I am thinking about purchasing a 338 win mag in either a sako 75 stainless composite or a weatherby vanguard sub-moa stainless. Do any of you have any experience with these two rifles? Are there any other rifles out there in this chambering with a synthetic stock and stainless barrel.

If your looking at the Vanguard save yourself some $$$ and buy a Howa and don't worry about the sub MOA it's not worth the extra $$$.

Check out legacy sports on the net they are a huge Howa Dist.

Forget to post Legacy has a great buy on there combo package rifle and scope which is a Leupold.

That said I bought a Savage 338 116SS W/fluted barrel and adj muzzle brake for $539 Davidson arms out of AZ. they have FFL all over that they ship to.

I had heard great things about the vangard. Bought one in .338. I was very disappointed with the accuracy. I suspect a big part of the problem was that soft plastic synthetic stock and the terrible trigger. But replacing the trigger and the stock would eliminate one of the most attractive features of the gun: low price. Got rid of it.

Try a Remington 700.

I'm a blue-steel and walnut kinda feller, but last summer a left-hand .338 Savage 116 (stainless/synthetic/muzzle-brake) was being sold by an acquaintance, and I bought it for $300...he'd only fired 12 rounds and gave me the rest of the first box!

I tuned the trigger a bit, mounted a silver Leupold 3-9x, and my FIRST loads with the 225 TSX bullets were under 1/2" for three rounds at 100 yards. Shortest "load development" I have EVER done.

The Savages may be one of the great all-time deals, and the .338 is a wonderful cartridge for virtually all North American game (and a lot of the rest of the world, too).

The Sako 75 is much better quality wise than any Weatherby vanguard.

The sako trigger is one of the best quality factory triggers avaliable and is easially adjusted, the Sako is very good quality and should shoot very well straight from the box.

Tikka also have stainless synthetic models and come with the excellent Sako trigger and barrel, they shoot extremely well from the box, a poor mans Sako.

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Tikka also have stainless synthetic models and come with the excellent Sako trigger and barrel, they shoot extremely well from the box, a poor mans Sako.

Tikka gets my vote.

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Originally posted by AK Hunter:
I had heard great things about the vangard. Bought one in .338. I was very disappointed with the accuracy. I suspect a big part of the problem was that soft plastic synthetic stock and the terrible trigger. But replacing the trigger and the stock would eliminate one of the most attractive features of the gun: low price. Got rid of it.

Don't the Sub MOA rifles come in a Fiberglass stock? Or atleast my Brother's 257Wby SUB-MOA Vanguard has one on it....

the plastic stock that comes on the basic Vanguard is a whippy POS.

AllanD

Have to agree with everyone on the Wby Vanguard synthetic stocks. If you look at the Mk V's in synthetic, most also have an aluminum bedding block. What they know about the synthetics and how to correct it they didn't apply to the Vanguards. The Vanguard Classic Sporter SS might be worth a look see but then it's not synthetic. The adjustable trigger is a nice feature but can only be adjusted "so" light before the safety won't engage.

Nothing wrong with the Sako's or 700's.

Ken....

Vanguards are great buys and are a great value for the money. Hell, you can buy them on sale at Wal-Mart for 250-300 bucks after the season. Sakos are good rifles too. jorge

I agree about the Sako Hunter 75 338 WM. I purchase one used and it immediately shot 1/2 inch groups at 100.

I shoot Winchester 200gr. Balistic Silvertips that consistantly chrono'ed at 2910-2960. Also, did I mention my Sako 338 is a Handy version? That means it has a factory 20 inch barrel. So to me to have the accuracy and still achieve the velocity of 2900+ is really nice.

The Sako is such a fine rifle, really hard to beat the quality.

Has anyone owned a Sako Syn/SS? I want to purchase a Sako 375 Syn/SS and am interested in their experiences.

~F

Here's a nice one, but sale pending.

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976741616.htm

that's a Krieger barrel on those.

I've owned 2 Sako synthetic/stainless rifles. A 270 and a 300 win mag. Still have the 270 and it is a shooter. I still load for the 300 win mag and it consistantly shoots 1".

The thing I don't like is the stock. On the 270 the stock broke at the palm swell and I replaced it with a McMillan, much better. The stocks are heavy and too flexible. When shooting from the bench you can take your trigger hand and bend the stock back and forth and watch the crosshairs go from one side of the target to the other.

Other than that a fine rifle.

i have both a tikka and a sako 338 wm and both shoot really well for the money. and will shoot even better with reloads

Sako 75 is the way to go. Am v.pleased with my new one. Shoots under 1" at 100 yards with FLs.

Well, I don't have any personal experience with the Vanguards, though I've looked at them many times. I'm a big Ruger fan, so that would be my first choice. Mine is a '94 production, so it was prior to the horid triggers. It consistantly shoots .5 MOA @ 100 yds.

Though the Savage rifles are pretty hard to beat for out of box accuracy, though their synthetic stocks are a little flimyier than I like.

Best of luck in your search.

mike

I have two .338s. Both Winchester 70 classics. One stainless and one blue. I wouldn't sell them for twice what I paid for them. See if you can find one for yourself.

Just to muddy the water; I just ck. the Wby. web sight and the Vanguard synthetic has a MSRP now of $439 from $506 about 30days ago. It comes in about 10 or 12 cases. I always wamted to have a 300 Wby. so I could buy powder in 8 lb.cans. $439 is less than it cost to have a barrel changed. You could buy 3 Vanguards for what a Sako would cost. If you try, you can get 15 guns in a 10 gun safe.

I've got a Sako 75 (blued and walnut) in .338 Win Mag topped with a 3.5-10x50 Leu Vari-X III. Beautiful wood, fit and finish is excellent, awesome trigger, and it'll shoot 225 grain Barnes TSX's into 1/2" all day long. Though mine is not equiped with one, I believe a single set trigger is a factory option. Anyway, IMHO, the Sako gets the nod.

The Vanguard MOA is not the same rifle you can buy in Wal-mart. The stock appears to be more of a Fibermark stock w/ pillar bedding and a few other Do-dads, barrel and action are the same though. The Sako is in a different class cost wise. Better to compare it with the new Kimber or a Cooper although Cooper doesn't make a 338. Hard to advise you when you are looking at apples and oranges and asking which is better.