I beleive the Vanguard action is made by Howa to Weatherby specs.
I own a Howa 1500 in 30-06. Probably not an accurate comparison to the Vanguard, but I love my 1500. I like the factory trigger, as it is adjustable, and a Timney will drop right in. I believe the same is true for the Vanguard. I handled a Vanguard, found the stock to be OK, perhaps superior to the American, and I like the magazine. Given a chance at the right price, I would buy one.
I bought a Ruger American in .243 a few months ago on sale. Over all, I think it's a good gun for the price. I am not real keen on the plastic magazine. THe stock is a bit too flexible to use proper sling techniques without losing accuracy, but I don't think Ruger had that as a priority. I do like the trigger! I havent' played with adjustment yet, but factory setting feels pretty good.
Right out of the box I added a cheap 20 year old Tasco 3-9x scope and got 5 shot groups 1.2 in @ 100 yds with factory 90 gr Rem core-lokt. Federals gave me about 1.35 in goups, and these tests off front bag only. I've not had a chance to test my 80 gr handloads yet. I believe I got a fair return on investment with the American. It is NOT a competion rifle, but it will kill yotes and bucks quite well.