Weatherby's Vanguard vs Remington SPS

[Davidc]

Had a look at both of these in 308. There is not much of a price difference. Which one to buy and why?

[ikor]

The Weatherby is just a Howa in dress blues. The Remington is a very low end 700. Me, I like the Mauser extractor better...I'd go with a Howa...err...Weatherby.

[herbdelong]

The Weatherby, as we tested them at the small arms training unit when I was in the US Navy, for possible competitive rifles, would not group in a bucket. The Remington may be a little low end, but it will out shoot the Vanguard and will have a nicer trigger. The Remington 700 in .308 out shot all .30 calibers at 1000 yards, with all loaded with the same 190 grain BTH bullets. Next closet thing to the .308 was the 30-06 and the .308 shot 1/2 the group of the 30-06 at 1000 yards. We tried all .30 calibers, including the Weatherby .300 magnum, the 30-338, 300 Winchester Mag, 300 H & H, etc... Then we built our sniper rifles for the Marines to use in Viet Nam from .308 Remington rifles. Weatherbys are prettier though?

[cerop]

The Weatherby, as we tested them at the small arms training unit when I was in the US Navy, for possible competitive rifles, would not group in a bucket. The Remington may be a little low end, but it will out shoot the Vanguard and will have a nicer trigger. The Remington 700 in .308 out shot all .30 calibers at 1000 yards, with all loaded with the same 190 grain BTH bullets. Next closet thing to the .308 was the 30-06 and the .308 shot 1/2 the group of the 30-06 at 1000 yards. We tried all .30 calibers, including the Weatherby .300 magnum, the 30-338, 300 Winchester Mag, 300 H & H, etc... Then we built our sniper rifles for the Marines to use in Viet Nam from .308 Remington rifles. Weatherbys are prettier though?

Hey chop, great post. Why not go and tell us a little more about yourself in the Introductions thread.

[buffalo soldier]

Interesting herbdelong. I manage to shoot sub-moa (100m) with my 2009 Vanguard Sporter .30-06 from the box with Highland SX ammo 150gr sporting a Leupold VX1 4-12x40. A hunting buddy manages sub-moa (100m) with his Vanguard in .300 Win Mag with 180gr handloads. 1.5 inch groups over 200m. 1000 Yards is in anyway not nearly a reasonable distance over which to hunt. Weatherby guarentees accuracy out of the box. The Vanguard was first introduced in 1970 (dont know when [Viet Nam] ended or when the marines decided on getting new sniper rifles) and has been nearly unchanged on the market eversince. Absolutely nothing wrong with a Mod 700 Remmington; butI love my Weatherby. Davidc, I have experience with Rem Mod 700 CDL and Wby Vanguard, you can rest assured with either rifle...but I love my Weatherby.

[ArnoG26]

I also lean towards the Weatherby. They look like well priced rifles. I'm def getting one next year.

[cerop]

For me it's a toss up between a Remi 700 SPS and a Tikka T3. I would have liked to have everything custom, but it just seems a whole lot easier (from a licensing point of view) to get a complete rifle one shot.

[Richard83]

I have a Weatherby Vanguard 30-06, it shoot tight groups. The only complaint is the stock is a bit flimsy. I am going to change it to a Bell and Carlson medalist early next year. I looked at the Remington 700 SPS and at the time of buying the Weatherby and found some reliability issues on posts on the internet. It also come to what was available for me at the time of purchase.

[krobar]

I went through the same questions a while back.
The Remington 700 is a well proven rifle. I recall them also offering an accuracy guaruntee, but I speak under correction, since I can't access their website due to a firewall on my side. The Remington has a very distinct bolt lever, which you'll recognise in plenty of movies, since its very popular as a sniper rifle in .308 WM. I wanted a wood stock when I bought, so the SPS wasn't for me.
The Vanguard is a pretty rifle, and I know some guys swear by their Weatherby's, but my personal panel of expert friends steered me away from buying one. I would never have heard then end of it if I had bought one.
The Savage was also an option, but when it got time for me to buy, I couldn't find one to test.
I bought the Tikka, simply because I had always wanted one and it sat very nicely in my shoulder and had the smoothest action I have ever felt.

[cerop]

the smoothest action I have ever felt.

I hear this a lot about the Tikkas...