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I did not know until recently that the receiver is investment cast but the bolt is forged.



Sako Extractor or RIfle?

I have a recent vanguard in 30-06, shoots 3/4" groups fairly easy and handles well. I like the two stage trigger and one piece bolt. IMO great rifles for the money.

Am I the only guy left who likes some heft in a rifle. One pound in a rifle does not make it unpackable but it sure helps from getting the snot knocked out of you every time you pull the trigger. A 30-06 in a light rifle will catch most people’s attention quick. A heavier wood stocked one seems to help quite a bit. Edk

I'm certainly not afraid of an SS Vanguard as a general-purpose hunting rifle, especially with the HACT 2-stage trigger. I put a new trigger spring in an SS 257Wby a couple years ago and it makes for a solid rifle with good ergonomics. Shoots well with 115gr Partitions and is my main "loaner" rifle for friends and family.

Does Weatherby offer the V2 in SS now? I haven't seen one in SS in any of the local gun shops, but have seen a couple of the Weatherguards with the gray Cerakote finish.

Not JPro but no they do not.

Sadly, I think SS is no longer offered. Just fancy spray paint.

The receivers are forged according to Brownells.

The new wyoming models are way better rifles. Check one out. They blow the original and the v2 California crap away.

They are not forged anymore just the bolt. You showed Howa specs and that might be dated.


They might be assembled in Wyoming. What is the serial number prefix ?

The ONLY reason I don't have a Vanguard/Howa (or two) is that they refuse to make them lefty. I pretty much like everything else about them.

In what specific ways are the Wyoming Vanguards better than those made when Weatherby's HQ was in California?

Options, stocks, bolt shroud don't have the huge red and white painted dots for fire and safe, better trigger to name a few. The new stuff in Sheridan is the best stuff they've ever put out. But remember, it's an opinion. I've bought enough stuff from weatherby to tell the difference. At least from my perspective.

All my vanguards were the older S1 models........

Damgud values then.......accurate buggers too.

I have the newer 2 stage trigger on a Howa. That was a good idea.

I had one of the early, really pretty, Vanguards, a VGX(?) if I remember correctly. It was in 30-06 and was as accurate as it was pretty. Years of hunting with it took some of the pretty off of it, but that thing remained really accurate! Had others as well over the years and the fact I don't have one at the moment, is no reflection on the rifle at all.

VGX
Mine is before that, but the same.

As you have correctly stated, the new Sheridan Vanguard Griptonite stock design is light years ahead of any synthetic stock design offered during the Atascadero/Paso Robles era!

Weatherby has been putting the Griptonite stocks on the V2 since at least 2014 and AFAIK they didn't move to Wyoming until 2019.

I'd agree that the pre-Griptonite synthetic stocks weren't nearly as good a design as the Griptonies.

Catalog 74 2022-2023

https://www.brownells.com/order-a-catalog/

The newest catalog I have, 2022, says the receiver is machined, which can mean several things of course. That said, I see no signs of casting on the Carbon Mini I bought not long ago, so perhaps it's machined from a billet of some sort, type of billet unknown.

Tests of the receivers of Ruger 77s showed they were stronger than others machined from bar stock, but any of the common production methods can produce good actions. Wayne York of oregunsmithingllc says that Howas are very precisely made, and works with them a good bit for his customs. They are not, IME, the smoothest actions out of the box, but they’ve been otherwise trouble-free for me, and I appreciate the combination of traditional configuration and modest price, whether Howa-branded or Vanguard. Like many others, I wish the SS versions they sell in OZ were available here, but that’s likely the decision taken by Legacy, the importer.