I won a Weatherby Vanguard in 270 WSM back in '06, Friends of the NRA raffle ticket. NOT something I would have bought, esp. with a stainless/laminate combination, and I'd already quit buying Leupold glass by then. Found the rifle to be intensely irritating, the "factory adjustable trigger" was simply awful, and the stock made the rifle heavier than needed. Looks nice, though.
We have a 10 day wait on firearms here, so some friends at the range let me exercise their 300 WSM (Tikka, Browning) and 7mm WSM (Tikka) rifles. I was a little concerned about recoil due to the 7mm Rem ballistics, but that was unfounded. 300 WSM is NEAT if you don't need >180 gr bullets, I certainly prefer handloading WSM brass to the 300 WM belted cases.
At any rate, 270 WSM ammo was reasonably priced at the time, which is good since it took 80 rds to break in that barrel. Sheesh. Not as much as a whisker of a deer in '06 or '07 hunting, but I did take it out often enough I figured it needed a real trigger. Timney made a blue 3 position Howa 1500/Vanguard/S&W 1500 trigger for only about $75-80 at the time, took a little stock massaging but HOLY MOLY what a huge improvement.
TOTALLY different rifle from that point on, especially offhand. The bit of extra weight in the stock mitigates some of the recoil and makes it settle nicely. 6 consecutive offhand shots into the 8" gong at 230 yards at my range, our High Power director asked why I couldn't shoot that well on Sunday match days.
In '08 our stupid state banned lead hunting ammo in large areas, including our stomping grounds. 8 different calibers in my immediate family had to be converted. Barnes was it, and I went with 110 gr Tipped TSX on my 270 WSM (and 270 Win). Only a deer and a follow up shot on a BIG black bear since then, but I'm WELL pleased with Barnes bullets. A wild hog and another deer have been collected by other calibers (450 Marlin, 300 WM) and all the bullets performed to expectations.
I'd never have picked 270 WSM off the shelf, nor a Weatherby Vanguard. I'm thinking of building a walking varminter in 270 WSM off a Savage action, it's a GREAT caliber. The Vanguard has grown on me, doubt I'll get another but a great trigger makes a rifle easy to love. For that matter, as much as I loved my Nosler BT 165's in 3006, I'd use Barnes bullets even if I didn't have to. Change is hard, but sometimes good.
Regards,
Brian in CA