.270 WSM Weatherby Vanguard or Browning A-Bolt II?

[.30US]

I have been wanting to try a .270 WSM, as well as try out both a Weatherby Vanguard and an older Browning A-Bolt. I've found one of each and was interested in experienced opinions. I've read most of the posts here, but they, usually, are about the newer, Vanguard S2 or A-Bolt 3s. I believe this to be an older Vanguard since I remember seeing them with what looked like a B&C Medalist stock with checkering a while back, but don't remember them being that way, lately. The A-Bolt II is a Medallion model with wood stock. The Vanguard is $425 and the A-Bolt II Medallion $540. I plan to use whichever one as-is; aftermarket parts and support is not a consideration. I think it's a pretty good price for the A-Bolt II, but I also don't see Vanguards in .270 WSM much, either. I've shot A-Bolts before and always been impressed, but heard good things about the Vanguard. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[carpetman2]

I can only speak from the Vanguard side of things; I have owned two vanguards, one Howa 1500, and a Vanguard series 2. One shot poorly (old), the others have and do shoot sub MOA including my 270 wsm in the series 2. I really like them all and got real deals on them all.

 

[Waynzee]

I like the Browning rifles and have a few, all shoot sub 1/2 inch groups or better with reloads and the A bolt 2 in 270 short mag shot best with Winchester ballistic silvertip ammo. I had one Vangaurd 2 in a 7/08 it would put two shots almost touching and the 3rd and 4th would be high and right or high and left by 2 or 2.5 inches.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Had 1 Weatherby (high-end MK-V Accumark), and never will again. Had two A-Bolt II rifles (first got stolen, replaced it with #2), both were sub-MOA shooters. I have since rebarreled that Browning (barrel shot-out), but until it burned out it averaged 1/2 MOA with handloads.

 

[318lll9740]

A -bolt II, easy choice. I have one in 7wsm. Shoots a lot of loads well, some smaller than .25" moa

 

[Shootin4fun]

A -bolt II, easy choice. I have one in 7wsm. Shoots a lot of loads well, some smaller than .25" moa

Old tread and wondering which you chose, but I would have agreed with the above. I was waiting for the Vanguard S2 to come out, but when it finally did, a Savage presented itself to me at an irresistible price.

 

[.30US]

Old tread and wondering which you chose, but I would have agreed with the above. I was waiting for the Vanguard S2 to come out, but when it finally did, a Savage presented itself to me at an irresistible price.

In the past 23 hours and 58 minutes since the initial post, I haven't yet made a decision! I'm still reading all of the input, but the A-Bolt II is clearly leading.

 

[Shootin4fun]

In the past 23 hours and 58 minutes since the initial post, I haven't yet made a decision! I'm still reading all of the input, but the A-Bolt II is clearly leading.

Guess I should have been wearing my glasses...thought the thread was a year old....

Anyway, okay here's my .02. As I said before, I wanted a Vanguard but given the deal you described I'd jump at the A bolt give both are in the same good condition. Remember, the A-bolt was a much more expensive rifle, and it's price point was not set using the same market parameters and so the workmanship they could justify was higher. (Aside from the fancy Medallion treatment.)

I understand that the A-bolts are floated like the X-bolts and are as accurate. I have an X-bolt that is probably my favorite feeling/shooting rifle and it shot .25 MOA out of the box with Federal blue box. My goal in reloading was to match the factory rounds! (which I did) When I have doubts at the range with other guns, I fall back on it to see if it's me that day or what. The trigger is at least as good if not better than the Vanguard, the latter of which I have shot only a few times but dry fired several. And finally the Medalion surely has a better fit and finish than the Vanguard. In fact the Medalion Xbolts are so nice I'm not sure I'd want to take it hunting for fear of scratching it up!

Antecdote regarding the Vanguard S2:

A range friend just the other day relayed the story of his Vanguard S2 being accurate at first, then loosing it. He eventually had to send it to W, to figure out what was wrong. It was a nightmare customer service story that cost him several hundred dollars in the end, and he still had to take it to a gunsmith afterwards who mounted it in a Boyd stock and free floated it. He was in the process of checking loads when we last spoke. He found out that W doesn't actually fire the guns to qualify the sub MOA claim. They mount the gun and mount sensors that measure barrel vibration, and extrapolate what the impact point would be. Uh, okay. He said if he had it to do all over again, he'd buy a Howa barreled action and a stock and build it himself.

Then he contrasted that with an experience with Savage, where he had a problem with his 110, called them, they sent a part and a magazine at no cost to cover 2 different scenarios within a week, the problem turned out to be the part, and he didn't have to return the extra mag. A+ customer service. I continue to be amazed at what accurate guns Savage produces at the price point they offer.

I have a Savage with Accutrigger, and although it has a crisp break, it's just not as precise feeling to me as the X-bolt. But it is but very accurate with the right loads. .25 MOA out of the box with handloads.

 

[Waynzee]

Shootin4fun, ditto on the Savage and Browning. Great shooting rifles with or without handloads.

 

[.30US]

Guess I should have been wearing my glasses...thought the thread was a year old....

Anyway, okay here's my .02. As I said before, I wanted a Vanguard but given the deal you described I'd jump at the A bolt give both are in the same good condition. Remember, the A-bolt was a much more expensive rifle, and it's price point was not set using the same market parameters and so the workmanship they could justify was higher. (Aside from the fancy Medallion treatment.)

I understand that the A-bolts are floated like the X-bolts and are as accurate. I have an X-bolt that is probably my favorite feeling/shooting rifle and it shot .25 MOA out of the box with Federal blue box. My goal in reloading was to match the factory rounds! (which I did) When I have doubts at the range with other guns, I fall back on it to see if it's me that day or what. The trigger is at least as good if not better than the Vanguard, the latter of which I have shot only a few times but dry fired several. And finally the Medalion surely has a better fit and finish than the Vanguard. In fact the Medalion Xbolts are so nice I'm not sure I'd want to take it hunting for fear of scratching it up!

Antecdote regarding the Vanguard S2:

A range friend just the other day relayed the story of his Vanguard S2 being accurate at first, then loosing it. He eventually had to send it to W, to figure out what was wrong. It was a nightmare customer service story that cost him several hundred dollars in the end, and he still had to take it to a gunsmith afterwards who mounted it in a Boyd stock and free floated it. He was in the process of checking loads when we last spoke. He found out that W doesn't actually fire the guns to qualify the sub MOA claim. They mount the gun and mount sensors that measure barrel vibration, and extrapolate what the impact point would be. Uh, okay. He said if he had it to do all over again, he'd buy a Howa barreled action and a stock and build it himself.

Then he contrasted that with an experience with Savage, where he had a problem with his 110, called them, they sent a part and a magazine at no cost to cover 2 different scenarios within a week, the problem turned out to be the part, and he didn't have to return the extra mag. A+ customer service. I continue to be amazed at what accurate guns Savage produces at the price point they offer.

I have a Savage with Accutrigger, and although it has a crisp break, it's just not as precise feeling to me as the X-bolt. But it is but very accurate with the right loads. .25 MOA out of the box with handloads.

Thanks for the great info. I'm still on the fence about delving into the new caliber, though it definitely seems pretty good. When I'm looking at the performance, though, it's hard to justify another new caliber so close to shooting 7mm Rem Mag with a 139gr bullet. I'm not sure I'm going to pass on these in .270 WSM, but I may wait until I can see how I like 139s in one of my 7mms, first.

 

[Shootin4fun]

Ah yes, the 139s in 7RM...I've been getting more into the 7 in the last year with the 139 Hdys and Barnes now ever since I learned how to shoot the **** thing.

The Barnes 120 & 140 TTSXs made me realize how accurate my Savage 7RM can be. Had little luck with consistent tight groups with the Hdy 139s hand loaded but better than the factory loaded ones, or Federal Blue box 150s. But Barnes just snapped into place, and are smokin'. 3500+ for the 120s, 3250 for the 140s. .1" x.6" groups @ 100 are common. Given that, I also don't see a reason to acquire a 270WSM although I was toying with the idea before I got my 7RM. I already shoot a standard 270 which I love. I think it's probably the best all around caliber between 243 and 7+Mags for the kind of hunting I do. I can shoot the 130s all day at the range. The 7 is a bit more to handle but since I keep the 270 at moderate speeds, and tend to push the 7 harder relatively speaking, there's a significant jump between the 2 so I can justify the time spent running both. I can only support so many calibers; such is life.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I had a Hornady 139 SST grenade on a deer from a 7mmRM at ~100 yards. IMO, they are too light and fragile for those velocities. Found the deer after a couple hundred yards of tracking...But we did recover it.

Try the Berger 168 VLD, Nosler 160 Accubond, or Barnes 160 TSX bullets. All have proven themselves to me out of the 7mmRM. I wouldn't shoot less than a 160-class bullet out of a 7mm RemMag. The lighter bullets work best in the smaller cases with lower velocities, like the 280 Remington, 7mm-08, 7mm TCU, etc...

Just sharing my experiences.

 

[.30US]

I had a Hornady 139 SST grenade on a deer from a 7mmRM at ~100 yards. IMO, they are too light and fragile for those velocities. Found the deer after a couple hundred yards of tracking...But we did recover it.

Try the Berger 168 VLD, Nosler 160 Accubond, or Barnes 160 TSX bullets. All have proven themselves to me out of the 7mmRM. I wouldn't shoot less than a 160-class bullet out of a 7mm RemMag. The lighter bullets work best in the smaller cases with lower velocities, like the 280 Remington, 7mm-08, 7mm TCU, etc...

Just sharing my experiences.

I think I remember reading about your experience with the SSTs and have always avoided them since, I just have a buddy who swears by them, but I don't know what his experience with them is. I bought some 175gr. Nosler ABLRs on clearance recently, but was really looking for something light since I usually shoot 162gr A-Max. Where I'm going to be deer hunting, again, this Fall only has a max range of 450 yards from my favorite stand in any one direction, though some of the other stands I hunt can go nearly out to 1000, but there is nearly a constant 20-30mph wind. I used my .280 this past year with factory Norma 156gr. ammo. I thought I might try something lighter and faster next Fall since I can't take any chances on having to track...if a doe gets more than 10-15 feet either way, I have to go into the thickest, thorniest, rattlesnake-filled brush you can imagine! I had great luck two years ago with a .243 I rebuilt in school, and enjoyed the .280 last year, but I have a heavy-barreled 7mm Rem Mag that was the first I ever threaded, myself, and was thinking something flat shooting would be fun in it. After I take all of my management does, I'll be shooting coyotes, hogs, and javelina, too.

My little .243.

The clearest direction from my favorite stand.

Another direction from my favorite stand.


Longest clearing I measured from another stand I sometimes hunt, but the crosswinds are atrocious.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Wish I had some land with long shots like that. Nice looking .243, too.

You will enjoy the 7mmRM. The 168 VLD's will help keep wind drift down, and still retain some good velocities with a healthy dose of 7828 SSC, 7977, or H1000.