Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What to do with this BOSS thing anyway??

Wandered into the LGS the other day to look for powder and found a 6 digit NH Classic Stainless Model 70 '06 with a Nikon Monarch 3x9 for less than six bills. Buying it was a no-brainer.

Apparently the BOSS on the end of it frightened some guys off. My first inclination is to put a hacksaw and crowning tool to work, but I figured I might as well ask about the thing first. I hate muzzle brakes. Is the supposed accuracy benefit legit enough to keep this thing around and find a non-ported section for it?

Buy the CR (no holes device) and shoot it!!!

+1

You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't at least give it a go, following the instructions to the letter. The barrel tuning ability is legit. I had a QUE tuner on a Remington 700 6mm. Works on the same principal as the Browning BOSS. By systematically adjusting the tuner, I was able to take a rifle that was previously cable of no better than 1.25" groups and tune it to shoot in the .5" range with the same load.

John

I have had the same experience as John with a M70 Classic FWT in 280.

Try it first before you start cutting.

Back before I began hand loading, I read about the BOSS the year it came out, and decided to try it with a .280 Rem. Now that I can roll my own and tune the load to the rifle, no need, but back then, it was like magic. I could pick the factory load I wanted to use, tune the barrel to it, and buy as many boxes as I thought I might need because once I had the settings dialed and recorded for each one, I could return it to that anytime I wanted when I switched loads for different purposes. It was always right on and every load I tried ended up under an inch, two of them way under. I used the CR at the range and the ported in the field.

I still own that rifle and I still shoot it, but as I've gotten older, I've decided it's kind of ugly. My boys sure do think it's cool, though. We were at the range one day a few years ago, and a weekend warrior type sits down right next to us, ignoring the empty benches further away, and starts banging away with a Bushmaster M4 style carbine, with the usual porting. The muzzle blast was annoying.
There was no one for two benches to the other side of us, so we could have picked up and moved, but we'd been there a while, were all set up and settled, so I decided to let the guy have some of his own medicine, instead. I had that .280 with us that day and I went out to the truck and got it. I took the CR unit off and put the ported unit on. I pulled out a box of fairly hot 140 gr loads, set up on the bags so that my muzzle was about at the same point forward as his, and touched off a 5 round group in short order. He asked what kind of magnum I was shooting, didn't believe me when I told him a .280 was no different than a .270, and moved a few benches over. I put the CR back on and we went on with our day. My older son still likes telling that story.

Your doing it backwards. CR in the field saves your ears, ported on the bench saves your shoulder.

Depends on how one looks at it: I don't have the luxury of a private range, so ported on the bench will kill my neighbors at the other benches (see story again) and seems terribly inconsiderate.

Ported in the field makes me feel more confident about staying on target, though I've never had to take a second shot with that rifle and it's doubtful how much actual target acquisition difference it makes, anyway, with a .280.

Your consensus is interesting. I'll likely try it. The thing looks like a turd perched on the end of the gun. I've never had trouble making various model 70s shoot but why not give it a go. The women might find the ported option handy. There's no manual, what's the procedure for tweaking it?

Checked for you, right quick. . . Browning still has instructions for it on their web site. The Win and Browning versions are identical, so same instructions apply. You can download the manual off the same page:

http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=108

I may still have the sheet of preliminary settings that my old gunsmith gave me when I bought the rifle, as well. If I do, I'll post the '06 start settings for different bullet weights.

I have one on a M70 in .300 Win.

Uglier than sin, and loud as all get out.

But it works.

I should probably get a CR for it too, seeing as the dang thing shoots too good to sell.

I have one on my Left hand stainless and wood m70 in 30-06. It hands down works. This gun shoots 1/2" 3 shot groups at 100 yards. And will keep under 2" at 300 yards. Ugly........yes. LOUD.....yes. but it works. So it stays

Exactly. That is what I will do, myself.

I bought a LH 70 Classic .375 H&H LNIB with non-BOSS custom muzzle brake and replaceable thread protector for a great price. It might possibly sell for less some day than one without, but I would never change it.

My hunting buddy who owned a high-end gun store taught me that unaltered weapons, including those with custom shop features, retain value best. I fiddled around with custom rifles for a while before I learned to believe him. Sure, those shoot fine, but in terms of value, there is a big difference unless you have an Echols or Wells, say.

Follow your first inclination.

boss does work,tune it in on the bench then put the cover on it. those things work very well.

I have the same rifle and went through this about 6 months ago. First off, get the CR to replace the ported brake. Either way, try 165-168 grain bullets at or around a setting of 2.2.

If you handload, send me a PM for details.

I had two. Had a Browning in 30-06 and a Winchester in 300WM. I picked them up when a local dealer was going out of business, along with a bunch of other stuff. What I paid for them was less than dealer cost.

The 300wm is still in the safe, less the barrel. It now wears a Kreiger. The 30-06 was sold to a buddy who wanted to get into hunting. I replaced both ported bosses with the CR. Much easier on the ears in the field. The ported attachment is good for bench shooting.

I found that the CR and the brake shot very close to the same setting, but not exactly. Close enough to interchange, however.

pabucktail, As others have said, give'r a try! If your not satisfied,it can work as a "heavy" sinker on your next fishing trip. Unless it's an accuracy advantage, I'll never own another brake.Somewhere in my "shoot'n stuff,is a KDF brake that my lightweight .375AI doesn't't need!! memtb

I had the same rifle topped with a Weaver V10, the BOSS CR was not available but the original worked exactly as it was designed. I was able to shoot cheap ammo and tune it to 3/4" at 200 easily, shot similar to my much lighter Model 7 243 but it was LOUD.

This

Shod