Weatherby Vanguards opinions anyone

J

JasonYuke

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After all, the talk about 257 wbys as of late I bought one. I Picked it up on the weekend.

It will be a few months before I get a chance to load and shoot it, but really and honestly I am not overly impressed with the fit and feel of the weatherby vanguard! Now this is the cheepy version package deal. I have never owned a weatherby rifle before, but many guns in wby cartridges.

My question and being honest about it how do the vanguards shoot, are they ok, or not great, and what are your findings, its very tight bedding i am sure a bedding job is in th efuture or a nw stock, but the trigger is really not to bad, and would say may be the best thing about the gun, I adjusted it already to a very crisp light pull.

Thanks
 
The stock fit me very well and the Vanguard was a comfortable rifle to shoot. I disliked the trigger on my .257 Vanguard. With two factory loads, the rifle was a 1.5" shooter. I got some handloads to 5/8". Not bad for bone stock and $500. I would have another, just maybe the wooden stocked one with a Timney trigger upgrade.
 
Yes Curt i thought mine trigger was junk, but i started playing with it and got the 2 km of creep out of it I am sure you know what I am talking about. I hope it shoots like yours will, under an inch but, who knows.
 
Got a 257 in a Back Country this fall, getting .7" 3 shot groups with 100gr. Barnes TSX. trigger seems fine for a hunting rifle, would buy another Vanguard.
 
Pretty good value for the dollars. You definitely get what you pay for as you pointed out but most shoot close to 1" out of the box.
 
2km of creep, yup that is pretty accurate. They were a rough 2 k's as well. Glassy is not an adjective that I would use.
I found that my rifle was sensitive to COAL. I found that my best accuracy was when I exceeded the SAAMI length by at least 0.030". The Barnes liked a little more 'running' room, but the SST's liked to be out there a bit.
 
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I bought one this year from Del Selins. It was a marked down bargain. Basic blued rifle with a synthetic stock. It is chambered in 300 WSM. While waiting for dies, I bought a box of Federal Fusion 165 grain fodder for it, and I was less than impressed. Shot around 2½" at 100 meters. Went after the crappy trigger, and got it close to Ok, but it did not help the groups much. I shot the stuff away, and decided to wait for the dies. As soon as my Reddings arrived, I loaded up some 165 Grand Slam Speers I had laying around, using a slow lot of W760 [Higginson] I also loaded some 180 Partitions over some Norma MRP, and some over H4831SC. The H4831SC load shot about 1½", which was an improvement, but I had the feeling that this rifle would shoot, and I was not wrong. Both the MRP/180 Partition & the W760/Grand Slam loads shot under 1" at 100 M. The 760 load shot exactly 1¼" to the left of the Partition load, but both hovered around ¾" for three shots, center-to-center. I do believe I will invest in a trigger for this rifle, and I would prefer a wood stock, but it seems like a capable rifle. Also noted the bore cleans up easily, so not too rough inside. FWIW, the final workup load for the 180 chronys right at 3055 average, the 165, 3170. [24" barrel] Good enough! I think they are not bad rifles, especially since I paid less than $500.00 for mine. Regards, Eagleye
 
I have a sub-moa vanguard in 22-250 that I really like. I did replace the trigger with a Timney pretty much as soon as it came out of the box. It was hard to beleive that the trigger could be so bad from the factory.
All of the vanguards I've seen seem to shoot pretty good. I only really went with the sub-moa version for the stock. The "sub-moa" barrel was just a freebie.
 
I have owned 3 Vangaurds,the one I have now is a 223,it will shoot Serria 50 grains and 36 grain barnes into 1/2 inch.I changed the trigger spring and adjusted it.It now breaks at just over 2 lbs.The other 2 Vangaurds i had one was a 243 and it shot anything under a inch the other was a 30-06 and it was a 1 to 11/4" rifle.Still alright for a hunting gun.
 
.257

I own an Accumark in .257 , i use the 120Gr partitions 69 Gr of IMR7828 & large Magrifle primers , the three shot average on the Crony was 3350 !!
My son has owned a Vanguard for 6 years now and has used it for Hunting in some real harsh conditions and it has never let him down , it seems to be a quality built rifle so far :sniper:
 
i've got a 300 wby vanguard which consistently shoots 3/4" at 100 yrds. i had the barrel floated and added a limbsaver pad a while back, but other than that, it's completely stock. definately worth $500 in my opinion. saving my "pennies" to buy another one in 257 wby
 
good to hear some positive revwis id would like 2 own 2 weatherbys someday a .257 prolly a vangaurd, and maybe something bigger in the high .30's or ever maybe 40 cal range....in one of the higher end weatherby's
 
I have a stainless in 257 WBY . It shoots 120gr Speer bullets into .343" @ 100 yds & .656" @ 200 yds (3 shot) out of the box! Hornady 120 HP and Nosler 120 Partitions will group around 1" @ 100 all day long. I haven't done anything to the trigger, I don't want to mess with the rifle! I use 67 grs. of IMR 7828 with FED 215 LRM primers and reformed REM 7MM cases. I get 3250 fps over my chrony. I have tried the 115 Barnes TSX with 69 grs 7828 . 3400fps! 1/2" groups! 100 gr bullets leave @ 3600FPS!!! 3/4" groups.
GOOD GUNS! My gunsmith let me look at all the factory targets from boxes & I bought the one with the best target. 5/8" with 100gr bullets. If they will let you , look . You don't need the SUB-MOA @ extra $ unless you want the good stock. I just bought a laminate thumb hole in grey/black for it.
 
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Charlie38 said:
I have a stainless in 257 WBY . It shoots 120gr Speer bullets into .343" @ 100 yds & .656" @ 200 yds (3 shot) out of the box! Hornady 120 HP and Nosler 120 Partitions will group around 1" @ 100 all day long. I haven't done anything to the trigger, I don't want to mess with the rifle! I use 67 grs. of IMR 7828 with FED 215 LRM primers and reformed REM 7MM cases. I get 3250 fps over my chrony. I have tried the 115 Barnes TSX with 69 grs 7828 . 3400fps! 1/2" groups! 100 gr bullets leave @ 3600FPS!!! 3/4" groups.
GOOD GUNS! My gunsmith let me look at all the factory targets from boxes & I bought the one with the best target. 5/8" with 100gr bullets.
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Have you tried any 100 grain bullets I am going to try the TSX behind IMR 4831. I bought 20 wby cases but than bought 50 7mm mags.

Regards
 
A while ago I had a Weatherby Vanguard synthetic in 30-06 and it was a very accurate, well made rifle. My buddy now owns this particular rifle and it still shoots MOA at 100 and 200. I upgraded to the Vanguard Deluxe ( also in 30-06) and am very happy with it. Billed as being 1 1/2" at 100 with premium ammo, I have found both Vanguards to be 1" guns and would not hesitate to choose one again.
 
The only 100 gr bullets I've shot were Hornady SP. I have not tried the TSX yet. I like the 120 gr bullets myself . They hit a little harder. 5 whitetails , 5 shots , from 80 yds to 440 yds. I can hunt moose , elk , mountain goats, sheep , mule & whitetail , black and grizzly bears where I am from . I just like 120's. Has anyone tried the 120 gr Swift A-Frame in a 257 WBY? Curious about it.
 
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