Rolled Out On: 5/23/2007 4:59 PM

Yes!

The Weatherby Vanguard is a rebranding of the Howa 1500 action, which was also sold under the S&W banner for a while. I think the Howa 1500 is one of the best-kept secrets in bolt action rifledom. A friend has two (a Howa and a Weatherby) in 270 that shoot like mofos. The trigger pack can be swapped out with a Timney for under $80.

That said, you are paying about $50-75 over a Howa for the privilege of wearing the Weatherby name. Amortized over the lifespan of the rifle, I think an extra $75 is negligible, and it will give the rifle higher resale value if you lose your frickin' mind and sell it.

30-06 is also God's Own Caliber, and will serve you well. Get some good glass (I think the fixed power Weavers have the best price/performance ratio) and don't skimp on the rings (I like vertically split steel Warne QD rings, $40 or so).

Rolled Out On: 5/29/2007 4:22 PM

Looks like a mighty long bull barrel on the thing--thus, it'll weigh a ton. Nice for bench/stand shooting, but you might not want to pack this thing. Something about the pic makes it look to me like the blue on the barrel is pretty rough, too--course a guy who'd lean his rifle against a brick wall, muzzle nestled into a nice sandy mortar joint probably doesn't worry much about a little nick here or there. The big question is what does it look like inside--if he/she hasn't taken any better care of the bore than the outside, well, that might be a real issue. You definitely need to have someone physically look it over for head-spacing and bore condition. If it's in decent, not perfect shape (like Century or SOG would say, "vg" condition) that seems like a good price.