Vanguard Accuguard #3 fluted barrel

[losttrail]

Hello all.

Looking at getting my first Weatherby and have come across a Vanguard Accuguard Synthetic, .300 Wby Mag, Blued 26" #3 contour fluted barrel w/1/2-28 threads and cap. Supposedly a show special for club members, there are 3 available at what seems to be a very good price.

Anyone heard of such a beast? Does Weatherby make a brake for the #3 contour? All I can find online is the Accubrake ST for #1 & #2.

I do have email and message left at Weatherby HQ, but no one has responded yet.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Thanks

[Nealm66]

I’m wondering if it’s like the anniversary edition that my brother bought that is insanely accurate. Might have been just a fluke but maybe they grab the fresh tooled barrels for such rifles. Just me thinking out loud

[losttrail]

If I go ahead and get this, I think I'll do a couple things: First, replace the synthetic stock with a Hogue stock with full bed block. My Howa 1500 .308 Win has one and it is a tack driver. Second, Cerakote everything in Blackout.

I already have a Bushnell Forge 3-18 x 50 to stick on top.

[Nealm66]

I’d shoot it first. Factory premium 180’s. My brothers makes a 1 inch hole at 200 yards

[Blackbear3]

I'd shoot it first before replacing anything, my 257 Accuguard is extremely accurate.

[Nealm66]

Probably nice looking with the blueing

[losttrail]

I will definitely shoot it before doing anything. Pulled the trigger and bought it, but Chinese engineered virus is causing delays with seller so it will take a bit to get here.

I’ll get a few boxes of 180gr to break in and find out what it likes, then will start working up reload recipe.

I’m hoping the Weatherby synthetic stock is much higher quality than the Rem 700 ADL was that I converted to a BDL with wood stock.

Now between working up .300 Wby, CAS reloading and getting ready for my Shiloh Sharps Quigley in .45-110 and learning paper patch rolling, I think the rest of the year is pretty full. Plus I need to get all my .40-65 cases loaded up again. Love the black.

[Nealm66]

Share some pics when you get it. It sounds interesting

[danno50]

Great to hear you finally pulled the trigger on your first Weatherby. The 300 Wby. should be just as accurate as the other sub MOA rifles you own, however it may become your favorite, cause it'll be like having all your other rifles wrapped into one. Just kidding, have fun with your new toy.  (And +1 to Nealm66 request for pictures later.)

[losttrail]

Well, finally have it in the house. Delayed due to it arriving last week while I was out of state then the background check backlog. Just picked it up a couple hours ago.

Now need to pull the scope off my Howa .308 and put it on the Weatherby, get some 180gr ammo (found 1 box of Select 165gr at Scheel's in Billings last week) and run the break-in procedure. Can barely find any 300 Wby ammo around here and no 180gr, which is what I'm hoping this thing likes. Tried Bass Pro, Cabela's, Sportsman's Warehouse and a few LGS's. Looks like I'm buying online for the 180gr.

Thinking about getting a brake but when I stopped at Weatherby HQ on July 17, was told that they are backed up at least a month before they can even get to adding a brake. Sadly, no authorized Weatherby gunsmiths around here, nearest one is over 200 miles away.

Here are a couple pics.

[danno50]

You might try calling Weatherby and ask them if you pay the shipping to an authorized dealer to have the brake put on, would they authorize free shipping on the return. Just a thought. Great looking rifle, and just looks like its gonna be a shooter. Good luck!

[Nealm66]

I bet that thing is a shooter with the 180’s. I’m not a fan of the synthetic look but if it shoots like all the vanguards we have, it’s hard to justify messing with. For myself, I have to shoot with a brake on the 300 to the groups it’s capable of. I can do ok with the 6.5-300 but that’s my limit. Congratulations on the purchase!

[losttrail]

You might try calling Weatherby and ask them if you pay the shipping to an authorized dealer to have the brake put on, would they authorize free shipping on the return. Just a thought. Great looking rifle, and just looks like its gonna be a shooter. Good luck!

I can understand shipping the rifle to Wby or an authorized service center IF the barrel needed to be turned and threaded. However, this rifle is already machined, from Weatherby. It seems expensive and time consuming to ship it so that someone else can thread a brake on the end of an already machined barrel.

I did figure out how to unscrew and remove the barrel end cap (sarcasm intended), so I assume that installing a brake would be just the reverse and tighten per the instructions on the Accubrake page. Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

I have tried calling Wby only to have it ring and ring and ring or roll to voice mail but no return call. I have also sent an email.

[Derrill Fox]

You might try calling Weatherby and ask them if you pay the shipping to an authorized dealer to have the brake put on, would they authorize free shipping on the return. Just a thought. Great looking rifle, and just looks like its gonna be a shooter. Good luck!

I can understand shipping the rifle to Wby or an authorized service center IF the barrel needed to be turned and threaded. However, this rifle is already machined, from Weatherby. It seems expensive and time consuming to ship it so that someone else can thread a brake on the end of an already machined barrel.

I did figure out how to unscrew and remove the barrel end cap (sarcasm intended), so I assume that installing a brake would be just the reverse and tighten per the instructions on the Accubrake page. Righty tighty, lefty loosey.

I have tried calling Wby only to have it ring and ring and ring or roll to voice mail but no return call. I have also sent an email.

Even though the muzzel is already threaded for a brake it needs to be test fired to make sure a bullet does not touch the break. the hole is a delicate issue to big or to small make a difference in performance.

[Nealm66]

If you have a gunsmith nearby, I wouldn’t be afraid to have him recommend one and stick it on. We have 3 vanguards that don’t have factory brakes that shoot exceptional. I will say a friend of mine bought a 300-378 and had an aftermarket stock and muzzle brake installed and ended up putting the factory stuff back on. He claimed the factory brake reduced the recoil better and the fancy stock punched him in the jaw