game up to and including American elk and moose, the 6.5-300 is ideal, and can be used even farther, if the shooter is up to the challenge. Most are not. The trajectory is about as flat as it gets, shooting flatter than any other Weatherby cartridge, with the exception of the eighty grain 257 load. With a 300 yard zero, the 6.5-300 drops only about nineteen inches below the line of sight at 500 yards.

Shooting the latest Mark V was a real pleasure. The rifle is loud, but no more so than many other cartridges. Recoil is soft. While the rifle does move when fired, it causes no pain at all. Many rifles will slap the shooter’s check, but the Weatherby stock design eliminates that problem, with the rifle recoiling away from the shooter’s face. Very nice.

The Weatherby Accumark chambered for the new 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum is a superb rifle for long-range shooting, whether at game or inanimate targets. It shoots flat, hits hard, and is wonderfully accurate. The Mark V is built in Paso Robles, California, and is built right. You never regret buying the best.

Check out the Mark V and other Weatherby products online at www.weatherby.com.

For more information on the Trijicon Accupoint scope, go to www.trijicon.com.

For the location of a Weatherby dealer near you, click on the DEALER FINDER at www.lipseys.com.

To order the Accumark online, click on the GUN GENIE at www.galleryofguns.com.

To order 6.5-300 Weatherby ammunition, go to www.weatherby.com.

To order the Barnes LRX bullet for handloading, go to www.barnesbullets.com.

Jeff Quinn

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Click pictures for a larger version.

 

 

 

 

Trijicon AccuPoint 5 to 20 power scope.

 

 

 

 

Weatherby factory ammunition.

 

 

Solid copper Barnes LRX bullet retains rearly 100 percent of its weight.

 

 

All accuracy testing was done with the aid of a Target Shooting, Inc. Model 1000LP rifle rest.

 

 

Largest and smallest 100-yard groups fired.