Weatherby Vanguard series any good?

[hornadylnl]

Was looking at some Weatherby vanguard rifles at the local Sportsmans Warehouse yesterday. Is this series any good, or are they some cheap outsourced rifles with the weatherby name engraved on them to get more money out of them? How would they compare to a Ruger 77, a Browning A bolt(I've handled a few of these and have not been impressed at all with them) or a savage? Thanks.

 

[Geno]

Vanguard is excellent

Yes, the Vanguard series are excellent rifles. Go to Weatherby's home page and read the facts of the product. I have owned several, and sold them only to be able to purchase some Mark V Weatherby rifles.

Doc2005

 

[DogBonz]

For the money,

the ones that I have handled have been great. I might be wrong about this, but I think that they are made by Howa.

 

[Essex County]

Having owned examples of each I would rate the Vanguard ahead of the Ruger and a toss up with the A Bolt.........Essex

 

[tdubya]

if memory serves me correct the newer Vanguard are made in Japan, i have an older one made in West Germany very fine rifle (.257 mag) I cant speak for the newer ones have no experience with them

 

[Powder_Burn]

Yes, the Vanguard is a Howa. Unless you are buying the sub-MOA Vanguard, might as well save some cash, buy the Howa, and put better glass on it. These rifles have good reputations although I have never personally handled one...

http://www.legacysports.com/howa/index.htm

I believe the Howa action is a copy of the Sako 75. Please offer a correction if needed. Thanks

 

[Kurac]

I have one in 7mm Rem Mag, It works great, adjustable trigger nice wood less than 1" groups, the only thing I don't like about it, Made in Japan

 

[ojibweindian]

I have one in 7mm Remington Magnum. Handloads print 3/8" at 100 yards. Trigger is somewhat heavy, but adjustable (I'm pretty sure).

I'd buy another Vanguard/Howa before I'd buy another Savage.

 

[ArmedBear]

Trigger is adjustable (travel and weight). I adjusted mine. A screwdriver is all it takes, maybe a little wrench for the locknut.

I have a Vanguard Sporter (walnut version) in .30-06. Love it. The action is very similar to Remington 700, but I like the Weatherby stock better, the price was far better, and the safety design is superior to Remington's newer ones. The scope mounts/rings are even the same as the ones you use on a 700.

Groups are just over MOA with off-the-shelf Winchester junk hunting ammo from Wal-Mart ($13 a box or something). I get the notion it'll shoot much better if I spend time and money on dialing in the ammo, but it's my deer rah-fuhl, not my target toy.

The barelled actions are outsourced, but they're made by Howa, which means they're top-notch. "Outsourced" isn't necessarily a bad word -- Weatherby contracts out all their barrelled actions AFAIK, and they're not sloppy about what they put their name on. It's not like they have a huge product line and can afford to make a few real dogs and still stay in business.

You can get the same actions with different stocks and different barrel lengths, or just get barreled actions from http://www.legacysports.com/ However, like I said, I like the Weatherby comb, the nice walnut, and the 24" barrel on mine. Boyd's makes stocks for this action, though, so you can build one up yourself. It won't be cheaper, but it might be fun.