have you ever built a custom rifle , made to exactly your dream specs only to find its not exactly what you thought it might be?
if you've got a good job where you can afford to blow some cash on toys ...
and your into heavy caliber rifles...
well I had a dream of building the ultimate elk hammering rifle back several years ago..,
so I decided to build exactly what I wanted...at that time
This was a custom combo, I put together ,
I ordered a spare fibermark weatherby synthetic stock for my 340 wby rifle and a 378 wby barreled action,
(because you could not order the weatherby 378 with that stock, ....BECAUSE WEATHERBY KNEW it makes the rifle too light and recoil level, even more noticeable)
and after doing some rather extensive glass bedding, modifications, partly because of the additional recoil lug on the rear inch or so of the barrel of 378wby barreled action,
and ideally strengthening the stock work with two large pillar bed inserts and drilling the stock wrist area from the butt too the rear of the action ,
so I could insert custom bent section of 5/8" steel thread rod coated with a great deal of epoxy bedding compound too both add a bit of weight and rigidity to the stock, and then using my milling machine to groove the inner forearm , and adding two 1/4" steel thread rod sections and epoxy bedding compound, to the forearm area with a good deal more bedding compound behind the forward barrel mount, recoil lug to the bedding in the stocks forward in-letting and modifying it to fit the extra recoil lug the 378 wby action has,
plus two cross bolts epoxied into the stock , one on both ends of the action bedding ,and adding a 2.5x Leopold fixed power magnification scope, and a thick recoil pad I had one really powerful rifle that weighted about 9.75 lbs .
I own several wby markV rifles and every one of them shot a bit better groups once I re-bedded then with the receivers & barrels supported for about 3" forward of the receiver, where the additional recoil lug is below the barrel,and the barrels free floated a bit off the stock forearm at least enough off the forearm to slide a dollar bill up to with-in 3" of the receiver
the rifles a bit heavy, at about 10 lbs plus with the scope,
but you really appreciate the weight as any lighter would just make the recoil even more noticeable.
I've easily got about $1900 in this rifle, (in 1990 dollars) before the scope or scope mounts, bi-pod or sling were added. but
thats a screaming bargain compared to the $3000 weatherby wanted for a similar custom synthetic stocked, and bedded, 378 wby when I inquired at that time.
Now its both extremely accurate
( 1"-1.2" 3 shot groups off the bench at 100 yards are common) and...
yes it kicks like a mule,...felt recoil exceeds my 458 mag,but if you know how to use a rifle sling properly and have a past recoil shield sewn into your vest its not objectionable (at least to me) most of my friends think other wise.
Even if the recoil is noticeable, its also a very effective rifle,on game, its hammered every deer (5 so far) and elk (2 so far) and
yes if you absolutely want to knock an elk or any other large game silly this tends to get their attention!
While there.s absolutely no need for this level of power too be used on ELK or MOOSE, ...
if your into powerful long range rifles its both impressive and very effective.
its one of those times
where you get almost too much of a good thing, it absolutely hammers elk with hornady 300 grain boat tail bullets, loaded to 2900fps !!
yes it shoots really flat, and it punches thru the 1/4" steel gong at 500 yards at one local range so I can,t shoot at that gong any longer.
But the facts are that in skilled hands , and used within a reasonable range, any caliber from about a 270 Winchester-up thru a 338 win mag is going to prove to be very effective, on any elk If you can precisely place your shots, and know your games anatomy.
but if your willing to accept the harder recoil levels a 378 wby has, and use top quality bullets and practice a good deal with the rifle,you can just about ignore problems involving lack of penetration, or excessive drop, at anything approaching reasonable ranges, that may be an issue with lesser calibers, now you still need to precisely place your shots,and know your rifles trajectory, but busting thru an ELKs shoulder is hardly going to slow a 378 WBYs 300 grain bullet. enough to destroy the projectiles effectiveness..
Its also not a rifle your going to shoot from the prone position without getting the recoil levels far up past the comfort levels, most people easily tolerate or point you'll want to do that any more than you find absolutely necessary.
firing from a sitting or standing position's not too bad with a sling, being properly used , but you'll darn sure know when its gone off!
I doubt you'll fire more than 10-12 shots before your shoulder starts to bruise,and your common sense tells you to stop shooting!
but when your hunting its a non-issue because you'll seldom fire more than once or twice.
its also the reason you'll occasionally see barely used 378 wby,416 wby and 460 wby rifles for sale at decent prices that have been rarely used.
after building and using my 378 wby for a couple decades I have developed a great deal of respect for its potential, as its exceptionally accurate and shoots very flat, but I'm forced to point out that from the results I've personally seen, the 340 wby, 375 H&H and 378 wby are all excellent weapons and all three will drop an elk almost instantly with good shot placement, so the 250 grain 338 and 270 grain 375 projectiles from these rifles all do remarkably well, and there's not much gained in subjecting yourself to the recoil of the larger 378 wby, ... well other than a good camp fire conversation starter at times.