Q: I am thinking about buying a Weatherby Mark V rifle in .30-378 Weatherby Magnum for long range deer hunting and later take it on a trip to Namibia for plains game. Shooting a 180gn Nosler BT bullet at 3420fps it should really reach out a long way to lay ’em low. I intend to mount a high range variable scope on it – something like a Nightforce SHV 5-20x56mm. What do you think of my choice?
William Lawson
A: Roy Weatherby experimented with the .30-378 back in the 1950s, but the lack of suitable ultra-slow-burning powders delayed it becoming a factory cartridge until 1996. It hasn’t achieved much popularity with the majority of hunters, only the minority who always want the biggest and fastest. Long range target-shooting enthusiasts in the U.S have embraced it. There’s no doubt that it is an outstanding performer and a poisonous big-game cartridge, IF the shooter can handle the recoil. My advice is: try and shoot a .30-378 before you buy one, and if you find you can shoot it well, make sure you get a scope with really long eye relief.
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