Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 Varmint Special
Hot off the barrel reamer, this is one of Weatherby’s new introductions for 2012. What do you get? Accuracy, for one. Each of these guns is guaranteed to shoot a sub-MOA three-shot group, when it leaves the factory and gets between your hands. That’s about as easy-peasy at it gets, because if you follow their directions for ammo and walk out of the store with a scope and a couple boxes of their ammunition, you should be off the bench and letting out a dying rabbit squeal in the field in no time flat. (Note: this guarantee is in effect generally provided you use Weatherby ammo, which is not available in anything but Weatherby calibers so a no-go for this model. Thankfully, Weatherby does back the guarantee if you use Premium ammo from others, so do some shopping, pick your favorite high-end stuff and skip the cheap ball ammo, and you should be just fine dialing this gun in.)
Other features to like about this gun are its two-stage, creep-free trigger adjustable down to a crisp 2.5 pounds, a recessed target crown, and a lightweight stock with grip inserts. Of course, there’s also the distinctive Monte Carlo rise on the stock’s comb, too, which can really help with scope alignment on a higher mounted optic bearing a large objective.
MSRP: The Weatherby website shows this 8 ¾-pound rifle retailing for $799, quite reasonable in the world of Weatherby and very competitive with similar guns from other manufacturers that don’t offer an accuracy guarantee.
Vanguard Lightweight Scope Mounts
I always say keep it in the family when you can. These are Weatherby’s own rings, made by Talley just for its Vanguard rifles. They sport a one-piece design for simplified mounting, add just a smidge of weight to your gun’s overall poundage, and come in six different configurations from 1-inch lows to 30mm mediums, the 1-inch rings available in both matte black and silver.
MSRP: The set retails for a budget-conscious $39.
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