Discussion Forums

Scott Struif

Comparing the Vanguard and Howa Hogue stocks, each of which I own, I noticed a major design difference. The Houge, which is "pillar bedded", has flanges on the pillars which protrude from the surface of the stock. So the action is "floating" on the pillars. There is no support for the barrel parallel, so the floating barrel is entirely supported by the action. In contrast, the Vaguard stock, which has no pillars, has a beefy 3/4" support for the barrel parallel. It also has the foreend tip pressure point, which upon close inspection I can see was adjusted at factory with a round file or sandpaper-wrapped dowel. The Vanguard fails the one o'clock miserably, which means that the front screw (which threads directly into the integral recoil lug), is drawing the barrel parellel down against the built-in support. They obviously left some clearance under the recoil lug for this to occur. The Vanguard is an MOA gun, as advertised, but clearly the action is stressed in its configuration. Maybe the recommended 35 in. lbs. of recommended torque is not enough to stress the action. The Howa Hogue shoots spot-on elavation-wise, but wanders left and right. This is not surprising given the whole barreled action is riding on the pillar flanges. I am loathe to try bedding the Hogue, in light of Nathan's comments that it's the most difficult stock to bed. So I ordered a Vanguard stock from Weatherby for the Howa. My question is, shouldn't one take advantage of the built-in barrel-parallel support, just bed the recoil lug pocket with no tape on the bottom of the recoil lug, to relieve the downward stress of the action against the barrel-parellel support?