Weatherby Vanguard deluxe

[daddio202]

I just had to post a few pictures of one of my prized rifles. My Weatherby Vanguard deluxe in .243. They recently quit making them in .243 win so I am glad I bought this one a few years ago. One of the very few brand new guns I have bought. I am just a sucker for the beautiful wood and gloss blue. I need to get it out soon for a hog hunt down here in Florida. I just won an auction on GB for a Mark V in .270 wby mag and have always wanted the premier flagship of Weatherby. I will have to post some pictures of that when it comes. Anybody else own a Vanguard? Seems the mark v is the most talked about gun over on the Weatherby forum but the vanguard is basically same gun without any extra niceties or bells and whistles. My vanguard is so accurate at 100 yards it is basically boring to shoot it at targets so a hog ought to spice up my shooting. Thanks for looking

 

[The Norseman]

Vanguard

Thank you for Sharing your Story and Pictures
of your Weatherby Vanguard 243 Win. caliber.

The Weatherby Rifle has always been synonymous
with Great Rifles. Weatherby's History is interesting.

That really is one nice Rifle you have there.

Show us your new Weatherby when you get it.

Oh...tell us how your Hog Hunt went also.

 

[BearBio]

I have a Vanguard in 338 Win Mag I bought just before they moved his shop from Southgate, CA. Taken a couple of elk with it and it's a comfort in grizzly country.

It has the Howa action=basic Mauser design.

 

[beagleye]

Is that Miroku made?

 

[daddio202]

Is that Miroku made?

Yes, made in Japan.

 

[M29since14]

The Vanguard action is NOTHING like a Mark V, which you’ll see as soon as your .270 Mark V arrives. But still, the Vanguard is a very nice rifle and I hear a lot of good things about them. Thanks for showing us your rifle and let us know what you think of your Mark V when you receive it.

 

[mauser9]

Thanks for sharing with us. Refreshing to see nice black/claro walnut these day and a nice high polish bluing. I for one would rather browse the used gun racks today for the older well made models than buy some of the "budget models" of today. Often can be had for reasonable prices and lightly used.

 

[6518John]

Love those old-school Weatherby's!

Drop one of these behind Mr. Piggee’s ear and he will be in that great hog wallow in the sky before he hits the ground.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/243-win-95-gr-sst-superformance#!/

 

[M29since14]

Thanks for sharing with us. Refreshing to see nice black/claro walnut these day and a nice high polish bluing. I for one would rather browse the used gun racks today for the older well made models than buy some of the "budget models" of today. Often can be had for reasonable prices and lightly used.

I would ten-times rather have an old ABC Remington 700 in decent condition than any of the economy bolt guns I see in the stores today. Or a post-64 Winchester Model 70, for that matter. Those can often be found at bargain prices.

Sorry for the thread drift, OP, and looking forward to your report on your inbound Mark V.

 

[Farmer17]

I had a Vanguard in .223 with a Leupold VXI 4-12X and it would shoot dime size groups all day long with cheap Remington 50 round Value Pack ammo. It had a perfect 3-1/2 lb factory trigger but I got rid of it because I got board with plastic stocks but would love to have the Vanguard Deluxe with some beautiful wood.

 

[diyj98]

Is that Miroku made?

The Vanguard is actually made by Howa, not Miroku.

 

[CH4]

The Vanguard is actually made by Howa, not Miroku.

Yep, a Howa with lipstick. They are a good rifle, but definitely not a Weatherby Mark V, the Vanguard/Howa is Weatherby’s value line. Howa has made rifles for many manufactures, e.g., Weatherby, Mossberg, S&W, to name a few. Another example is Rock Island Armory/Armscor, who makes their own 1911s as well as providing 1911s and or components to other firearms manufacturers who put their names on them.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In the Mid 80's I bought 3 Weatherby Vanguards, at that time the Deluxe had no fore end embellishment, and the top of the line was the VGX. It had a rosewood fore end and grip cap with white spacers at the fore end grip cap and recoil pad. These were standard action length (30-06) or short action (308). The VGX's appeared to be miniature Mark V rifles and magnum length cartridges were not available. So my 375 H&H was a very plane Mark V (satin stock, satin wood no inlays). But laying a Mark V bolt next to a standard length bolt there was about 2 to 2 1/2 inch difference!. I sold my VGX 22-250 Bull barrel (8.5 pounds), gave the VGX 270 Win (7.5 pounds) as a gift to my pastor, and sold my Mark V 375 H&H (9.5 pounds!). I still have my VGX 300 Win Mag (7.5 pounds) I had the barrel Mag-Na-Ported in 1985 and had them install Williams Iron sights at the same time. That gun's favorite ammo is Federal Premium 200 grain made with Sierra GameKings! When I was younger (1986) I zeroed the sights and scope with that ammo. About 20 years ago I was at the club's 100 yard range and shot 2 consecutive offhand 3 shot groups of 3/4". About 6 years ago I took the 3-9x30mm Veri-X compact off (my favorite scope in my youth and replaced and rezeroed using the same ammo. (The new scope for old eyes is a 4.5-14x40 Veri-X III) My strength wasn't up to trying offhand shooting but I'm still getting 1/2-3/4 inch groups off the bench!

Ivan

 

[Eric300]

Very nice looking rifle, but you'll like the MKV better when you get it. No comparison. My brother in Az has the Wby MKV .270 mag with factory installed MB and uses it for Elk and Mule Deer. It'll shoot sub MOA all day. I had the MKV AccuMark in .300 WBY Mag but didn't need that much rifle for the little rifle hunting that I do. So, I got me the MKV AccuMark in .30-06 Springfield. It's a sub MOA rifle as well!

 

[OldChief]

I also have a Vanguard in .243 (6mm) and it's a real pleasure to shoot, especially when it consistently produces sub 1" groups at 100.

It has been quite a while since I've had it to the range but here's a target from Sept. of 10.

 

[JJEH]

Love Weatherby, read the book and love everything about it.

I do have a Vanguard in .308 and think about selling it. What I do want is a Mark V Deluxe in .257WBY.... old school.

 

[The_Truth]

257 Weatherby Magnum is a really interesting cartridge to me. I would love to have one.

 

[ruger 22]

My brother was very much into Weatherby rifles in the 1960's and 1970's. He had most of the MarkV's available then and loved them. The Vanguards came out in the late '60's-early 70's and were made in standard, non-Weatherby calibers at lower prices than the MarkV's. The actions are very different. The MarkV is beefier but the Vanguard is more than strong enough for any caliber it is chambered for. Both models had gorgeous stocks and rich bluing which was a Weatherby hallmark. I cannot speak to the new Weatherby rifles of today, but the ones I have shot were all superbly accurate. You will absolutely love your .270WM, but make sure you have adequate eye relief for your scope since all Weatherby calibers above .224 are very stout kickers.

 

[mauser9]

Always drooled over that LazerMark with the beautiful wood engraving. Stocks and bluing were top notch.

 

[JJEH]

I read the book cover to cover and admire Mr. Roy Sr. very much. He was an advocate of the light bullet / high velocity theory and despite being laughed at (or just simply dismissed), kept on going to prove his theory. He wanted quality and defined the word "deluxe" when it came to rifle stocks. His rifles acclaimed worldwide success, despite being (way) more expensive than competitors.

I have several of his "Tomorrow's Rifles Today" catalogs (thanks to Cornell Publications - World's Largest Old Gun Catalog & Manual Reprinter) and love having his knowledge at my fingertips.

Here's some pictures:

Seems like Mr. Roy Jr. did good too and Adam Weatherby is still doing very good and even recently relocated from Paso Robles, CA to Sheridan, WY. I love their products but unfortunately they went away from this old school "diamond furniture" to plain wood. And they make more plastic now too...

Pretty sure anything is possible through their custom shop though.