Weatherby.com

Moderation isn't necessarily a virtue for a gunwriter. The easiest path to fame is to be controversial, to take extreme positions or attack something popular. For example, "The .30-06 is the most useless cartridge ever created, jack of all trades and master of none. It's not good for everything, it's good for nothing."

See, such a comment gets attention even if it is utterly stupid. I don't hunt with the '06 as much as I once did, but every time I do I wonder again why I bother with other cartridges. I like rifles not too light and not too heavy, and I like middle-of-the-road cartridges.

But even moderation should be taken in moderation. Sometimes it's fun to just stomp on the gas pedal, and if there was ever a "pedal to the metal" cartridge, the .30-378 Weatherby is it. This is not a "moderate" cartridge by any definition.

The .378 Weatherby appeared back in the 1950s. The case was a belted variation of the huge .416 Rigby case, necked down to accept .375" bullets. Subsequently (1989), the belted case was necked up to make the .416 Weatherby. It has all the capacity (and then some) needed for .416" bullets, never mind .30" bullets.

Monster .30

Roy Weatherby was experimenting with the .30-378 in the 1950s but it didn't become a factory cartridge until 1996. I wrote an article several years ago predicting the cartridge would be an outstanding success "with shooters who want the biggest and fastest."

The editor at the time removed my qualifier, making me a bit nervous. I really wasn't so sure the .30-378 would be a hit with the average shooter, but that's how it worked out. Ever since its introduction, the .30-378 has been at or near the top of the Weatherby cartridge lineup, often outselling even the classic .300 Weatherby.

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