other uses see weatherby disambiguation . for the town of similar name in west yorkshire england see wetherby . weatherby inc. founded 1945 1945 founder roy weatherby headquarters paso robles california united states key people ed weatherby products firearms ammunition shooting accessories website weatherby.com weatherby inc. is an american gun manufacturer founded in 1945 by roy weatherby . the company is best known for its high powered magnum cartridges such as the .257 weatherby magnum and the .460 weatherby magnum . company headquarters is in the northern san luis obispo county town of paso robles california . contents 1 history 2 products 2.1 rifles 2.2 shotguns 2.3 calibers 3 references 4 further reading 5 external links history edit the original production rifles by roy weatherby were built on commercial mauser actions by fn brevex magnum and mathieu left hand . for bespoke rifles weatherby would build to a customer s specifications using any action the customer wanted provided it was strong enough for the desired cartridge . for many years weatherby manufactured his rifles at his small facility in south gate california . but in 1956 he contracted with sako to build his production rifles on weatherby fn mauser actions . custom rifles were still produced in south gate however . 1 weatherby s first break with mauser actions came in 1956 when he commissioned the danish firm of schultz & larsen to build 378 weatherby magnums utilizing their model 54 bolt action . this action was very stout and featured four rear locking lugs . many of its features such as the low bolt lift and triple gas escape ports in the bolt would find their way into weatherby s proprietary bolt action which would make its debut two years later . 1 in 1958 after several years of development roy weatherby introduced the mark v bolt action his first proprietary design developed totally in house by weatherby himself and his head engineer fred jennie . built to withstand the hottest of weatherby s experimental cartridges which were exceeding 100 000 psi . the first weatherby mark v actions were manufactured in the u.s. by pacific founders inc. and the rifles were assembled and finished at the weatherby facility in south gate . demand for the mark v quickly exceeded weatherby s manufacturing capability so the company contracted with j. p. sauer in west germany to build production mark v rifles . manufacturing of the mark v remained there until the early 1970s when material and labour costs led weatherby to move production to howa in japan . some say who the machining and finishing of the howa made mark vs was actually better than the sauer made guns . in 1995 manufacturing of the mark v was moved back to the united states where the mark v has been built under contract by both saco defense and acrometal atek . 1 the mark v action remained relatively unchanged during the first five years of production . shortly after manufacturing moved from pfi in the u.s. to j. p. sauer in germany . in addition the safety was redesigned and moved from the receiver to the bolt which was changed from a smooth to a fluted surface . the first major change came in 1963 when weatherby designed a shorter and more trim mark v action for their 224 weatherby magnum varmint round new for 1964 . the bolt in this smaller mark v action only had six locking lugs versus the nine found on its bigger brother . rifles chambered for the new 224 wby magnum were dubbed varmintmaster . the varmintmaster was later offered in 22 250 remington making this the first non weatherby cartridge offered in the mark v. in 1967 the 9 lug mark v action was offered for the first time in 30 06 . these two cartridges the 30 06 and 22 250 remained the only two non weatherby chamberings offered in production mark v rifles until the mid 1990s . though weatherby would build a custom mark v to a customer s specifications in virtually any caliber . today all non weatherby standard calibers not magnum cartridges are only offered in 6 lug versions of the action . this makes 9 lug 30 06 mark vs whether made in germany or japan somewhat of a rarity . 1 in the late 1960s weatherby contracted with howa of japan to build a weatherby rifle that would be more affordable for the average hunter . the result was the weatherby vanguard which was introduced in 1970 the same year that production of the mark v moved to japan . 2 based on the howa 1500 bolt action and initially offered only in standard calibers the vanguard provided an attractive alternative for buyers in the market for a sporting bolt action rifle like the winchester model 70 or remington model 700 . the vanguard is now available in select weatherby magnum calibers . 3 products edit rifles edit weatherby mark v in 7mm weatherby today weatherby still offers only two lines of centerfire rifles the mark v and the vanguard . the mark v barreled action is manufactured by atek in brainerd mn while the barrel and action for the vanguard are still manufactured by howa in japan . final assembly of the mark v and vanguard is performed at weatherby s company headquarters in paso robles . the mark v uses two action sizes . the larger 9 lug bolt action is used for all larger weatherby magnum calibers . the smaller 6 lug action in two lengths is used for the 240 weatherby and all standard calibers . the 224 weatherby magnum is no longer offered as a regular production caliber but presumably could be special ordered . both the mark v and vanguard are available as sub moa rifles in various models ranging from blued to stainless steel metal and kevlar to wood stocks and calibers .223 vanguard only through .300 weatherby magnum . calibers .340 through .460 are only available on the mark v platform due to the stronger bolt . 3 4 weatherby rifles come with a guarantee of 1.5 moa and even sub moa accuracy from a cold bore on some models . few other rifle manufacturers offer such a guarantee . generally regarded as of higher quality than remington or winchester rifles weatherby mark v rifles are considerably more expensive in terms of both the rifle and ammunition . however the vanguard models are competitively priced with other makes and models . 3 5 shotguns edit weatherby offers a line of shotguns for bird hunting and trap skeet shooting . weatherby produces four types each with two models of shotgun over under double barrel side by side double barrel pump and semi automatic . current production weatherby shotguns the d italia line are made in italy through a collaborative effort with italian gunmaker fausti stefano . 6 calibers edit the father of high velocity was of course firearm designer and cartridge pioneer charles newton being the first to build a hunting cartridge and rifle capable of firing a bullet at over 3000 fps . it was with weatherby that the trend of ultra high velocity hunting calibers was developed . in the late 80 s remington s ultra mag series of unbelted cartridges returning to the charles newton style of cartridge design has given weatherby competition . however weatherby still holds the title of most powerful commercially available hunting cartridge in the world with its .460 weatherby . 7 8 according to weatherby s website the company s full line up of calibers consists of the .224 weatherby magnum .240 weatherby magnum .257 weatherby magnum 6.5 300 weatherby magnum .270 weatherby magnum 7mm weatherby magnum .300 weatherby magnum .340 weatherby magnum .30 378 weatherby magnum .338 378 weatherby magnum .375 weatherby magnum .378 weatherby magnum .416 weatherby magnum .460 weatherby magnum some weatherby cartridges circle size proportional to recoil . game class vs 6 inch maximum point blank range . sectional density vs ballistic coefficient . weatherby offers rifles chambered in .17 hmr .204 ruger .22 lr .223 remington .22 250 remington .243 winchester .25 06 remington .270 winchester .270 wsm 7mm 08 remington .280 remington 7mm rem mag .308 winchester .30 06 springfield .300 wsm .300 winchester magnum .338 06 a square .338 winchester magnum .35 whelen .375 h & h magnum .458 lott another cartridge of note designed by roy weatherby was the .220 weatherby rocket . it does not have the typical double radius shoulder like the rest of the weatherby calibers and it is not a belted magnum . it is best described as an improved version of the .220 swift . weatherby shotguns cover the spectrum of available cartridges from the .410 bore up to the 12 gauge . references edit a b c d walter john 2006 . the rifle story an illustrated history from 1776 to the present day . mbi publishing company . pp. 268 274 . isbn 978 1 85367 690 1 . wieland terry 2006 . dangerous game rifles . down east enterprise inc. p. 106 . isbn 978 0 89272 691 2 . a b c petzal david e. 2008 . accuracy guaranteed weatherby s sub moa vanguard performs as promised . field & stream . 112 11 94 . lewis jack 2007 . the gun digest book of assault weapons . gun digest books . pp. 22 27 . isbn 978 0 89689 498 3 . shideler dan 2011 . gun digest 2012 . gun digest books . pp. 208 209 . isbn 978 1 4402 1447 9 . mcnab chris 2007 . sporting guns a guide to the world s rifles and shotguns . macmillan . pp. 59 60 . isbn 978 0 312 36823 4 . wieland terry 2006 . dangerous game rifles . countrysport press . p. 185 . isbn 978 0 89272 691 2 . the .460 was to offer the most powerful commercial cartridge and he succeeded . capstick peter hathaway 1984 . safari the last adventure . st. martin s press . p. 94 . isbn 978 0 312 69657 3 . the weatherby is the most powerful shoulder fired commercially available caliber you can buy . further reading edit macphee william 1987 . rare breed the entrepreneur an american culture . probus pub co. p. 227 . isbn 978 0 917253 75 1 . van zwoll wayne 2000 . the hunter s guide to ballistics practical advice on how to choose guns and loads and use them effectively . the lyons press . pp. 26 27 . isbn 978 1 58574 375 9 . external links edit official site the hunter s big wallop . popular mechanics september 1951 pp. 73 77 1951 article on weatherby s specialized arms and their new factory in california . v t e weatherby firearms and cartridges handguns centerfire pistol cfp silhouette pistol rifles mark xxii mark v vanguard vanguard series 2 varmintmaster threat response rifle shotguns athena orion o u orion sxs pa 08 pa 459 sa 08 sa 459 cartridges .220 weatherby rocket .224 weatherby magnum .228 weatherby magnum .240 weatherby magnum .257 weatherby magnum 6.5 300 weatherby magnum .270 weatherby magnum 7mm weatherby magnum .300 weatherby magnum .30 378 weatherby magnum .338 378 weatherby magnum .340 weatherby magnum .375 weatherby magnum .378 weatherby magnum .416 weatherby magnum .460 weatherby magnum retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title weatherby & oldid 744155579 categories firearm manufacturers of the united statesweatherby magnum rifle cartridgescompanies established in 19451945 establishments in 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