Howa bolt in weatherby vanguard s2

[BenR]

Can it be done. Thieves broke into my car the other day and ripped out a lock box containing bolts to two of my rifles. One of them was my staino 308 vanguard s2. I'm having trouble sourcing a bolt but can find howas. The howa bolts don't go in as is but I was wondering if I swapped the trigger and components across as well if it will work and how much head spacing work is involved. I have a couple of howas in the safe and can make it work if its possible but will have to take it to a gunsmith for headspacing. Thanks in advance. Ben

[TuskerOrd]

A Howa bolt should fit as the Vanguards are basically just Howa barreled actions that has been rebranded.

[Wyliecoyote]

A Howa bolt won't fit the Vanguard action without some machining of the extraction lug. Sounds easy but Howa bolts can be extremely hard, especially the stainless version so it may take a carbide end mill to do the job.

[Fester]

All I know for sure is I can slip my Howa 6.5 Creed bolt into my S2 .223 but it won't cycle, not sure if I have tried the other way as it's not deliberate.

The triggers, that are said to not be interchangeable may just be the screw thread position and can be modified.
Was only what some bloke said on the interweb so no guarantees.

The Jap machining tolerances are second to none and barrels can be a screw-in, check, and shoot.
I hear some Tikkas are like that but only internet talk so I can't be sure if any other brands are that close for headspace.

[Wapiti]

You can't just claim new rifles on insurance mate?
If you had that SSAA extra cover maybe? Your car policy?
Then it's someone else's problem and you still have all the good stuff to keep over, like scopes/mounts and accessories you've collected.