Vanguard Wilderness - Thoughts?

[qwerty11]

I was originally going to go with a Mark V Ultralight in 300 WBY, but after doing some more research I stumbled upon the Vanguard Wilderness (in 300 WIN). Does anyone have any first-hand experience with both rifles, or any relevant information on the Wilderness?

 

[Canhunter35]

I believe the wilderness is a cerakoted version with a bell and Carlson stock that should provide a good base for the rifle, but will still require bedding. I have a regular vanguard, replaced the stock with a boyds, it's a legitimate .5 Moa gun if I let the sporter barrel cool between shots. I have a sako a7 with a bell and Carlson stock, they are decent, not the best but good enough to have a very good shooting gun. I really like my vanguard, enough I nearly have the barrel shot out of it. I'm not sure the mark v is worth the extra money in terms of shooting, finish for sure. Another rifle to consider would be the sako a7 roughtech.

 

[qwerty11]

I believe the wilderness is a cerakoted version with a bell and Carlson stock that should provide a good base for the rifle, but will still require bedding. I have a regular vanguard, replaced the stock with a boyds, it's a legitimate .5 Moa gun if I let the sporter barrel cool between shots. I have a sako a7 with a bell and Carlson stock, they are decent, not the best but good enough to have a very good shooting gun. I really like my vanguard, enough I nearly have the barrel shot out of it. I'm not sure the mark v is worth the extra money in terms of shooting, finish for sure. Another rifle to consider would be the sako a7 roughtech.

It says it has an "aluminum bedding plate." Is that the same as bedding? Here is the link. Weatherby | Vanguard Wilderness

 

[Barrelnut]

I think the Vanguard has a better trigger than the Mark V. Just go to a Cabelas and test the trigger on a MV and then a Vanguard, the difference is obvious.

 

[Canhunter35]

I mixed the back country up with the wilderness. The backcountry has the cerkote, the wilderness is blues metalwork. The aluminum bedding plate is cnc machined to fit your action and the stock is built around it. So your action and bottom metal mate to the aluminum bedding plate, but there is still tolerances built into the plate so every vanguard action will fit it. Thus it needs glass bedding which is basically applying a release agent on the metal then putting an epoxy on the stock to fit the action perfectly to your stock. You do this and your gun will hold its zero much better than before. There is a great post on this forum from a guy bedding a vanguard in a boyds stock. He needed to cut pillars, but with an aluminum bedding plate, all it needs is a skim of bedding

 

[qwerty11]

I mixed the back country up with the wilderness. The backcountry has the cerkote, the wilderness is blues metalwork. The aluminum bedding plate is cnc machined to fit your action and the stock is built around it. So your action and bottom metal mate to the aluminum bedding plate, but there is still tolerances built into the plate so every vanguard action will fit it. Thus it needs glass bedding which is basically applying a release agent on the metal then putting an epoxy on the stock to fit the action perfectly to your stock. You do this and your gun will hold its zero much better than before. There is a great post on this forum from a guy bedding a vanguard in a boyds stock. He needed to cut pillars, but with an aluminum bedding plate, all it needs is a skim of bedding

Gotcha. So is this something relatively easy and quick I could do myself?

 

[Dosh]

11, the only fault I see in the Vanguard is the 24" barrel which may possibly slow velocity a bit. I have a Vanguard in .257 that was Cerakoted and has a Timney and the B&C stock. Unbelievable accurate and light. Agree with Barrelnut, the Mark V trigger needs work. All my Mark V's triggers have been redone by a good smith. Unlike some posters, all my Mark V's shoot very well. Also agree all stocks need some bedding.
Good luck

 

[qwerty11]

11, the only fault I see in the Vanguard is the 24" barrel which may possibly slow velocity a bit. I have a Vanguard in .257 that was Cerakoted and has a Timney and the B&C stock. Unbelievable accurate and light. Agree with Barrelnut, the Mark V trigger needs work. All my Mark V's triggers have been redone by a good smith. Unlike some posters, all my Mark V's shoot very well. Also agree all stocks need some bedding.
Good luck

Does the 24" barrel make as big of a difference with the win vs the wby? I had excluded the 300wby from the vanguard selection because I did read about the shorter barrel affecting velocities for that round.

 

[Dosh]

Does the 24" barrel make as big of a difference with the win vs the wby? I had excluded the 300wby from the vanguard selection because I did read about the shorter barrel affecting velocities for that round.

I've loaded for both 300Wbys, the Vanguard 24" and Mark V 26". They both liked the 210 gr Berger, there was negligible velocity differential between the two and I've read some instances of equal velocities. Will you encounter this? No two rifles shoot the same, maybe or maybe not. Good luck

 

[Litehiker]

Nice rifle as far as the barreled action. But all of the Vanguard stocks have way too much drop at the heel and therefore the rifle rocks up on recoil.

I bought a Boyd's Classic laminated stock for my Ruger American Predator and it has the highest comb and heel possible. That is what I call good design.

Eric B.

 

[Canhunter35]

Gotcha. So is this something relatively easy and quick I could do myself?

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f37/pillar-bedding-weatherby-vanguard-pics-68643/

Here's the link to a great example of bedding. Nathan at ballistic studies also has some great tips for bedding rifles

MatchGrade Bedding Compound Instructions

I bed all my rifles, I've tried kits, but shoe polish for the release agent and original jb weld do the best job I've found

 

[smithjasona1978]

Don't assume that it needs anything. Get the rifle and take it to the range. It may shoot for you as is. Mine shoots better than me so I won't mess with it til I get better or it gets worse.
fyi. They don't have free floated barrels either. Weatherby says on purpose.
By the way mine is in .300WBY. My handloads are matching Hornady 10th edition manual velocities and their test rifle is a mark v with a 26'' barrel.
Yeah there hot loads.

 

[catorres1]

We have 2 vanguards. One is a standard in 270, the other is the Accuguard that I bought when it was a Cabelas exclusive, it is now a regular item, but I think with some changes.
The 270 is my son's, with the standard stock. It shoots consistent sub MOA groups, but as it heats up, it starts to string. The barrel is the sporter weight and it is designed with some upward pressure on the front. Works great as it is, as long as you keep your strings short, my son easily made 1st round hits out to 700 two weeks ago, it was 100 degrees outside and no shade. We just had to keep it to 4 or 5 shots and then let the rifle cool
The accuguard is mine, it has the B&C stock, but I believe it is some version of the ultralight stock. At least on mine it is pretty light, I weighed it off the rifle and IIRC, it was 1.8-1.9 lbs or so. In fact, my particular rifle weighs almost same as my son's rifle, though balances differently, because the stock is so light, making up for the thicker barrel. The newer ones on Weatherby's site list a higher weight, so maybe they have changed something, but I actually took a digital scale to Cabelas and weighed it before I bought it because I did not want a 9lb rifle.
I have taken it apart and they did bed the lug into the aluminum block, and it fits tightly. The rest is not bedded. The barrel is heavier but fluted, and it is fully free floated. It too shoots sub MOA and does not appear to be as heat affected.

I almost bought a backcountry...I really like that rifle. But doing some research online, and talking to folks, it seemed that they have a hard time shooting even 3 shot sub MOA groups. My guess is that light barrel just heats up too fast? Not sure. Having just had a bad shooting rifle, I decided to go a little safer route and went with the accuguard, as I did want something that at least hit MOA, and I figured my odds were better with the Accuguard, especially after talking to Weatherby's custom shop.

 

[smithjasona1978]

ALL Weatherby vanguard series 2 rifles are guaranteed to shoot .99 or less with Weatherby or other premium ammunition.
They are not to be confused with the series 1 which only the range certified models are guaranteed to shoot sub moa.