Weatherby's New Mark V Backcountry Ti

Shooting the 6.5 RPM Cartridge

- Brian Pearce

Weatherby has been busy in the past couple of years, which has resulted in a trim new Mark V Back country Ti rifle that weighs less than 5 pounds, and when combined with the company’s new 6.5-caliber cartridge it is a great combination for open country hunting. In addition to being a complete departure from previous Weatherby cartridge designs, the 6.5 Weatherby Rebated Precision Magnum (RPM) offers practical performance, respectable barrel life and the accuracy sought after by many hunters and shooters. With the company under the direction Adam Weatherby, grandson of Roy Weatherby, operations have been moved from Paso Robles, California, to Sheridan, Wyoming, a much friendlier environment for manufacturing firearms and ammunition.

During World War II, Roy Weatherby (1910-1988) began experimenting with wildcat cartridges in an effort to reach greater velocities than provided by ordinary sporting cartridges. Most of his cartridges were based on the .300/.375 H&H Magnum belted case and necked accordingly. Each featured a rather unique double-radius shoulder design that is controversial; however, all cartridges offered significant powder capacity and reached new levels of velocity.

By 1945 Weatherby borrowed a large sum of money and began building custom rifles and producing ammunition on a full-time basis. While early rifles were built on 1903 Springfield, Winchester Model 70, FN commercial Mauser 98 and other actions, by 1957/58 Weatherby had designed his own action known as the Mark V. It was unique and featured nine locking lugs, 56-degree bolt lift (now 54-degrees), a countersunk bolt face, rotating extractor (push feed system), two position bolt mounted safety and many other features. One of its virtues was its outstanding strength, and it was soon advertised as “The World’s Strongest Action.”