And it's a genuine Weatherby to boot. It was everything Weatherby adherents say their rifles are, and maybe a little more. The action uses Weatherby's "three rings of steel" lock-up (the cartridge's case head is surrounded by the boltface, which is ringed by the barrel, which is surrounded by the machined steel receiver), and the bolt has a fluted body. The 120-grain Partition loading is a good selection for caribou, elk, and moose, and it's also a fine choice for a do-all loading in the .257, at least according to one hunter I know who has done a lot of hunting with the cartridge. The next day I shot a very respectable 14-plus-inch prong- horn at 257 yards. Weatherby guarantees that all the Series 2 Vanguards will shoot sub-MOA with Weatherby ammo or with premium ammo. If we lower the price of an item to a certain level, we can only show that price in the cart. With a barrel length of only 20 inches it’s the shortest of the Vanguard series, making it much more maneuverable and also a tad lighter than the rest of the pack. Why is the trigger important? Monday, February 6, 2012. The Vanguard Series 2 is taking a rather unorthodox approach to triggers on the modern hunting rifle—it comes with a two-stage trigger. Well, with the latest Vanguard, the Series 2, Weatherby has worked out those kinks and added a couple of other upgrades. Review: Weatherby Vanguard® Series 2 Back Country .30-06 Rifle. Our deer season opens three days from when I am writing this and I have this rifle zeroed and ready to go hunting. 2-contour, fluted barrel. The bolt body is fluted. The average of nine, three-shot groups was .994 inch at 100 yards. As the barrel and action are made by Howa (my .270 is a sub 3/4″ shooter), I believed that the shooting characteristics would be excellent…and I wasn’t disappointed. The buttstock, of course, has the Weatherby raised comb Monte Carlo design. ; stage-two pull weight 2.5 lbs.Stock: injection-molded synthetic with rubber inserts; Monte Carlo style; length of pull 135/8"; drop at heel 5/8"; drop at comb 1"Overall Length: 44.5 inches Weight: 7 lbs., 8 ozs. This Vanguard Series 2 rifle is the new Range Certified model that comes with a certificate proving the rifle’s accuracy downrange. The Vanguard Series 2 Synthetic is chambered for Magnum rounds, and it's also available in "standard" cartridges, in a total of 16 available chamberings. Weatherby Vanguard. Many praise its accuracy and durability even over time. 211091. But I did my own accuracy evaluation using four factory loads: Hornady's 90-grain GMX loading, Weatherby's 100-grain TSX, Weatherby's 115-grain Ballistic Tip, and Weatherby's 120-grain Partition. Best rifle I've got. David Fortier talks with Jeff Hoffman of Black Hills Ammunition about the evolution of the .308 Win. Back locks the gun on safe. The new stock has what Weatherby calls Griptonite inserts in the injection-molded stock to provide a better gripping surface at the fore-end and pistol grip. There are several variations of the Vanguard Series 2, which include the Synthetic Package, Synthetic Combo, Synthetic Youth, Carbine, Varmint Special, Synthetic DBM, Stainless Synthetic, Sporter, Sporter DBM, Deluxe, RC (Range Certi- fied), and RC Varmint. The trigger is very nice and Its all I … Flat trajectories make shooting at distance easier to remember. I found that the transition and learning curve for a two-stage was just about non-existent. And he should know based on his extensive use of the cartridge in the hunting fields. Weatherby Vanguard Review. Generally speaking, the 100-grain loads are good choices for smaller whitetails and pronghorn antelope. Weatherby Vanguard MK 2 Rifle Review Details Wednesday, 17 October 2012 Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 - Thanks to a regular American client of mine I have had the opportunity to take a closer look at the new Weatherby Vanguard Series 2. Get the American Hunter Insider newsletter for at-a-glance access to industry news, gear, gun reviews, videos and more—delivered directly to your Inbox. 175 Gr. As for my accuracy results, the chart gives the pertinent details. (tested); 15 chamberings from .223 Rem. I did the three-shot groups to verify Weatherby's accuracy guarantee, and I fired five-shot groups for my own satisfaction. Factory ballistics with the 80-grain Barnes TSX show a muzzle velocity of 3870 fps from a 26-inch barrel. The trigger on my test rifle uses 8 ounces to complete the first stage. Specs:weatherby.comType: bolt-action centerfire rifleCalibers: .257 Wby. Overall, I’m extremely pleased with Weatherby’s newest Vanguard. As for trajectory, the .257 Weatherby is as flat-shooting as they come. The ejector is a spring-loaded plunger in the bolt face. Overall, the 115-grain Ballistic Tip loading turned in the best average group accuracy at 1.21 inches, but the 100-grain TSX load was just 0.04 inch bigger. But, finally, they made the Vanguard truly a “Weatherby” rifle, at least in the eyes of a lot of consumers. So they started isolating these rifles and selling them with a 1 MOA accuracy guarantee. Anyway, I'm just going to keep that vintage box of ammo right here on my desk in front me as a reminder that good things do come to those who wait. The Series 2 is available in blued or stainless steel and in 15 different cartridges. My best five- shot group came with the 115-grain loading and measured exactly 1.00 inch. Roy Weatherby was a very smart man and he recognized that he was missing a big market by pricing his rifles past the means of the average hunter. It's been almost 35 years, but now I have one! The list price on my rifle was $435.00, a mere $36.00 increase over what I paid for my old rifle…and that was three years ago. Before I get to them, I'll just mention that last year when Shooting Times conducted a multiple- sample budget bolt-action rifle shootout, Weatherby's Vanguard scored very highly among the six value-priced, synthetic-stocked bolt actions. Hello, As the title states, I was pretty set on a Weatherby Vanguard S2 in .308, the 24" barrel version. Three critical aspects of any rifle cartridge are recoil, trajectory, and energy. The “M.O.A.” is being replaced this year by the “Range Certified” Vanguard, with the same accuracy guarantee and a target proving it, signed by Ed Weatherby. I wanted it because it was billed as being extremely flat shooting and packing a real punch on game at all kinds of distances. That’s a flat-shooting cartridge and a worthy companion for the new Vanguard Series 2 rifle. I fixed my rifle with a replacement Timney trigger. I’ll be honest. Roger Whitchurch, Weatherby's quality control inspector, had a lot to do with the new trigger's design, and he told me Weatherby went with the two-stage trigger for safety reasons. The accepted level of energy for quick, clean kills on deer is 1,000 ft-lbs, and the .257 Weatherby has that all the way out to 600 yards. (In fact, I've had that box of ammo for about 30 years, and I haven't lost it during seven moves.) The synthetic models have a MSRP of $649. Specifically, the company says, "Weatherby Van- guard Series 2 rifles are guaranteed to shoot a three-shot group of 0.99 inch or less at 100 yards (sub-MOA) when used with specified Weatherby factory or premium ammunition.". According to the book Weatherby, The Man, The Gun, The Legend, the .270 and .300 Weatherby were the first of the proprietary cartridges offered in the Vanguard, and that was 18 years after introduction, in 1988. I was not a huge fan of two-stage triggers in general and certainly not on a big-game rifle. My finger is already holding the half pound of the first stage and with 2.5 more pounds of pressure the gun goes bang. Since its introduction in 1944 the .257 has been a top-selling cartridge for Weatherby. The original Vanguard by Weatherby was a fine rifle by nearly every measure, but the trigger wasn’t very good and the bedding between the action and stock could be spotty. Target shooters have been using two-stage triggers forever, but they have not been popular with hunters. Mag.Barrel: 24 inches; hammer-forged rifling; 1:10” RH twistMagazine: hinged floorplate; 3-round capacity Sights: none, drilled and tapped for scope Trigger: two-stage; stage-one pull weight .5 lb. This rifle has a 9" twist, 24" No.