Vanguard Back Country: advice on stock/bedding?

[Maxwell]

I bought a used Weatherby Vanguard Back Country in 270 win. I'm setting this up as a mountain rifle, so I've mounted a 2.5-8 VX-III on it, but I anticipate 400+ yard shot opportunities every once in a while so I want to tune this thing up right.

The trigger is complete garbage (or I'm at a complete loss as to how to adjust it to get rid of creep) so I'm replacing it with a Timney. My question is about the stock. See pictures below. What exactly is this thing made of? Fiberglass? Graphite or kevlar reinforced? I'm new to synthetic stocks so I don't even know what I'm looking at. It looks like Weatherby puts a pressure point on these rifles because of the skinny barrel contour.

Is this stock glass beddable? Would I gain anything by glass bedding if the barrel is going to be in contact with the stock at the fore-end anyway? Has anyone done this with this particular rifle or stock?

I like the style of the stock and the light weight. I'm just prone to tinkering with things and I've gathered that glass bedding is typically a surefire way to tighten groups. By the looks of the factory target this thing is already shooting sub-MOA. Any advice or input would be appreciated.

[Dr. Vette]

Originally Posted by Maxwell

I bought a used Weatherby Vanguard Back Country in 270 win. I'm setting this up as a mountain rifle, so I've mounted a 2.5-8 VX-III on it, but I anticipate 400+ yard shot opportunities every once in a while so I want to tune this thing up right.

The trigger is complete garbage (or I'm at a complete loss as to how to adjust it to get rid of creep) so I'm replacing it with a Timney. My question is about the stock. See pictures below. What exactly is this thing made of? Fiberglass? Graphite or kevlar reinforced? I'm new to synthetic stocks so I don't even know what I'm looking at. It looks like Weatherby puts a pressure point on these rifles because of the skinny barrel contour.

Is this stock glass beddable? Would I gain anything by glass bedding if the barrel is going to be in contact with the stock at the fore-end anyway? Has anyone done this with this particular rifle or stock?

I like the style of the stock and the light weight. I'm just prone to tinkering with things and I've gathered that glass bedding is typically a surefire way to tighten groups. By the looks of the factory target this thing is already shooting sub-MOA. Any advice or input would be appreciated.

The stock triggers seem to be either good or bad. I spent a lot of time tweaking one and still bought a Timney so don't feel bad.

I have the same stock on my 270, and it works great. There are aluminum "pillars" at each of the action screw locations, and it's got whatever Bell & Carlson uses to make a stock - check their web site for details. The forend pressure point is on all of them.

You can -

a) leave it and shoot it, as it may show itself to be just fine;

b) bed it so that the barrel still contacts the forend pressure points. This is not too tough, but getting the "correct" amount of pressure can be a trick. You could either bed just the recoil lug or the whole action;

c) sand out the pressure points to float the barrel and then bed the action. Mine is this way because the previous owner had it bedded (not a great job) and the pressure points were gone when I purchased it. I then re-bedded the action and it shoots wonderfully. YMMV.

Good luck!

[angus-5024]

I think that the stock is actually injection molded, but thats going off the Weatherby website. When I first picked one up I htough it was a bell and carlson too, and it very well may be.

I see that the recoil lug is already bedded, so it may shoot good already. If it was me however I would loose the pressure tip and re-bed the whole action. I have found that most rifles will shoot pretty good after those two thing are done. I would also get a new trigger if tat one isnt floatin your boat.

[Dr. Vette]

Originally Posted by angus-5024

I think that the stock is actually injection molded, but thats going off the Weatherby website. When I first picked one up I thought it was a bell and carlson too, and it very well may be.

It's definitely a Bell & Carlson. The injection molded ones are used only on the "regular" Vanguards.

The B&C site says "solid structural urethane with aramid, graphite and fiberglass."

[Trikstr]

I have a Sub-MOA in 308 with the same stock. Shot OK with some loads. I sanded out the pressure points hoping for more consistency. Couldn't free float enough to keep the fore-end from slapping the barrel during firing. Ground a channel in fore-end and fiberglassed a piece of 1/4" allthread in hoping to stiffen it up. Didn't work. It appears the stock is flexing back in the recoil lug/action area. I too like the stock, so it looks like the pressure point is going back in with epoxy. I also ordered a laminated thumbhole stock for it.