Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why the lack of love for Browning X-Bolts?

Remingtons and Winchesters have traditionally been the platforms for custom rifles, that's changed these days with so many small business operations offering top quality actions. I've never heard or seen of a custom rifle built on a modern Browning. A smith I have used many times told me he won't put a barrel on a Browning for fear of twisting the receiver. It's my understanding they are made in a mold, much like a Ruger. They shoot fine and can be accurate so I'm not dogging them but I never cared for a receiver that was made by pouring hot steel into a mold. I know they call this "investment casting" but not my thing.

Browning's are not investment cast. If they are then they are the best made investment cast rifle on the market because they are cleanly machined.

I keep thinking I need a light weight stalking rifle. I keep considering the browning x bolt. There is not much to gripe about on a x bolt of we’re talking about hunting rifles.

He's talking about the rubberized coating on the synthetic stocks which is quite well known to have been a problem by turning sticky after a time. They are also known for having feeding issues with the detachable magazines. A few minutes of research on the net is all it takes to find these things out.

I don't need to find anything out. I have no sticky [bleep], my scope mounts didn't strip out and my mag feeds perfectly. Must be a lemon. Oh and not to mention.. very sub moa.

Works good for now anyway. Not all of the stocks get sticky and from what I gather it takes a few years for the ones that eventually do. Same for the mags. Some work fine right up until they don't. I don't really give a shyt one way or the other as I don't own one but there are other rifles out there for similar or less money with less frequent complaints/problems.

Lol I see more non-browning owners complaining about brownings than people that do own one. 🤷‍♂️

That's par for the course.

Absolutely! Yeah I've heard about the duratouch wearing badly and getting sticky. If that happens I'll strip it and paint it. All the while enjoying the sh$t out if my very accurate, reliable, easy to load for rifle.

My other xbolt has a walnut stock, to be frank, the finish scratches easily. Oh no now I'll have to strip it down and put a hand rubbed finish on it. There's no way I'll have fun doing that.....

All that's perfectly fine. As for me, I think I'll just stick with my Tikka's and Weatherby Vaguard/Howa 1500's and not worry about them getting "sticky" or if /when my magazine is going to stop feeding.

Never heard of the mags going bad but what ever fits your narrative. I never liked the mold lines tikka's have, and the ergonomics aren't as good as the xbolt.

My buddy has a Browning Citori that had the DuraTouch finish on the stock and it got sticky. He called Browning customer service and they had him send the gun back to have the stock refinished at no charge. It took about 6 months to get the shotgun back but they did stand behind their product. The new finish was not DuraTouch but he was pleased with it. If anyone is having this problem it might be worth a call to Browning.

Mold lines are easy to remove. Probably easier than sticky dura touch. Tikka's fit me fine, shoot great are dependable and I've killed alot of game them. I work on guns 40+ hours a week for a living and don't much care to work on my own anymore if I don't need to. If you haven't heard of x-bolt mag problems it's on you. Plenty of info out there on it for those not too lazy or convinced of x-bolt greatness to look for it.

My Brownings wear wood. No stickiness and no mag problems here.

I have the Duratouch on both an Xbolt and a Wicked Wing Maxus and no stickiness. Bisley, you just touched on a key word here..........ERGONOMICS. Does the rifle feel good when you shoulder it? Is it easy and intuitive to operate? This is where the Xbolt shines for me. It just feels better than the 700/70/77 and Steyr currently sitting in the rack next to it and can shoot as well as the other light barrel rifles I have. Just my thoughts.

My xbolts point like a shotgun for me. I didn't like them at first because they didn't look like the classic 70/77/700. For some reason the 700s grip angle is all wrong for me.
After shouldering a few, and really wanting to buy a tikka t3 I could not look past the way the xbolt fit me. I'm no tikka hater by any means but they don't fit me as well and the mold lines look cheap and unfinished.

Blackheart- really I'd never heard of mag issues before you, I have heard of brass ejecting out and bouncing back in. However I think that was early wsm clamberings. So your a gunsmith? Maybe you don't like xbolt because they typically come out of the box shooting and handling well. They are not a tinkerers rifle, just not needed.

i'll admit my duratouch stock got sticky and a call to browning had it fixed in a little more than a month.

The only issue I had with a magazine was the replaced stock needed a shim washer to let the magazine latch engage more positvley. The magazines are well built in my opinion.

You can complain about having to send the rifle back for a new stock, but remington didnt stand behind their product when my 700 Mtn LSS laminate stock warped.

There are cheaper guns with Xbolt features like a ruger american, but my xbolt doesnt ooze cheap like the american or a savage. Of course it shouldnt for 2X the price, but Im just saying....

And NO I dont have a browning decal on my truck or any hats or tshirts either.