allstajacket
WKR
So there hasn't been much chatter on the new(ish, 2023) Weatherby Vanguard Talon, so I figured I'd do a brief range report after my first trip with it today. I did not go in with the objective of running it through its paces, as I had other tasks like checking my hunting hand loads for this upcoming deer season, and getting a bit more trigger time on my .300 win mag before my Elk trip next month. I simply wanted to put a few rounds through it to get a feel for the rifle.
Rifle Info:
weatherby.com
TL;DR its a vanguard with a threaded, spiral-fluted barrel, cerakoted, with a Peak44 carbon fiber stock. (Same stock found on the Mark V Backcountry rifles. MSRP is $1599. I was able to find mine for under $1150 shipped utilizing gun.deals.
This one is in 6.5 Creedmoor (or as I typically called it 6.5 manbunn)
The optic is a Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15x42, mounted in Talley lightweight rings.
*Disclaimer - I have always hated on the 6.5 round. I may be sold on it now, HOWEVER, my 300 mag will still be my primary Elk rifle..
I tried two different types of ammunition, PSA's AAC 140gr Soft Point (which I believe to be loaded with Hornady Interlock) and Remington 140gr Core Lokt. I also have some factory Sierra Gameking, but I did not have time to try it.
Both the AAC and Remington were able to produce sub-MOA 3-shot groups without any cooling time between rounds, and about 10 minutes between groups. I used simple Caldwell shooting rests, front and back. The barrel does heat up fairly quick, but it also cools relatively fast. I didn't take many pictures unfortunately, so I will do a follow-up in the coming weeks with better content and information. I did take pictures of one 5-shot group (Remington Core-Lokt.) The first two shots stacked dead center, and the third was 1/4" higher. I waited about 20 seconds before deciding to try a 5-shot group, and fired the next two without letting the barrel cool. These dispersed low, but the overall group was still just slightly over an inch. (See below)
*From top to bottom, the shot order is 3, 2, 1, 4, 5. Target was at 100 yards. Remington Core-Lokt 140gr
All shots were fired with the SilencerCo Harvester Evo Silencer attached via direct thread. I had been moving this between my .308 and .300 win mag, so it was quite warm.
The good:
Thanks for reading. I hope this rifle is a huge seller for Weatherby, because I want them to continue to make them. At this point, if I told you I liked my Mark V Hunter (.300 Win Mag) MORE, I'd be lying! Once again, I'll try to get a more-in depth range report done next time. Until then.. go buy one, and thank me later!
Rifle Info:
Vanguard® Talon - Weatherby, Inc.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Vanguard Talon, aside from Weatherby’s legendary fit and finish, is the stock. The Talon is equipped with a carbon fiber Peak 44™ Blacktooth™ stock, the same stock we use on the Backcountry Ti 2.0. To help reduce the recoil on this ultra-light set up, the...
weatherby.com
TL;DR its a vanguard with a threaded, spiral-fluted barrel, cerakoted, with a Peak44 carbon fiber stock. (Same stock found on the Mark V Backcountry rifles. MSRP is $1599. I was able to find mine for under $1150 shipped utilizing gun.deals.
This one is in 6.5 Creedmoor (or as I typically called it 6.5 manbunn)
The optic is a Vortex Razor HD LHT 3-15x42, mounted in Talley lightweight rings.
*Disclaimer - I have always hated on the 6.5 round. I may be sold on it now, HOWEVER, my 300 mag will still be my primary Elk rifle..
I tried two different types of ammunition, PSA's AAC 140gr Soft Point (which I believe to be loaded with Hornady Interlock) and Remington 140gr Core Lokt. I also have some factory Sierra Gameking, but I did not have time to try it.
Both the AAC and Remington were able to produce sub-MOA 3-shot groups without any cooling time between rounds, and about 10 minutes between groups. I used simple Caldwell shooting rests, front and back. The barrel does heat up fairly quick, but it also cools relatively fast. I didn't take many pictures unfortunately, so I will do a follow-up in the coming weeks with better content and information. I did take pictures of one 5-shot group (Remington Core-Lokt.) The first two shots stacked dead center, and the third was 1/4" higher. I waited about 20 seconds before deciding to try a 5-shot group, and fired the next two without letting the barrel cool. These dispersed low, but the overall group was still just slightly over an inch. (See below)
*From top to bottom, the shot order is 3, 2, 1, 4, 5. Target was at 100 yards. Remington Core-Lokt 140gr
All shots were fired with the SilencerCo Harvester Evo Silencer attached via direct thread. I had been moving this between my .308 and .300 win mag, so it was quite warm.
The good:
- The trigger is absolutely phenomenal. Take that with a grain of salt because I don't shoot the fancy custom rifles many of you Rokslider's do.. yet
- The stock is crazy solid and I like the slightly larger (wider?) grip. Overall it was very easy to get comfortable behind the rifle.
- The action is plenty smooth.
- Feeding was flawless and seems less finicky than my Mk V. (not that the Mk V is bad, but I definitely can get rounds jammed up when trying to load the internal magazine quickly - again on my MK V, NOT on the Vanguard.)
- Accuracy as stated above was great with the limited (CHEAP!) ammo selections I tried.
- There is one "bad" thing about this rifle and it is unrelated to the range trip. Its the recoil pad on the stock. I absolutely love it, however I placed the rifle into a temporary gun cabinet next to my work bench in my basement after mounting the scope. It sat in there for a day tops, and the recoil pad deformed sharply to match a slight wooden ledge in the bottom of the gun cabinet. (Older cabinet, I'm assuming this "ledge" is in place to give the guns a natural tilt onto the rack above.) It looked horrible, but thankfully after taking it out for a few hours, the pad rebounded back to normal shape. I'll continue to watch this, but this point is actually more of a positive due to it bouncing back. This entire point can be chalked up to user error. Don't put your nice rifles into cheap cabinets, folks.
Thanks for reading. I hope this rifle is a huge seller for Weatherby, because I want them to continue to make them. At this point, if I told you I liked my Mark V Hunter (.300 Win Mag) MORE, I'd be lying! Once again, I'll try to get a more-in depth range report done next time. Until then.. go buy one, and thank me later!
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