Weatherby gives women out-of-the-box accuracy

Shooting Industry, Sept, 2005 by Lisa Parsons-Wraith

Weatherby rifles have a certain mystique, created in earlier days when well-known outdoor adventurers and celebrities helped make the company famous. John Wayne and even President George W. Bush appeared in magazines with Weatherbys in their hands. These images, in some ways, placed Weatherbys in the realm of "someday" guns; they were thought to be out of reach of the average gun enthusiast.

When Weatherby introduced the Vanguard in the 1970s, this perception changed a bit as shooters took to the highly functional no-frills gun. As Weatherby celebrates its 60th anniversary, the Vanguard is still going strong after a recent face lift and the introduction of several new versions for 2005.

Hunting season sales are about to begin and Weatherby has made a version of the Vanguard for just about every woman. Weatherby's Vanguard SUB-MOA hunting rifle is guaranteed to shoot a three-shot group of .99-inch-or-less at 100 yards with specific premium ammunition. That should catch the eye of out-of-the-box accuracy junkies! It also means women don't have to do a lot of tinkering to achieve accuracy. That can be a huge selling point for dealers.

Each SUB-MOA Vanguard comes with a factory-shot target and a list of the factory test ammunition so your customers can get the same results. Be sure to stock the premium loads and offer them as natural add-on sales for every SUB-MOA Vanguard.

Weatherby obtains the accuracy results by factory-shooting every Vanguard and handpicking those with a maximum .75-inch MOA, enabling the company to offer their .99-inch-or-less guarantee. Accuracy enhancing features on the Vanguard SUB-MOA include a composite Fiberguard pillar-bedded stock with a 24-inch barrelled action, sporting a raised comb Monte Carlo design. This ensures fast target acquisition and quick eye-to-scope alignment.

Spiderweb accents provide a distinctive look to the stock, which is finished off with a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. The SUB-MOA's trigger is fully adjustable for let-off weight and sear engagement to meet a specific shooter's needs.

Available in matte and stainless steel, the rifle measures 44 or 44 1/2 inches overall in length (depending on caliber), has a 13 1/2-inch length of pull, 3/4-inch drop at the comb, a 1 1/2-inch drop at the heel and weighs 7 3/4 pounds.

The Vangaurd SUB-MOA is available in magnum or standard calibers for varmint, deer or big-game hunting. They are: .223 Remington, .22-250 Remington, .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .257 Weatherby Magnum, .270 Winchester Short Magnum, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Winchester Short Magnum, .300 Weatherby Magnum and .338 Winchester Magnum.

The Vanguard is offered only in right-hand models. Several custom options are available through the Weatherby Custom Shop.

The Sporter is another new variation on the Vanguard. It features stainless steel metal work, a Monte Claro walnut stock with satin urethane finish, fineline diamond-point checkering and a contrasting rosewood forend tip. Six camouflaged and webbed synthetic stocks for the Sporter are also available from the Custom Shop.

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