The Weatherby Vanguard is a synthetic-stocked bolt-action 6.5mm Creedmoor built for deer and antelope hunting. Weatherby no longer lists this version, so it is a used buy. Weatherby guaranteed a three-shot group under an inch at 100 yards from a cold barrel with its own or premium ammunition.

No rail, no base and no sights come on it, so a mount and an optic are part of the purchase. The two-stage trigger adjusts down to 2.5 lbs and the stock is a fixed 13.5 inches of pull. Four rounds sit in an internal magazine behind a hinged floorplate, loaded from the top, so there is no spare box to carry. Weatherby did not make threaded barrels standard across the Vanguard line until July 2024, so this one has a bare muzzle and a brake or a can means barrel work.

If you're cross-shopping, the Howa 1500 is still made, holds five and comes with a two-stage HACT trigger on a 22-inch barrel. A used Ruger American Predator is 0.90 lbs lighter with a 5/8x24 muzzle thread and a Picatinny base already fitted. The guarantee does not travel, though, because Weatherby wrote it for the original purchaser inside two years of a verified purchase date.