Weatherby Vanguard Weatherguard 7mm Remington Magnum Bolt Action Rifle - Blue/Black, 26" Barrel, 3+1 Rounds, Synthetic Stock

I'll just give my observation of this Vanguard WeatherGuard as I see it in the hand right now. The ENTIRE gun is Cerakoted except for the stock-- I mean all the way to the BOLT FACE! They even coated the crown (right to the rifling as far as I can tell). I didn't expect to have every single piece of metal coated... but they got it all as far as I can tell. Kinda weird having it on the bolt (and bolt face)-- I'm wondering how it will hold up to my reloads which are a "touch" hot ;)
I got this gun for insane territory (high desert mountain) hunting. Some of the stuff we go through will leave you bleeding- Sotol, Yucca, and some other evil/pointed stuff we crawl through (often gun first) requires a leather hat and gloves so your head can "drive" through some of this crap. Kinda like our Texas mesquite pastures where we had to have chaps (or knee high boots) to round up- and horses came home blood red if you had to run them through the worst of it. Anyway, a "purdy" wood stock would be trashed after a week out there (I know because mine ARE!). So hoping this gun will be able to take the southern mountains of NM and AZ.
The un-oiled bold slides like someone buttered it. The stock feels outstanding compared to my other synthetics. The 26" barrel WILL be used to max the load I shoot out to 600 yards (longer on Texas pigs and varmints). The 7mm RM can be dialed in on deer with plenty of energy out that far, but being born/raised on a ranch in West Texas helps in that department as my first gun was a 22, then a 7mm RM came SOON afterward. This gun will weigh right at what my (now retired) 700 7mm RM weighs scoped and loaded- about 9 lbs. All I care about is the first (cold bore) shot with this rifle and I expect about 10-12 hours of SLOW fire range time to get it tweaked. If it can shoot 3/4 MOA with tweaked handloads it will be a good gun. If it can do 1/2 MOA it will be a GREAT gun. Time and work-up will tell.
I am blessed to have several very good old guns including a Model 70 and a few 700s... but my Savages are my actual work horses the last 20 years and I LOVE them ALL. So I naturally came close to buying the Savage 110 series in stainless (not the "Apex", but the model with the accu-stock). But the new "redesigned" action (with plastic bold release), and sneaky marketing on the 110 as of late put me off. I have re-built/barreled several 110s (and Axis actions with accutriggers make GREAT small caliber- super accurate varmint guns too). But the smooth nut (I can't get my wrench around to pull a barrel) and plastic release (no plastic on my gun except for the LIGHTWEIGHT stock thank you) sent me looking at Weatherby. If you read up on this rifle you'll see it really is quite a step up from the general $600 gun sold today. I am not sure what to expect from a fitted barrel in the stock (Vs free floated), but all reports have it running accurate as can be. So I decided to trust Weatherby on this point and order this gun which I can honestly say looks better than I expected. Now... IF IT SHOOTS as good as it looks... you WON'T hear back from me here-- I'll be hunting!

Excellent, can't complain at all