[Jeff Higgins]

Ed is Roy's son. He brought Weatherby back to California, where it all began. Weatherby rifles are now entirely American made. That said, I still wouldn't own one, for a number of reasons.

One rather weak reason is the nine locking lug arrangement. Any competent machinist will tell you how hard it is to get equal contact between two opposing bolt lugs, despite lapping them in until your arm gets tired - and the rest of your family and friends as well. Nine have to be well neigh impossible. That doesn't seem to hurt performance, though, but it does lead to the next point...

Weatherby rifles seem to attract the kind of shooter who think nine lugs just have to be better than two, and who pronounce Porsche as "poorsh". They want, and can well afford "the best", but they cannot elaborate why it is "the best", and resort to telling you how much it costs. They seem to believe money spent equals a fast track to skill and success. Normally not such a big deal, but when real blood is shed, we owe it to our prey to know what the hell we are doing. No puffed up chests or "do you know who I am's?" make up for some poor critter that slinks off to die a suffering death. Yeah, I know that is unfair, but that stereotype was cast before I was born.

I guess the real reason, though, is they have nothing that interests me. I do not believe in their "magnum" philosophy. To Weatherby, "magnum" = velocity. To me, "magnum" = bullet weight at "standard" velocities. I don't care how "flat" it shoots, unless it's a dedicated varmint rifle. To me, 200 yards is a "long" shot, bordering on too far to call "hunting". In a lifetime of big game hunting, my average shot still hovers under 50 yards... even factoring in some embarrassingly long shots on pronghorns and one or two mulies...