Getting away from glittering generalities and gunscribe gack and into specific nuance of design, materials, etc: What exactly are the pros and cons of the Browning A-Bolt, and why do so many Campfire riflemen seem to have a disdain for them? I have no experience with them. I have a buddy who owns one in 30-06 and absolutely swears by it as a deer killing machine that has never given him a problem.

It's a rifle some folks love to hate. Mine were both very good, very reliable and very accurate. If I remember correctly our own MuleDeer (or his wife) likes them too.

I think many Remington owners don't like other brands of guns that shoot well out of the box. Gunsmiths need employment too you know.

Oh Jeez Brian.

Read This thread and draw your own conclusions....

I have a Remington but have always been a Ruger guy. Simply put the A-bolt doesn't have the ergos, is shinier than a stripper's g-string and costs more than the Ruger.

Never really had any accuracy issues save one 300wm so I saw/see no reason to buy an A-bolt. It just has NEVER done ANYTHING better than other things out there but they sure price em like they do.

I love Browning shotguns but I'll never pay money for their rifles.

Wow... 34 pages on the referenced post above... i will be reading for weeks...

Enjoy your read .............HB

Lots of dislikes coming from wet Alaska, and for a reason. If it works there it will work damn near anywhere.

I can tell you for certain that just because it works in VA don't mean it works in the Tongass.

I paid 550 bucks for mine, its accurate, light, pretty, and its real fun to shoot. I see why there's hate for em...

Sloppy and bad trigger design, three lugs don't bear well and more difficult to accurize, bad bolt handle design, magazine hinged floorplate? C'mon! Pot metal trigger guard. Here is a question, Have you ever seen a Browning A-bolt used by guides, outfitter and PH? I sure don't. One renowned gunsmith once told me, "when that barrel goes out on the A-bolt, it's nothing more than scrap metal, No one will work with it."

I know personally of three guides that use A-Borts for brown bear guiding. The metalurgy of their particular rifles has been tested around saltwater for a long time and they have never had a problem... So not all A-Borts will fail... But I would never use tham again.

I don't care for A-bolts myself but most folks don't hunt in the Tongass {seems like you'da noticed that while you was there dumbass} and an A-bort would do them just fine.

John Moses uses them...don't need any other reason to hate them....

Someone else hating one particular model of rifle would not keep me from buying one. But if you follow the pack, do whatever the pack does. I have one A-bolt, a Ruger or two, a CZ, and two Tikkas. I would sooner have another Tikka, but if Browning made an Abolt in 6.5 Swede, and it called my name, I'd answer, and forget the crowd.

Shot a couple, handled a few more, they just didn't do it for me. I don't hate them, but don't see the point of spending money on something that's not even close to what I'm looking for.

bought an A-bolt Micro in .308 a few years ago, mainly 'cause my other light bolt action had problems before deer season one year.

The pistol grip shape isn't exactly right, and the trigger is too stiff, lawyer-proof, like just about all modern Brownings.

Otherwise the big gripe about it is its boring reliability - good handloads always go an inch or less at 100 yards. As for durability this one now has a big honking scar on the left side where it fell off a bench onto concrete. The point of impact moved a whole inch at 100 yards. Nothing broken.



It ain't a classic, but it's not a bad light rifle.

My first "deer rifle" was a Micro Hunter bought for me 17 years ago IIRC. After years of hunting, some in the rain, some in the snow, some in dry dusty conditions the pot metal tiger guard and flimsy bolt stop are still intact.

Do I think Brownings are "The best in the world?" No. Do I think they are "the biggest POS in the world?" No.

They are just one of so many decent choices we have today.

Regurgitated internet hyperbole's notwithstanding.

i got a abolt micro 7mm/08 i love it i have hunted all weather conditions its never failed

I like them because of the short bolt throw, smooth action, excellent accuracy (or precision, if you like), and the ergos/fit are very good for me (tang safety, stock shape). I wish they were a little heavier. In fact, I filled the empty space in my last walnut-stocked one with shot for just that reason. Their fit/finish is excellent, and they can be had in shiny, matte, or stainless as you please. If they were made in America, they'd be perfect to me.

They run with the others in their market.

Never even thought about owning a Browning until Grice came out with the special A-Bolt II Feather-Lite 20" 358 Win. Purchased one, mounted Low Talley rings and the scope is a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8x36 matte finish. Excellent shooter and a joy to carry. Wish I would've purchased another Grice special in the 284 Win.

Ken

I'm all about using what works. I want something that works when everything is wrong, not only when everything is fine.

I'd not expect some silly ass, NY suburb living guy that has to get boys to post pictures for him to understand.

If I were willing to use a rifle that was made in a foreign country it would probably be a Howa or a Weatherby. At least they are cheap.

Of all the firearms in the Browning line I consider the A-Bolt the poorest design. I worked at the Browning Gunsmithing Shop during the time the A-Bolt was introduced, I can't tell you how many were reworked due to trigger deisgn issues. Early rifles also had poorly bedded recoil lugs, I glass bedded several hundred. The recall was so massive that nearly all the 25 gunsmiths working in the shop at the time were reworking A-Bolts. No A-Bolts for me, then or now. Browning should have never abandoned the Mauser and Sako actioned Safari line of bolt actions. The market that Browning aims to serve would have paid for the quality represented in those rifles.

Not sure why some people like brand a over brand b. Ford vs chevy I guess. I've owned two of em. Still have and use the one in 338 WM I bought in 1993. Immediately sent it off to KDF for a muzzle brake and accurizing job. It's my favorite rifle. I also have a 700 CDL SF, Weatherby Vanguard submoa (2 of em), an old savage 110 I inherited and I used to own two Ruger model 77s. I like the ergos of the A-bolt and have recently considered buying another one but I prefer a 24 inch barrel and they don't produce it in the caliber I want.

I have a 7mm composite stalker and a 270 SS, both shoot lights out and have never failed me!

I have a stainless stalker in 30-06. It's been on maybe 5 elk hunts, 7 or 8 caribou hunts, and years of local deer hunting and the pot metal trigger guard is still intact. The gun is accurate and I've never had a problem with it.

I like the detachable magazine and the tang safety. The factory trigger wasn't great so I had a gunsmith lighten it.

Browning sells a lot of em because they offer left hand actions. I have no desire nor need to own one.

I owned 1 in 270 winchester. Very,very accurate. I would own another. Fit and finish was perfect.

I have a SS .270 and a .22-250, my neighbor has 6A-bolts. All are very accurate rifles. Would buy another in a heartbeat..

Anyone know of any problems with the X-bolts ? I have one in a .300 WM and it will take the balls off a bee @ 100yds....

I never cared for the shiny stocks on some models. Do they still use the combination of a drop floor plate and a box magazine? This set up is on my huntin buds BAR and it seems weird to me. The POS Benelli R1 even had that one right.

The only rifles I've absolutely seen freeze up in wet, cold conditions with regularity have been a-bolts. Don't like stuff that doesn't go bang when the trigger is pulled everytime.

I've never heard of one freezing up and I hunt where it's either wet, cold, or snowy most of the time.

My 30-06 stainless stalker was my go to rifle for about 10 years. It would be in the truck from early October till December and used most every day. I cleaned it once a year, if that, and never had a single problem. It's been absolutely abused- the stock is scratched and gouged, the barrel is scratched, there's some rust in places but it's still 100% reliable.

I'm no Browning shill but it's been a pretty good rifle.

A-Bolt Stainless Stalker .30-06 shoots 150-gr Partitions and B-Tips into the same group at 100 yards over same loads of IMR4350 seated with same die setting. Shoots to same POI with bi-pod attached or off a bag. It is light with a 1.75-5x scope attached. The mag box has flutes that keep bullet points from hitting the front and flattening - they may be there for some other reason, such as reliable feed. The mag is easy to take apart and clean. It has been in rain that poured out of the fore end. Easy clean up - no rust, etc.

The RCBS gauges show the throat length to be more like 'blue print' instead of an extra quarter inch plus, as in some other rifles I have hand loaded for.

It keeps its zero, although I guess that synthetic stock might be susceptible to some elements, maybe extreme heat.

A 7 Mag Stainles Stalker took longer to find a load it would shoot accurately. It eventually liked a case full of RL22 and 140-gr Sierra BT hunting bullets. It would not always fire CCI primers, but that could be something I did wrong seating them. Gunsmith found firing pin protrusion was good. Cannot recall if he said anything about how hard the pin hit. Gist was nothing to fix. The rifle would fire other primers w/o problems.

They are offering the 284 Winchester in a limited run in the A-Bolt, or perhaps it is the vestiges of a limited run... Gotta love the forgotten cartridges...

I got one in 260 Rem. Love it.

When I say A-Bolts "freeze" I am not referring to solid water locking them up, but rather the wire trigger linkage corrodes and the trigger will not physically move. It is saltwater corrosion related, not temperature.

I've shot them most of my life and have never had a problem. My family shoots them and they have never had any problems other than action screws loosening over time and that is something you have to watch on some A-Bolts.

All have been pretty accurate and very reliable. I don't know why, but they will shoot a variety of ammo well.

The short bolt throw makes scope mounting easier, but you do get a harder initial lift with the design, but that doesn't bother me.

The tang safety is very convenient. The recoil pads are too hard IMO.

Other than brackish water, I have never hunted in a salt water environment, so I can't comment on problems there, but I believe what Art says.

JM

I think that it is the "more better" mind set that was carried into camp with the A-Bolt, due to the A5, Citori, and the Superposed shotguns being such classics. Win and Rem guys don't take to that.

I don't own an A-Bolt, but I have friends that do, and I think that is great. The hunters that I know don't keep rifles that won't shoot or perform.

I like my Howa's. Two Howa's instead of an A-Bolt. My wooden Vanguard .300WBY from WallyWorld for $379. If I could have bought new SS/Syn A-Bolts for $330, I would have a closet full of them.