If anyone has one of these rifles in a WSM cartridge , I was wondering how well they feed and function ?

Son in law has need of a good medium caliber all around rifle , and I am thinking one of these in 30 WSM might fill the bill at a reasonable price......

own one of the ss/syn wby vanguards in 300wsm, feeds well no problems at all.


cheers cc

They feed better then they do in a Model 70..I would say they feed very well

My Howa, in 300 WSM, feeds flawlessly, for the
100 rounds that have been put through it.

Accuracy was acceptable with factory ammo
(1 MOA), and sub MOA with hand loads.

I would consider the 300 WSM, as a good
"all around rifle", albeit a bit on the heavy
side for targets, and varmints
For game hunting, there are enough bullet
choices to make this chambering, a good
choice from antelope, to elk. The 300 WSM,
would also be a good choice for black bear,
but for larger bear, and moose, I would
consider this chambering a little too light
for my liking. I would be looking to the .338
Win Mag, or bigger, if I were going on a brown
bear, or moose hunt.

On the other end of the spectrum, I don't
think I would want to sit over a prairie dog
town, with a 300 WSM

Squeeze

The Howaby is a solid little rifle...

My .270 WSM Vanguard is doing well to shoot 2-4 inch groups. The only ammo that comes close to the guarantee is Federal PRemium with 130 gr Ballistic Tips at about 2 inches. I found out that Howa shoots the test target with the barreled action in a fixture, then sends the barreled action to Weatherby, who puts it in a stock. So the test target may or may not mean that your gun will shoot that well in the stock. Now Weatherby is cherry-picking the better ones out to make up into their "sub-moa" guarantee Vanguards. This means that you are less likely to get an exceptionally good one than before.

I've turned mine in to the Weatherby repair center, where my brother happens to be a gunsmith. He tells me that they test them at 25 yards and multiply the group size by 4 to extrapolate what the group would be like at 100 yards. If they have a tight group at 25 yards, they call it good.

I've handled quite a few Vanguards in various WSM calibers and felt that with a little polishing on the feed rails, they'd be a real smooth feeder. I've never experienced accuracy problems with them either. I'm actually looking to buy one to do a little trigger job on and bed into a B&C Carbelite. Nice guns, IMO, especially for the price.

Not to be picky, but how many have you owned and shot regularly? I've had 3 Howas - a S&W 1500 Deluxe in .30-06 that was a true sub-moa rifle with 150 gr factory Corelokt ammo, a Howa blued/synthetic stock in .270 that shot 2 together and a flyer every time into 1-1/2 to 2 inches, despite being bedded and re-stocked in a B&C Carbelite and the current Vanguard in .270 WSM that is not living up to its guarantee.

They are decent guns and will absolutely provide accuracy "good enough" for big game hunting. They may or may not require work to shoot under the proverbial inch at 100 yards.

I have a .223 varminter that shoots under 1/2" easily, but the two sporters I had (.270 and 7RM) weren't as good, by any means. I love the 1500 action, but the barrels may not always be up to snuff.

Here's an update on my Vanguard -

My brother shot it at the warranty repair shop, and they got about an inch group at 25 yards - obviously nowhere near good enough. The shop owner whittled on the synthetic stock a little, as it was contacting/rubbing the barrel all along the left side, while the right was not touching. After a little playing around, they got it to shoot about a 3/8-inch group at 25 yards. Multiply that times 4 for a theoretical 100-yard group and you get 1 1/2 inches. They used Winchester 150 gr Power Point ammo. I will be happy with a 1 1/2-inch group, although I will try 130 and 140 gr ammo for the extra velocity. If not, I will fall back on the Power Points and see how they shoot at a real 100 yard range.

Since it was out of the stock anyway, my brother gave it a trigger job, dropping the pull down to 2 1/2 pounds.

Calf. Hunter......I assume your complaints are related to accuracy only and not feeding or other quality control issues ?

Good luck with your gun , I suspect if you ditched the tupperware and used a stiffer stock , it would shoot OK for you.....

Well, I consider accuracy to be a prime quality control factor...

It feeds well. I don't think any of the short mags feed smoothly, like a .300 H&H mag does, though. Short, fat, stubby and sharp-shouldered do not make for smoothness. But I haven't had any jams.

I think I would have been better off spending the extra money and getting one of the "sub MOA" Vanguards. By the time I buy the stock and mess with loads, I will have spent the same amount of money.

I do plan on replacing the stock, and in fact, have already ordered one. I did not want to mess with anything, though, until I had the gun checked out. I have had hard bolt lift and pressure signs with this gun, too. I have been told, though, that the short mags are loaded to the gills from the factory and that this is common in them, even with factory loads.

If I was doing it again, I would just spend the extra money and buy the "sub-MOA" Vanguard, that comes with the better stock and has actually been tested as finally assembled. By the time I am done, I will have spent that much anyway. That would be my advice!

quote:

Originally posted by sdgunslinger:
If anyone has one of these rifles in a WSM cartridge , I was wondering how well they feed and function ?

Son in law has need of a good medium caliber all around rifle , and I am thinking one of these in 30 WSM might fill the bill at a reasonable price......

There is no feeding problems associated with the WSM cartridges. Don't car what make the rifle is. There hasn’t been a feeding problem since right after Winchester first introduced/released the .300 WSM. There were a few problems with feeding then but Winchester fixed the problem. Don’t worry about those feeding problem rumors and the Vanguard is an excellent rifle. Together they will make an excellent hunting combination. Lawdog