vanguard or x-bolt

[hipoint]

I've owned alot of rifles over the years, none have been "tricked out", they've all been "out of the box" rifles. After acquiring a browning in .30-06, that will be one of the last guns I would consider selling and then only in dire circumstances. I shot less than 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards with this gun, it surprised me so much that I ran around showing the target to everyone who would sit still long enough.

For that price, BUY THE BROWNING. If it isn't what you want, you'll have no trouble selling it and buying the vanguard. You will have a hard time selling a used vanguard and purchasing a browning with the funds.

 

[Captcurt]

Well guys I ended up buying a nib gray x-bolt 30-06 for $475.. great price. I will post pics of it when I get it in my hands. Also bought a new nikon monarch 4-16x42 scope for it. I think it should be a great combo.

Sounds like you have your head on straight. I am a Vanguard fan but an X-bolt at $475 is a no brainer. The Monarchs are nice too. Congrates.

 

[Kachok]

I've owned alot of rifles over the years, none have been "tricked out", they've all been "out of the box" rifles. After acquiring a browning in .30-06, that will be one of the last guns I would consider selling and then only in dire circumstances. I shot less than 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards with this gun, it surprised me so much that I ran around showing the target to everyone who would sit still long enough.

For that price, BUY THE BROWNING. If it isn't what you want, you'll have no trouble selling it and buying the vanguard. You will have a hard time selling a used vanguard and purchasing a browning with the funds.

I had the opposite experience with Browning. Bought my first one ever last year and it is easily the second worst shooting rifle I have ever held. Factory ammo sprayed into 5-7" patterns at 100yards not a single decent groups out of four boxes of factory ammo. Several months of trial and error on the reloading bench finally got me below an inch but it was the biggest pain the in the @$$ of any rifle I have ever developed a load for. Not impressed my $300 Savages easily bested it I have no plans on ever buying a Browning again though I do like the overall feel of it alot and now that I found the magic recipe for this one I have no plans on getting rid of it.
Edit: I am not alone in this either, my friend who runs the gun counter at my local Bass Pro has told me he has had several customers come back recently saying they have an accuracy problem with their Browning.

 

[Uncle Mike]

First choice: M70 Ultimate Shadow
Second choice: Weatherby Vanguard G2
Third choice: Browning X-bolt

I'll say this is pretty soild a decision, just like this!

I had the opposite experience with Browning. Bought my first one ever last year and it is easily the second worst shooting rifle I have ever held

Agree with this...I shoot rifles in for customers who buy the "complete' packages, and on average, the Brownings we have been associated with provide the 'least' in accuracy.
I'll apologise right now if this causes any heartburn, but the numbers don't lie!

 

[Gtscotty]

Congrats on your purchase, you got a bangin deal! I put 40 rounds through my x-bolt last week and was reminded of just how much of a tack driver it is, really a great rifle. Just out of curiosity, did you get that awesome deal buying from an individual or was some store running a sale?

Uncle Mike, have most of your bad experiences been with the A-bolt or the X-bolt? I know Kachock and others have voiced displeasure with A-bolts, but most opinions i've read on X-bolts from those who own them have been strongly favorable. It's important to note that the X-bolt and the A-bolt are two totally different rifles, condemning one because of the other would be like warning people away from the Savage 12 because the axis isn't too hot.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Uncle Mike, have most of your bad experiences been with the A-bolt or the X-bolt

My bad, and you sir are correct that I should have distinguished between the X and A bolts.

Most, or I'll go as far as to say, 80% of the Brownings showing lesser accuracy have been the A-Bolts, but only the ones produced towards the end of the run.
Now, that is not to say the X-Bolt is an angel. You know, these rifles have not been any worse than a particular run of Winchesters as I remember it, but on the whole, the Brownings just don't shoot as tight as most of the other brands of rifles we sell.

I had a customer bring a target to us showing a 1" group he had shot at 200m with his new X-Bolt he had purchased from us, I remember this rifle as it was simply beautiful with regards to the wood.

Anyway, the rifle did its best to shoot 1.5" groups at 100y with Federal Premium factory ammo. What happened?

This guy hand lapped the bore with JB and was using a load he had worked up for the rifle...so, the Brownings will shoot, one just has to massage them a bit.

 

[ttheel]

You made a great decision, especially for that price. Browning builds solid, good shooting rifles.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I am a Vanguard fan but an X-bolt at $475 is a no brainer.

I concur. That seems like a really good price. Looking forward to seeing the pics.

 

[gonefishin1]

well I got her yesterday... also I picked up a monarch 4-16x42 to go along with it. now to figure out which rings I need. I tried the medium height Leopold's std rings and bases and my lens covers hit the bolt. I am looking at the dnz bases should I get the tall ones?

 

[gspn]

deleted.

After I posted I read that you already made your purchase. Looks good...let us know how it shoots.

 

[pbrktrt]

I have a Leupold 3x9x50mm on my Vanguard with the medium DNZ mount. I would think the Browning would be similar in construction.

 

[iXanadu]

Well guys I ended up buying a nib gray x-bolt 30-06 for $475.. great price. I will post pics of it when I get it in my hands. Also bought a new nikon monarch 4-16x42 scope for it. I think it should be a great combo.

Congratulations. If you don't mind, where did you find the gun for $475? I just took delivery of the White Gold Medallion in .270 cal, but it set me back $1320. I know I way over bought, but I wanted to do business with a local gun shop on this weapon, and wanted something pretty to hand down to the kids some day. Getting a base X-Bolt for $475 puts this pretty close to a combined Christmas/Birthday present for my son. Well maybe 2 Birthdays and Christmas' but I'm sure he wouldn't complain. At that point, the scope would easily be twice the cost of the gun. (I put a Leopold VX6 2x12 42 on mine).

 

[gonefishin1]

I bought it off of gunbroker from seller guns -5 and ware here is a link http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=369279369

Hopefully it works. I found an old auction of his that ended so I emailed him about another x bolt and he got another one in and listed it. Good luck.
Only thing about it I don't like it will string shots after some shooting

 

[huntinfool87]

I own a vanguard s2 in a 257. I love the gun and by far the best factory stock I have ever known. They do soot moa right out of the box with a good scope I'm getting 1/2 moa with mine. I'm not a fan of the 30-06 if elk is the biggest game your going to chase if it was me I would go with a 270 win. But that's just me to each their own.

My vanguard s2 is the best factory hunting rifle I have ever owened hands down.

 

[Corn-Picker]

I know that the original poster has made their decision, but I was faced with this same choice about a month ago so I thought I would throw in my two cents. Based on all the information I could collect on many rifles it came down to the x-bolt Micro Midas and Weatherby Vanguard S2 youth, both in 308 (I prefer youth rifles for their short length of pull, short barrels, and light weight.)

The best advice I can give is to try both rifles in a brick and mortar store before making a choice, because there's a big difference in fit and feel between the two.

Neither has the standard American style stock. The Vanguard S2 has a California style stock, and the x-bolt has a Euro style stock. I did not care for the x-bolt stock, when I mounted the rifle the only way to get a cheek weld was to put the butt pad very high, to the point where half the butt pad was at my collar bone or above. The only way I could see the x-bolt stock working is with a very heads up (chin weld) shooting style, which would require higher scope rings. By contrast the Vanguard S2 has a lot of drop right at the butt, which allows for a good cheek weld while simultaneously keeping the butt pad below the collar bone and in the meat of my pocket. All this being said, the way these rifles fit me may be different than the way they would fit you, so you should try both.

The triggers are also different and a matter of personal preference, though both were excellent. The x-bolt has a single stage trigger and the Vanguard S2 has a two stage trigger. I prefer two stage triggers, though I'm fine with a good single stage trigger, so this wasn't a big deal for me (but it may be for you).

I don't know about the accuracy of the x-bolt, but I do know that if my Weatherby wasn't a shooter I could have sent it back because Weatherby has an accuracy guarantee. Browning does not have such a guarantee. I suspect that the x-bolt would be a great shooter because most rifles today are, but the Weatherby guarantee provided me with some peace of mind over the Browning.

As you can predict from my observations I went with the Vanguard S2 youth in 308, which cost me about $480. I topped it with a Bushnell Elite 6500 in 2.5-16x42 (30mm tube) on Burris Signature Zee "medium" rings. It provides a wide zoom ratio (groundhogs to deer) in a package that's light enough to carry around but not too punishing to shoot (the rifle is 6.5 pounds naked, and under 8 pounds with scope, ammo, and sling.)

 

[Lloyd Smale]

dont really have an opinion on to which is best. there both good guns. Ill say this about weatherbys gurantee though. Has anyone had anything done by this warantee. I sent back a older vanguard stainless 257 because it wouldnt shoot any better then 2 inch with any load i tried in it and believe me I tried a bunch. it also coppered up so bad after ten shots the you couldnt keep bullets on paper. the bore was rough and you could see it with your naked eye. I called weatherby and they gave me a run around. they wouldnt let me send it to them i had to send it to an authorized repair shop on my dime. Well lucky for me the local gander mountain was an authourized repair shop so i brought it to them. the gunsmith said, YUP the barrels bad and i have to send it to weatherby and it will cost you 50 dollars for me to send it. Now that didnt even make sense as i thought id done my part when i brought it to a repair center. Well i bucked up the 50 dollars and the gun was sent to weatherby. About two months later it came back in the mail and when i opened it it was obvious they hadnt did a thing. they sent me a photo printed target of a 3/4 inch group. Not even an actual shot target so im sure they have a stack of those printed. Said with there factory load it shot 3/4s of an inch. Well boys id shot a box of those factory loads allready and they shot miserably. When i called and told them that they about said tough **** we shot a 3/4 inch group and he told me that without looking up any records of my gun. how would he know it shot a 3/4 inch group. When i mentioned the target theys sent was a photo copy of a target the guy hung up on me. So dont be so nieve to think that that accuracy guarantee is a deciding factor on which to buy

 

[HexHead]

I've got three Vanguard S2s. All shoot well beyond their sub-MOA guarantee at 100 yards. Last time I shot my .308, it shot a 5-shot group of 1.5", at 200 yards. They are IMO the very best value in a $500 rifle.

As to the weight, some of you guys act like it's a 9lb. rifle. The 30-06 Synthetic is 7 1/2 lbs.

Howa makes the receiver/ action to Weatherby specs, they are assembled by Weatherby. It's not the same rifle.