Originally Posted by
Nomercy448
Personally, I'd opt for the Savage.
I personally haven't seen any real lag in "fit" for Savages, even in the budget friendly models, that do sacrifice on "finish". Guys lump that together and say "the savages are poor on fit and finish", which is absolutely NOT true. The Vangaurd finishes might be nicer (debatable) than the Edges, I wouldn't personally say they're any nicer than the Weather Warrior line though, and the FIT on the Savages is much better.
Even if everything else were equal, I'd take the Savage simply for the Accu-trigger. Bar-none the most versatile and shooter friendly production trigger on the market. The Accu-stock is also a nice bonus for synthetic stock rifles. I would definitely make sure in buying a Weather Warrior that I got one with the Accu-stock (not much more expensive, I think $50 last I checked).
Frankly, the Vangaurd accuracy guarantee is a joke. Who cares if a rifle can shoot 1MOA when it's locked in a receiver mount (NOT IN THE STOCK) and fired at the factory for group? That doesn't mean it will EVER group that well in the real world. Basically, Vanguard "guarantees" that the target they shipped with the rifle is a 1MOA group. Nothing more, nothing less. Savage ALSO carries an accuracy guarantee of 1MOA, however, they mean it. Their rifles will shoot 1MOA, stocked and over a bench, or they'll fix it. However, I've never bought a Savage that shot "that poorly". I currently have 5 production Savage boltguns that shot better than 1/2MOA "Factory Fresh" (including my wife's new Savage 16 Bear Hunter .300WSM).
The fit and finish was not very good on the Wether Warrior I had. I understand that is a sample size of one but it is my experience. Admittedly, had Savage put a better stock on this rifle I might have a better opinion.
I have a Savage bolt action, .22 rimfire and it is the only rifle in my collection that must be continually pulled from the safe and oiled to keep from rusting. I have since just left it out of the safe and stuck it behind a door and that seems to have stopped that issue. The Winchesters, Brownings, Remingtons, Glocks, Rugers, Taurus, Beretta's, Sigs, and TC's don't rust in my safe the way the Savage did.
IMO the accutrigger is a good trigger but I could take it or leave it on a rifle. I have found the triggers on the X-Bolt, the new M70's, and the TC Icon to be very good and I personally shoot and like them better.