vangaurd weatherby rifles

When it came time for my son to pick out his rifle, I took him to the store and tried to stay mostly agnostic, within reason, and let him choose what he felt fit him the best. Long and short, he wanted a vanguard. Not being much of a weatherby fan, I did a lot of research and decided it was fine, so I got him one.

After shooting it a fair amount and finding it easily sub MOA with a number of factory and handloads, and realizing that it was me that was prejudiced and I actually find that shape of stock more comfortable than my own guns, I ended up selling some of my rifles and getting an Accuguard (at the time, it was a Cabelas exclusive, now it's a catalog regular item).

It too shoots submoa easily. Oddly, it is quite 'light' relatively speaking. I actually took an electronic scale with me to Cabelas before I bought it and weighed it vs a standard vanguard and vs the other rifles I was considering at the time (Sako A7 Long Range Rifle, Remington 5r, Remington LRR). According to the specs, it should be heavier than it is...but it's not and is lighter than the heavier barreled rifles mentioned above. I wonder if the intial run of these came with basically ultralight stocks, not sure.

Anyway, so we are two for two, accurate, solid, well made. No problems. That's not much of a sample, but the guns we have have been great.

I did also buy a Tikka CTR at the same time. I'll say that has been a fantastic rifle as well. And the new versions have fixed the things I don't like...in terms of the plastic shroud etc. That gun is stupid accurate, and the trigger is easily tuned down to 2lbs. Best trigger I have for sure. I did not go the Tikka route for my hunter because I wanted a 300 WM....Tikka boxes are too short for the heavier long bullets I wanted to load and the twist is wrong for that particular application. I honestly don't care for the stock it came with either, fits fine, but I just don't like it. But I am afraid to mess with it, and when I talked to my instructor about it, after a class, he told me don't touch it.

I will note, on the Vanguard, it's trigger is easily lighted too, but it only goes to 3 or maybe 3.5 lbs. At least mine feels that way. I prefer more of a 2.5lb trigger, and lighter for a bench gun like the Tikka is for me. One other note is the Accuguard I got came with the B and C stock with the bedding block. While adjusting the trigger down, I noted that weatherby had gone ahead and bedded the front lug to the bedding block, something that surprised me. They seem to really care about the details, at least on those I have examined.

Anyway, hope that helps, like I said, it's only a small sample of two, but in both cases, we have been happy with our Vanguards. I would echo the recommendation...unless you plan to change out the stock, make sure it fits you, not so much in terms of length...they are all pretty standard here, but in terms of comb height, drop at heel and toe etc. My previous guns were all a 'classic style' because I was taught that this was 'the best'...period. Then I learned from experience and got confirmation from a Barsness article.....not the case...there are different builds and so it's like boots..when it comes to stock design, there is not one best...there is only one best for you.

HTH!
 
The fit and finish is absolutely perfect on every single one that I have seen. And Weatherby guarantees .99 moa on all of the series 2. I have one in 300 wby mag. Still doing load development on it.
I think part of the reason that they are so good is because they are made by Howa under contact for Weatherby. I would bet every gun I own that if Weatherby started building them in house that the quality would go down.
Now having said that let me elaborate on my statement.
I am not saying that Howa is better at building guns that Weatherby. I mean that because they are under contract they demand better quality control than they would provide on there own.
I learned this lesson by dealing with a certain yellow monster heavy equipment manufacturer. I worked for a non union company under contract to build the tracks that the equipment runs on. And I saw first hand on the spec prints that we were held to much higher tolerance on the stuff we bulit for them than the ones they built at there own factory. WAY higher tolerance. And I think that it is all because of the contract. When the bid comes out, they have a specific set of parameters that they want met. Then once the contract gets signed that company is bound by that contract to provide the quality control that was agreed to on the contract. Permanently.
The base company is not under any type of contract. They are building a product for themselves and therefore are free to change or lower their QC any time they please.
 
Did you try contacting Weatherby? They have great customer service.

I picked up a Weatherby Wilderness in .270 and shoots very well without having to do anything to it but scope it. They offer a lot for the price. The factory trigger adjustability is very good. No need to replace, like on a 700. Only thing I wish they had was a shorter throw on the bolt, but it's not a big deal. Can still get off fast follow up shots.

Yes, as a matter of fact I did give them a call. I spoke with friendly young lady who assured me that I could send the rifle in at my expense where ithey would thouroghly clean the barrel and shoot a test group with premium ammo. I know that it will shoot an moa group with a cool barrel under those conditions. Take it out the next day and it might just hit the wrong target at 100 yards. I really do like the gun but I've decided to save any more frustration and rebarrel it myself.
 
Yes, as a matter of fact I did give them a call. I spoke with friendly young lady who assured me that I could send the rifle in at my expense where ithey would thouroghly clean the barrel and shoot a test group with premium ammo. I know that it will shoot an moa group with a cool barrel under those conditions. Take it out the next day and it might just hit the wrong target at 100 yards. I really do like the gun but I've decided to save any more frustration and rebarrel it myself.
The only issue I've had with Vanguards is copper fouling in the .243 hammer forged barrel. Not the first time I've seen that from any manufacturer. Oh, and I almost always change the trigger to a Timney set to 1 1/2lb.

That said. I don't like hammer forged barrels. Too many stressed induced in the forging process. In my experience there is more "barrel walking" with heat as different parts of the barrel expand at different rates. I've never been able to "map" a hammer forged barrel POI shift with heat like I can with a drilled barrel. Some hammer forged barrels are great, some are not. The variance is too high for me to deal with.
 
My Weatherby Vanguard S2 in 6.5 Creedmoor is my little problem child. With factory stock, the zero wanders depending on where the stock is supported (bipod, under the action, etc). The zero wanders as much as five MOA. When the stock is supported in the exact same place, it is capable of 1 MOA groups. This is fine and dandy, except that I want to hunt with it, and could be supporting the stock differently in the field.

Dropped it into a Bell & Carlson stock, and was still having issues, though not as pronounced. That stock has since been inletted. Next I am going to bed it myself. My hope is that this solves my problems.
 
Bedding can only help. My grandson's.257 Wby Vanguard is in the same B&C bedded and is sub-1/2 MOA at 200. Beginning to have more and more interest in the 6.5 CM.
 
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