Winchester M70 black shadow or Weatherby vanguard?

Utahn · Sep 10, 2004

Was wondering what you would choose, the Winchester and Weatherby are both $388 at wal-mart. The caliber will be 30.06. This will be my hunt everything gun. Any advice is appreciated.

mtmuley · Sep 10, 2004

My choice would be the Winchester. Although I love my Remingtons, I believe the Winchester is a better made rifle than the Vanguard. And it is made in the USA. I would say buy a Remington, but in that price range, the 710 is a piece of junk. Get a Black Shadow, and good hunting! mtmuley

fisrtcoueswas80inches · Sep 20, 2004

black shadow, nothing wrong with the caliber thats what i shoot.
casey

rost495 · Sep 20, 2004

I"d also suggest avoiding the 710. Less quality and less you can easily do later on if it needs work(barrel job etc.)

I'd also avoid the Ruger 77 due to its bedding system. When its bedding dies they get really bad. Easy to solve with bedding but I just don't care for a system that goes from great to sucks back to great again due to bedding. Ol' Bill was a thinking mind. The angled bedding was different. I think it sucks. I like Rugers though. And then he sold us off to the gun grabbers trying to save his ass instead of fighting...... Oops off the soapbox.

I also feel that between the 2 the quality is often better with the Rem rifles than with the Win, though I prefer the recoil lug setup with the Win being fixed. Thats personal though. I've had good results with the Weatherby line, but try to get a normal smith to work on guns and you can bet that parts and work wise you'll find many more used to Win and Rem than any others.

Really you can't go wrong with the Remington.

Good luck, great all around caliber choice. Jeff

meatmaker · Sep 12, 2005

Ask a few of the stores that carry the Vanguard to show you the factory targets that come with the guns if they will. Truly impressive for standard out of the box guns. Believe the triggers are adjustble too.

The black shadow is a good solid gun and should give good service.

NDBadlandsbucks · Sep 13, 2005

I think the Winchester would be a good gun at that price, but if I remember right, it does not have a hinged floorplate - which you might not care about, but I did not like that. I think that the Winchester may also be a little lighter than the Vanguard making it easier to carry around all day.

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face

RLH · Sep 13, 2005

i've always prefered the winchester over about anything else, that is the pre 64's and the newer "controlled round feed" copies of the pre 64. a friend bought a black shadow .243 super short and as far as i'm concerned it's junk. the cartridge is so short and fat that it absolutely will not feed without guiding it in with your left hand. the entire gun needs re-designed in order to feed that wierd built shell. and the first shot he fired out of it, with winchester factory ammo, jammed up the action. he sent it back to the factory along with the ammo and they sent it back and said the ammo was overloaded. went to the range with new ammo, stuck again. he still uses it. still doesn't feed worth a damn and still gets empties stuck. i'd pitch it if it was mine. the dealer would dang sure have it back by now. when they first started making these short and super short magnums, everyone had hell with cartridges feeding. the tikka t3 is about the only one that seemed like it was made for the short, fat ammo. i guess maybe they've worked some o' the bugs outta the system, but for me, i'd stick with the ol' standby .243 and let others worry about bugs.