I like the Weatherby MK V action for its short bolt throw. I own 5 in various calibers. All are very accurate and very sturdy. They take abuse well. However, on 3 different rifles I have had the gun discharge without pulling the trigger when the safety is disengaged. It occurs after the trigger has been depressed while the rifle is on safe (come on, we have all done that), then when safety is disengaged the gun fires without pulling the trigger. Weatherby once sent me a new rifle after I notified them and sent my Mk V back for inspection, with photos of my bloody finger that was cut by the back of the trigger guard due to recoil (my finger was behind the trigger guard when I disengaged the safety and the rifle discharged, the rifle pointing towards the sky as I was back in camp preparing to unload the rifle). Of course they said they couldn't duplicate the incident, but sent me a new rifle anyway. This happened to me again twice more with different Mk V actions. Recently I learned that by replacing the safety lever and cocking piece I was able to mitigate the problem. But I had to take a safety lever and cocking piece from one rifle and switch it to the one I wanted to use on a hunt, because Weatherby won't sell safety levers or cocking pieces. Living in Australia it was not realy an option to send the rifle back to Weatherby for repair. So in conclusion, be careful when taking a Weatherby MK V off safe, especially if you have inadvertently depressed the trigger while the rifle was cocked and on safe.
- Thread starter jsurfdog
- Start date
I just experienced this described discharge once the safety is released. Really the first was a discharge while racking a round and once the bolt went full forward the round fired. Second was as you described upon release of the safety the round fires. Can a local gunsmith do the repairs? Did anyone find a sear problem that may have failed?
I had the same issue. My Mark V fired when the safety was released. I've had this gun 25-30 yrs. I have no intention of getting rid of her. Do you know if something could be worn that could be replaced. I'm too old to start over with a new girl at this point in my life.
We have too many good memories so I just have to keep her going a little while longer.
We have too many good memories so I just have to keep her going a little while longer.
So I had the problem resolved. The trigger screw loosened or back out. Gunsmith said there was excessive grease found that he cleaned up and he applied loctite to the trigger screw. I've never had an issue and no trigger work has ever been done to the gun. I can't speak in depth about this as I don't know the intricacies of the how the safety release lever and a loose trigger screw relate to the unexpected firing of the weapon.
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Weatherby is junk... Sell it, and get something better. They don't GAF about their customers, and refuse to accept that they make mistakes and let lemons slip through QC. I had a MK-V AccuMark .257 Wby Mag that I bought brand new in 2008, and it had a bad barrel from the factory. Started grouping like a softball at 100 yards, at about 75 rounds down the barrel (factory ammo) and got progressively worse. The douche that answered the phone basically called me a liar, and said "we don't let things like that out the door" and then pretty much told me to fuck off, and hung up the phone on me. Fuck Weatherby. I traded the gun back into the dealer I bought it form new, lost my ass on it, got another Remington 700 5R Milspec, and walked away happy. The MilSpec shoots 1/4-1/3 MOA groups with handloads...Completely stock...Only mods are a TriggerTech Special, and had the barrel threaded for a can.
Also, at the time it was having an issue, I had done a TON of research, and found out from a former employee that they had decided to cheap-out and not tell the public. Just a year or so before that rifle was made, they had stopped putting cut-rifled Krieger barrels on their MK-V rifles, and started putting shitty Criterion button barrels on them, and then proceeded to jack up the pricing MSRP's on the rifles to increase their profit margins from BOTH directions. About a year or 2 after my phone call, and warning everyone I could online every chance I got, they swapped back to cut-rifled Kriegers. Wonder why...
But according to them, I'm a liar, and they don't make mistakes... 
Also, at the time it was having an issue, I had done a TON of research, and found out from a former employee that they had decided to cheap-out and not tell the public. Just a year or so before that rifle was made, they had stopped putting cut-rifled Krieger barrels on their MK-V rifles, and started putting shitty Criterion button barrels on them, and then proceeded to jack up the pricing MSRP's on the rifles to increase their profit margins from BOTH directions. About a year or 2 after my phone call, and warning everyone I could online every chance I got, they swapped back to cut-rifled Kriegers. Wonder why...
But according to them, I'm a liar, and they don't make mistakes... Last edited:
I had the same issue. This is a sobering event to say the least. I called weatherby and of course they needed to see the rifle. Rather than go through all that I decided to take it to my gunsmith. Within a week he called and said it was ready. He said the trigger screw had backed out. There was excessive grease in the trigger and he used blue lock tight and cleaned up the grease. No trigger work has ever been done on the gun. I got the gun in the mid 80s and it was made in 75. Time I've had it I've shot less than 100 RDS through it over the years. All I can say is beware. Going to take me awhile to get past this but I wont ever be selling it. This is a weatherby 270 mag deluxe.
