Considering one in a .223 or 22-250 has anyone used or owned one and what did you think about them for a varmint gun? Was supposed to be some sale over the holidays but for the life of me I can;t find the source.I think the ergonomics and trigger has been improved over the previous model?
Weatherby Vanguard 2
- Thread starter mbogo3
- Start date
I have a S2 in 7 08. I am 6ft and it fits me very well. The fit and finish is great and the stock has a solid feel. It is much nicer than my savages in that price group. The accuracy is great but I did need to try a couple of loads to find one that would shoot under a minute but overall the gun was not finicky with nothing shooting over 1.5 moa. For the money they are a very good gun. Most folks here give them a good review. BTW the S2's imho are a step up from the earlier models.
Just buy one and try it. If you don't like it it will go fast on the EE?
Just buy one and try it. If you don't like it it will go fast on the EE?
I am waiting for my Savage Hog Hunter (479.00) chose .223 because I will bench shooting and only going after varmints. Also because it shares the same ammo as my AR and is easy to get anywhere for a decent price.
Doing a 200 yard zero as suggested by a few on the Forum.
A .223 Remington, American Eagle (Federal) FMJ, 62gr
B .223 Remington, American Eagle (Federal) FMJ Boattail, 55gr
Range Drop
(inches) Velocity Energy Wind drift
(inches) Time
(milliseconds)
A B A B A B A B A B
0 -1.4914 -1.4922 3019 3239 1255 1281 0.0000 0.0000 0 0
50 0.5985 0.4060 2864 3053 1129 1138 0.0000 0.0000 51 48
100 1.6272 1.3706 2713 2875 1013 1009 0.0000 0.0000 105 99
150 1.4739 1.2823 2568 2704 908 893 0.0000 0.0000 162 152
200 0.0005 0.0033 2427 2539 811 787 0.0000 0.0000 222 210
250 -2.9507 -2.6258 2290 2380 722 692 0.0000 0.0000 286 271
300 -7.5615 -6.7917 2158 2227 641 606 0.0000 0.0000 353 336
350 -14.0415 -12.7133 2030 2079 567 528 0.0000 0.0000 425 406
400 -22.6339 -20.6492 1907 1937 501 458 0.0000 0.0000 501 480
450 -33.6205 -30.9051 1788 1802 440 396 0.0000 0.0000 582 561
500 -47.3287 -43.8434 1676 1673 387 342 0.0000 0.0000 669 647
- See more at: http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/#sthash.fVHnQkHQ.dpuf
Sorry didn't cut and paste cleanly.
Have fun.
Randy
Doing a 200 yard zero as suggested by a few on the Forum.
A .223 Remington, American Eagle (Federal) FMJ, 62gr
B .223 Remington, American Eagle (Federal) FMJ Boattail, 55gr
Range Drop
(inches) Velocity Energy Wind drift
(inches) Time
(milliseconds)
A B A B A B A B A B
0 -1.4914 -1.4922 3019 3239 1255 1281 0.0000 0.0000 0 0
50 0.5985 0.4060 2864 3053 1129 1138 0.0000 0.0000 51 48
100 1.6272 1.3706 2713 2875 1013 1009 0.0000 0.0000 105 99
150 1.4739 1.2823 2568 2704 908 893 0.0000 0.0000 162 152
200 0.0005 0.0033 2427 2539 811 787 0.0000 0.0000 222 210
250 -2.9507 -2.6258 2290 2380 722 692 0.0000 0.0000 286 271
300 -7.5615 -6.7917 2158 2227 641 606 0.0000 0.0000 353 336
350 -14.0415 -12.7133 2030 2079 567 528 0.0000 0.0000 425 406
400 -22.6339 -20.6492 1907 1937 501 458 0.0000 0.0000 501 480
450 -33.6205 -30.9051 1788 1802 440 396 0.0000 0.0000 582 561
500 -47.3287 -43.8434 1676 1673 387 342 0.0000 0.0000 669 647
- See more at: http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/#sthash.fVHnQkHQ.dpuf
Sorry didn't cut and paste cleanly.
Have fun.
Randy
Last edited:
Vanguard 2`s are great rifles, I have one in .243. The triggers are actually very good out of the box in my opinion. I would go with the .223 for a purely varmint rifle, ammo cost/availability and barrel life are the main reasons!
Harold; If a substantial part of your varminting is on the far side of 400 yards/meters, you will enjoy the 22-250
I am a 220 Swift guy myself, but the difference between it and the 22-250 is only about 150 fps.
It is amazing how flat these shoot with a well designed 55 grain Ballistic Tip or V-Max.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the 223, but your choice may be influenced somewhat by the average distance you will be shooting.
I also own a 225 Winchester [much like the 22-250] and a 222 Remington. The latter is great out to about 300....then the elevation adjustment rears it's head.
Regards, Dave.
I am a 220 Swift guy myself, but the difference between it and the 22-250 is only about 150 fps.
It is amazing how flat these shoot with a well designed 55 grain Ballistic Tip or V-Max.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the 223, but your choice may be influenced somewhat by the average distance you will be shooting.
I also own a 225 Winchester [much like the 22-250] and a 222 Remington. The latter is great out to about 300....then the elevation adjustment rears it's head.
Regards, Dave.
I've owned .222's,,223's and a 22-250 in the past it's just shooting areas that 20 years ago were wide open now are settled with acreages and noise is a factor. I remember turning gophers into red mist /molecules with my buddies Ruger 77R heavy barrel in .220 Swift.That thing was heavy to lug around but sure was accurate.What powder did you feed your Swift? My buddy liked H380 in his.
I also use H380 almost exclusively with the 55 grain pills. [55 grain BT and 43.0 grains of H380 - 3900+ and ½moa.]
But with the 50's and 52's, I get a bit better accuracy with IMR 4064 and Vihtavuori N140
My first Swift was a HB Ruger 77V, tang safety....the thing was amazingly accurate, winning turkey shoots, etc.
Any crow inside of 400M was in deep trouble on a quiet day, lol, and I shot a Marmot at a lasered 662 yards with it. Not quite so explosive at that range, but effective, nevertheless.
I absolutely love the 220 Swift, and barrels last considerably longer than many say.
Regards Dave.
No need for a trigger upgrade. The S2 triggers are an improvement over the older models. The one on my rifle is as good as any accutrigger I have used. Unless you are a big fan of really light triggers save the money for your optics.
I have 9 of the HOWA made rifles,Vanguards,Smith&Wesson and Mossberg from 222 rem to 338 win mag.Love them! I would recommend them any day.Only 2 are the newer S2s.I don't care for the 2 stage trigger on them but I was raised shooting old military rifles with horrible triggers and seem to be able to shoot them well.If I were to pick something that I don't like about them is that they are heavy.Most of mine were purchased used off of CGN and I can honestly say that 8 of them are MOA rifles.I think that you would be happy with either 223 or 22-250 but these days you are most likely to find ammo and components for 223 easer.
I just picked up a 243 Vanguard II a couple months back. I love the two stage trigger (some hate them), but it is sweet.
I only have about 100 rounds through her at this point and all of it has been factory up until this point. Will start loading myself, but here are some results as of last week.
I have been shooting factory Remington, Hornady and Federal rounds (40, 30 and 20 bucks a box just to see what it liked and what made a difference)
This was shot @ 100 yards, front supported (bag) from a sitting position - the way I will "hunt" this rifle.
I guess I won't have to return the rifle because it failed to meet the "guaranteed" sub-moa.
Too bad I "pulled" a little with the Hornady grouping - had a pretty good one going...
You can spend a lot more money and not get more down range performance.
I only have about 100 rounds through her at this point and all of it has been factory up until this point. Will start loading myself, but here are some results as of last week.
I have been shooting factory Remington, Hornady and Federal rounds (40, 30 and 20 bucks a box just to see what it liked and what made a difference)
This was shot @ 100 yards, front supported (bag) from a sitting position - the way I will "hunt" this rifle.
I guess I won't have to return the rifle because it failed to meet the "guaranteed" sub-moa.
Too bad I "pulled" a little with the Hornady grouping - had a pretty good one going...
You can spend a lot more money and not get more down range performance.
This is absolutely the very best summary of the Vanguard S2 that I have yet to see.... couldn't agree more !
Not trying to hi-jack this excellent thread but that same comment could also apply to a new Howa 1500 I have, parent of the Vanguard...
My hunting partner has a older Mossberg 1500 in .270 and it has killed a pile of deer and another fellow I know has a S+W 1500 in .300 Win.Mag.The Savages and Stevens 200 fit me like a tupperware 4x4 post .Had several 788's over the years but if you lose a mag they are both expensive and a ##### to load single shot.Also parts even from Numrich are scant.
