Unless you find an "old stock" Vanguard it will be quite a bit above the price range of the others you are looking at - yes, there was some of the flame camo models sold of uber-cheap by one of the chain stores recently, but a "regular" Vanguard II synthetic will be on most shelves in the 600 to 700 buck range without glass or bases.
I own four of them and they are accurate and the machine work on them is nice, they have a two stage trigger etc, but I find it tough to put them in the same class, at least as far as price goes, with the other mentioned rifles. I personally believe that they are the best "value" for dollars spent, but sometimes what's in your budget or what feels right has nothing to do with "value to cost". Only you can decide if you see 300 bucks "more rifle" between one or another.
You can get an American with a factory mounted Redfield scope for the price of a bare Vanguard II. A model 11/111 with a synthetic stock can go for 200 to 300 bucks less than a Vanguard - just not in the same price class. You can get a model 11 with the Boyd's thumbhole stock (factory installed and sold that way) for the cost of a synthetic Vanguard, so just be prepared for the "sticker price" if you look at one.
All of the mentioned rifles will shoot MOA with off the shelf ammo, so what you are really buying is "how well it fits you", "how it feels when you shoulder it" and if you can tolerate or like the trigger, stock, feel of the bolt etc, because all of them will drop whatever you shoot at if you do your part.
I own an Axis because for what I wanted that rifle for it suited my needs perfectly - it allowed me to own a caliber that I probably would have done without because I don't have an endless supply of cash

Yes, the bolt is a little sloppy, the stock sucks, the trigger needed almost two fingers to pull it before I worked on the spring, but I bought it because it was "cheap" it goes "boom" and it IS wicked accurate. But if you plan on buying one and swapping the trigger and swapping the stock you may as well spend the extra bucks up front and just move up to a more refined model.