I've used Howa 1500's in .300 Win Mag and .30-06. Both were exemplary. Very reliable and accurate. The Howa has some very useful ergonomic features that have gone largely unnoticed by the conventinal gun press.
One is the large ejection port, which facilitates loading with gloves and in cold weather. The floor plate release is one of the better ones in use in my experience.
I also like the length and shape of the bolt handle. It seems slightly longer than Win or Remington and this increases leverage when you're opening the bolt from the "fired" position and you have to cock the firing pin on the upstroke. Furthermore, I find the pear shapted bolt handle to be attractive and comfortable.
Another feature is that their magazines seem to be longer than others. This allows long seating of bullets in the casings if you wish to have the chambers "reamed out" for a longer over all cartridge length. In my .300 Win Mag and in my 30-06, I am able to seat bullets "further out" to achieve greater powder capacity and longer over all length of the cartridge.
As also noted by others, the Weatherby "Vanguard" is simply a Howa bolt action sold under the Weatherby brand name. I have no personal experience with the Vanguard, but a hunting companion has one in .300 Wby Magnum which he loves for elk hunting using 200 grain Nosler partition bullets in Federal Premium factory loads.
Hope this information is helpful to you in evaluating the Howa 1500/Vanguard rifles.
