When to say good bye to a rifle

[dcreiss]

I have a WB Vanguard S2 weatherguard in 7-08 that I have spent hours testing loaded and reload round to achieve MOA accuracy and am not finding the results that I should be seeing. I've played with powders, different bullets, seating depths, mono's and cup cores, etc. My question is this, how much work should one invest into a gun that you like before sending it down the road? And would you be tempted to try a different caliber as its replacement?

 

[RockAndSage]

It's like dealing with a car that won't start - always begin with the head-slapping simple stuff first. Does the battery have juice? Are both terminals actually secure? Etc.

With a gun, do you know the torque specs for your action screws? Properly torqued? Torque wrench actually in good shape? What about scope mount specs? Have you ensured the scope's actually holding zero? Were the scope rings lapped after torqued to rail/action? Is the action bedded? Etc.

Those are each worth checking out, before parting with a gun you liked enough to buy.

 

[vonb]

Couldn't agree more with RockandSage. I had one gun that had a loose stock. After that, it was a 1/2 MOA rifle or better. Another one, it turned out to be too slow of a barrel twist for the bullets I was shooting. Another one, it was a binding magazine. Bottom line, question everything.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

When it dosent do what you need it to do.

 

[Tom-D]

im pretty sure vanguards have pressure points in the barrel channel. Id float it and bed or spot bed it before calling it done on it (plus the other stuff mentioned above). Id also say you might have too high of an expectation from it to be true 1 moa gun. 1.5-2 consistently would prob be more realistic

 

[dcreiss]

I use a fatboy torque trench set to factory spec torque, and have tested tweaks to the torque to see any difference. No significant changes. I have not swapped my vx2 out, that could be the problem

 

[Castle Rock]

It’s a howaby, you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place so now is the time

 

[Wrench]

It’s a howaby, you shouldn’t have bought it in the first place so now is the time

My experience is that they make very solid rifles.

Check stock contact on screws, box bind, screw touching the bolt head, optics mount and that should be enough for a solid 1.5" gun with most proper ammo.

 

[Unclecroc]

Check the crown for dings, float the barrel, check action screws and mounting screws and head back to the range.
If after a few different loads it isn’t shooting well check the scope or pass the rifle along.

 

[king402]

I have a WB Vanguard S2 weatherguard in 7-08 that I have spent hours testing loaded and reload round to achieve MOA accuracy and am not finding the results that I should be seeing. I've played with powders, different bullets, seating depths, mono's and cup cores, etc. My question is this, how much work should one invest into a gun that you like before sending it down the road? And would you be tempted to try a different caliber as its replacement?

7-08 is a great cartridge! How old is the barrel? Stock and action bedded correctly?

 

[MallardSX2]

I would think that it would take a LOT of rounds to ruin a 7mm-08 barrel.

I would soak that barrel in a copper dissolving solvent and then I would shoot 3 or 4 fire lapping bullets down the barrel. Re-mount with a new scope and shoot a few 3 round groups with various ammo.

Hard for me to give up on a gun.

Tubb Final finish is the last step I would take. Then, if I still wasn't happy, I would sell the gun.

 

[Adam Gibbs]

I have a similar rifle in the same caliber. It's good for about 1.5" 10 shot groups with my 140gr NBT handloads, which are nothing special. How bad is it shooting? What size groups for how many rounds? Without knowing that, some things I'd try is
1- swap a known good scope on it.
2- free float the barrel. And not just a little. Lots of room.
3- bed the recoil lug and first inch or so of barrel.
4- torque the action screws down tight. Mine are at 50 inch lbs.

 

[dcreiss]

7-08 is a great cartridge! How old is the barrel? Stock and action bedded correctly?

Not terribly old, probably about 300 rounds through it to date. Bedding is correct.

 

[dcreiss]

I have a similar rifle in the same caliber. It's good for about 1.5" 10 shot groups with my 140gr NBT handloads, which are nothing special. How bad is it shooting? What size groups for how many rounds? Without knowing that, some things I'd try is
1- swap a known good scope on it.
2- free float the barrel. And not just a little. Lots of room.
3- bed the recoil lug and first inch or so of barrel.
4- torque the action screws down tight. Mine are at 50 inch lbs.

Did you bore into the stock pillars for bedding purposes?

 

[dcreiss]

Did you bore into the stock pillars for bedding purposes?

It’s shooting 2-3 MOA, ugly stuff

 

[Adam Gibbs]

Did you bore into the stock pillars for bedding purposes?

Mine is not pillar bedded

 

[Brucebarker024]

I had a Howa 1500 (same rifle) that was a huge pain in the ass the get to shoot. Made sure everything was torqued, tight, and a good scope was on it. Opening up the barrel channel helped but then I swapped the stock for a HS precision and all my issues went away. Shot lights out after that.

 

[king402]

Not terribly old, probably about 300 rounds through it to date. Bedding is correct.

300 is just getting broke in. I wouldn’t give up on it. I love the 08!

 

[farmermail]

Sounds like you have gone through everything. If it were mine, it would be gone. I don't have the patience for a finicky rifle anymore. I am sure you could sort out a load eventually, do you really want to? Will you trust the rifle? Things to think about.

 

[Outdoorsman12b]

Well even if you don’t kick down road you have to consider if that is what you are planning on using this season if you have enough time left to invest in getting it to your standard.

As far as replacement if your looking for similar level of cartridge performance a 6.5 creed in tikka (although I’m sure other makes good as well) is the easy button. Have had several and they all shoot most factory ammo within 1.5-2 MOA. Reloads better.

I would definitely try swapping scopes from that vx2 and pick up a box of factory match ammo in some variant. If it won’t shoot would bid farewell.