.460 Weatherby Magnum - Accessories

Accessories

Although, most elephant guns are equipped with open sights the typical Weatherby Mark V rifle chambered for the .460 Weatherby Magnum does not come equipped with open sights. Instead they are drilled and tapped for scope mounts. The cartridge’s performance even at 200 yd (180 m) leaves enough energy necessary to bring down large dangerous thick skinned game. At these ranges, telescopic sights have a greater advantage than open sights. The stock itself is designed for with the intent of providing the shooter a higher line of sight which is consistent with the use of telescopic sights.

Weatherby Rifles such as the Dangerous Game Rifle and other Weatherby factory custom offerings are provided with open sights. Open sights tend to sight in quicker than scoped rifles and for this reason open sighted rifles are preferred by hunters for back-up work—when the hunter and/or guide must mount and discharge their firearm to ensure a charging game animal does not injure a client or to deliver a coup de grâce to a wounded game animal. It also has the added benefit of preventing the hunter from getting his eyebrow cut by the scope, which is not uncommon with a firearm with as much recoil as the .460 Weatherby Magnum.

The Recoil of the .460 Weatherby Magnum presents a problem for many shooters when shooting a cartridge of this size. Even with a 12 lb (5.4 kg) rifle (scope, base, rings and cartridges included) the recoil against the shooter's shoulder is measured at 100 ft·lbf (140 J). Compare this to most rifles chambered in .30-06 Springfield which develop an average of 20 ft·lbf (27 J) of free recoil. Recently Weatherby has offered some reduced loads in the 7,500 ft·lbf (10,200 J) range, in order to be more forgiving to shooters. The recoil of the full-power loads is very punishing and if the gun has a scope, scope cuts on the forehead are common. A factory powder charge for this cartridge is about 115 grains (7.5 g).

For many years the Weatherby Mark V rifles chambered in .460 Weatherby were equipped with a Pendleton muzzle brake to help alleviate the effects of recoil. The Pendleton muzzle brake is an integral braking system installed by porting the rifle barrel and once cut into the barrel cannot be reversed. All current Weatherby Mark V rifles chambered for the .378 Weatherby Magnum and its derivatives are provided with the Accubrake as a standard accessory with the rifle package. The Accubrake reduces felt recoil by about 53%. Unlike the earlier Pendleton muzzle brake, the Accubrake is a removable, screw-on type brake. The use of muzzle brakes is frowned on by the hunting community in particularly in guided hunting situations involving dangerous game. The Accubrake being a removable accessory can be reserved for sighting in. According to Weatherby, the removal of the Accubrake will not change the point of impact.