Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Winchester XPR bolt action

Was checking out budget rifles for a friend. Know much of the pro/cons of the Ruger Am., T/C Compass/Venture, Savage, Mossberg, Marlin and Remingtons but haven’t heard much about the Winchester XPR. Does anyone have any experience or opinions ?

I’ve not seen a single review of one. I’m not convinced they’ve actually released them.

John

I have one. I have not used it, but for the money it is a nicely put together rifle. The trigger is very good and the fit and finish is pretty darn good for the money. Better than most sub-$1000 factory rifles I have handled recently.

Here is a review from Field and Stream:

https://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2015/06/rifle-review-winchesters-new-xpr

held one last week, felt like a mix of all the other cheap ones, however much heavier in the front end, good looking, just did not handle great to me.

from what i've read they are quite accurate.

I was thinking of the XPC. That’s the one I’ve seen no reviews on.

John

They are supposedly good shooters. Just have not seen one up close or fondled one as of yet. Just something about a Winchester Bolt gun without the 3 position wing safety , doesn't seem right to me.

Quite a few reviews on the Winchester XPR. A quick internet search reveals several. All seem to be pretty much the same: supremely accurate with factory ammo or handloads, quality build and great features for the price. The “high-end” of budget rifles, if you will.

You will not find much love for it on this board, I’m afraid.

I thought about buying one when CDNN had them on sale, but then I dropped by the local Cabela's and after handling it I knew that it was not for me. Ugly stock with bad ergs, worse than the Remington 710 family of ugly stocks. They might shoot OK, but you've got to draw the line somewhere.

To my way of thinking, the Marlin X guns were the best in class; good looking, good shooting, good ergs, easy to swap barrels, etc.

Pretty much sums it up.

FWIW, I have one in a 6.5CM - of course. Accurate, decent features and pretty fair quality for the price.

I have one too. It has proven to be the least accurate rifle that I have purchased over the past 15 years. Although I was tempted to just drop it off at the local landfill, I instead sent it to the Winchester/Browning repair center to learn what in the hell is wrong with it. They assigned it to a gunsmith almost month ago, so I am going call them next week to hear what they have discovered. All I can say is-my sample of one has been bad medicine... CP.

I bought one in 243 that I haven't gotten to shoot so far... best was like 1.5 or so MOA. They use a slow twist on it, so I've got some 80gr BTs loaded up for it I'm gonna try. Everything 90+ didn't group well.

I won a XPR from the RMEF last year, it's a 7mm RM. took 3 shots at a downed tree the 3 shots at a target at 100yds. Under an inch using power shock ammo and shooting off sticks.

The one I picked up in 6.5 Creedmoor during the CDNN sale/rebate has 18 rounds down the spout. One 3-shot group with four different kinds of factory ammo after a half-dozen shots to get it where I wanted on paper.

All four went into an 1” or less. The group shot with the Winchester Deer Season XP 125gr essentially went into two touching holes. I believe it to be the smallest group I’ve ever shot at 100 yards.

The other three all went around 0.8-1.0”. The Hornady American Whitetail 129gr InterLock went 0.8” or so with the Browning BXR 129gr and Federal Fusion 140gr both at about an inch.

I actually am ok with the ergos and the stock. Anything that allows me to shoot that well for less than $300 to my safe (including FFL fees) is going to get a thumbs up from me.

I’m going to check out some more premium bullets for accuracy but things look pretty darn good so far.