340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

I just won a 340 Weatherby Mark V and wondered if anyone here has one or knows someone who does. From what I've found so far it seems like it ought to be a flat shooting, hard hitting gun adequate for all but the biggest, most dangerous big game species.

Most of all I know the price was right;)

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

thats a whole lot of gun i've shot one from the bench it ain't no fun.i do know 2 guys that deer hunt with them here in ga. and by the way its enough gun to kill any dangerous game.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

know a guy that bought one dirt cheap to deer hunt with...gun shop out of anyother caliber in his price range or somethin.....he deerhunted with it till he ran out of ammo...never hit one....but man that gun barked...he showed up with a 270 this year.....told us the bank declined him a loan for a new box of shells.....last year he had 2 or 3 and cept sayin he had to take a loan out for a box of shells.....fun times.....but seriously shells were like 80bucks a box or something....before id ever fire a round id think long and hard about it...if i had no use id sell it for a half decint price....and buy something i always wanted.....sell it new in box....instead of used....dont bother firing it if you dont want to keep it.....sure it will shoot flat and fast and packs alot of heat....but if your not hunting elk at long range or dangerous game hunting id definenetly swap it for a new gun....scope.....anything id use and havea good use for......thats just me..

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

It's a very powerful,flat shooting round but factory loads are very expensive and the recoil is more than many people can handle.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

If I was guidin' on one of them Kodiak bear islands I think I'd have two or three, but there ain't many of them giant bears here, so I probably won't get one. :eek:

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

If I won it I would try to sell it. Unless you feel that you would ever need that big of gun, you just as well get something useful for the type of hunting. It is much bigger than needed for even elk and moose. Yet its probably not suited for the biggest most dangerous game.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

Ain't no way I'd sell a .340 Weatherby Magnum.

Don't know what I'd shoot with it, but like that matters.

I guess if I wanted to hunt Elk and Bear, I might consider trading it for a .30-378 or 300 Wby, or even the .300 Remingtom ultra.

I love the Weatherby's but greatly prefer the Mark V Deluxe's to the Accumark. I don't think the .30-378 is available in the Deluxe.

Additionally, as others pointed out, it's probably not enough gun to take on a Safari for dangerous game (.378 Weatherby would work though) and the 340 at 50 yards would do something bad to a deer if you weren't using FMJ's.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

I own a Weatherby Mark V Sporter .340 Wby. Mag. with a Pentax Lightseeker II 4-16x44, and it is an excellent rifle. All the animals I have killed with it have been one shot kills. The longest one traveled was 30 yds. My handload of choice is a 250 gr. Barnes XFB @ 3062 f/s 5204 ft/lb; producing .408" three shot group at 100m. It is powerfull enough to kill anything that walks the earth, but the caliber is not legal to kill dangerous game in some African countries. If I ever travel to Africa I will use it for plains game, and leave the dangerous game to a .416 Wby. Mag. You won a excellent rifle. Good luck with it!!

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

The 340 wby is a cart. that has more recoil than most people can handle or like,for the most part one doesn,t go out to pop off a couple boxes of shells. After the 5th round one gets a little sore. It a great gun,and i wouldn,t trade mine for anything. It does have its uses and if you are hunting deer you don,t need that much pjower. The 300 wby is still the best all around one to shoot most anything with.The bigger wby 30 cals have heavy type recaoil also. I have all the Wby cal. and have shot all many times. I usually use my 7mmWby for most animals, Big guns are for big game. vangunsmith.. Oh also the ammo is hard to find but if you reload,use 300 Wby brass and just put it in your 340 sizing die. Just be sure the inside of the neck is lubed with a brush. No problem,a 340 is just a 300 case necked up anyway,and 300 brass is easier to find. vangunsmith

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

I know it makes a heck of a moose/griz gun for hunting in alaska. My buddies dad has one that has enver failed to drop anything it has shot, 2 griz, 7 moose, and 9 carabou. He shoots 210s for carabou and 250s for moose/bear.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

ammo is to expensive, it would be cheaper to get a 338 RUM....

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

reloading is not bad, and I don't know anybody that does casual plinking with a 340 weatherby. Usually a couple of boxes of shells will last all year.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

Thanks for the response guys! I checked at the Gun shop where I am supposed to pick it up and was told I cant substitute so If I want to go to something a bit less monstrous, I'll have to take a little beating or sell it outright and buy something else. Right now, I hunt deer with a Marlin 30-30 thats like an old friend. had it since I was 14 and have killed dozens of deer with it. I have a ruger .270 thats an excellent shooter but own nothing more powerful than that. Sounds like the 340 may be more than I have use for until I go for a Grizz or go to Africa. Gotta decide whether to swap it in on something saner like a 300 Win Mag or 300 WBY Mag.
In the meantime, I think I'll resist the urge to fire it till I decide.

If I keep it, I'll definitely handload for it. I see loading data for bullets down to 185 Grain but wonder how that will perform.

Anyway, thanks for all the input:D

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

For big game, Moose and Elk, it's awesome! Providing you can shoot it comfortably and accurately.

The ammo is very expensive and sometimes hard to find. Till just recently, I had a 340 Stainless Synthetic Mark V with an accubrake and hunted with it for 7 years. I traded it in and now shoot a 300 wby Sako 75.

There are cheaper rifles and calibers to shoot with equal or better ballistics. But for free I would take one again.

340

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

BTBowhunter:

Since you handload, loads will be inexpensive to build, and you can load up or down in bullet grains and velocity. Since you handload, the .340 Wby. Mag. will have great versatility, and you can use it to hunt anything on earth legally. I have used my .340 Wby. Mag. using a 210 gr. Barnes XBT on pronghorn. I hit one at 200 yds. the bullet entered the size of a pencil, and excitied the size of a quarter. He looked stunned for a a few seconds, and dropped. Good luck.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

BTBowhunter how much would you take for it.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

Duramax,

Thanks but I think I'm going to keep it.

Like handloader said, I can load it down a bit for deer size game and still have a powerhouse when I go for the big stuff. (and I will one day)

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

I had a 340 wthby ..synthetic stock blued finish. Only gripe was the price of ammo. I think the 338 Ultra mag has totally eclipsed it

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

KAPOW!!! OUCH my shoulder just fell off.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

BTBOWHUNTER,
IF YOU DECIDE TO PART WITH IT, YOU SHOULD TRY GUNBROKER.COM OR GUNSAMERICA. SOMEONE WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD PRICE FOR THAT RIFLE AND YOU CAN PICK AND CHOOSE. JUST AN OPINION. BEING USED TO THE RECOIL OF A 30.30, I'D HANG ON TO SOMETHING WHEN YOU FIRE IT.

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

.340 is impractical for deer sized game.

.300 win mag is the way to go :D

RE: 340 Weatherby, any opinions?
 

Actually both are overkill as a .308" bullet is certainly not required for any whitetail or mule deer.