Weatherby

Weatherby, Incorporated is an American gun manufacturer, and provides a range of rifles, shotguns, ammunition and accessories to customers in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe.

The company was founded in 1945 in Paso Robles, California by Roy Weatherby. He was interested in producing a new rifle cartridge he had designed, offering a lightweight bullet fired at very high speeds. The existing popular wisdom called for heavy bullets at moderate muzzle velocities, but Mr. Weatherby believed his design was better for accuracy and first-shot kills. This product, the Weatherby Magnum cartridge, was the foundation of the company's success.

From that beginning, Roy Weatherby expanded into rifle production, creating custom rifles for discerning hunters and target shooters and employing his design philosophies. His early rifles were based on commercially-available Mauser, FN and Brevex actions, but as he continued to develop his Magnum cartridges he also was working on his own bolt-action design, released in 1958 as the Mark V. The Mark V is specifically designed to withstand the higher chamber pressures of Weatherby Magnum cartridges, and is still in use today.

Development continued and in 1970 Weatherby introduced the Vanguard action, improving on the Mark V and offering an accuracy guarantee - a rarity in the industry. All Weatherby rifles are guaranteed to shoot a 1 ½ inch group of three shots at 100 yards with a cold barrel using either premium non-Weatherby ammunition or their own factory ammo. The Vanguard action was based on a Japanese design and is still available today.

Roy Weatherby retired in 1983, giving way to his son Ed, the current CEO of the company. In addition to the company's activities, he also oversees the Weatherby Foundation International, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to informing the non-hunting public of the value of ethical sport hunting and its role in wildlife conservation.

Weatherby's products include the Vanguard, Mark V and Mark XXII rifles, available in calibers ranging from.22 all the way up to.460 - the most powerful commercially available rifle cartridge in the world. They also produce a full line of shotguns in partnership with the Italian gun maker Fausti Stefano, with over-and-under, side-by-side, pump and semi-automatic models available.

Of course, Weatherby's ammunition is the heart of the company. They offer preloaded Magnum cartridges in a wide array of calibers, starting at.224, .240, .257, .270, 7mm, .338-06, .300, .340, .378, .416 and the big.460. Hand loaders can also buy their empty brass from Weatherby in all the same calibers so that they can produce their own ammunition at a lower cost.

Weatherby also offers a range of accessories for shooters - a complete line of cases designed to fit all their weapons, shooter accessories including scope mounts, cleaning kits, slings, bandoliers and gun locks, and a large selection of wearables as well. Weatherby has created a user community called Weatherby Nation, providing a chat forum with thousands of topics and discussions. A full range of downloadable content is also available, with wallpapers of various hunting-related topics and high quality pictures of Weatherby products.