Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint by Don Caswell

eatherby’s Vanguard HSP rifle is available in .223, .22-250, .243, .308, .270, .30-06 and W .300 Win. With the smaller cartridges, the magazine holds five rounds. In the larger calibres, the magazine capacity is three rounds. The Vanguard comes with Weatherby’s accuracy guarantee; that is, the rifle will deliver three-shot, 100-yard accu- racy of 0.99MOA, or better, with Weatherby or other premium factory ammo. I found that to be so and the review rifle delivered some even better accuracy with handloads. I was impressed, but first things first.

The rifle Tasco Sales Australia supplied the SSAA with the .223 Rem chambered Varmint model, fitted with a Bushnell Engage 6-18x50 scope. The stock was a stand-out feature with its black and tan mottling and the white spidering overlay. The stock felt reassuringly comfortable and solid. The rifle had all the hallmarks of a great and varminting rig, so I was keen to try it out. The scoped rifle, with an empty magazine, weighed 3.96kg (8.7lb). The bare rifle weighs about 3.5kg. The overall length was 44” (112cm).

The barrel The Vanguard HSP has a cold hammer- forged medium weight #2 contour varmint barrel. It is 24” (61cm) in length. The rate of twist is one in 12”. There is a matte, bead-blasted blued finish. The muzzle features a nicely recessed crown for protecting the exit rifling and subsequent accuracy. Stainless steel barrels are also available in some calibres. Personally, I like matte blue, or earthy-colored coatings rather than stainless steel, purely because of the visible shine factor when hunting wild dogs. And, from personal experience, stainless steel is not necessarily a rust- free option either, especially in the satin finishes.

Any pest within Receiver and bolt 200m will be in dire jeopardy. The one-piece, machined bolt shaft is fluted. The bolt head features the fully

70 Australian Shooter Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle

The Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle.

enclosed sleeve and several generously as well. With a rigid composite stock, sized gas vents typical of Weatherby bolts, featuring an embedded aluminium bedding Rifle Specifications providing greater strength and contain- system, like the HS Precision stock on the ment safety for the shooter. Bolt lift is 90 Vanguard, the action screws need to be Manufacturer: Weatherby degrees. The recoil lug is integral with the tightened much more than is the case for Model: Vanguard HSP receiver. The hinged floorplate is of alloy timber and plastic stocks. I used my FAT Calibre options: .223 Rem, .22-250 for lighter weight and its color matches the torque wrench to achieve the recommended Rem, .243 Win, .308 Win, .270 Win, blued steel nicely. The release for the floor- 55in-lb of screw torque. .30-06 Sprg, .300 Win plate is in the front of the triggerguard. The stock weighs in at 2.35lb, a smidge Barrel: 24" (61cm) #2 contour, cold over 1kg. With a varmint rifle, a little extra Trigger and safety weight is an advantage, so I was not at all hammer-forged Out of the box, the rifle’s adjustable match concerned about that. The stock’s color Recoil lug: Integral quality, two-stage trigger had a crisp 3.5lb pattern with white spidering was eye- Bolt: Machined, one-piece, fluted with weight of pull, with only the barest hint of catching but also provided an effective camo fully enclosed sleeve creep. I varied the trigger adjustment screw as well, always useful when seeking wary Trigger: Two-stage adjustable match- over a series of half-turn increments. The wild dogs. A thick, comfy HS Precision quality trigger pull varied from 3 to 3.5lb. I left it recoil pad graces the stock; not required Safety: Three-position at 3.5lb, which I thought was appropriate for the mild-mannered .223, but certainly for a rifle carried in the field. If all of your useful on the larger, harder-kicking calibres Finish: Bead blasted matte blued finish, shooting was off a bench, or over a rest in a in the stable. stainless steel also in most calibres vehicle, you could safely reduce the trigger Magazine type: Hinged alloy floorplate pull to a lighter value. The scope Magazine capacity: Five in the smaller The safety is of the ever-useful three- The rifle was supplied with just the scope cartridges, three in the larger position variety. ‘Safe’ locks trigger and to make the most of an accurate varmint Approximate weight: 7.75lb (3.5kg) bolt, ‘Midway’ frees the bolt so that rounds rifle’s abilities. The big Bushnell Engage Overall length: 44" (117cm) can be safely cycled with the locked trigger 6-18x50 scope also came with flip-up lens and ‘Fire’ is, of course, ready to shoot. covers, very useful in dusty and rainy Stock: HS Precision composite with circumstances. The Bushnell Deploy reticle full-length aluminium bedding block and The stock is designed to appeal to both hunters and barrel centreing screws The HSP moniker stands for the HS target shooters. The cross-hairs are fine, at Stock color: Black and tan combination Precision stock partnered with the 0.18MOA, and graduated with 1MOA incre- with white spidering Weatherby barrelled action. The Weatherby ments on both elevation and windage axes. RRP: from $1599 barrel and action are inherently accurate When used with a ballistics calculation and matching these with the HS Precision program, the MOA markings will enable Scope specifications stock brings out the very best in the rifle. accurate shot placement out to extreme Maker: Bushnell Manufactured from composite materials range. Model: Engage with an embedded, full-length aluminium The Bushnell Engage scope carries Magnification and objective lens bedding block, the stock provides the Bushnell’s Ironclad warranty. The scope is utmost in rigidity and stability. There is a sealed and nitrogen filled for weather and diameter: 6-18x50 grub screw on either side of the stock that fog-proofing. The optics are sharp, aided by Reticle: Deploy MOA bear on the recoil lug. These screws can Bushnell’s anti-reflective coatings on all the Reticle travel both elevation and be used to align the barrel perfectly in the lens elements. The sight picture is bright windage: 40MOA stock channel. I placed a couple of business with accurate color rendition. The turrets Tube diameter: 1" (25mm) cards under the barrel as I reassembled the are capped, something I consider essential Parallax focus: Side turret rifle. Before I tightened the action screws on a hunting rifle. Turret adjustments are Eye relief: 3.5" (89mm) up, I used the grub screws to put the barrel distinct, ¼MOA clicks. dead straight in its channel. Field of View at 100 yards: 20ft As always, it pays to use a torque wrench Off the bench (6.1m) - 7ft (2.1m) when tightening the action and other My first range session was frustrating but Weight: 519 grams screws on your rifle. It is also important in a good way. With a brand new rifle, I Length: 15.5" (39cm) to pay attention to the instruction manual was following the barrel break-in regime >

Australian Shooter 71 Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle of shoot one round and clean thoroughly. I had a batch of trial handloads; my favourite Action and trigger of the Weatherby test projectile, the 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle. Tip loaded over a series of propellant charge weights. With such a regime you spend a lot more time cleaning than you do in actually shooting. The frustration came from seeing some excellent groups begin to develop in slow motion. A few more range sessions and I was in the less frustrating ‘shoot 10 and clean’ regime. Based on my initial results I had chosen the optimum powder charge and was now honing in on the best bullet seating depth. The rifle seemed fairly indifferent to all this and just kept turning ever shot with any rifle; a 0.1MOA effort through the rifle with equally impressive in sub-MOA groups. Along the way it with three projectiles through one small results. The Federal Premium loadings of delivered the best three-shot group I have hole at 100 yards. The load development the 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and the charts indicated that there was potential for 52-grain Speer Hollow Points consistently consistent sub-0.5MOA groups. shot sub-MOA, as did the Fiocchi 50-grain I also ran a variety of factory ammo Polymer Tips. The American Eagle 50-grain

Floorplate and magazine well of the Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle. The aluminium bedding block and action positioning screws of the HSP stock.

THE CLASSIC 686 TARGET LINE

Model 686 6" 6-shot Model 686 4" 6-shot Model 686 Pro 4" 6-shot .38/.357 cal revolver .38/.357 cal revolver .38/.357 cal revolver

Grycol - Australia’s only factory-authorised distributor and warranty station

Grycol International Pty Ltd BACKED BY PO Box 6123, South Sydney Business Hub, Alexandria, NSW 2015 SMITH & WESSON’S Phone: 02 9698 8725 Web: www.grycol.com.au LIFETIME Fax: 02 9319 0732 Email: [email protected] D/L 400014321 SERVICE POLICY.

72 Australian Shooter Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle

Jacketed Hollow Point ammo also produced some tight groups, as it generally does, albeit with the odd slight flier that blows group averages. All the factory ammo performed well, with nothing consistently above 1.5MOA and most around 1MOA, or better. For smaller pests, like , hares and , the Federal Premium loading of the 40-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip would be a great choice. It was accurate, fast and explosive. For larger pests like pigs and dogs, the heavier Soft Points are an obvious choice. As I have found with previous one in 12” twist .223 Rem , the Federal factory loading of the 64-grain Soft Point shot quite well, when theory would indicate

it should be unstable. My favourite projec- revealed some sweet spots with fantastic accuracy potential. tile, the 60-grain Nosler Partition, was marginal in terms of stability at the one in 12 twist; it shot okay with AR2208 but not routinely producing three-shot groups in with BM2. the 0.2 to 0.5MOA zone I was confident of nailing any dog that put its head up within In the field 200m. I toted the rifle up and down some After the many range sessions, I had steep ridge and gully country close to

Federal’s Premium 55-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip settled on the 55-grain Nosler BT hand- home, chasing a pack of wild dogs that had loading shot nicely. loads for my field trials. With my handloads been killing calves on surrounding farms. > Elegant | Timeless | Personalised | Affordable

Our products are lathe-turned, beautifully hand-crafted and personalised with custom laser engraving *** Gift Sets include Pen & Rosewood Pen Case *** • .30 cal Deer Hunter Bullet in Antique Copper/Rose Gold • .30 cal Bolt Action Deer Hunter Bullet in Antique Brass/Rose Gold • .30 cal Bolt Action Deer Hunter Bullet in Antique Pewter/Rose Gold • .30 cal Bolt Action Bullet in Antique Copper & Rose Gold • .30 cal Bolt Action Bullet in Chrome & Rose Gold 10% off for all SSAA • .30 cal Bolt Action Bullet in 24ct Gold & Rose Gold members The ‘.30 Cal. Bullet’ range Gift Sets can be viewed at: www.customengrave.com.au/product-category/engraved-gift-sets/

See competition section for your chance to win 1 of 5 .30 cal pen and case packs “From amazing timbers we design and bring to life functional and beautiful objects to be enjoyed, utilised .30 cal Bolt Action Bullet Pen and appreciated every day. “ 24ct Gold & Rose Gold with Rosewood Pen Case

We also make: Bottle Stoppers | Cheeseboards | Clocks | Letter Openers | Pepper Mills Order directly online @ www.customengrave.com.au E: [email protected] Ph: 0425 809 170 to speak to Richard Proudly Australian Owned and Made

Australian Shooter 73 Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle

Being the summer wet season, just about almost time to head home. A movement on every excursion saw me being rained on. a patch of short grass, on the opposite ridge Ammunition Average The HSP composite stock was, of course, face, caught my eye. A couple of bedraggled MOA completely impervious to the vagaries of bunnies had come out in the early dusk Handloaded 55-grain Nosler the tropical weather. The flip-up covers light, about 150m away. Here was a scenario Ballistic Tip (BM2) 0.5 on the Bushnell scope were a godsend in that the rifle was made for. Two quick shots keeping my lenses free of vision obscuring obliterated a bunny each. Handloaded 55-grain Nosler droplets; I must put these on my other Ballistic Tip (AR2208) 0.6 scopes as well. Summary Fiocchi 50-grain Polymer Tip 0.6 As they so often do, the wild dogs The Weatherby Vanguard HSP Varmint rifle cavorted freely in front of my various trail was a pleasure to review. In more than 35 Federal Premium 55-grain cameras but were not to be seen when I years of handloading hunting calibres, it was Nosler Ballistic Tip 0.7 had the Weatherby Vanguard HSP stoked the most consistently accurate rifle I have American Eagle 50-grain up and ready to use. One drizzly afternoon, ever used. And that includes some expensive Jacketed Hollow Points 0.8 after sitting quietly on a ridgeline for an custom builds. From my experience with the hour or so, no dogs had appeared and it was Vanguard HSP during the review, I would American Eagle 50-grain guess that handloaders could expect to do Tipped Varmint 0.9 better, perhaps much better, than 0.5MOA Don’s handloads of the 55-grain Federal Premium 52-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip duplicated routinely. It is no slouch with factory ammo factory sub-MOA accuracy. either, for those folks who do not handload. Speer Hollow Points 0.9 I would assume that most premium factory Fiocchi 55-grain Soft Points 0.9 ammo would deliver sub-MOA performance, as per the Weatherby guarantee. The combi- Federal Premium 40-grain nation of Weatherby’s barrelled action with Nosler Ballistic Tip 1.1 the HS Precision stock certainly has paid Handloaded 60-grain Nosler off. Not only is it a comfortable, robust rifle Partition (AR22208) 1.2 but one that delivers outstanding accuracy. That comes at a slight premium to standard Federal 64-grain Soft Point 1.3 rifles with polymer stocks but, even at an Federal 55-grain Soft Point 1.4 RRP of $1599, it still represents excellent value. .

Certified Class 5 protector Australian hearing standards AS/NZS1270-2002 PRE-STOCKTAKE

CENS Mino The leaders in hearing protection for ShootersUniversal since hearing 1988 protection CENS Digital Useable straight out Electronic shooters hearing of the box, 5 foam tip protection combining multi sizes, 3 selectable soft silicone earmolds custom CENS Mino amplification levels boost fitted that enhance the sounds ambient sounds, cuts out at 81db. around you but will close off NYX Glasses when sounds of above 81db are NYX Glasses BRING YOUR TRAILER NYX Pro Z17 SALE detected. 4 models available in endless colour combos. with adjustable nosepiece with LARGE QUANTITIES IN STOCK Lightweight flexible CCI Standard Velocity .22 frame, 3 frame colours & 7 interchangeable Case of 5000 rounds $420 lenses colours available. Federal Small Pistol Primers CENS Digital Case of 5000 rounds $274 Shooters Custom Earmolds “on the spot” ready to use the Must show SSAA membership card same day offer the ultimate Dealers Lic No. 50000025 comfort in hearing protection. Please note - all powder, ammunition and primers requiring transport must go by dangerous goods transport. Class 5 Protection, work place approved Up to 40.5db reduction Agents located throughout Australia and NZ endless colour choices. Queensland Shooters Supplies EARMOLD AUSTRALIA® P/L PHONE 266 Brisbane St, West Ipswich, Qld 4305 Online store (07) 3820 2533 Phone: 07 3202 2111 Fax: 07 3812 8071 Web www.earmold.com.au Email [email protected] Email: [email protected]

74 Australian Shooter