mbogo

I asked where you live because it effects pricing and delivery situations.

I have owned a lot of Wbys and currently have a pair of 378s that have come from the custom shop and a pair of 460s that are the same as the 378s that were ordered just a couple of weeks ago.

The biggest bang for the buck comes from the CZs in 416 Rigby and 458 Lott. CZ USA also offer the 404, 450 Rigby and 505 Gibbs at about $1800US. Currently, all three of those calibres are a pain in the arse to own and especially for someone on their maiden voyage down big bore avenue.

Depending on your budget a 460 Deluxe is hard to go past. You can also have then done as the older Euromark with matter blue and satin finish stock if you use Wbys Product Upgrade. Before entering Product Upgrade I would get a quote from the dealer as Wby tends to do different deals once the rifle moves away from "standard". In other words you might find a 460 done as a Euromark has about the same US retail as a 460 Deluxe but in reality it might cost more because of the deal Wby does with the dealer.

I have previously owned two 460s and have been directly involved with some others. Their accuracy is stunning especially after they have been bedded and floated but they are also very good out of the box.

The 460 Deluxe is a higher level rifle than the 378 and 416 Deluxe and is basically from their custom shop.

If you want play around with a big bore then I would skip 416 bore size as it lacks bullets. 375 and 458 bore size is where it is at.

378, 416 and 460 Wbys come standard with a removable muzzle brake and thread cap. For full power loads you need the brake on.

The Wbys in 378, 416 and 460 do not have all the feeding problems you continually read about on forums and one of the reasons is they use a vertical stack centre line feed magazine. In addition, even in 460, the chamber diameter is considerably larger than the bullet diameter. With a 458 Lott loaded with blunt bullets the cartridge can't be out of line by much when feeding for a blunt bullet to catch the edge of the chamber.

In my opinion, when you factor in finish of the rifle, brass/ammo availability, reliable functioning out of the box, accuracy and cost, then the standard Wbys in 378, 416 and 460 are the pick of the big bangers and particularly the 378 and 460, if want to play around.

A couple of other points. Weatherbys already have cross bolts ( which you can't see) and their second recoil lug on the barrel is only about an inch along which is much better for accuracy issues than those that have the barrel mounted recoil lug down where the open sights are located. The action lug and barrel lug are already epoxied bedded in the standard Weatherbys in 378, 416 and 460

Mike