Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Browning's BOSS system

did they change this? I bought two rifles with BOSS soon after they came out. Both rifles included both the Brake and the CR in the box. (I cut and re-crowned soon after, but the gun did come with both.)

The bad news is that the vented version is loud. Much louder than even a custom triple magnaported system I compared it to, during review. You could not hunt with this rifle ulnless you wore plugs at a minimum.

Secondly, many of the BOSS equipped rifles have their barrels cropped 2 inches to accommodate the BOSS unit and retain the same OAL as the standard rifle. This means velocity loss.

The asthetics of this devise remains subjective. You decide.

The good news is that it works both in reducing recoil substantially, and in generating accuracy.

When first released, I kept my test rifle (a Browning in .270) for 6 months as there was a rush to get reviewes published and they were sloppy and lacking in details. I tested the rifle without the BOSS unit to determine the basic level of accuracy achievable from the barrel and unusual bedding system.

It was sad, around 2- 2 1/2 inches with most loads. The BOSS unit I found, was much more sensative than the instructions (which I saw later as they never accompanied the rifle)indicated, so I played with it a considerable amount until I did factually get many groups under .5MOA and several around .2 MOA.

What I needed to do then was determine whether this rifle was representative of what the consumer could expect so I followed up with additional reviews, a Model 70 also in .270, a Browning BAR in .308, as well as a Browning Heavy barrelled .22/250.

In my tests, I found that the first rifle was an above average performer as the accuracy levels I obtained in the later rifles, particularly, the .308, could be had from a miriad of over the counter rifles unequipped with the BOSS unit.

It is not for me. As for muzzle breaks. there are only two I actually like, and the caveat is that I only mean with certain chamberings, a .340 weatherby, yes, any .300 Magnum, no, that being the Magnaport system, and the defunct Pendleton Dekicker.

JW

UtahLefty,

I know the first rifles with BOSS if you didn't want the muzzle brake noise you had to buy the CR sleeve seperately. My comment was directed at how Browning undermined itself when they first brought out the BOSS. First bad impressions last and get told and retold.

Sure you can!

I had a 'Bossed' M70 in 300 Win back when I was about 20 years old. Shot it maybe 30 times without hearing protection.

Worked great(if you like permanently ringing ears).
One of the top 5 dumbest things I'd ever done, tough lesson.

Yep. Dropped my first Elk with my .338 Win with the Boss installed. Ears rang for three days, sinuses and teeth ached for two days. Tossed it and installed the CR.

Even the CR is useless as you have to tune it each time you try a new load.

My ears are still ringing 12 years later!
Background noise makes it very hard to follow a conversation.

(chainsaws and 12" subwoofers didn't help either)

This is from a call I made to Browning this morning.

�All Browning guns marked assembled in Portugal on the barrel were assembled using parts made in Belgium. If fact a lot of the people doing the assembling in Belgium transferred to Portugal to keep their jobs. Some guns assembled in Portugal were better than some guns assembled in Belgium. And some guns assembled in Belgium were better than some guns assembled in Portugal. But they were all made out of the same steel machined on the same machines in Belgium. You just can�t say that the Brownings assembled in Belgium are the best Brownings ever made.�

He did say that collectors place a higher value on those assembled in Belgium. Also pointed out that no BOSS equipped Brownings were assembled in Belgium.

I suppose that it would be natural for those who like them to buy them, and for those who don't like them to not buy them.

I have two, and give the system mixed reviews.

On my 223 the BOSS and brake system works very well. That little rifle routinely gives me five-shot 5/8" groups at 100 yards, and is a pleasure to shoot.

My 30-06 is another story. I gave up on the muzzle brake version right away. When I bought mine, they had already started shipping both the brake and non-brake BOSS with each rifle. If you're hunting pronghorn, which are small and tend to keep their distance, the extra accuracy is worthwhile. OTH, I have a 6.5x55 Pac-Nor on an FN action that is just as accurate, and would tend to be my first choice for that application.

I use the -CR version (no brake) on a couple rifles with excellent success. The brake version is quite loud, I would not recommend shooting it without protection, even once, after doing so a couple times. Eh?

In my relatively small sample of a few A-bolts my Dad and I have with and without BOSS, the BOSS-equipped guns have shot better, independent of messing with the tuning. Perhaps because they are factory bedded differently, sorry, I don't remember the details on that.

the only downside I see was pinpointed above, you lose about 2" of barrel, so a touch of velocity

Me don't like 'em. Had one on a BAR 30-06. The roar that came out of the end of that thing was horrendous

I had to hunt with ear plugs.

Me and a buddy were hunting for some meat and were in the same box stand. 2 Does came out in the field and I put my ear plugs in. He asked, "Why are you doing that?". I said, "You'll see". We were both going to shoot on the count of 3.

When I said 3, My doe fell. I noticed the other running off and shot her, thinking Scott had wounded or missed. I looked over and he was in the corner of the stand holding his ears with both hands, never even shot...and couldn't hear for 3 hours.

That's the one and only Browning I ever sold. Maybe the Boss CR would be better. ( No muzzle break)

JM

This is why i use the CR on mine. Recoil doesn't bother me halve as much as noise.

My 30-06 shipped with only the brake version of the BOSS. There was no CR then. The CR was introduced a bit later, I guess. When it came out (or when I knew about it), I called Browning and asked for one, and they shipped it to me no charge and no question.

I really dislike the fact that they reduced the rifled barrel length in order to accommodate the BOSS into a same-overall-length package.

I really love the brake itself, and the tunability of the rifle.

I was struggling a lot with how to develop handloads for the rifle, until I had a supremely obvious epiphany: The rifle is the tuning device, the loads are not. You don't try to fiddle around burning up powder, bullets, and the barrel developing the perfect handload. You make the handload you want (bullet and velocity) and then adjust the rifle to shoot it well. And shoot well it will. Mine gives outstanding results with Win 180-grain Silvertips (my preferred factory load), and will shoot any handload I've tried somewhere between quite well and beautifully. That alone makes the BOSS and the rifle better than the competition, IMO.

Don't try to shoot the brake boss without ears on, though. I, too, had to dispatch a creature quickly and didn't put ears on when I fired (not a hunting situation). My ears rang the rest of the day, and it HURT. Wear ears or use the CR.

When they came out I bought a very rare Browning Stainless Stalker in left hand 7mm-08 with BOSS. This gun is a true tack driver, never bothered me with the muzzle break BOSS but when I called Browning they sent me the CR unit free. That is what is on it now.
I love this rifle, it's light, extremely accurate using the reloads I wanted (not the reloads I needed for the accuracy I wanted)
Not worried about the looks, I'd rather have a very accurate rifle than a pretty rifle that can't group the reloads I like.

My son has one,and I load for it.He only used the BOSS once hunting,then I had to buy the CR.It was used LH rifle. I tried to work it a bit,it didn't seem to do much,but the rifle shot great at any setting,so what the heck.

I had one on my Browning .300 Win Mag. It helped with recoil just like a muzzle brake. It never made a difference with accuracy though. I wound up having my gunsmith friend re-barrel the gun with a nice heavy Shilen barrel. It shoots better now. I would think if they offer a non ported hunting model, it would not help with recoil, but wouldn't ring your bell either.

i had to buy mine

None of the 4 rifles I reviewed had these. They were an afterthought.
JW