I never understood the Browning hate. It seems the stories of them breaking and failing in the field are widely exaggerated or the few cases are spread and repeated by many. *Note that I'm not calling anyone here a liar. I'm sure there are documented cases of browning rifles failing in AK or Canada or Africa or elsewhere, just like any other rifle can fail when it's put through a torture test. They seem to work fine in most places.
I always thought they were great rifles until I joined this forum, but luckily now I know they are crap...... Good thing I haven't told my extended family as they own at least 20 x-bolts and a-bolts between them and have never had a problem. I've personally owned 1 x-bolt and 2 a-bolts and have never had a single issue. Every single one that I've shot or seen shot would group good to very good right out of the box and often with cheap factory ammo.
I don't really care if they are tough to work on or have glue under the action. I don't care if they have a 20 piece bolt or a 6 piece safety. I don't care where they were made. When I spend $700-$1000 on a rifle, I expect to take it and shoot it and kill stuff without having to fix it or modify it or adjust it or bed it or replace half of it. (Note most of them need a little trigger work just like 99% of factory rifles.) I like the short bolt throw. I like the ergonomic lines. Sure they look a little more modern than a classic wood stock 700 or 70, but to me they are just a tool and I like function over form any day. I like the weight. They are a little heavier than a kimber and a lot lighter than a 700.
The best gun purchase I ever made was a stainless 7mm08 x-bolt I bought lightly used on this forum. I paid half the price of a new one, and it took me less than one hour in the loading room and one trip to the range to have 2 loads with 2 proven bullets that both shoot sub moa. One of those loads with 120 ttsx shoots ridiculous little cloverleafs and kills with great authority with so little recoil, I've watched the bullet impact on several longish shots.
In short, I love the x-bolts and don't really care what anyone else thinks.
