Weatherby Vanguard
- Thread starter Jsor
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Another thing is I don't know which caliber would be the best for what I will be using it for? I have done quite a bit of research and asking hunters I know and I have gotten mixed opinions. Which caliber out of .270win, 7mm-08, or 25-06 would be the best from coyote up to deer and possibly elk. I would want to preserve the coyote pelt as much as I could. Also would like an effective killed range of a deer at least 300 yds.
uvausmc
Member
I got the sporter combo several years ago and love it. It's in .270 WSM and has flattened every deer i've taken with it. With factory Winchester 130gr ballistic silver tips it will shoot just over 1" and with handloaded core-lokt's it will shoot just under 1". I would absolutely recommend this rifle.
rbernie
Contributing Member
Didn't say it was too heavy - just said it was heavy. And that's absolutely true, especially when compared to similar rifles from other vendors.
I tend to carry my rifles in the field instead of stand-hunting, and I don't wind up using the sling much since I'm often trying to push deer and hog out of their day beds so's I can shoot them when they run. There is a very noticable fatigue difference at the end of the day between carring a Vanguard and carrying, say, a Ruger 77MkII or a Tikka T3.
I shoot a 270 with everything from 90gr TNT coyote loads to 150gr elk loads, and it'll do it all. It downloads really well with H4895 (115gr OTM @ 2600fps) for the kids, but still has the powder capacity to give you the thump when you need it.
I have a Lite Stainless T3 in 270 and I think very highly of it. It carries well and is spooky accurate. For walkin' about kinds of hunting, I actually prefer my Ruger #1s but the Tikka is a close second place and is my favorite bolt gun.
shooterIII
Member
My son has two vanguards one in 300 Win Mag and one in 22-250. Both are tack drivers, the 300 will shoot .5 MOA at 100 yds all day and the 22-250 will shoot .38 MOA at 200 yds all day.
Just an observation about the "free floating". My .240 WM Mark V, 26" bbl, #2 contour and of course with the pressure point in the stock from the factory It shot .38 MOA out of the box, so me being the tinker I am and also about being anal about accuracy, I thought I would free float the barrel, BAD IDEA, had to put the pressure point back.
Just an observation about the "free floating". My .240 WM Mark V, 26" bbl, #2 contour and of course with the pressure point in the stock from the factory It shot .38 MOA out of the box, so me being the tinker I am and also about being anal about accuracy, I thought I would free float the barrel, BAD IDEA, had to put the pressure point back.
Waterfowler
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- Apr 3, 2009
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I bought a wood stock 7mm rem mag Vanguard with my Wal-Mart Christmas employee discount over 15 years ago. It was the first deer rifle I bought on my own.
It shoots sub MOA and the wood seems very nice for a cheap rifle. I would have to agree with the previous poster though, it does seem heavier than most of my other rifles.
It shoots sub MOA and the wood seems very nice for a cheap rifle. I would have to agree with the previous poster though, it does seem heavier than most of my other rifles.
unwise11
Member
i have a howa in .308 that i shot a 7/8ths inch group with. love it. but i want a belly stock
Lloyd Smale
Member
I dont think your going to find a win or rem with a free floated barrel from the factory either. My stainless vangurard took about 5 minutes work with an inletting file to free float. Something ive done to about every brand of rifle i own. Only two complaints i have the the vangurards are poor triggers. I replaced mine with a timeny and im not a fan of monte carlo shaped shocks and would prefer a more classic shaped stock bit it is what it is and looks alot better after shooting sub moa groups. Bottom line is im more of a wood blued gun guy but this 257 shoots so well and has dumped every deer i shot with it in there tracks and has become probably my favorite rifle for crop damage shooting.
Flynt
Member
I have a .300 WSM "Sub MOA" model that I picked up at Cabelas' bargain rack a couple of years ago. Blue, with nice synthetic stock. I didn't shoot very well with it at first, 1.5" groups. The trigger was terrible, creepy and gritty. I emailed Weatherby, and they authorized me to take it to a gunsmith here who was "factory authorized." He improved it some, but I finally broke down and ordered a Timney trigger. Now she's a tack driver.
Winchester claims many of their barrels are free floated (Supergrade, Weather Warrior, Ultimate Shadow). I think at least the Remington Sendero is free floated.
Idempotent
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- Jun 10, 2010
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My Remington 700 5R came in an H-S Precision stock and it's definitely free-floated (passes the dollar bill test).
Regarding the original question, I had the opportunity to shoot a Weatherby Vanguard in its plastic stock configuration recently and I did not like the stock at all. It really turned me off of what could be, for all I know, an overall good gun. It didn't help that the guy had a really bad scope on it either.
Regarding the original question, I had the opportunity to shoot a Weatherby Vanguard in its plastic stock configuration recently and I did not like the stock at all. It really turned me off of what could be, for all I know, an overall good gun. It didn't help that the guy had a really bad scope on it either.
doc2rn
Member
I have to admit it is a better rifle than my 700. I just bought a Vanguard in 30-06. It shoots rings around my 700 which is way heavier too.
My scoped Vanguard Sporter in .30-06 weighs close to 9 1/2 lbs. That's fatiguing after a day of climbing around in the mountains. By comparison, my Model 70 in .30-06 weighs about 7 1/2 lbs.
Carrying a rifle all day up and down slopes in steep country is an endurance sport; weight lifting involves only a few reps. 2 lbs. makes a huge difference, especially since a rifle isn't the most convenient shape, and a rifle's weight is almost never a symmetrical load.
But the Vanguard shoots well.
Carrying a rifle all day up and down slopes in steep country is an endurance sport; weight lifting involves only a few reps. 2 lbs. makes a huge difference, especially since a rifle isn't the most convenient shape, and a rifle's weight is almost never a symmetrical load.
But the Vanguard shoots well.
unwise11
Member
my howa is ten pounds with scope, bipod, sling, ect, but has a sporter barrel, i call it the lightweight sniper
And BTW my Model 70 Extreme Weather Stainless is free-floated, and shoots even better than the Vanguard. But I had to save up a lot more pennies for that rifle than the Vanguard Sporter...
In the grand scheme of things, you get a hell of a rifle, in the Vanguard.
In the grand scheme of things, you get a hell of a rifle, in the Vanguard.
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