Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New Rifle Choice: Weatherby Vanguard S2 Range Certified vs Browning Xbolt Medallion

Does the X bolt possess the same incomprehensibly complicated, Rube-Goldberg bolt assembly? Hell, even a 700 was better than that POS.

Just 19 parts to the X-Bort bolt, so over twice as many as a 700...

And they kept the vulnerable trigger linkage wire...

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I very much disliked my brother's Browning 338.

So, y'all don't have OIL up there?
(Or enough sense to keep your guns dry?)

For $1200.00 bucks you could buy two used Tikka T3s and be ahead of the game......

Well, I'll try once more. My post did not mention Browning Abolt comparisons with Weatherby's. I asked about comparing Browning "Xbolts" to Weatherby's, not "Abolts". I get it, some of you don't like Abolts. My experience with Abolts has been positive, but lets stay with the original post:

Browning Medallion XBOLT 30.06 vs. Weatherby Vanguard S2 Range Certified 30.06.

Keeping guns dry in Kodiak literally means staying inside... hard to shoot much from inside.

Kodiak is also an Island and the saltwater is especially tough on guns. A-Borts do not get treated any worse than any other and they are the ones that fail.

Wax works far better than oil and adding oil atop the wax is the standard. But any metal contact points will wear the protectant off and it will usually rust starting there.

Feel free to be smug, but you have no clue what real weather is about if you think staying inside is an option. Many hunts would not even get started if you have to wait for a dry day and even on dry days there is salt spray from the boat.

And again, the metallurgy is suspect on many, but not all, A-Borts. If they survive a hard week it is unlikely they will ever be a problem that way. I would suggest over a quarter fail in the first week.

X-Bolts still have a ridiculous Rube Goldberg bolt and the "weak" link in the trigger...

Between those two, no contest: Weatherby Vanguard, preferably in stainless.

Both the Weatherby and the Browning seem good rifles. My own preference would be the Browning, but really it will come down to which one you prefer the feel and features on.

On the A-Bolts, my own has been used in dusty conditions - spent days covered in fine red dust in fact. It has had times when it has been out in rain for a solid week at a time too. Nearly 20 years of use, and truckloads of game, but yet I've never had a problem with the trigger, or any other problems with function. I don't baby it either.

Buy the Vanguard2, but don't spend the extra money on the RC version.

I know if doesn't address your question, but I can't see that the higher price equals greater value for the RC when compared to the standard Vanguard2. Vanguard2s are great shooters OOTB and for the $500+/- difference, you could buy a McMillan stock or you could opt for a B&C Medalist from Stocky's and still have around $200+/- left in your pocket. Can't think of a good reason to spend money when you don't have to or when you could spend the same amount of money and come out ahead.

My general gripe with Browning is that they will catalog a particular configuration, make a few hundred units, and discontinue without notice. The only post-FN Browning that I've wanted in years was a Ti Mountain Rifle in 25 WSSM. Never could find one at wholesale or one at retail with a price that made it worth owning.

S2 SS is a nice unit.

If they have an issue, it's weight.

Add a McM Hunters Edge and you got something. This will increase the cost, but not that bad if you can do your own stock work.

Still a heap of gun for the buck...

DF

No such thing as a good lightweight Vanguard... The actions are too heavy and adding a pencil thin barrel does not make matters better. They are great for mid-weight-range rifles.

Well, a Hunters Edge has to take some pork out of the equation...

I don't like ultra light guns with pencil barrels, anyway. 8#'s all up doesn't bother me a bit.

DF

And that is because Louisiana is flat... and walking distances are not usually great...

Not all flat, but not as steep as some other places.

Piney woods hills to the North, Delta hardwoods along the rivers, coastal planes, swamp and marsh as one nears the Gulf. Now, down there it's real flat for sure...

DF

I never said I haven't used one. I have shot quite a few of them. My neighbors brings me his every season so I can fix it and get it sighted in for the next hunt. It quit on us during an elk hunt this past season, finished the hunt with my backup rifle.

I only said that I have never OWNED one and never will. Browning is mostly concerned with aesthetics, not performance and reliability.

I don't know where you live or what you hunt but I know they can't handle the Arizona dust and according to Sitka deer, they can't handle Alaska's weather either.

I have one hunter whose bolt wouldn't cock due to dust in the trigger. I told him to just hang it in a tree and we would pick it up at the end of the day and he could use my rifle. He did and we did. When we got back to the ATV I used oil from the dipstick to soak the trigger just to show him what had happened. Worked fine then. I tanked it when We got back to my shop and it continued to work. I don't have to clean my other triggers every year. I have some rifles that haven't had the action out of the stock in 50 years and the triggers still work EVERY time.

That sounds exactly like my experiences with Remington 700 triggers.

I'm not a big fan of either rifle on topic. The Vanguard is far too heavy to lug up where we find the big bucks, and that weight also makes them slower handling, but granted steadier.

Yeah, weight is about the most commonly heard issue with the Vanguard.

For a lighter rifle, I'd consider a Tikka way before considering an A-Bort or an X-Bolt.

DF

With thousands of days spent with a 700 in hand and many more with others packing 700s I am still waiting for the first failure to operate. So when someone claims numerous events I have to wave "that" flag...

My testing of every trigger group I could find found I could screw up every single one of them and the 700 fared no worse than the rest. The 70 did not technically hang in the top 50% yet it gets all the hot chicks...