Weatherby Vanguard?

Denny2277

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Aug 7, 2010
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Hello everyone, I've been looking for a new 270 WSM. I've found one with what seems to be a great price. It's a new rifle with the factory test target (.5 MOA). The price on the rifle is 359.99. I really like accurate rifles and this one at this price seems to good to be true. Do any of ya'll have one of these rifles in this caliber, and does this seem to be a good deal to ya'll? Thanks for all the help!
 
If it's in the caliber you want, then buy it.

Two things about Vanguards:

1. If you can get it to shoot well with the factory plastic stock, wonderful. If not, then an excellent upgrade is to install a Bell & Carlson Medalist stock, free float the barrel and bed the rifle.

2. If you like the factory trigger, wonderful. If not, you can often find a Timney trigger for under $100 that will be much nicer.

Note that the "S2" model of the Vanguard is now instores with a better plastic stock and a much better trigger. If you can find one, it's probably worth the price difference to purchase it unless you really like the "original" model.

See here: Vanguard Series 2
 
Didn't have very good luck with a New Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm Mag. It came with a great target in the box and a sub moa guarantee, but it had problems. Though I tried 4 powders and 3 bullets, free floating the barrel and glassing the action...not much help.
After all this testing my USED rifle still wouldn't hold MOA at 100 yards or feed from the magazine reliably. So I let it go and settled for a used Remington that shot moa for real.

So you found a Vanguard and you're willing to bet $360 + FFL fee + stock + gunsmith.
(If you can afford it ANY problem can be fixed by a good smith )
I suppose the question is: Can you afford to fix it, if ...?

Good luck with this
 
Didn't have very good luck with a New Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm Mag. It came with a great target in the box and a sub moa guarantee, but it had problems. Though I tried 4 powders and 3 bullets, free floating the barrel and glassing the action...not much help.
After all this testing my USED rifle still wouldn't hold MOA at 100 yards or feed from the magazine reliably. So I let it go and settled for a used Remington that shot moa for real.

So you found a Vanguard and you're willing to bet $360 + FFL fee + stock + gunsmith.
(If you can afford it ANY problem can be fixed by a good smith )
I suppose the question is: Can you afford to fix it, if ...?

Good luck with this

have owned, or been around six or eight Vanguards at one time or another. The worst one shot 3/4" groups at 100 yards with Remington factory loaded 150 grain bullets. It was a 30-06, and I still own it. Brother had one in 25-06, and it was a solid 5/8th's rifle all day long, and often was in the half inch area. The best one was in .223, and it was a low fours gun out of the box like the others. None of the rifles had heavy barrels, most had factory walnut stocks.
gary
 
i have a vanguard in the sub moa model which means it came with a B&C stock already. i installed a timney trigger on it and bedded the action myself. This is my go to rifle it shoots very very well. I shoot the 168gr barnes TTSX bullets at 3145fps which is a pretty mild load but its does well for me. I have shot it out to 850yrds and hit a 12in gong once i got it dialed in. Its one of the best rifles i have ever bought. some people have other opinions but i really like it.
 
back in the mid 1970's Weatherby used to guarantee all their Vanguards for a sub one inch group. Never saw one that didn't. Later in the late 1970's they went with a 1 1/2" group guarantee (I think it was a three shot group with their ammo). That was in the day of the pretty by glossy walnut stocks.

Nobody ever claimed a Vanguard (or Howa) was ever a target grade rifle, or even a long range hunting rifle. But all the ones I've shot were good for accurate bullet placement at 400 yards or more.
gary
 
back in the mid 1970's Weatherby used to guarantee all their Vanguards for a sub one inch group. Never saw one that didn't. Later in the late 1970's they went with a 1 1/2" group guarantee (I think it was a three shot group with their ammo). That was in the day of the pretty by glossy walnut stocks.

Nobody ever claimed a Vanguard (or Howa) was ever a target grade rifle, or even a long range hunting rifle. But all the ones I've shot were good for accurate bullet placement at 400 yards or more.
gary


The S2's are now again guaranteed at under 1 inch. However, in speaking with Dan Weatherby the company really did not change much to the rifle to be able to change their claim. They just realized that they all shot that well anyway.
 
I have a Vanguard Backcountry model in 270win that is great light pac rifle and I can shoot sub-moa all day at 200yrds with both 150g and 130g Partitions. I haven't done a thing to the rifle except adjust the trigger.
I only wish they hadn't discontinued the Backcountry.

Ray
 
I have one in 30-06 that has shot every load I have tried under 1", most under .5" and a couple about 3/8", all is done is a free float and 39oz on factory trigger but that really didn't improve it much, its always been a shooter. Vanguards are good rifles for the money.
 
I have one in 30-06 that has shot every load I have tried under 1", most under .5" and a couple about 3/8", all is done is a free float and 39oz on factory trigger but that really didn't improve it much, its always been a shooter. Vanguards are good rifles for the money.

I was over at my brother's one day and he showed me his new 25-06 Vanguard. He had a Leupold 3.5x-10x scope on it, and shot like nothing I'd ever shot. The first group I shot thru it had all five bullets touching each other in a horizontal plain! We got in the car and went out to Cloverdale to order me one! I told him I wanted one in 30-06 with the prettiest wood they had. Jerry calls me about two weeks later and says He has one for me. Said they looked at about two dozen, and kept going back to this one. It was dark walnut (I wanted medium or blond colored wood). The stock on that rifles had about every color you could imagine in it! I told him to get me a 3.5x-10x Leupold scope while he was at it. We took the rifle out for a test drive, shooting Remington factory loads in 150 grain. The rifle shot 3/4" groups at 100 yards, and would pretty much do the same at 200 yards. What more could I ask for? I've never tried to work up a load fr it as it shoots so well out of the box.

Complaints? Well It's a little heavy and the skinny barrel does heat up fast. I also wish the gun had a satin finish instead of the gloss coat.
gary
 
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