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Weatherby Vanguard LA

About the Weatherby 

In 1945, Roy Weatherby made it his mission to bring the idea of “one shot-kills are best achieved with high-speed and lightweight bullets” into the world of cartridge and rifle making. Ergo, he opened a Weatherby’s Sporting Goods shop in California. This was a humble beginning of the world’s prominent mark on the gun industry.

Travelling back in time, to 1940s, this is when Weatherby began his cartridge business. These paved the way for a vast development in ballistics. Some of his cartridges, including the .257 and .270 Weatherby Magnums, remain the fastest in their calibre class, and are still in production today.

While Weatherby’s cartridge business grew, there was also a need for a bolt-action capable of handling the magnum power. And this is how the legend – the strongest bolt-action rifle Mark V – was born. Soon after, others followed. In the 1960s the company added a line of shotguns called Orion and Athena, a Patrician pump, and Centurion semi-automatics.

Weatherby, Inc. was in for a crazy ride, as in May of 1961, Fred Jennie helped create a prototype model .22 rimfire rifle, which went by the name Mark XXII. The Vanguard rifles were then introduced for some of the world’s most popular big game and varmint cartridges. Weatherby’s son Ed was passed the torch and took over the company in 1983, but he held on to the rifle’s typical looks and the characteristics of being reliable and well-made.

Weatherby Vanguard

Weatherby Vanguard LA Rifle Review

The beginnings of the Vanguard rifle date back to 1960s, when Weatherby reached a decision to design a more cost-effective rifle that can chamber Weatherby’s signature Magnum cartridges. This Japanese rifle, produced by their partner Howa, has a fluted body, like the Mark V one, which leads to smoother performance.

This fast, flat-shooting rifle sports a Howa 2-lug push-feed action, a fully shrouded bolt and three gas ports on the bolt body, supplying the firearm with protection in case of an ammunition failure. Different models have different barrel lengths, varying from 51 cm to 61 cm. Vanguard has two different action lengths based on the cartridge lengths, namely long action (this one) and short action, with two bores on the front mounting surface and two on the rear mounting surface for mounting purposes.

Vanguard has a fluted bolt body, which cuts the rifle’s weight, in addition to a fully enclosed bolt sleeve. The latter also diverts the direction of high-pressure gasses and brass particles if a case rapture occurs. Weatherby used synthetic materials and ended up with a smooth-running push-feed rifle ready to take on Weatherby Magnums for a bargain-basement price.

All Weatherby Vanguard receivers come with four holes for mounting purposes, two on the front and two on the rear mounting surface.

Weatherby Vanguard

The Rifle (LA) Comes in 14 Variations:

  • Badlands

  • First Lite

  • High Country

  • HUSH Edition

  • Laminate Sporter

  • MeatEater Edition

  • MultiCam

  • Sporter

  • Synthetic

  • Synthetic Compact Blue

  • Synthetic Compact

  • Synthetic Green

  • Weatherguard

  • Weatherguard Bronze

The Rifle is Chambered For:

  • .240 Wby Mag.

  • .25-06 Rem.

  • .257 Wby. Mag.

  • 6.5 PRC

  • 6.5-300 Wby. Mag.

  • .270 Win.

  • .270 Wby.

  • 7mm Rem. Mag.

  • .30-06 Sprg.

  • .300 Win. Mag.

  • .300 Wby. Mag.

  • .338 Win.

  • .375 H&H

*Calibre choice depends on the model

Skica dimenzij

A: 21.9 mm
B: 113.9 mm
C: 15.3 mm
BHU: 3.2 mm
Fi: 6-48
R1: R60
R2: R17

Which Rifles Have Interchangeable Mounts

Two-piece mounts

All the rifles listed in the category below have two-piece mounts interchangeable with Weatherby Vanguard LA. To meet interchangeability conditions, two-piece mounts must match in all dimensions except the B distance. B distance can vary because two-piece mounts can be installed and adjusted closer or further apart. Rifles that meet such criteria are:

  • Weatherby Mark V Standard

  • Howa 1500 SA

  • Weatherby Vanguard SA

  • BRNO Scandinavian

  • BSA Repetierer

  • Churchill Highlander

  • Sabatti Rover

One-piece mounts

All the rifles listed in the category below have one-piece mounts interchangeable with Weatherby Vanguard LA. For one-piece mounts to fit on a rifle, mounting surfaces on these rifles must match in every dimension. Rifles that share the same dimensions and mounting surface with Weatherby Vanguard LA are:

  • Howa 1500 LA

  • Weatherby Mark V Magnum

  • Weatherby 300

  • Weatherby Europa

These rifles are a perfect match when it comes to all dimensions.

If a certain two-piece mount can be mounted on Vanguard LA, then it can be mounted on all on the list. These rifles are a perfect match when it comes to all dimensions (except the B length).

Our Recommendations for Mounts

Fixed Mounts

Manufactured by the German company MAK, this fixed two-piece mounting solution comes with a thirty-year warranty and will match the mounting surface dimensions of Weatherby Vanguard LA perfectly.

Detachable Repeatable Mounts

Being made of steel, this two-piece pivot mount manufactured by the Croatian company Rusan is recoil resistant and comes with a ten-year warranty.

Picatinny Rail

This Picatinny rail produced by the Italian company Contessa is made entirely of steel and comes with a thirty-year warranty. Its length matches the dimensions of Weatherby vanguard LA mounting surface perfectly.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: [email protected]

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.  

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive. 

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

  • Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
  • Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.