New Vanguard Won't Shoot Worth a Damn?

Mazeofmystery

Mazeofmystery

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Fraser Valley, BC
Got a new Weatherby Vanguard "First Lite" edition in 30-06. Beautiful gun. Smooth, light, feels great in the hands, stock is awesome for my cheek.

I can't get it to shoot for sh**. Even at 100 yards. Used everything from Herter's to Barnes.

I did get the scope mounted at Cabela's, so I don't know if that has any effect. They also mounted it on a 20 moa rail.

Is it me? Is there a break-in period? Does Cabela's suck and I should go to a dedicated firearm store?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
if it was myself, I’d ditch the 20 MOA rail, go to a bases/ring combo like Talleys or the like and get a dedicated Store to redo your bore scope and start over.
 
ShrtRnd said:
if it was myself, I’d ditch the 20 MOA rail, go to a bases/ring combo like Talleys or the like and get a dedicated Store to redo your bore scope and start over.
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This is first rate advice, do yourself a favor and follow it.
 
Is the barrel free floating? Is the stock properly installed?

Is it possible that you are flinching?

Is the scope mounted high so that your cheek is not quite right?

I'm sure people do fine with Vortex and similar scopes but the ocular housing is always bulky and that requires a high mounting position to clear the bolt handle on traditional bolt action rifles.

There is a lot that can go wrong. To troubleshoot, first what do you have confidence in?

From your description as written, it seems we can rule out ammunition being the problem.
 
Eliminate all possible issues with the scope, mounts and rifle first. Could be a lemon, but generally Howa/Weatherby are good quality. What is it shooting for groups, if at all? Handloads or factory? If it won't shoot factory Federal Premium with Sierra GameKings within 1 MOA, there's a problem. Break-in is a myth with today's barrels and manufacturing. Check scope bases and rings, check bedding and action screws, check barrel is free-floating, check crown. I'd probably return/exchange it before spending $$$ on gunsmithing diagnosis and corrections.
 
The last vanguard I played with had a ton of fore end pressure from the synthetic stock. Once it was removed with a dowel and sandpaper the rifle smartened up.
 
Are the action screws torqued to spec.? Are the base and ring screws all tight? The last vanguard I bought was not free floated but had pressure pads towards the front of the stock. (About 4 years ago).
 
Most modern factory rifles will shoot factory ammo OK-ish at least. First thing I would check would be all of your optic mounting screws (Base to receiver if applicable, rings to base, rings to scope), make sure nothing is moving. Wouldn't hurt to have someone competent remove everything and re-mount it all to make sure nothing is wonky.
 
OP has a scope problem - I have a set of Talley rings on my Vanguard - it shoots .99 or better at 100 yards consistently
Shoot one round wait 5 minutes for the barrel to cool down then shoot again do this one more time. Look to see where the three shots hit on paper - then - make necessary scope adjustments.

Make sure the rifle is well rested using a sandbag or one of those cadwells shooting bags
 
Scotty454 said:
Most modern factory rifles will shoot factory ammo OK-ish at least. First thing I would check would be all of your optic mounting screws (Base to receiver if applicable, rings to base, rings to scope), make sure nothing is moving. Wouldn't hurt to have someone competent remove everything and re-mount it all to make sure nothing is wonky.
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Would definitely start with this. Rule out the easiest possible stuff first.

After that and checking the action screws, see how it groups. How bad is bad?
 
I wouldn’t let cabelas mount anything on a rifle, that’s where I’d start. Nothing wrong with a 20moa rail, take off the scope, rings and rail. Action out of the stock and reinstall everything, torque to manufacture specs. Bore sight and re sight at the range, once you’re on paper let the barrel properly cool between shots.

A Howa/Vanguard should shoot moa, my 1500 will if I do my part with mid grade factory ammo.
 
Mazeofmystery said:
Got a new Weatherby Vanguard "First Lite" edition in 30-06. Beautiful gun. Smooth, light, feels great in the hands, stock is awesome for my cheek.

I can't get it to shoot for sh**. Even at 100 yards. Used everything from Herter's to Barnes.

I did get the scope mounted at Cabela's, so I don't know if that has any effect. They also mounted it on a 20 moa rail.

Is it me? Is there a break-in period? Does Cabela's suck and I should go to a dedicated firearm store?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You do know that Cabelas is in the business of selling ammo and not mount scopes , right ?
Now, find another Local Gun Store (Mom and Pop) and pay a few dollars to have them bore sight it for you.
Or if you are close to Boundry Bay airport pm me and I'll bore sight it for you, free..........
Or, if your closer to Agassiz go see James at Kent Outdoors, I'm sure he will sort you out.
Rob
 
Mazeofmystery said:
Got a new Weatherby Vanguard "First Lite" edition in 30-06. Beautiful gun. Smooth, light, feels great in the hands, stock is awesome for my cheek.

I can't get it to shoot for sh**. Even at 100 yards. Used everything from Herter's to Barnes.

I did get the scope mounted at Cabela's, so I don't know if that has any effect. They also mounted it on a 20 moa rail.

Is it me? Is there a break-in period? Does Cabela's suck and I should go to a dedicated firearm store?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Some more details would help. What kind of scope? What were the groups like? 2", 6", not on paper, etc. What process did you follow to sight in? Did you start at 25? Were you on paper and able to group your shots?

Too many variables and not enough info here but a good start would be remounting the scope and torqueing the action screws to 35 inch pounds.
 
geologist said:
First thing I'd do is have a good riflepeoplekind shoot it off the bench.
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Make sure it's a good riflepeoplekind that can shoot well though. If you get a good riflepeoplekind that can't shoot worth a damn that's a no goo.

My brother in law was having issues zeroing a red dot on his .22. He's not a bad shot usually but not great either, no fault of his own though he's fairly new to guns. I tried it and 100% it's the red dot or the rifle. For me to go from 3 of 5 shots touching consistantly at 50 yards with my .22 mag to spraying all over a standard sheet of letter paper, something's wrong.

Ran out of time and ammo that day so next time we go out I'm throwing one of my sparc 2s on it see what happens. Trial and error until we find the culprit.

What kinda rings did they use? All rings are not created equal and its something one should not skimp on.
 
Evanguy said:
What size groups at 100m?
Also what size groups does your other rifles shoot at 100m?
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This. More info would really help.

As others suggested, start checking to see if everything is tight. Ring caps, rings to rail, rail to gun. If that's all good and tight and you're still not getting decent accuracy (they're supposed to have a sub-moa guarantee with premium ammo) then I'd be trying another scope.
 
So to answer some of the questions in the thread;

- My shot is decent. Was grouping the week before with my Ruger American in the same calibre quite well (sub 1 moa at 100 yards, 1.25 moa at 200 yards). Now i'd be lucky to get 2moa. It wasn't even hitting the board at 50 yards at the start of sighting in. Got down to 3" groups at 100 yards at the end of the session.

- I'm not flinching. The rifle has way less recoil than my previous 30-06.

- i didn't have to make any adjustments for comfort. Where my cheek rests is actually quite comfortable. Sight picture is clear, no black ring, etc.

- My scope was the same one used on my previous rifle, as were the rings. The only change in that regard was the 20 moa rail. It's a vortex diamondback tactical 4-16 ffp, with mrad reticle. The rings are the second best rings i could afford from vortex.

- the barrel isn't free floating. Regardless, if it's not like that from the factory, shooting 100 yards should be simple.

- i was shooting using sandbags front & rear.
 
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