How are Vangaurds to build from

[dpe.ahoy]

I've owned 2 and both were/are as accurate out of the box as any other rifle make I have owned.  My 7 mag was sub-MOA with several bullet weights and the current 257 W has only had 100 gr factory ammo thru it so far and is just over MOA for 3 shots.  They are a bit heavy, but that is the only complaint I could think of for them.  DP

[Ahab]

Pot metal & workmanship similar to a Daisy BB gun.

Pure bull! I'm holding one in my hand right now and I see highly polished sear engagement surfaces and no "pot metal".

[Lost Oki]

Got my first vanguard just before Christmas, have yet to shoot it (.270).  However I have owned Remingtons, Marlins, Rugers, 1917's, 96 Swedes, Persians, H&R's and several pistols that I reloaded for.  My Rem was ho hum until I started reloading, my H&R .223 bull was ok until I figured out it did not like 45 or 55 grain bullets....they will almost always shoot under an inch...some get there faster than others....
The potential is almost always there, ya just have to play with them until ya get there.....thats the fun.....The vanguard will be the same....and its a lot lighter than my 1917 .35 Whelen.

[SteveHawaii]

My new Vanguard .243 shoots under an inch at 100 yards - out of the box.

[RKPulliam]

Vanguards are excellent rifles.  I can't imagine a greater value.   I have 3 Vanguards -- and all are Sub-MOA.  I used to get embarrassed -- they always shoot a tight 3 shot cloverleaf -- shots on top of other shots.   I thought people might think that I was cheating somehow.   The only other gun that I have is more accurate is my Remington 700 Sendero in 300 RUM -- which is phenomenal. 
I have 3 Weatherby Vanguards, and 4 Remington 700's -- all of them great shooters.  What may help is that I usually have a Timney Trigger installed and set at 2.0 lbs. That makes a big difference on any stock rifle.   And Ballistic Tip ammo keeps the groups much tighter than cheap ammo.

[gs50401]

I was told the Howa/vanguard action is a direct copy of a Sako action. If executed properly it should be OK. I don't know about resale value. Does anything really have resale value if you add up all customizing costs.

[patrickjames]

Howa's are great rifle's to shoot or to build from.Go to the 24 Hour campfire and see what they think of swamptroll over there. Nice picture of him shooting a deer in the butt from his golf cart.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a 257 wby vanguard that shoots 3/4 of an inch with loads it likes and ive  boughten two .243 howas for my grandsons and they both have shot one inch groups and i havent even experimented with them. I had some bulk corelock 100s and just threw in the powder i had most of and took them to the range so im sure that unless i was extreamly lucky finding a load that was the best in both that they would even do better. Id say they were a great bang for the buck. IN that price range about the only thing remington has is the cheap plastic stocked guns with plastict trigger guards and no floor plate. One thing that swampman did make sense with though is if your having a custom built and you think that its even a small possiblity down the road that you will get rid of it is that a custom built on that action probably wont sell easily. Not that its not a good action it just that not to many people will spend top dollar to buy a gun that says howa on the action or for that matter savage either. If i was building a custom id go with a rem or win action.