Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why no love for Browning Bolts?

"Lightweight, accurate, reliable..."

One out of three ain't bad!

I cant stand the looks of the new ones. I swear I saw a guy in a Star Trek episode that carried a weapon with a similiar stock design.

I had an A-bolt in 300WSM when they came out. It was a light rifle to carry, but couldnt warm up to it. Especially the 60 deg lift. Didnt feel right, so I gave it to my step-father. Love them old High Powers though.

Count me as another one that considers Browning a 'go to' brand - more Brownings than anything else - one for 25+ years - never a problem feeding, firing or shooting accurately...

I have had 2 and both were horrible excuses for rifles, Sent them both down the road and swore them off.

That being said I do know a lot of people that love them but for me there is just something about them that doesn't satisfy my inner rifle looney.

I don't like the way the stocks fit me, and I agree about the oddball bolt handle, and the over-engineered magazines. Come to think of it, I just don't like anything about them. Never saw any real purpose to a short-lift bolt, either, it just doesn't feel right to me.

I don't fuss and cuss about them, I just don't like anything about them.

i have one, choked mod/imp. wandered into a country gun store one day, there she was with a $600 tag on it. got him down $50 and walked with that one.

nice shotgun.

-tom

I love my Brownings; A-Bolts and X-Bolts.

Agreed. I too don't like jap products because of WW2. I have owned Browning Belgium made rifles and would still have them if they had not been so heavy.

Here is one that, while it shot ok, was just too heavy. I sold it for about $550. I feel the same way about standard weight pre 64 M70's in regular calibers. I did keep the bore scope. Those are neat.

Question for you "Japan-haters"- where do your optics, especially binoculars, hail from? Just curious how many of you hate Japanese-made firearms but love German-made optics.

I don't like that funky line in the stock (doesn't Tikka have a useless line also). The 60 degree bolt is ok just round out the knob and turn it to face the right way. The detachable magazine on the X-Bolt I like. They seem to be accurate. The Japanese label would be hypocritical for me to hold against them. What steers me away from them is the pricing. At my local shop the cheapest X-Bolts start at $729 (that seems to be very competitive). Remingtons and Rugers look more attractive at $100-$200 less money.

"Why no love for a Browning bolt?"

Mmm... Because they''re ugly?

Just my opinion, though...

And German-made firearms. I haven't quite figured that out either.

I personally like the Browning Bolt guns and they out shoot most American Made Bolt Guns without having to do anything other than mounting a scope . Man that puts down a A-Bolt usually hasn't tried one.

I have had one in 223 for years, long throat, mag box is too long and a mag box block? off to shorten it, but it shoots ok. Its just ugly, too futuristic looking or something. I do have a Hi power (Belgium), Citoris, and a couple of BPS SGs, that I really like. But then they are more "classical" in the aesthetics department. Like someone else said, just can't warm up to it, no soul. So I don't think its a made in Japan thing. One of the things that does bother me is rebarreling, as I understand it you can't rebarrel one.

+1 for me. The ones I've owned were shooters.

I just haven't found anything they do better than Ruger/Remmington/Winchester for me. I don't care for the 80 layers of shelac they used to put on their stocks. It was like holding a piece of wood inside a display case.

My guns have to be shooters and look a certain (traditional) way. Hunting and shooting is not a job. I don't have to "accept" things in my leisure activities. The X-Bolt is a good product. I would love to have that detachable mag on a Ruger/Remington. The stock turns me off, but so do military looking AR type rifles in the hunting woods. So I don't choose them. A change in stock and price and I'd own an X-Bolt.

The guys I know who have and hunt them hunt really hard, shoot em enough to trust them and to know them to be quite accurate.

3 guys I know pretty well run them and they hunt the heck out of them. From time to time I ask if they've had any troubles with them and not once has any of them said yes.

I've known others to run them just not like the above 3 do that I mention and they've traveled a lot longer and harder than most will ever dream of doing.

Aside from Art, I've not known anyone to have issues with them. But then again I don't anyone who's used them next to the big drink as much as Art has.

Bottom line, I spect if you're not living in a world of salt water like Art then I spect you'll not have any more issues than you would from other makes.

Dober

Cousin has one that I ordered for him some years back. Shoots REALLY great, in 270, well under an inch and approaches half an inch. We shot it quite a bit to 500 and at 500 it was still hanging in around 5-7 inch groups which ain't bad for an unbedded factory rifle.

Tweaked the trigger and since I don't know how much his kids and he have killed with it, but with 5 deer a piece legal and his wife hunts now and then, he has never called me to complain.

Interesting about the stock bolts too, I KNOW he doesn't pay attention to stuff like that, they've never been loose that I know of.

Side note, I kind of like the feel of the A-bolt Ti. It's lighter than the Montana, it costs more than the Montana and I'd bet it'd feed better and would should circles around the Montana day in and day out. And lastly it doesn't have the obnoxious beer belly that the Montana does.

It aint a cheap date however....so who's gonna be the guinnea

Dober