Is the Vanguard still made even though it's not listed on Weatherby's site? I heard or read somewhere (maybe here) that it was a deal for Wal-Mart. Aren't the Howas just Weatherbys lacking the fit and finish specified by Weatherby for their rifles?
My friend has a Lazermark that I'm betting is made in Japan.....isn't it pretty much a Howa with the better fit and finish in a fancy stock?

Thanks folks.

The Vanguards are still sold through Wal-Mart I believe. I used a Howa action to build a 300 Savage on. Not bad for the money.

Bob257

All vanguards are still made by howa.I have compared howas with vanguards and found them to be of equal quality as far as fit and finish.The only dufference the weatherby name appears to make is in the price.

Vibrasonic9,
With either choice of rifle, they will probably be great shooters. I bought the Weatherby and the target that was givin W/ther rifle was almost a three holer from 100 yards W/2 holes touching, and the third what looks like to be a flyer.

With a few range trips I was able to shoot this group from the bench W/some of my reloads. If it was not for the flyer, this group would be a nice 5-shot group.

Check out the target group, and the rifle pic. I love my 300 Wby Vanguard! Oh, don't pay attention to the .22 caliber shots, if I would have known this was my last target, and my next group was going to be half way decent, I would not have shot the .22 on the target. Oh, well.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/60932184/60932982QOwlYj

http://community.webshots.com/photo/59948877/63611190ZfJlKI

Dennis

The regular Weatherby rifle is completely different than the Vanguard. However both are made in Japan.
Dale

The Weatherby Vanguard is back in the 2003 Weatherby catalog. The website hasn't been updated yet. The Howa 1500 is the exact same rifle with some minor cosmetic differences and a slightly lower price tag. Howas are imported by Legacy Sports International Legacy Sports website . They will also sell you barreled Howa actions, so building a semi custom rifle is quite easy.

Mark Bansner is making a custom rifle based on the Howa 1500 barreled action, so that should tell anyone anything they need to know about their quality.

My 30-06 1500 will routinely group three shots in .6" or less, and five shots in less than 1" at 100 yds.

The Weatherby Mark V is a completely different design. It WAS made by Howa when Mark Vs were produced in Japan. Mark Vs have been made in the US since 1996. US production restarted at the the Saco Defense plant in Saco, Maine. Saco Defense became a division of General Dynamics and was renamed GD Land Systems in 1999. General Dynamics decided to concentrate on military firearms production and Weatherby moved gave its production contract to Acrometal Inc, of Brainerd Minnesota in late 1999 or early 2000.

A phone call to Weatherby should confirm this.

[ 02-14-2003, 22:03: Message edited by: ksduckhunter ]