Well, it's finally finished. Just picked up my Weatherby Vanguard .300 Blackout SBR project from the gunsmith. The donor rifle started out as a basic Vanguard sporter weight rifle in .223 Remington. I had the action re-barrelled using the remaining portion of a Shilen stainless steel heavy varmint contoured blank in .308" (1:8" twist). As luck would have it, there was enough barrel thickness at the chamber end without having to sleeve the barrel to the action.
I canibalized a Hogue overmould stock from a Howa Varmint that I'd just bought and used it for this rifle. Fit's like a glove and the barrel is completely free floated and I didn't have to do any trimming to fit the barrel channel. I didn't bother truing the action as I didn't think the expense was necessary considering how it will be used.
I wanted to buy a low magnification optic in the 1x-5x range for the Vanguard but I thought I'd try my Vortex SPARC on it first to see how I like it. I like how compact the package is and the diminutive SPARC doesn't add much weight either which is a big plus.
The barrel finish length is 11.5" and .865" diameter at the muzzle. Overall length is 32" and weighs 7.0 lbs. with the scope installed. Not exactly a light weight but not too bad either. It's well balanced and compact. It points very quickly when brought to the shoulder. I think an Eagle stock pack would be ideal in making my cheek weld perfect.
Here's a few pics to show the size relative to other rifles. The first pic is with my Remington 700 .300 Blackout with 16" Shilen barrel and the second is with my Bushmaster carbine with 11.5" barrel and the stock closed.
Not sure when I'll have the opportunity to try it out. Might not be til some time in the Spring with work considerations taking priority on my weekends.
I canibalized a Hogue overmould stock from a Howa Varmint that I'd just bought and used it for this rifle. Fit's like a glove and the barrel is completely free floated and I didn't have to do any trimming to fit the barrel channel. I didn't bother truing the action as I didn't think the expense was necessary considering how it will be used.
I wanted to buy a low magnification optic in the 1x-5x range for the Vanguard but I thought I'd try my Vortex SPARC on it first to see how I like it. I like how compact the package is and the diminutive SPARC doesn't add much weight either which is a big plus.
The barrel finish length is 11.5" and .865" diameter at the muzzle. Overall length is 32" and weighs 7.0 lbs. with the scope installed. Not exactly a light weight but not too bad either. It's well balanced and compact. It points very quickly when brought to the shoulder. I think an Eagle stock pack would be ideal in making my cheek weld perfect.
Here's a few pics to show the size relative to other rifles. The first pic is with my Remington 700 .300 Blackout with 16" Shilen barrel and the second is with my Bushmaster carbine with 11.5" barrel and the stock closed.
Not sure when I'll have the opportunity to try it out. Might not be til some time in the Spring with work considerations taking priority on my weekends.
