The Weatherby Vanguard is a middle-of-the-pack option for a rifle. It is a 500-600 dollar gun that is affordable for most hunters. The gun is a great option for people that don’t have $1000+ to buy a gun, but are looking for a cheaper, but still solid, option.

Stats

This gun has a lot to offer for the relatively cheap MSRP of $540.

The gun features a cold hammer-forged barrel, which means that it is stronger than a regular barrel. A stronger barrel will mean if you shoot and get your barrel hot then fall on it you have a lower chance of bending or warping it. A stronger barrel will also let you get more shots through your gun before having to buy a new one.

The trigger on the Vanguard is a Match-grade 2-stage trigger that is adjustable. The 2-stage trigger helps you get a surprise shot, which will help to avoid unconsciously pulling your shot, meaning improved accuracy.

The adjustable trigger will also help you tune the trigger to what pull you like, meaning if you lessen the trigger pull, it will take less tension to make the gun go off. If you heighten it, it will take more tension to make the gun go off. Different people like different trigger pulls. So if you like a heavy trigger pull you can adjust the gun to what you like.

This gun also has three-position safety. The first position will lock the bolt and the trigger so you can’t shoot, for the safest position of them all. The 2nd position will let you open the bolt and not shoot, for readying a bullet to shoot. The last position is fire.

The gun has a fluted one-piece bolt. The fluted bolt will help shed weight on western hunts, where weight is important. The one-piece bolt will also make a stronger bolt so it will last longer. 

The Vanguard also has a hinged floor plate, meaning it is easier to unload the gun. A recoil lug is a lug in the gun that transfers the recoil to the stock. This makes the gun stronger because there are no screws to transfer the recoil. 

The bolt in this gun is fully enclosed. A fully enclosed bolt is a stronger design and makes the gun easier to load.

It also includes a cheek rise so you see your scope better and a palm swell with textured areas on the gun for a better grip. This gun comes in left- and right-hand options.

So, as you can see, you get a lot for a small price. This gun is well worth the price. The gun I got was the select model, which is the most basic model.

This gun comes in calibers like .243, .270, .308, 30-06, 300 win mag, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 7mm rem mag. So, you get a wide range of calibers from magnum cartridges like the stout 300 win mag to the smaller .243. This gun has enough different calibers to hunt animals from prairie dogs to moose.

The barrel length on the Weatherby Vanguard ranges from 24 to 26 inches and a twist rate from 1-10 to 1-8. The non-magnums (the .243, .270, .308, .6.5 Creedmoor, and 30-06) have a 24-inch barrel. The 7mm mag and the 300 win mag have 26-inch barrels. The .30-06, .308, .270, .243, and 300 win mag have 1-10 twist rates. The 6.5 Creedmoor has a 1.8 twist rate. The 7mm mag has a 1-9.5 twist rate.

What’s barrel length do? It affects velocity. Meaning a 24-inch barrel would have less speed and energy than a 26-inch barrel.

Twist rate, on the other hand, will affect how well it will stabilize a heavy or light bullet. A high twist rate like a 1-12  twist will stabilize a lighter bullet better. A slow twist like 1-7 will stabilize a slower bullet better. The twist you want will vary by the caliber. Like a 30-06 a slow twist is about 1-8. A 1-10 twist for 30-06 is medium, so it will do good with both light and heavy bullets.

How did it group?

Before I tell you how the gun grouped, I should explain MOA. MOA is how tight of a group a gun can shoot at a said distance. At 100, 1 MOA would be a 1-inch group. At 200, 2 inches–and as you back up 100 more yards, the group will loosen further. So at 2000 yards, 1 MOA would be 20 inches. And sub-MOA is under a 1-inch group at 100 yards.

When I shot the gun from a bench, I Had about a .50 inch group at 50 yards. So this gun would be MOA. The ammo I used was Winchester Super X ammo. The bullet weight was 180 grains. So, not so bad of a gun. 

Pros

This gun shoots a 3 shot group under 1 MOA at 50 yards Again, MOA is the number of inches at a said distance. So, at 100 yards, 1 moa is 1 inch; at 500 it would be 5 inches; so on and so forth.

It has a free-float barrel. A free-float barrel means the barrel does not touch the stock. When the barrel touches the stock, any slight curve in the stock could offset the barrel one half a degree. This does not sound like much, but it could offset your sight as much as 2 inches at 100 yards, this could mean the difference between missing an animal and making a killing shot. And at 1000 yards you could be off 20 inches!

The adjustable trigger. The adjustable trigger will let you adjust that trigger to a lighter pull. If you shoot at 1000 yards you can get a nice surprise shot by moving the trigger to a lighter pull. 

Three-stage safety. The tree stage safety on this gunt will help you unload the gun safer. On the second set of the safety, you can move the bolt and unload the gun. The first set of the safety will lock the bolt so you can hike without the worry of the bolt coming open. 

Almost no trigger travel. On some lower-end bolt-actions, the trigger travel is super long. This can lead to flinching on the shot. The problem with trigger travel is when accuracy comes into play, like shooting through a small shooting lane. You will get on the gun, start pulling the trigger, and then after you pull the trigger for what seems like forever, your subconscious takes over and you flinch. This is nonexistent with the Vanguard. The trigger has almost no noticeable trigger travel.

Cons 

The 3 position safety is the only con–but it’s not even much of a con. The problem with the 3 position safety is on fast shots, you can mistake the gun for being on fire and the gun won’t shoot. This happened to me 2 years ago when I was hog hunting and I thought the gun was off safety. Luckily, the hog did not move and I had time to get the shot off.

All in all, I would say if you’re looking for a budget- to mid-priced gun, this could be the one to look at. There are plenty of options out there, but I would definitely pick one of these guns up if you are looking for a caliber that it comes in.