Weatherby Vanguard Talon Bolt Action Rifle Review
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- A review of the Weatherby Vanguard Talon Bolt Action Rifle.
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Alright, I rarely comment but I have a few observations I would like to share. I am currently employed as a hunting guide and have been for several years. Before that I worked at a gun store and did a 2 year gunsmithing apprenticeship. I am not claiming to be an expert, but I do have some meaningful experience. First I would like to point out that I have not seen in person or found a review on RUclips yet of a 300 win mag or 300 PRC in lightweight hunting rifle that could shoot sub-moa with any consistency. Sure if you shoot enough 3 shot groups you’ll get a couple in there that are sub-moa but it won’t be normal. These calibers are powerful and hard on both the shooter and the rifle. That doesn’t mean you can’t hunt with them, moose and elk vitals are a hell of a lot bigger than 1 moa at the ranges you should be shooting at. I understand that it’s nice to have a sub-moa rifle, it’s a sign of quality for sure, but I do not believe that a sub 7 pound 300 win mag that won’t shoot sub-moa is really weatherby’s fault or the fault of most manufacturers in the backcountry rifle business for that matter. Nor have I ever seen that be a factor while guiding hunts. 99% of misses are the shooter’s bad judgement or lack of practice or both. Secondly, I have owned 4 weatherby rifles and 3 out of 4 were very accurate and the 4th was not as accurate as I wanted. I did not contact weatherby about this but instead opted to fix it myself. It was a Mark V weathermark in 6.5 cm. I removed the factory spot bedding, free floated it, and re-bedded the action with acraglas. It cost $40 and took an afternoon. It shoots very well now. I also learned not to put much pressure on the forend, digging into it definitely opened the groups up while letting it relax tightened the groups. None of this was a deal breaker for me and I would buy a weatherby again but I share because that might be a deal breaker for you. Thank you all and happy hunting.
I have this exact model in a 6.5 PRC and my experience had been great. All 3 factory loads I’ve tried have been sub moa almost every time. I don’t think Weatherby is overrated at all these days. They make very nice rifles at reasonable prices. I have 3 different vanguards and all have been superb in terms of accuracy and function.
I’ve seen enough videos from this guy to say his shooting is what the issue is. Blame the tool not the tool holder apparently.
@@MontanaWillie44he shoots sun half minute groups in like hundreds of videos but he’s a bad shot ok lol
@@mattc6015 cool story but doesn’t change anything. The videos he complains about the firearms, they all have high reviews. I’ve seen PLENTY of videos where he flinches. I get ¼” groups with a Mossberg Patriot that cost ⅓ of that rifle, which I also own in 6.5 PRC and get consistent 0.45-0.50 groups. What else ya got?
@@MontanaWillie44 every manufacture can make a lemon that doesn’t shoot and I’m glad you can shoot your patriot but price doenst determine accuracy on a rifle
@@mattc6015 still doesn’t change this guy has some bad shooting habits. Period. Bye now.
Appreciate the honest review. It’s unfortunate that you got one that is difficult to get to shoot! In my experience Weatherby vanguards have been outstanding! I like the lightweight attributes of this model. I believe it’s the best vanguard they have released yet. I picked one up for a great price and it shoots lights out! A great value for a lightweight rifle in my opinion!
I have the same rifle, 6.5 PRC and its been fantastic with ELD-X 143gr zeroing at 200yrds, but as you just said its a .300 hard to get a good group in light weight rifle, keep up the good work! Like your content brother ✌🏻
I have been buying Weatherbys for 60+ years being a collector and the quality has not kept up with their prices! I could see the quality slipping when Ed ran the show and then they moved to Wyoming and Adam has been guiding the company! The Vanguard is still a pretty good buy but the Mark 5 has dropped a lot in quality for the price they run! I have owned about 20 mark 5’s over the years and around a hundreds Vanguards and the Vanguard is one of the best values in their price range! Had met Roy a couple times since my old boss and the Duke were best friends and I can tell you Roy was WAY ahead of his time in the gun industry and was quite the business man and not so much with ED and Adam!
I love Howa and think that most Vanguards are good, but I believe weatherby fluted and maybe barreled this one. Of course, it has the howa barrel, reciever, and trigger from what I can tell. I agree.
The barrel is so thin you have to take a 20 minute break every 6 shots to let it cool down.
Modern mark V’s are the best hunting rifles the company has ever built. They are innovating for the first time in 50 years.
Excellent, honest review. Yes, Weatherby is very stingy with their CS. Even devout Weatherby fans on the Weatherby forum will admit this. What you stated about the range fee is true. Glad to see they spot bed these. You are the only person to cite this - thank you. My greatest concern with flat bottom receivers like these and M70’s is how well they retain consistent zero over time with their flat receivers and bedding.
My model 70’s have retained zero for years. Never even heard of someone talking about a flat bottom receiver having issues with that 😂
Great review, and good to know about the $200 fee for Weatherby customer service !
Glad it was helpful!
Looks like a rifle with great looks and features. But if it doesn’t shoot well or is that ammo picky then it might as well be a boat anchor. Also What terrible customer support from Weatherby and to be honest they ran off a customer here. That’s just ridiculous. And I’m sure they didn’t offer to pay for the ammo when they towed him to shoot it more.
That's interesting. Mine in 300 win mag shoots sub 1/2 MOA with Federal Terminal Ascent. With Partitions right around MOA. With ELD-x 180 and 200 closer to inch and a half. I would try the Terminal Ascent.
Keep us updated as time goes please!
In my experience, glass bedding these Howa/Weatherby rifles takes them from an MOA-ish rifle to sub MOA. Same is true for a lot of rifles. I don't even take a new rifle to the range until it's bedded properly. It's not hard to do and it's not expensive!
I looked at this rifle, as well as the Howa Carbon, Christianson, etc. Ended up with a Tikka lightweight, it needs nothing, great trigger, 1/2 inch groups with all 5 bullets I have tested
I’ve kind of noticed a trend 300 win mag seems to be a problem for some manufacturers I’m willing to bet if it was a prc cartridge or a more modern cartridge results would be better
I had an older version of this rifle (6.5CM) and had the same complaints: it's a nicely built rifle but the accuracy was just terrible. It was whippy, hard to control, and just inconsistent. I put up with it for much longer than I should have, partially because of Weatherby's horrible threat to charge me $200. The best decision I made was to sell it and upgrade to a Springfield Waypoint 2020 also 6.5CM. I'm going to miss the 2-stage trigger and 3-stage safety but that's about it. I'd never recommend this rifle. Speaking of the Waypoint, have you done a review yet?
I've had nothing but good experiences with both my Howa 1500 rifles. However, my Vanguard in 7mm Rem Mag just would not hold a zero. Removed the stock and found that the composite stock had warped under recoil. With such a high quality stock on this model, that doesn't seem plausible, but that 300 has a thump to her. IDK guys. Great video, as always!
Great Review Steve 💯💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
I have this exact rifle in 6.5 prc and it shoots everything moa or better.
I've found out you just have to talk to the right person there for customer service.
time I called about an accumark, a lady told me about the $200 range fee.
I called later and talked to a guy that told me to send it in, and no range fee if I was wrong. He said it needed to be sub moa in at least 2 of the weatherby factory loads.
I was mailed a box with a free shipping label, and they determined it needed a new barrel, and shortly after that it come back with a new barrel and great accuracy.
I have a lot of wby's, and about every friend and family member as well.
The one mentioned above was the only dud, and it was fixed for free.
Some shoot 1 hole accuracy.
The thing I seem to be noticing is that the super lite weight versions are the ones you focus on. They need to meet the accuracy guarantee, but for a mountain rifle, first shot from a cold bore needs to hit dead center every time more than group size.
The 90 shot advice was garbage, and I would file a complaint about that.
I'm a nobody, and got exceptional service, so I can't imagine you couldn't get the same. He just needs to call and ask for a shipping label.
Good review Bro, thumbs up
Much appreciated
I work at a gun shop and I can buy directly from Weatherby at 50% off. I own several Vanguards and I can tell you there are better rifles for equal or less cost.
I'd own a lot more than a few if I could get them 50% off.
Best rifles I know of for the money.
I agree. They are inconsistent.
I had the same issue last year with a 257 MKV. I drove myself crazy.Changed scope and mounts three times and started to question my own ability. I would print a pattern around the bullseye in about a 3 to 4 inch pattern. I then noticed I had acute copper fouling and with a bore scope this traveled the length of the barrel. I removed the copper with Breakthrough and if it is mild fouling I use JB bore paste. After removing the carbon and copper fouling I finally started shoot sub moa at around .75 with sst and Nosler BT bullets. I know about the 200 dollar charge to inspect the rifle and I myself also consider that unfair. I noticed as of late I am having issues with copper fouling this will effect accuracy, no doubt. I wonder if if is a manufacturing process or a cheaper alloy in the bullet, my guess a combination of both. I did talk with Weatherby about this failure and they agreed no copper in the barrel. I two have numerous MKV's and Vanguards that shoot lights out however I never had this acute failure with copper in the barrel before. This is just my experience Regards
Looks like the bolt was sticking. You can order them without the flutes barrels from the custom shop, and a little cheaper. There’s conflicting data, although I bet that deep fluted button barrel isn’t helping the accuracy.
Flutes help with cooling by increasing surface area. They do not effect the accuracy of the barrel.
@@Dave-cf2ng It also heats up faster, and has potential for bad barrel harmonics.
Flutes affect harmonics because they change the material composition of the barrel. Fluted barrels can be just as accurate as non-fluted, but they may be pushing the envelope my fluting and already thin barrel. I think there may be a reason most ultralight rifles don’t have flutes.
@@Snailz5 wrong. Don’t change barrel composition. Should should talk to a barrel maker, you have no idea what u r talking about.
I got no idea about the harmonics, although a button barrel can definitely open up when it comes to the bore. Especially with such a thin fluted barrel.
Have 5 of these between my buddy and me in different calibers and they all shoot sub .6 moa all day some stack
My backcountry 257 was the same BS and even higher cost. I ended up sending it off to rebarrel.
I have just bought a weatherby vanguard 30-06. What ammo do you recommend to get the best accuracy. I hunt white tail at about 200 yards normally
I got a 257 weatherby vanguard in the first lite edition only can get it to group with hand loads
300 win mag has a notoriously loose chamber. Some shoot amazing some don’t.
Huh? loose chamber? Most belted magnums headspace off the belt, unless a gunsmith built to headspace off the shoulder which gives it tighter tolerances but still requires fireforming. If you want to say some shoot and some don’t, that’s all rifles. The 300 win mag is not a loose chamber.
I agree 👍
They have a long freebore, but Weatherby cartridges also have a long freebore.
@@Dave-cf2ng I can’t explain it very well but reloading Weatherby did a great job explaining different chamber dimensions and tolerances. To be more specific the 300 win mag has loose tolerances in the space the bullet occupies when it starts to get shoved down the barrel. The 300 win mag had the loosest tolerances of any of the cartridges in his video.
@@chadperry4021 thats throating. Every rifle has different throating depending on the smith who did it
Kind of sounds like my ex wife, good to look at but don’t expect much out of it. I’ll stick with Browning x-bolts, have 3. All look great and perform like champs
I'll just stick with my old Howas and Vanguards because I haven't had any problems whatsoever with any of them.
Agreed
That's bullshit accuracy.. I have a Browning Abolt 300 win mag that's a tac driver with factory ammo.
Get off the bags. You and your friend could try shooting targets from field positions. Start at 100 and go to 300 using shooting sticks or whatever you would have available in the real hunt world. All my rifles are used this way and benchrest shooting isn’t what this rifle is made for. I like your review but seeing the satisfaction of a shooter who can consistently hit a pie plate at 200 yards is better that of a shooter that under ideal conditions can’t get a 1 inch group at 100. Hopefully you and your friend reload otherwise practice is pretty expensive. I shot a 2 inch 3 shot group
at 220 yards with my 308 a couple days ago using shooting sticks in the sitting position. The same rifle during sight in will gave me inch and a half groups at 100. You might find this rifle to be very good using a different shooting approach.
The weatherby fanboys ain’t gana like this one! Cause you know they all got 6 of these rifles and they all shoot .25 groups. 😄😅 FR tho that’s really shitty customer service.
I'm just reporting my experiences
Baha 😂. You called that one right! After this review, they’re all sitting in the corner, holding their Weatherby Boat anchor, wiping off the tears. I’ve had several Weatherby through the years some shot. Well, some didn’t. But inconsistency and terrible customer service is a dealbreaker, but we know them fanboys going to ride it out.
Nah... sometimes a rifle is just a lemon. His mistake for not getting it in 300 Weatherby 😃
@@ReloadingWeatherby lemon or not , doesn’t change the way weatherby handled the issues. I think most would be upset with them after purchasing and receiving this kinda customer service.
Ok I give up, what was the factory load that worked?
It was all factory loads
Yes I got that, asking you which factory load worked in that rifle
What is a zero settling in? Never heard of that
There isnt, thats why.
@@SuperJeanq I guess you couldn’t hear the sarcasm
I'm referring to the barrel getting fouled in all the way and getting more broken in. Generally, I notice a rifle gets more accurate, and the poi becomes more consistent as it's shot over a long period of time.
You seem to have a "knack" or way of always finding fault with top tier items. If people would scroll through your videos. They would see, you love cheap, so-so items, but never like expensive items. The high dollar items always seem to have major flaws. But the garbage items seem to somehow be better than you ever imagined. And your videos prove that...!!! I'll make a thousand dollar bet with you. I'll buy a brand new Weatherby mount a scope and me and you will go to the range, you bring your favorite rifle. And the bet is I'll outshoot you. 100 yards. Weatherby rifles are expensive. But you get what you pay for. Tikas are cheap rifles. Sako's are expensive. Ask around very few Sako's are not hair splitters. Same with Weatherby's. You want accuracy and a hair splitter. Tell your buddy to save his pennies next time and buy the big brother ""Weatherby" "not a vanguard. Same as Tikka and Sako. Money talks and bullshyte walks. I've owned and own both Weatherby's and vanguards and all of them are shooters. But I don't have a twitch and an issue with high dollar items. Why you do is for a psychiatrist to figure out. It's always something with you and top tier gear. But bring out a Mossberg rifle and it shoots lights out, 1/2 moa ...!!! Go figure. I should of listened to you and got a Mossberg instead.
Sure buy an off the shelf mark V hunting rifle and use factory ammo and we can go shootout. I don't bet money though so no money involved. You seem like a weatherby lover though. I actually recommend Fierce, Sako and Seekins Precision often. Truth is given sample sizing I have had WAYYYYY more issues with expensive rifles verses budget rifles. I can't change the facts. My most recommended rifles are: Ruger American for budget, Howa for mid-tier, Springfield, Sako and Seekins Precision for top tier. I recommend tikka sometimes. However, I have mostly stopped recommending Fierce, Christensen and Weatherby due to issues with either customer service and or the rifle. I don't really recommend Remington, Bergara and rarely Savage. FYI I hunt with a Fierce and Weatherbuy regularly. That said I cannot in good faith recommend them due to issues.
Brands that I have had major issues with:
Bergara
Weatherby Mark V
Christensen
I probably do hold rifles over $1000 in price to a higher standard but not that much.
@@Bullets4Bucks This is going to hurt your feelings, but you must be 150 years old to have experience behind all those rifles and hunts. Lol , I think we're seeing the true you now. I'm guessing you're under 50 as of now. Probably under 40. You must have Teerth on a Savage rifle. I'm 64 and can't claim what you are claiming. That's a hell of a lot of hunts and rifles to have experience behind. Where did you get the money from to have a different rifle every hunt? Lol I had at most #2 rifles for deer hunting, same rifles for hog hunting and #1 Weatherby 30-378 for everything else. You must have a Shiek or multi-millionaire father. I'm a self-made man myself, but never had that much to throw around. Just setting up #1 Weatherby was $5000.00 and even to me that's a lot of money on a rifle. Plane trip, outfitter, licenses, etc. etc. Adds up in a hurry. Mounting, tips, flying the meat home, it gets expensive. Real fast, real quick. Glad to know you are so blessed. Hope you nothing but the best on your next hundred hunts. It's no wonder you're such an authority on everything outdoors. Hope you nothing but the best on your next hundred hunts. Peace.
Weatherby is overrated now days. I really like that stock as well, and the action. Although, I wouldn’t buy one from them.
Definitely not overrated these days. They have been keeping up with the times as well as anybody and making some of the nicest factory rifles and shotguns one can buy at the price points I own 4 all from recent years and they are excellent firearms. Underrated and relatively unnoticed if anything these days…
Just like the issues he’s had in this video, and with his other Weatherby. I’ve also had issues with one in recent times. Everyone has their own opinion. Although most would agree, for the money, most would choose a different rifle.
@@jacksonthomas9311Absolute truth. They've always been underrated.
@@jacksonthomas9311
Okay fan boy. Go sit in the corner with your weatherby boat anchor and cry it out!
I agree. I’ve owned several over the years and they are inconsistent. After hearing how terrible the customer service is on several occurrences, including this review, I think anyone with half a brain would buy something else based on that alone. Especially knowing they’re a lot better options for the money.
It's the shooter not the rifle.
Lol
Not a fair review with ghetto optic
It's like an 800 dollar scope
This guy is an idiot, and obviously a fanboy.
He just can’t shoot. Simple fix
Lol I may not be good but I'm not as bad as this gun was
I would take that back to wherever you got it from and this is why nobody buys piece of shit ass vanguard couldn't pay me to care one I'll stick to the real gun mark vl deluxe