The 7mm Weatherby Magnum

This is a hot rifle with a cool story.   Folks, check out this left hand 7mm Weatherby Mark V…

It’s one of the great ones, and the story behind it goes like this.   About 35 years ago I was an engineer working for Aerojet (we manufactured cluster bombs and artillery ammunition) and the Weatherby plant was just up the road from us.   I stopped in one day and mentioned to the sales guy that I wanted to buy a Weatherby in 7mm Weatherby Magnum for my Dad.   I told him I wanted a rifle with exceptional wood, and in those days, they would take you into the Weatherby armory to pick out the one you wanted.  I got it down to two rifles and told the sales guy it would be cool if I could tell Dad that Roy Weatherby helped me select the rifle.

Well, that’s exactly what happened.  In two minutes I was in Roy Weatherby’s office and there he was.   He was a hell of guy.   Old Roy asked us to put both rifles on his desk, and when we did he said, “from this side I like that one the best.  Turn them over.”  We did, and Roy said, “from this side, I like the other one best.”   Then he looked at me and said, “Joe, which one do you like best?”

“I like this one,” I said, pointing to the rifle in the above photo.

“That’s the one I would have selected,” Roy said.  He obviously had done this before.  Just being in his presence was an amazing experience.  Like I said, he was one hell of a man.

I gave the rifle to Dad and he loved  it.  We spent several days on the range shooting the Weatherby, and then Dad passed away a few days later.   That was a tough pill to swallow, but life goes on.

The Weatherby had not been out of my safe since, other than to run a patch through the bore and to keep it oiled.  I didn’t shoot it because it’s left handed (I’m a righty), and then one day recently I was thinking about that.  My Dad was left handed and he shot right hand bolt action rifles, so I reasoned I could shoot a left hand rifle.   And three weeks ago, I did.

That 7mm Weatherby Magnum cartridge is a real powerhouse.  It’s hotter than the 7mm Remington Magnum by about 100 to 200 feet per second and the bark is ferocious.  The recoil is significant, but truth be told, when I’m hunting I never feel the recoil and I never hear the rifle.

I’m working on different loads trying to zero in (pardon the pun) on the secret sauce that will provide the tightest groups.    And I’m having a lot of fun doing it.