Vanguard Products

The optic and accessory market in the UK is very competitive, and this means that the consumer has a great selection of good value products to choose from, covering all the price points. Recently, it came to my attention that Vanguard are looking to expand from their base in the USA to the UK, bringing a new line of optics with them. I was keen to have a look at them, along with some of their other products to see what is on offer.

Vanguard who?

Vanguard are a global company that have made their name designing and manufacturing award winning tripods, bags, binoculars and accessories for over 30 years. Their advantage is that they have complete control over the manufacturing process, allowing them to create the highest quality products for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts, at affordable price’s.

Historically in the UK, Vanguard have focused on selling their gun rests, while in the background they have built on their experience in high performance optics to develop a range of rifle scopes that meet the needs of the US market. After more than five years of development and in consultation with selected dealers, they now feel that the time is right to launch a selected range of rifle scopes in the UK and build a credible hunting brand. They will primarily be available from www.vanguardworld.co.uk and will start appearing in a select range of dealers around the country. It’s not unusual for some manufactures to go, hands on, in this manner as it offers a deal of control and hopefully good customer service.

Trying hard

The new Endeavor RS IV rifle scopes are built around an aluminium 30mm main body tube and include a selection of variable magnification levels and reticles, designed to match a range of styles and budgets. They are all fitted with HOYA Extra Low Dispersion (ED) glass, which also includes their MultiGuard Coatings for maximum performance. In testament to their build quality, they come with a 5-year or lifetime warranty if the purchase is registered online.

Four of the new models use an illuminated German No.4 reticle for low-light conditions and provide 80% light transmission. These include a 1-4x24 (£299.99) and a 1.5-6x42 (£399.99), which are designed for fast paced, close-up shooting, such as driven boar hunting. They also offer a 2.5-10x50 (£449.99) and 3-12x56 (£549.99), the extra magnification and objective diameter making them more suitable for anything from pest control to deer stalking.

Long range dispatch

For longer range shooting they offer three models which include their illuminated Dispatch 600 (DS6) reticle. This is a ballistic drop compensation (BDC) design that includes labelled hash marks out to 600 yards. Options include the 4-16x44 (£449.99), 2.5-10x50 (£499.99) and the 4-16x50 (£549.99). If more magnification is required, they also offer a 5-20x50 (£599.99) variant that comes with their illuminated Dispatch Varmint reticle.

Finally, is the Endeavor RS VII 1-7x44 DS 556 (£649.99), a compact tactical scope design that shows a wide field of view and includes their Dispatch TAC 556 ballistic reticle with a multistage illumination feature. It consists of an encircled floating dot with hash marks out to 600 yards, making it a particularly versatile optic. This could well prove very popular with the rimfire Action shooters and possible the AR15 straight-pull brigade too, as the spec seems well suited!

Accessories

To support the new line of optics, Vanguard have also introduced a range of 30mm rings (£69.99), which are precision machined from solid bar stock steel for maximum strength. There are three heights available; low, medium and high, as well as a choice of either Picatinny or Weaver fittings. They have manufactured their own retrofit speed mag lever (£49.99), allowing the shooter to adjust magnification quickly and easily, along with a sunshade (£39.99) for the 50mm objective lenses.

Have a rest

Vanguard first entered the shooting market through their gun rests and offer some tried and tested designs. One of the most popular is the Porta Aim tripod (£49.99), which is a portable aluminium gun-rest. It features a U-notch anti-vibration pillow with a strap, which is mounted on a universal yoke. It can pan 360°, and the height can be adjusted one-handed from 22-32cm. If it is shooting sticks you are after then they also offer the Quest T62U 3-in-1 (£79.99), which measure 700mm when folded and can extend to 1575mm. They weigh 1000 grams, and can be used as a tripod, bipod or monopod. A more unusual rest is the VEO 2 AM-234TU (£69.99). This is an aluminium monopod with a U-Yoke and tri-feet base, which will soon also be available in carbon fibre. It folds down to 620mm and weighs just 885g for maximum portability.

Nice to see

A great selection of gear and by no means an exhaustive list either, as they also do a range of bipods, binoculars, spotting scopes, gun slips, hard cases, slings and shooting luggage! They will also be doing some monoculars, which are due March 2020. We hope to be able to get hands on with some of their products for testing and review this year. So, watch this space!

Contact: www.vanguardworld.co.uk