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

FWIW with my Browning .30/06 a fairly minimal amount of tuning the BOSS got it to shooting five bullets through one ragged hole at 100 yards with my selected load. I made no other changes to the rifle beyond fitting a scope. I haven't changed either the settings or the load in the years since, and it still does just as well.

I only use the CR though. I have tried the ordinary BOSS on another rifle and it is very blasty - particularly if you are next to it while someone else is shooting. The CR on the other hand seems to reduce blast compared to a conventional barrel of the same length, if anything.

The benefit is one can pick a slug, load to a given velocity, and make it shoot with the boss. With out one, one has to dink with slugs, and loads until he finds a state the rifle likes.

Boarmaster123,

"I looked high and low with no success for a sleeve to cover the treads that would make the barrel look more normal."

Without looking at mine in detail I don't know if this will work, but here is an idea. Buy a CR and have a machinist shorten it and turn down the diameter. Alternatively, a good machinist can make something. Considering the cost of a CR (I don't know the current cost), I don't know which would be cheaper.

I had a Browning heavy barrel .223 with a BOSS. For some reason the factory never developed a "sweet spot" setting for this caliber. I wish I had known about the short cut system for finding the sweet spot. I must have worn out part of the barrel while trying to find the best setting. Once found the system worked as advertised.

Eventually what I did was find a sweet spot setting with one load then I reverted to the usual method of experimenting with various loads. This was cheaper than trying all the potential settings on the BOSS system.

In time the .223 was sold and replaced with a .222 Tikka heavy barrel. In spite of the Tikka reputation for accuracy the Browning was still quite a bit better.

I contacted the factory hoping they could help me find the sweet spot but they were either unable or unwilling to do so.

Right now I have an order in for an X-bolt .223 Gold Medallion stainless which should be delivered in May. This rifle has a 1-8" twist. It will be interesting to see what this one will do with heavier bullets. After reading all the hype about quick twist rifling I had to have one to try.

Jim

Thanks Gundoc, the crown on the barrel iscat the end of the threads so it might be easier and cheaper to just have a machinist make a sleeve from scratch rather than try to work with the two pieces. Its not really like a normal suppressor as it has that adjusting sleeve. Might work but I think i will save any dollars for a new barrel. Im am suprised no one has developed a sleeve as an aftermarket item but perhaps they feel interest would be too limited and the cost might be more than they think guys would pay for it. Cost of the non recoil suppressing attachment was $45 for me.
Darn shame I cant get good with it as it shoots great. But after 14 years of not appreciating it I doubt its going to grow on me. The black tape seems to be working right now. LOL.

I always thought all the boss did was accomplish the same thing you accomplish by adjusting OAL in your handloads, choosing an exit spot that's compatible.

jstevens,



Here's the difference: You can work up to maximum velocity and then adjust the brake or weight for accuracy. With working with overall length your load may not be the rifle's top velocity.

How much ammo did you guys burn up to find the sweet spot?

I used the guideline i found online that indicated where to start based on what i was shooting out of it. That gave me a good jump on getting it tuned. But i recall that i used up a box between tuning and zeroing . You know pretty fast if your going the wrong way.

I turned a guaranteed 2moa rifle into 2" and under at 300 yards in less than fifty rounds.

But what's fun is I took my first elk at a ranged 400 yards with it before I put the brake on it. I knew the bullet would hit within 4" of the aiming spot. The shot was as steady as a bench because I had a hump or berm to lay behind with the rifle on the soft dirt. The 160 partition made a 6" bruise entering and a 3" bruise exiting. The top of the heart was exploded. The bullet hit at the bottom of the "group" if there was one.

With my QUE tuner, a lot less than developing an optimum load.

John

The technology works, I've had one. Just my personal preference would be to hack off and re-crown.

Pull the barrel and sell it on ebay... mine sold last night.

How much barrel do you lose cutting it off? 24" with a Boss you end up at what? 22"?

I'd likely go that route, unless obviously I was going to re-barrel anyway.

IIRC, you end up at 21.5 - 21.75" if you take off all the numbered hash-marks on the barrel.

That's tempting! The perfect barrel length in these parts is anywhere between 18-21 inches.

Yup, trim it to 21"

Hunting gun = hack it off
Bench gun = leave it on

Leave it on with the CR sleeve and enjoy a very accurate rifle.

I recommend you take it off and shoot the rifle without to determine the accuracy of the barrel with your intended loads.

The most accurate of the 4 rifles I reviewed was the worst rifle I ever reviewed when the BOSS was reviewed. 2-2.5" groups from a rifle that shot .2's and .3's with the BOSS aligned to the best settings.

John