Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Vanguard VGL?

Anybody heard of that variation? What are the particulars? Is a 20" bbl and fiberglass stock standard on a VGL? What cals were they available in?
Also, is anybody experiencing the new trigger Wby says they are using on the Vanguard lineup?

Seen a B&C goat die to one in 1985, it was chambered in 30/06. They came in that and 243, 308 that I know of. That was a mid 80's gun, green stock. Unless it's returned.

Yes, green stock, no checkering, thin Wby buttpad. Cal is 270. Any hangups with Vanguards of that era?

The VGL was the deluxe version with a wood stock. I owned the Fiberguard in 270 WIn ..20" barrel and mickey(green) stock. The new weatherby trigger is a vast improvement over the old trigger. I think they tightened tolerances on them. The old ones had a sear adjustment that would not eliminate all creep and if it did the safety would not work. Eidted to add: they had a recall on the bolt you might want to run the serial # past Weatherby but no big deal to fix. If you find one that is clean I suggest you buy it. The stock alone is worth some money.

Nope, pretty much the same for quite awhile.

Slight correction; The VGL (Vanguard "Light") was the lightweight 20" carbine version of the full sized VGS (Vanguard Standard) 24" gun. Both had satin finished wood and metal work. The VGX was the deluxe version of the VGS with upgraded glossy wood with rosewood forend and grip caps and bright blueing. The Fiberguard was the synthetic version of the VGL with black or green fiberglass stocks (I think they were McMillan). The VGL and Fiberguards were available in .243, .308, .270, .30-06 & 7mm Rem Mag. The full sized rifles chambered these plus .22/250, .300 Win Mag & .338 Win Mag. In the early '90s these were all discontinued and replaced with the Vanguard Classics I & II and the Weatherguard which used the cheap azzed Ramline stock instead of the very nice fiberglass stocks of the Fiberguards. The 7mm-08 & .270 Wby & .300 Wby were added when they made the transition. All barrels were 24" from then on.
The first gun shop I worked at from '86 - '95 was a huge Weatherby dealer and the VGLs & Fiberguards were our biggest sellers and we were shocked when they discontinued the 20" guns. Turned out that they sold well ONLY in the South where we hunt primarily in tree stands where a short rifle is appreciated and were pretty much dead throughout the rest of the country.

I have an older wood stocked version.


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Neil

Starting to look more and more that one of these will follow me home. 20", 270 Win. Anybody have any accuracy reports on the short things? Trigger has been replaced with a Timney, is that a good thing or bad?

Good thing.

Guess I haven't paid much attention to Timney triggers. What makes them so good?
I do know the fackry Vanguard trigger I once had was junk, like a seven stage trigger. Rough too. Sold that one to my brother.
Again, any VGL 20" accuracy reports?

I reviewed one back in the 80's, chambered for 7mm Remington and it was a good shooter.
JW

I have a vgx in 22-250 and it's a great little rig. As usual everybody says the trigger's weren't good when it just takes a little tweakin' and they can be great.

Wanted to revive this thread as I just picked one up in 30-06.

Anyone using one of these?

Have a vgl in the wood stocked 20inch barrel in 308. Has served me well and is a joy to carry.

My Dad killed 50 or so elk with a VGX in 7mmRM, it was his only big game rifle for a long time. For a while, getting a cow tag was easy, and he filled most of the families tags.
Man, that thing sure had a nice piece of wood on it, and that deep bluing - I still think Weatherby's are some of the most beautiful rifles and Dad's 7mm is the reason why.

I have owned 2 vanguards a 80 s vintage vgx 243 which had gorgeous wood and a couple of years ago I had a synthetic 243. Both shot well but the older vgx was one of the best shooting rifles I have ever owned it would shoot dime sized groups at 100 yds. I should have stopped trading right there but noooo. I never killed nything but groundhogs with it though.
I would love to have had one of the vgl's with the green stocks in 308. A lgs had one for a while and I lusted after it but was poorer than Job's turkey at that time so no go for me.

I too, owned a beautiful VGX in .300 Winchester and let it slip when I was offered a lot more than I paid for it but it was a very good shooter and I took a few dozen animals with it, some at longish range.