Vanguard S2 in 257 Weatherby?

[MSU Marksman]

I see Timney has the trigger issue taken care of, and I've got an itch for a new gun. A couple of questions for those of you with a 257 Vanguard.

How is the fouling with this round? Would you say the finish of the barrels are smoother than Remington's, causing less fouling? As far as this being an over-bore cartridge, is it worth looking into the stainless barrels for sake of barrel life?

As for load development with the Weatherby cartridge, I assume loading into the lands is impossible, so you are pretty set on loading to magazine OAL? When it comes to shooting groups, I assume 3 shots at a time are enough before you get that sporter contour barrel too hot?

Thanks in advance for all the info! (and yes I posted this in the gun reviews forum above)

 

[MudRunner2005]

I see Timney has the trigger issue taken care of, and I've got an itch for a new gun. A couple of questions for those of you with a 257 Vanguard.

How is the fouling with this round? Would you say the finish of the barrels are smoother than Remington's, causing less fouling? As far as this being an over-bore cartridge, is it worth looking into the stainless barrels for sake of barrel life?

As for load development with the Weatherby cartridge, I assume loading into the lands is impossible, so you are pretty set on loading to magazine OAL? When it comes to shooting groups, I assume 3 shots at a time are enough before you get that sporter contour barrel too hot?

Thanks in advance for all the info! (and yes I posted this in the gun reviews forum above)

I have been toying with the idea of the S2 Deluxe in .257 Wby, since I cannot afford a Mark-V Deluxe in .257 at the moment. But I will always know in my heart that it is not a Mark-V. Yes, I am a bit of a gun-snob....I won't lie. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with a Vanguard rifle. But for me, once I went Mark-V, it was over with from there. I just couldn't get over the attention to detail, and the fact that each and every Accumark is a hand-built rifle. The only complaint I have about mine is the trigger needs some tuning. Too much creep for me, and a little bit too heavy for my liking. I'll probably take a look at that tonight while fooling with the chamber depth measurement.

I don't have a Vanguard, but I do have a Mark-V Accumark in .257 Wby Mag, and it is a truly phenomenal caliber. My Accumark has the factory 1:10 twist stainless fluted barrel.

I have shot about 10 rounds before I let it cool down before. But once again, not a sporter contour, and not the same gun you are looking at.

If you want a big hot caliber like the Weatherbys, I suggest just breaking down and getting a heavy-barreled model. The Accumarks are heavy, but light-heavy. They shoot like a heavy barrel, but don't weigh as much.

You might just want to save up the extra grand and buy the Accumark. I have been incredibly pleased with mine. I have not gauged my chamber length yet, so I am not sure about being able to load into the lands. I will probably be doing that tonight. I also need to stop by my local store and pick up some Berger 115gr VLD's. I have been shooting the 110gr Accubonds for years, and they are awesome on whitetails, but I have been temped to try the Bergers just b/c they are a tad bit heavier.

I have talked with Ryan Neal @ Berger on a couple of occasions about the possibility of them persuing a 125-130gr .257 caliber VLD, but he said that currently they don't have that on the agenda for next year. So, maybe sometime in the future... Hopefully sometime in the near future.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I usually wait 3-5 min between shots in most of my rifles when shooting at the range, especailly if shooting groups. I have no need to watch it heat up at all. In the summertime I've seen it take even longer to cool down. I set my watch on the bench and make a notation of the time I take each shot.

Here are the Mark V trigger instructions:
Weatherby Rifles Forum - How to MOD your MK V Trigger.

I don't think you will see fouling any worse than other factory rifles. Keep it cool and have fun. Rapid firing and overheating will shorten barrel life more than the barrel material.

Good luck!

 

[MudRunner2005]

DV, thanks for the trigger link.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I see Timney has the trigger issue taken care of, and I've got an itch for a new gun. A couple of questions for those of you with a 257 Vanguard.

How is the fouling with this round? Would you say the finish of the barrels are smoother than Remington's, causing less fouling? As far as this being an over-bore cartridge, is it worth looking into the stainless barrels for sake of barrel life?

As for load development with the Weatherby cartridge, I assume loading into the lands is impossible, so you are pretty set on loading to magazine OAL? When it comes to shooting groups, I assume 3 shots at a time are enough before you get that sporter contour barrel too hot?

Thanks in advance for all the info! (and yes I posted this in the gun reviews forum above)

On the pre-S2 Vanguards, I was easily able to tune the triggers to a nice crisp 1 1/2 lbs. I've handled a couple of the S2 Vanguards in the store and they seem like a good trigger, 3 position, and crisp. Not sure what you would gain with a Timney, but you sure could swap them out.

As for bore quality, factory production barrels are going to vary a good bit. You might get a barrel bored and chambered with new tooling or worn tooling, or maybe Monday vs Friday production quality, whether it's Howa/Vanguard or Remington. The only way to tell the condition of the bore is to bore scope it.

I've never owned owned a 257 WBY but I have a 7 RM in a S&W M1500 (same as the Vanguard) and it will heat up quick. If you shoot hot barrels you will burn them out. I always wait until the barrel is luke warm to the touch.

The 257 WBY Mag should be a LA action cartridge so you should be able to seat close to the lands and still use the mag box. Highly recommended not to seat hunting loads into the lands.

A stainless barrel will usually be more corrosion resistant than a CM barrel but you still need to take care of both. With good care either barrel will easily hold up until you burn the throat out. The stainless will probably not add a lot of throat life, especially in that cartridge.

 

[Shortmagman]

I have no experience with a 257 Weatherby, but just two months ago in bought a Weatherby S2 Vanguard in 270 Winchester. For the money the S2 Vanguard in a very good deal. I own a Remington CDL in 280 Rem.,sometimes I shoot both guns at the range at the same time so that I can make comparisons. You ask about the barrel and from my experience with just one of each rifle they are very near the same with regard to copper fouling.
I had to adjust the Remington trigger to get it to about 3lbs, while the Vanguard came out to the box with a 2lb 13 oz trigger that I would compare with some of the Timney trigger that I have on some other guns. I love the three position safety. How does it shoot? I have a load with the CDL that has shot better but I have had longer to develop that load. My best three shot group with 140 Nosler BT's and IMR-4831 powder is under .4 inches. This load will shoot near a .5 inch group time after time. So I think the S2 Vanguard is well worth the money.

 

[Sako7STW]

Weatherby has freebore. Good luck seating to the lands and being able to get the round into the magazine. Good luck getting to the lands period. Seating to the lands is not the end all be all of accuracy and there are thousands of Weatnerby's that prove this every day! IMO the best rifle on the market right now for the money is the VS2 followed by the Tikka T3 and then the Savage's. I only list Savage farther down the list as it seams I am reading alot of posts as of late with guns being shipped with tight headspace and creating pressure problems with factory loads.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

The Weatherby cartridges do have freebore but the 257 case is only 2.549" long. The mag box of a Vanguard is 3.565 on the insde. That leaves 1.016" for bullet projection. If the freebore is less than .300, that should allow available bullets to be seated to the lands and still fit the mag. That said, the Weatherbys seem to shoot well with freebore and a good jump.

 

[lloydsmale]

had a older generation stainless vangurard in 257. I sold it and bought a cdl because the weatherby would foul out so badly in just 10 shots that groups would double in size. I have absolutely no fouling problems with my cdl.

 

[cummin_un_glued]

I have a S2 vanguard in 257 and I love it. you wont get to the lands at all. I even lightly pushed a bullet into a once fired brass and cambered it into the barrel and it still didn't touch with only 20-30 thou of the 110gr accubond in the neck. that being said I load mine to 3.300 with the accubonds and it shoots great.