Used Weatherby Vanguard

[tbl01]

Hi All ....Newbie to the forum,

After a 15 yr hiatus I am going to back to hunting and target/trap shooting. With this comes a new rifle. Currently I have two shotguns(Ithaca and a Lanber 2097) my trusty 1951 Winchester Lever action 32 special.

I have narrowed down my choice to a Weatheby Vanguard sporter in 30-06. I think this will cover everyting I need for quite some time and like the looks, and with the exception of a few with marginal triggers seems to be a good overall rifle both form and fucntion.

Problem I seem to be having is very limited pricing, more so in Stainless.

any help or guidance would be of great help. thanks in advance

I am ooking forward to become an active member on the forum

 

[nathan]

They are $400 new Weatherby Vanguard at Academy SPorts if theres one close to you.

 

[unwise11]

Howa, the producer of weatherbys vanguard, makes a nice rifle, IDENTICAL to the vanguard, called the M-1500, can be found with Hogue stock, and EGW base with Nikko stirling scope for 500 ish






And boy do they shoot.

 

[tbl01]

Thanks for all the replies. The howa looks nice, not a big fan of the synthetic though....

Looking at a Vaguard Sporter Stainless with a nikon bushmaster scope in the upper $500 range. Will see how it goes this weekend. Im thinking mid 500 range max.

 

[george30]

Hey man about 3 years ago I was looking for a new hunting rifle and saw a Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe in 270 at a local gun store. It was used with an almost perfect bore but it had a scratch on the stock. That was perfect for me since I was probably gonna scratch it up hunting with it anyways. For $380 out the door I felt like I stole it from them. It is super accurate and just very well made at a decent price. Took an 8 pointer this year with it, clipped the top of his heart at 150 yards or so. Definitely go with a wood stock they seem to feel alot better in the hand. I don't think you will be disappointed with a Weatherby.

 

[unwise11]

The big advantage of the Howa M-1500 is the stock has no pressure point and is fully free floated and pillar bedded.
Synthetic is a good thing, and If your definite on wood there are some more expensive Howa's with nice wood stocks.

 

[gkdir]

"JD"
Not to cause a fuss--but you might want to do a bit more research before you announce to the world that a Weatherby Vanguard is IDENTICAL to a Howa. Obviously you aren't a Weatherby owner. I,m not knocking the Howa, just saying that apples do not equal oranges.

 

[unwise11]

It is essentially Identical, I'm Obviously? not a weatherby owner? well. uhh yep. im not.
the barrel is not made by weatherby, the Bolt can be different, and the stock is not Hogue on the vanguard, but Howa makes the barreled action.
even on the "Sub-MOA" rifles, I guess when they test em the good shooters are priced higher?
I've done my research, and the rifles are apples to apples. In my Opinion, Identical.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Well considering Howa makes weatherby as well, they kind of are apples to apples really. Have to side with the kid here. They pretty much are the same rifles in a way. Just the quality is a bit better for one than the other. The Weatherby name, to me, does not count for much since they went to Japan (The Vangard line) The Mark V (American line) has seriously went downhill as well. They just "aint what they used to be" But in all reality not many are anymore. Sorry but in todays economy I STILL have to vote for keeping our dollars here rather than supporting the Japanese company. Take a good look at Savage or Marlin. They both have excellent rifles for lower prices and are very well suited for hunting.

 

[oldfool]

dunno who the Georgia 'kid" is, but he knows what he shoots with

me, a big time Savage fan, they had enough pride in what they sell to go to Canada instead of Mexico (and it shows)
they did not go to China with most of the knife makers

World War II is over, Miroku does good stuff, mostly with a Browning logo on it

the Weatherby Vanguard is made by Howa (Howa 1500) last time I looked; a rose by any other name is still a rose, and a great bang for your buck, especially when shooting bucks instead of spending bucks

me way past kid age (four great-grand-children, but I was a lot "quicker" when younger), and me like good wood better than plastic "just because", but if it shoots good, it shoots good, and shoots even better if shoots same for less bucks to shoot bucks

for 30-30 and/or 22 rimfire, Marlin with or without red/white/blue stock
for bolt actions (any caliber) - Savage, always did like those Canadian folks, even if eastern Canadians can't speak decent english
for foolish pride, Browning, Japan or Belgium made, I can live with the shame

mostly just like rifles that throw lead where aimed, probably never will get over it at this late date

PS
apologies to OP who asked a pretty simple question
yes, you picked a good 'un
patience and browsing prices, but don't be afraid of looking at same, with different name
a lot of 'em are these days

SS is good, but bucks are not attracted to it like doe scent,
nothing ever was real wrong with blue steel, purely optional, maybe some few bucks saved for ammo

 

[unwise11]

Thank you.
If I were in OP's position, I would go to a shop that carries Howa's and ask to handle and look one over, I would have never gotten one until when I was calling the gun store asking about Rem 700's the guy said. You would be better off with a Howa. I had a friend who is very good with long range shooting and is ex military look it over and he approved.
I am happy with my decision.

 

[nathan]

As far im concern , the best are

Howa M 1500

Remington 700


Marlin XL 7

I ve shot the Howa in .270 with the Nikko Stirling combo and boy it shoots really good. It was my brother's rifle he got at Basspro. The bolt is buttersmooth to feed a round. My only gripe is the hogue stock is a littleheavy. But LegacySports sells the youth length stock. Would be perfect after that fact , a .270 rifle.

 

[mshootnit]

I traded an old weatherby vanguard 257 for a new one in stainless at Cabelas. I could live with the price difference. I put a Warne tactical one piece base and PRW rings on a Leupold VXI 4-12X40 LRD scope. Its the nicest bolt action I have had and scary accurate. I highly recommend the Warne base and Leupold QRW or PRW rings. Kind of pricey but the quality shows, and US made. Don't feel bad that a Vanguard is Japanese because there are a lot of Japanese Mark V's out there too.

 

[tbl01]

Thank you for all the replies.. I did take a look at a Howa syn, and just couldnt get past the syn. The wood copies actually seem to price out higher then a vanguard, and not many around. Howa also has done actions for other manafactures other then weatherby. Very similar indeed. There seems to be a few differences with the safety and bolt design.

I ended up with the Weatherby 30-06 Vanguard sporter in stainless steel with a Nikon 3x 9 x 40 scope. I just couldnt pass it up. it was calling to me. It has a very tiny light ding on the monte carlo part of the stock, the rest was mint. If I didnt know better it looked new. I was quite suprised how bright the scope is..I guess with Nikon optics its really hard to go wrong. The trigger has some gritty creep, pull a little heavier then I would like but broke clean. I think with a little tweaking it will be perfect. Since I purchased it out of state directly at the shop I have to wait two weeks for pickup .

I dont think you could go wrong with either one.
Best to everyone who offered some great advice. Merry Christmas to all!!

 

[gkdir]

That Vanguard trigger is adjustable-- then to make it even better go to www.erniethegunsmith.com look at his tutural on the Vanguard, and purchase a replacement trigger spring. Simple to install. I replaced all my Vanguard (7) springs and am quite happy with them. He offers two varieties, Varmint and Target. The Varmint will take care of your hunting needs, and the Target will get you down to 13ozs. if all you do is kill paper. Enjoy that Sporter 30.06--my Sporter SS is in .270. With a Leupold 4x12x40 on the days that I do my part, it will put 3 in an 1" at 200. Also have a VGX (1983) in 30.06 that has taken a lot of game in its time. Try the Federal Premium 165gr. BT's in your "06", mine shoots sub moa with these all the time, or the Hornady 165 SST's are almost as consistent. Welcome to the world of Weatherby!

 

[tbl01]

gkdir
Excellent ..Many thanks for the link and info.