Weatherby Vanguard vs Tikka T3

I have a Vanguard in .257 Wby Mag. The rifle fits me really nicely, great to shoot. The trigger is a little creepy for bench work. If I can't clean it up, it will be replaced. I like my triggers to be crisp. You can shoot 3-4 shots from the bench before the barrel gets warm. I am conservative and don't let it get too hot. I don't want to encourage barrel wear. A pleasure to shoot from the bench otherwise. The felt recoil is not much more than my Ruger M77 in 6mm. Not my first choice for a bench rifle, or a rifle for lots of varmint shooting. Extreme overkill for racoons, coyotes etc. 75 grain bullet near 4000 fps. Whoo-Weee!!! A long range deer rifle, yes. A sheep, goat or antelope rig as Roy designed it, yes. I like the calibre and the rifle on the whole, despite the trigger, which is fixable. The rifle fits me well, and that is important. I am working on loads consisting of 117 grain Hornady SST bullets over H1000 loads. Should push the bullet to around 3300 FPS.
 
mylesrom said:
I have had 3 tikkas and 4 Vanguards. Both are equally good and has their strong points and weak points. Out of all of them, the Vanguards were slightly more accurate, but very slightly. You are going to have to handle both and see which ones you like better, both are good choices in that price range.
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That's odd. Unless you had subMOA Vanguards and got lucky even there, we've seen absolutely no comparison in accuracy that ever favored the Vanguard. Any new T3 in the same caliber as the W'by will not only outshoot it but probably outshoot the subMOA version. Tikkas are all test-fired and any that don't shoot less than 1" @ 100m aren't tuned, they're melted down and new barrels are reforged out of them. My subMOA .243 W'by couldn't do better than 3 shots in 1 1/2" until I put in a Rifle Basix trigger, and even then a 1" group is just makeable. I have a .308 T3 SL that will pile bullets in overlapping holes all day, groups of as little as .3" and the trigger is stock - crisp and creepfree, about 3 lbs compared to the 6+ gritty creepy thing that came with the W'by.
 
Just telling you what I experienced out of the 7 rifles... Non of the Vanguards were the sub-moa models, and the difference was slight, but in favor of the Vanguards. One test target measured under .400 and it did shoot that. We are talking not enough to make a difference really between the rifles in accuracy.

The tikka's have way better triggers, the Vanguard, less recoil but heavier. So it all depends what you want. I like the mag on the tikka over the internal, but that is personal preference.

Take one of each in different calibers and enjoy both of them.
 
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mylesrom said:
Just telling you what I experienced out of the 7 rifles... Non of them were sub-moa's, and the difference was slight, but in favor of the Vanguards.
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I found the same thing and I have seen it on the range too that the Tikka's werent all Sub MOA shooters, not even MOA but good enough to kill any animal out to 300 yards. Ive owned 3 T3's in 270 wsm and one in 22-250 non shot 1/2 inch CONSISTANTLY once in while Id get a 1/2 inch group but most of the time it was 1- 1 1/2.
On the internet everyone shoots 1/2 inch groups and their rifles are better then anyone else's
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DaveMachine said:
I recently bought a T3 Stainless Varmint in 6.5x55, haven't had a chance to shoot the rifle yet but it feels really solid so I don't know what people are talking about when they say it feels like a toy.
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I think that people refer to them as a toy because of the plastic parts on the rifle. Just remember that opinions are like #######s everyone has one.
 
Buy the Savage:D .... I mean Tikka !! Can you get one with iron sights? For that matter can you buy a Weatherby with irons either? I know the you'll most likely have it scoped - but I like the option to go irons if the stuff hits the fan.

Savage Euro Classic or Remington BDL in .243win !! Great for yotes - enough for deer. :stirthepot2:
 
Had them both in a variety of calibers
My choice is to the tikka. Non-mag calibers are great in Tikka's as they are a bit lighter in the weight department...they just seem nice and quick to point and comfortable to pack..accurate as all get out too
 
My T3 in .300 Win Mag has iron sights


Just brought home another T3 this weekend from Wholesale Sports (Excellent service too by the way :)) This will be my 4th T3. I was interested in the CZ 527 but didn't want to muck around with the scope rings and the bell/bolt clearance.



Very much impressed with them. The only complaint is the rust/discolouration of the trigger the first year with the T3 .300 Win Mag. Chasing elk down in Cypress Hills in -20 conditions didn't agree I guess.
 
I really like a detachable magazine, so I'd tend to favour the Tikka. But how the rifle fits you is so important to how well you can shoot it, that I'd want to handle both as much as possible and shoot them, if possible, before finally making up my mind.
 
The T3 SS 2506 I have is a dream to shoot and carry, I am doing load development but it will shoot any weird load 1.5 MOA, if you want an all around rifle take the Tikka in 6.5 or 25-06 - both will work for anything short of dangerous game.
 
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