WEATHERBY TRR – THREAT RESPONSE RIFLE

The Weatherby tactical rifles have gone through several iterations now. Below is a review we performed on the original TRR

Weatherby decided to enter the tactical rifle field, and they developed the Threat Response Rifle (TRR), which is based on their Mark V action. The TRR is also available as the Threat Response Magnum, which is chambered in .300 Win Mag and various other Weatherby Mags. Weatherby sent a TRR chambered in .308 for an extended evaluation and I was able to use the rifle in various conditions, which are common to tactical riflemen.

The TRR, in .308 form is a compact tactical rifle with a 22″ barrel and a fairly compact and light stock. This stock is also standard on the Weatherby varmint rifles, but not in black. This combines to create a rifle that is easy to handle and well suited to law enforcement tactical use, especially in areas that are more urban in nature. Because of the lighter weight, the rifle has a little more recoil then a heavier rifle like the 700P, but it is still very comfortable to shoot, and offers less recoil then a standard hunting rifle. The stock is Kevlar composite with an aluminum-bedding block. The shape of the stock is different from the traditional HS Precision tactical stock in that it has a full Monte Carlo cheek piece and does not have palm swells. The forend is flat and slightly slanted which are both tactical minded, as it allows a stable shooting platform from various rests, and the slant from fore to aft allows small changes in elevation to happen by simply sliding the rifle forward or back. The stock is comfortable and handy, and the Monte Carlo cheek piece helps align the eye more naturally with the scope then does the 700P HS Stock. I would personally prefer palm swells and a slightly more vertical pistol grip, but over all, the stock is very comfortable and a very good design.

The action is traditional mark V and has the short bolt throw, which is very nice for rapid follow up shots, and the action operated flawlessly and smooth throughout all shooting sessions. The trigger is Weatherby’s own and is fully adjustable. The test rifle had the trigger set at about 4 – 4.5 lbs and had a slight creep before let-off. That creep should be able to easily be adjusted out, and it wasn’t too much of a bother. I prefer the wider trigger face on the Remington triggers, but there were no problems and it worked well. The barrel is a 22″ Krieger #4 target contour. All Krieger barrels come from the factory cryogenically treated. The shorter barrel didn’t seem to effect velocities all the much, with average velocities being slightly higher then published for the ammo used in the evaluation, though all shooting happened at about 3200′ above sea level, which speeds up muzzle velocity when at the same temperature.

The overall fit and finish of the rifle was very good, as were the overall ergonomics and handling of the rifle.

How did it perform? Very well. The rifle came with two test targets that were fired with Federal Gold Medal Match ammo. The two targets were both right at .68 MOA, which is very very good for a factory-produced rifle with factory-loaded ammo. So how did it perform for me? Well, I actually got groups that were better then the factory targets. The overall average was right in the .65 MOA area, backing up the factory test targets. Here are two of the better groups

I shot both federal gold medal match 168gr and also Lake City M118 Special Ball. The rifle showed very good consistency with both loads, with the federal (expectantly) averaging better then the M118 (.65 MOA vs. .90 MOA). The chronograph showed nothing extra ordinary, with velocities being almost identical to my Bravo-51 with a 22″ Barrel (no surprises there!). At longer ranges the rifle performed equally as well, and the rifle was comfortable to shoot from all positions, though the Monte Carlo stock makes it difficult to shoot left handed if you needed to in a pinch (when shooting around certain obstacles, etc).

Overall, the performance was outstanding for a unmodified mass produced rifle, and this rifle would serve very well as a threat response rifle. Handling is easy and quick with the short and light (relatively) size of the rifle. It is in direct competition with the Remington 700LTR, and I feel it compares very well with accuracy as good as or slightly better, and it has a nice short throw bolt, though the price is a bit more.

Thanks goes to Mike from Weatherby for arranging the rifle for evaluation.