Weatherby Vanguard accuracy issues

[Darren8167]

Hello fellow shooters. I have a Weatherby Vanguard chambered in .270 Winchester that I won at a CDA Dinner. This is my first Weatherby that I have owned. I am generally happy with the fit and finish but I have never been able to get it to group better than 1.5”. I am not new to reloading and all of my bolt action rifles shoot at or under 1” with hand loads or the riffle finds a new home. My nephew really likes this rifle so it was going to be a gift for him after I work up a few loads for him.

I have tried H4831, H4831SC, H4350, IMR4350, A4350, Hunter, Big Game and Superformance. I have paired those with bullets between 120gr -145gr.

I have changed out well known scopes that I know hold zero. I degrease and wipe all components down with alcohol before using a torque wrench for assembly.

I worked up two more test loads and went out to shoot today. Low70s, 2-5 mph headwind. Perfect shooting conditions.

First group is just over 2”. On my 2nd shot of 5 for group#2, I had a case split. I have never had this happen before. This is 1x fired Hornady brass.

I know the grouping has nothing to do with the case splitting. But am I missing something here? Any advice would be appreciated.

And the rest of the case is stuck in the chamber. Is it time to take this to a smith, or is there an easy way to remove the stuck case? Thanks in advance to all of you.

 

[marksjeep]

Yikes. I have a Vanguard in 300WM, it shoots MOA or under with no issues. Case head separation is usually due to brass which has been reloaded/resized too many times or excessive headspace.

Have you tried any factory ammo to see if it will shoot them?

How far back do you bump the shoulder when resizing?

Know anyone with headspace gages for a 270?

The ring on the fired brass next to the separated case head at the same place on the case is concerning. Something is not right, but is it the chamber, or something in your loads?

 

[Darren8167]

Yikes. I have a Vanguard in 300WM, it shoots MOA or under with no issues. Case head separation is usually due to brass which has been reloaded/resized too many times or excessive headspace.

Have you tried any factory ammo to see if it will shoot them?

How far back do you bump the shoulder when resizing?

Know anyone with headspace gages for a 270?

The ring on the fired brass next to the separated case head at the same place on the case is concerning. Something is not right, but is it the chamber, or something in your loads?

Thank you for your response @marksjeep !

I have tried Hornady factory loads. And Barnes factory loads. And federal factory.

I anneal after every firing. And bump the shoulder .002”.

I agree on the ring around the other case. It was from the 1st group. And the only one from that group that had a ring.

 

[MTGomer]

I think weatherby has an MOA guarantee don’t they?

Try their brand ammo and if it won’t group, give them a call.

 

[Sheltowee]

Yikes. I have a Vanguard in 300WM, it shoots MOA or under with no issues. Case head separation is usually due to brass which has been reloaded/resized too many times or excessive headspace.

Have you tried any factory ammo to see if it will shoot them?

How far back do you bump the shoulder when resizing?

Know anyone with headspace gages for a 270?

The ring on the fired brass next to the separated case head at the same place on the case is concerning. Something is not right, but is it the chamber, or something in your loads?

Strong money on excessive headspace.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

There are rings in the same spots on fired cases in the picture of your open blue ammo box.

Something is definitely wrong with the chamber, brass, or your case sizing process. Chamber seems most likely.

Edit to add: I'd do the ol paper clip trick inside any cases from that lot you want to load again to make sure you're not setting yourself up for more case head separations.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I actually had similar issues with mine. You check this thread. I will save you time in saying I couldn't ever find a solution to hand load for my gun. I can only fire factory ammo, but am around 1moa with it so I call it good and gave up on hand loading.

308 Weatherby Vanguard for reference

Day at the Range

I had an interesting day at the range this morning and I'm hoping for a little insight from the group. First issue of the day: I noticed that some of my cases were harder to close the bolt than normal, and some were more difficult to eject after firing. On top of that I had two cases that got...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[WVmike]

I had a 7mm Rem Mag Vanguard that wouldn't hold a group better than 1.5 moa and that was the best I could get. I used factory loads and handloads and it wouldn't produce anything better than the other. Used a bipod, bench, off hand, lead sled and it still didn't change anything. Didn't have the case issues but it was frustrating to say the least. I traded it for a Seekins PH2.