Many, if not all of the Weatherbys, are made in Japan.

That is an excellent point and one that has not escaped my attention. I was recently inspecting one of my Sako 75's (since I made my original post, but before reading the one above) and contemplating how gas would be handled in the unlikelyevent of a case rupture. I really don't see any provisions for escaping gas. There are no ports in the bolt body or the front receiver ring. Also, the bolt shroud does not have a flange. Seems to me that escaping gas would blow right back into my face. Of course, I'm no engineer, so I don't know for sure, but it certainly concerns me. For my own peace of mind I'll have to make sureto keep my loads below max in the 75's.

Anybody else got any thoughts on this?

I'm not sure about currently produced Weatherby's, but I was looking at several discontinued left handed versions, in the standard Mark V, Accumark, and Lightweight versions, and all of them were made in the USA.

Sako!

Since 1995 the Mark V (and ALL variations of that action) have been built here in the U.S. The Vanguards are still built in Japan.

There is not difference (quality wise) between the two IMHO. The Japanese guns (both VGs and MKVs) are recognized universally for their quality and fit and finish. If anything the American MKV versions have less impressive wood in the regular MKV Deluxe versions but I don't think that is as indicative as a quality issue as it is a basic supply and cost issue. Gorgeous wood blanks are harder to get and have REALLY gone up in cost in the last decade!
RA

Weatherby does not manufacture firearms themselves.They have them built by contractors that have been located in germany,japan and the U.S..Currently the mark V's are built by SACO in maine and the vanguards by howa in japan.