turkeestalker
New member
I just registered and posted this over on Weatherby Nation. Thought it may not hurt to post it here as well. Thanks in advance for any help and my apologies for being 'long winded'.
I bought my first Vanguard I believe around 20 years ago. Back when they were exclusive to 'WallyWorld' and only available in four standard calibers. I chose a 7mm Remington Magnum, though now I've no clue why because it's far more gun than is needed where I live. It came mounted in a synthetic stock originally, but I lucked into a beautiful brand new wood 'take off' some time later for a song, so now it shines when residing in the safe. Not as shiny as its Mark V neighbors, but a beauty in it's own right.
That rifle came from the factory with a set of steel sling swivels, nice ones that require you to simply 'push' the mechanism rather than twist an ugly and unnecessary knurled locking mechanism. Personal preference but I can't stand those, they just seem cheap to me. The 30.06 that I picked up many years later also came with a factory set of quality steel 'push button' sling swivels. The Mark Vs in .240 and .300 Wby Mag that I've purchased through the years have as well. Again too much gun, but I do love 'em fast and flat!
This Christmas I picked up two of the Vanguard Sport models in .308 for my sons as Christmas gifts. Not Mark Vs, but quality rifles in wood furniture that are beautiful in their own right, and should provide them many years of reliable service long after I'm gone. That was my intent for their first center fire hunting rifles.
I set them 'up' so to speak, as I've done with every Christmas firearm gift for them. They are getting optics, mounts, leather slings, and hard cases for transport and storage, and a reasonable supply of ammunition. I found some hand made bridle leather slings that are of surprising quality and craftsmanship for the price point and should last their lifetimes. Thing is, these slings did not come with swivels, and unfortunately neither did their rifles. I suppose that Weatherby is trying to save a buck or two by no longer providing them with their rifles. A pity, but understandable with the times.
So out I go searching for a quality steel sling swivel that lacks that horrendous knurled locking knob that for what ever reason I simply detest. Talon makes what seems to be a reasonable quality one for a fair price, (though I've no clue why they left the angled edges and didn't round them off), and I purchased two sets of 1 inch. Pretty much everyone else out there uses that silly lock knob.
Mounted the swivels on the slings and began to attach them to the rifles. The front slid into the stud on the first rifle fine, all be it snug. The rear however would not even begin to slip into the stud on the buttstock, it was obviously too large in diameter. I tried the swivel that had attached to the front but no dice. It seems that the studs differ from front to rear on the rifle regarding hole diameter, which makes no sense but that is in fact the case. I figured it had to be a fluke, and proceeded to try different combinations of sling swivels between the two rifles to no avail. The hole in the front stud is of a larger diameter than the hole in the rear stud on both rifles. The Talon swivels fit in the front but not in the rear, won't even start. In fact one of the front studs on one of the rifles is set deeper into the stock, so that when the swivel is attached it remains perpendicular to the stock and will not articulate without damaging the wood.
At this point I'm a bit frustrated not to mention disappointed. Doing a search on the Weatherby web site does not provide any way to purchase sling swivels that will work in the rifles. Emailing Weatherby customer support has been unanswered unfortunately. I'm out of time for Christmas, which disappoints and frustrates me even more.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Have you found a brand of quality made steel swivel that would work that does not have that fugly knurled locking knob?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jim
I bought my first Vanguard I believe around 20 years ago. Back when they were exclusive to 'WallyWorld' and only available in four standard calibers. I chose a 7mm Remington Magnum, though now I've no clue why because it's far more gun than is needed where I live. It came mounted in a synthetic stock originally, but I lucked into a beautiful brand new wood 'take off' some time later for a song, so now it shines when residing in the safe. Not as shiny as its Mark V neighbors, but a beauty in it's own right.
That rifle came from the factory with a set of steel sling swivels, nice ones that require you to simply 'push' the mechanism rather than twist an ugly and unnecessary knurled locking mechanism. Personal preference but I can't stand those, they just seem cheap to me. The 30.06 that I picked up many years later also came with a factory set of quality steel 'push button' sling swivels. The Mark Vs in .240 and .300 Wby Mag that I've purchased through the years have as well. Again too much gun, but I do love 'em fast and flat!
This Christmas I picked up two of the Vanguard Sport models in .308 for my sons as Christmas gifts. Not Mark Vs, but quality rifles in wood furniture that are beautiful in their own right, and should provide them many years of reliable service long after I'm gone. That was my intent for their first center fire hunting rifles.
I set them 'up' so to speak, as I've done with every Christmas firearm gift for them. They are getting optics, mounts, leather slings, and hard cases for transport and storage, and a reasonable supply of ammunition. I found some hand made bridle leather slings that are of surprising quality and craftsmanship for the price point and should last their lifetimes. Thing is, these slings did not come with swivels, and unfortunately neither did their rifles. I suppose that Weatherby is trying to save a buck or two by no longer providing them with their rifles. A pity, but understandable with the times.
So out I go searching for a quality steel sling swivel that lacks that horrendous knurled locking knob that for what ever reason I simply detest. Talon makes what seems to be a reasonable quality one for a fair price, (though I've no clue why they left the angled edges and didn't round them off), and I purchased two sets of 1 inch. Pretty much everyone else out there uses that silly lock knob.
Mounted the swivels on the slings and began to attach them to the rifles. The front slid into the stud on the first rifle fine, all be it snug. The rear however would not even begin to slip into the stud on the buttstock, it was obviously too large in diameter. I tried the swivel that had attached to the front but no dice. It seems that the studs differ from front to rear on the rifle regarding hole diameter, which makes no sense but that is in fact the case. I figured it had to be a fluke, and proceeded to try different combinations of sling swivels between the two rifles to no avail. The hole in the front stud is of a larger diameter than the hole in the rear stud on both rifles. The Talon swivels fit in the front but not in the rear, won't even start. In fact one of the front studs on one of the rifles is set deeper into the stock, so that when the swivel is attached it remains perpendicular to the stock and will not articulate without damaging the wood.
At this point I'm a bit frustrated not to mention disappointed. Doing a search on the Weatherby web site does not provide any way to purchase sling swivels that will work in the rifles. Emailing Weatherby customer support has been unanswered unfortunately. I'm out of time for Christmas, which disappoints and frustrates me even more.
Has anyone else run into this problem? Have you found a brand of quality made steel swivel that would work that does not have that fugly knurled locking knob?
Thanks in advance for any help,
Jim
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