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Because they’re so light, they’re hard for the human behind the bolt to actually shoot well. Ultralight mountain rifles, no matter how inherently accurate, come with one challenging characteristic. Each rifle ships with a thread protector, too, for hunters who don’t like the blast of a brake. The Mark V Backcountry wears a 24-inch barrel: sleek, fluted, and fit with a lovely little brake that effectively takes the edge off recoil. Chopping two to eight inches off the muzzle is an easy way to reduce weight, but it also cripples ballistic performance-particularly with magnum-level cartridges that burn a lot of gunpowder in order to achieve top-shelf velocities. Unlike most of its competitors offering a sub-five-pound production rifle on the market, Weatherby refused to compromise on barrel length. Watch for an upcoming feature detailing that hunt here in the pages of PH. Hanging over a cliff, I put a handloaded 143-grain ELD-X bullet squarely through the vitals of a color-phase Montana high-country bear. Even though jammed into mud, sharp rocks, and snagging roots, the pad survived without even a scar. I used the rifle for trekking-pole-type support during a four-hour climb up almost-vertical alder-choked cliffs. With the 3D pad, we’re a half-ounce under.” The pad features an aggressive latticework-like structure, sort of a space-age version of the classic vented pads of yesteryear. Grinning, Adam told me, “It’s the buttpad that got us below five pounds. It’s 3-D printed of a resilient, energy-soaking composite. (“Eliminating the Monte Carlo cheekpiece alone resulted in a weight reduction of nearly three ounces,” confessed Adam Weatherby, company president.)Īn all-new 3D Max buttpad plays a part, too. Its lines are sleek and distinctly nontraditional for Weatherby as well. To further reduce weight, the stock is made of carbon fiber using a proprietary process. Critical to achieving that sub-five-pound weight, that action is machined of titanium, which is also a first for Weatherby. As I mentioned earlier, it’s built using the very light, small-diameter Mark V action. And the Mark V Backcountry rifle it’s housed in is just as impressive. I’ve had good results loading 143-grain Hornady ELD-X bullets-a super-aerodynamic projectile great for maximizing one’s ethical lethal range-and Sierra’s 130-grain GameChanger, which smokes out the muzzle in excess of 3,300 fps and provides an eyebrow-raising flat trajectory inside distances of a quarter-mile or so.īasically, the 6.5 WBY RMP is a civilized, modernized rocket of a Weatherby cartridge. Reloading dies are available from the big brands, and the 6.5 WBY RPM is a reasonably polite cartridge to handload. Weatherby has introduced three initial ammo offerings: a 140-grain Nosler AccuBond rated at around 3,100 fps from a 24-inch barrel, a 140-grain Hornady InterLock at similar velocity, and a 127-grain Barnes LRX at around 3,300 fps. Plus, my early work with it indicates that it’s an inherently accurate cartridge. Providing north of 3,100 fps with a 140-grain bullet and 3,300 fps with a 130-grain bullet, the 6.5 WBY RPM has reach. Think of the cartridge as a stretched-out 6.5-284 Norma. Yep, the rim of the 6.5 WBY RPM’s case is smaller than its body, enabling it to work successfully with boltfaces too small in diameter to feed and fire traditional magnum-diameter cartridge case heads. Importantly, it’s a true 6.5 magnum that fits into svelte actions that house no other magnum. The Backcountry, built on the company’s super-sleek, light, small-diameter, six-lug version of the Mark V, is initially chambered for an all-new Weatherby cartridge: the 6.5 RPM. Weatherby just introduced a rifle/cartridge combination that successfully bridges the divide. Until now, true magnum ballistics has been a relatively unrealistic expectation in a sub-five-pound hunting rifle. 280 Ackley Improved-which provide magnum-like 7mm performance-are popular. So semi-fast standard-size cartridges ranging from the 6.5 Creedmoor up through the. Magnum cartridge performance is also valued, but magnum rifles traditionally weigh more. They know these two characteristics often make the difference between climbing high enough and shooting well enough.
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Disciples of the type are drawn to a combination of ultralight weight coupled with extraordinary accuracy-cost be darned.