Weatherby Vangaurd Misfire

[3Js]

Just got back from Montana Mule deer hunt. Very discusted with my new Weatherby Vangaurd. Hunted all week and passed on some shooter bucks due to bad or no shot. Finally last day found a nice shooter. After a mile stalk I eased up over the butte and I was 75 yards away. The buck stood up and I pulled the trigger. CLICK !!!!! To my surprize no fire. I ejected the shell and thought I chambered another and after the deer ran and stopped on top of the butte at 50 yards the gun went click again. Only this time no shell in the chamber. Talk about bad luck.

Well a long story short I had factory 257 Weatherby ammo. The pimer did not have a dent in it. After looking at the magazine it appears the clearance at the face of the bolt and the back of shell is so close that there is NO room for error when chambering another round. The bullet also can hang up if they are not slid slightly forward in the magazine. I am so disapointed in this rifle it is going down the road if no fix is found. I have an old Vangard that is a very good and dependable shooter and three UL Mark 5 that never gave me any problems. But this new vangard sucks. The trigger is not ajustable so I bought a Timney trigger. It shoots exellant groups. I never had a miss fire during site it in.

Has anyone had simalar issues? maybe a simple fix?

Thank you for any help.

[oldcspsarge]

Handle lots of Vanguards...never have seen any problems.

Did it fire when you sighted in it ? Have you had the bolt apart ?

With no primer strike as described...somebody had the bolt apart and put it back together wrong.

Send it back to Weatherby...they have great warranty service. It fired before they shipped it !

[semi_problomatic]

I've got a Vangaurd .308 and it shoots beautifully. My favorite rifle. The trigger is adjustable, and it breaks like glass. NEVER had a misfire or a round not shoot. I agree, someone put it together wrong.

[javven]

I'm glad you're OK at least. It's a tough call in a hunting situation, but I've had some old-timers tell me a 'click' can mean a slow primer - in which case immediately racking the bolt might not be such a good idea. Is this fact? I have no idea.

While it'd be interesting to know if it would fire at the range, I agree with the others. Call Weatherby ASAP and let 'em know what happened.

[roklok]

Are you CERTAIN that the bolt was completely locked when you had the misfire ? I had a misfire once with my 700 Remington caused by the bolt handle not being the whole way down. The striker had to lock the bolt before the firing pin reached primer, robbing much of its energy. If the bolt handle was lifted slightly, and you took the shot, most of the strikers energy went to shutting bolt instead of hitting primer.