Building on a Vanguard SA

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So I have access to a Weatherby Vanguard short action for a good price. It was a .308 therefore the bolt face is .308 and I'm wondering if CGN can help me decide on a caliber to build on this?

My main use for the rifle would likely be long range varmint shoots but I would like to be able to punch paper at long distance too. I figured this would be a cheap way to get into long distance with a decent rifle. I already have a Weatherby Vanguard in .308 so I'm looking for a different caliber.


Thanks in advance.


Also note I never said "hey guyz wuts da best 1000 yard gun for under $500" lol.
 
I have a factory vanguard in 6.5 creedmoor. It shoots quite well and there's enough room to comfortably load factory Hornady 140 grain eld match into. Brass isn't as hard to find as people think. P and D usually carry it or they have match ammo. Milarm also carries the match ammo as well as the precision hunter 143 grain eldx.
 
Yeah 6.5CR peaked my interests but I wasn't sure on the brass/ammo availability.

6.5 .284 passed through my mind but it seems to be a real barrel burner and I don't have the ability to be cutting my barrel every 1000ish rounds
 
There are a lot of options/opinions and personally, I'm biased to PRS type shooting so I've been reading up on what is popular in that type of shooting. The current trends are 6mm Lapua/Creedmor and 6.5mm Lapua/Creedmor calibres. I was going to do a 6.5 lapua build but got a great deal on a .243 (6mm) setup that I'll try out for the next year.

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My research pointed to around 1:8 twist and between 22 to 26" barrel for a 6.5CM was a good starting point. Lots of research, mostly related to what projectile/velocity you were planning to use/achieve. You might also be limited by who you are buying your barrel from. They can usually recommend what they've used and worked with in the past.
 
You've got lots of choices. Anything from a .22-.250 with a fast twist barrel through the 6mm and 6.5mms will do what you want.
For long range target shooting, you will want to be able to use the longer, heavier bullets, so select an appropriate twist.
 
.260 Rem is an easy swap that works well with the .308 internal mag or an aftermarket DBM. The Vanguard/Howa are excellent actions to build off of. I really like Timney's trigger for them, moreso than the 510 for the 700. I had to swap to a Calvin to get back to a trigger I liked. The Calvin blows the VGuard/Howa Timney out of the water of course. As cool as short bbls are I think if you intend to reach out there then there's no replacement for barrel length. As far as I can tell, the 6.5 SA non-magnum chamberings are still gaining meaningful velocity out to 28" or more. Unless you need to pack it 10 miles up hill both ways or run n gun PRS style.
 
If I was to build a long range varmint /target gun in Alberta it would certainly be in either 6mm or 6.5 so here is what I feel should be considered .
Good components (lapua brass)good bullets are available in both 6mm and 6.5 then barrel life, Creedmoor brass is only offered by hornady at the moment.

I have tested just rescently 260 rem, 6.5 creedmoor and 6.5X47 lapua they all work good but the 6.5x47 lapua was easier to tune in the way that it shot good with everything.
The 260 is a bit faster and the creedmoor about the same as the 6.5X47 , a 6mm will burn the barrel faster in either of these 3 necked down versions but will no doubt work good if this isn't a concern ,there are claims the 6x47 lapua doesn't work as well in cold weather with slow powders so do your research if you decide on it .

Another thing to keep in mind is if you want to mag feed and what is the max OAL the mag will take the 260 can get long with a heavy high bc bullet if you want to chase the lands, the creedmoor and the --x47 lapua won't be a problem

then there's all the other ones 243, 6mm rem, 6 slr ,6br.....
 
Well it's decided. My uncle (family friend) is a smith and runs a range that schools come to for hunters/outdoor ed and the students camp and shoot for 3 days. The donor rifle was a .308win weatherby vanguard. He had 6 of them for the students. I had the option of buying one and then buying a barrel etc and having him or his son build me a rifle or I could buy one that his son just made out of one of the vanguards.

So I bought the complete rifle, 6.5x284 26" jury barrel fully bedded and free floated in a B&C stock.

I'll try to post pics up later tonight or tomorrow at work.

I also picked up 100 brass and 100 Sierra 120gr Spitzer projectiles from him too.
 
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