Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles I broke a cardinal rule….A-Bolt

I have three ABolt's that I bought new. SMOOTH !!! Accurate - all are 3/4 to 1/4" guns with loads they like. Have had them for 30 years also. All mine are BOSS

I replaced two trigger springs and clipped one - the one I clipped is the best and most accurate of the bunch. Would never get rid of them.

I figured for sure this was going to be about a proposed rifle build where the OP shot the donor, and, the donor shoots so good the OP needs another donor.

The cardinal-rule-sin would have been buying a Savage.

Dude…..my first “all around” rifle is a Savage 116 FSAK in .338wm that an ex girlfriend bought me in 1994 or so. I killed everything with that rifle and it is without question the MOST ACCURATE rifle I’ve ever owned. I haven’t hunted it in years but I shoot it a couple times a year just for nostalgia. I had put a Bell & Carlson stock on it years ago but the Duratouch finish turned gummy and sticky so I just sent it back to B&C with $80 for them to refinish. They refinished it and returned it within 2 weeks!

The Savage has always gotten the job done with my longest shot at an elk at 537 yards. I head shoot grouse for camp meat and annoying Stellars jays have taken 225 grains to the chest. It ain’t pretty but she always got it done, I think the Browning will exceed it in looks and hopefully equal it in accuracy and dependability. 👍🏼

Thanks guys 👍🏼👍🏼

My two A-bolts..an AB2 in 7mm-08 and an AB3 in .30-06…are fine shooters. I call my AB2 the best “out of the box” rifle I’ve ever owned.

I’ve definitely heard that about them and that’s why I decided to try it out for myself….a fun project. I’ve been going 10 or 20 MOA Pic rails recently for durability and usefulness of elevation that would otherwise be below the waterline so I’m thinking about ordering a Murphy 10 MOA for it unless I stumble across something similar.

I gave her a good cleaning and I’ll get it set up soon, in fact I need some more tarred seine twine and I think that shop has some choices that’ll work.

Word to the wise because i just went through this when I started playing around with my AB2 7 mag Boss system. I had a Nikon 4-12x50 AO (pre monarch) with duel dovetail mounts. Great scope but gave it to my son for his rifle. It was long so it worked perfect in my LA 7 mag. I picked up a S&B Klassic and was going to change the rings out to fin the DD mounts and noticed that the scope was shorter and thus didn't give me alot of play room to move back and forth for eye relief and positioning. So i decided, like you, to get a rail and would give me tons of options. Every rail I tried, and I tried several, didn't fit the action worth a chit. All of the holes lined up, but every rail had the arch cut out and it didn't match up with the ejection port. Small cosmetic detail, but i wanted it right. So after several attempts of buying and returning, I ended up buying 2 piece Warne rail mounts and put my Optika 6 3-18x56 on it. Because the ejection port is open, like the Rem 700 and 700 clones, it kept the port open by going 2 piece. If you definately want to go rail mount, get a flat rail not any arched version. But then it will enclose the ejection port.

Interesting….. I appreciate the tip. 👍🏼

My boy has a 270 wsm a-bolt medallion. Shoots anything put through it, very accurate. He wanted to change the stock from wood to synthetic. I suggested not touching a thing because of how well it shot. He left the stock alone and never had any issues at all. Only thing done to it was a trigger spring by, ernie the gunsmith, was put in to lighten it up.

I'd replace the trigger spring with a McCarbo and I'd shoot it. My first big game rifle was/is a 30-06 stainless stalker that will be passed down to my kids. It has been semi-retired now after accounting for at least 100 deer, but no way I would get rid of it. I could take it to the range this afternoon and get sub moa groups with 150 SST or 180 AB (or probably a dozen other loads). Not much you can't kill with one of those options.

I've shot and been around at least 20 A-bolts and never seen a single issue. I have a couple friends that shoot 7mm RMs with the 26"barrels and they wouldn't chop them down if it was free.

A-bolt I and A-bolt II both have the metal magazine that clips into the floor plate. The difference between the two models is easily distinguished by looking at the bolt. The I has a round bolt with grooves cut parallel to the action. The II has a triangular bolt shroud.

The X-bolt had the AB3 have plastic magazines.

I have 3 ABolts. Bought them in 1992, right before gun stores had to pay tax on their end of the year inventory in Minnesota. Two with the synthetic stocks and one with a wood stock, that I picked up cheap.

All three were very accurate rifles...scoped.

Came into a few extra bucks, so I went all out... bought an 06, 300 Win and a 338 Win. Paid $200 each, out the door.
Between Christmas and New Years Day.

Still have all three...

I like A-Bolts, but would shun one in a magnum as the butt end footprint is so small. Recoil became a bit less than fun.

See below the buttpad off an A-Bolt 375H&H along side with the std butt off a 700.

Correct, you'd swear that my Abolt 2 medallion 7mag but pad was mad of granite. I was able to find a limbsaver for it. Its not quite an exact match, but real real close. Preferably I'd need to get a grind to fit and have a gunsmith feather its shape to the stock, but this will do for now.

I have an ABolt hunter in 30-06. I like the rifle and it handled very well. It was as accurate as I can shoot. It shot 1 inch to 1.25 inch groups with all the inexpensive ammo I have bought for it. I tried any premium or handloads. I never have been able to love the BOSS system so the rifle never became a favorite.

I put a swaro 3-10x42 on it and used it for a couple years for whitetails in Alabama. I ultimately put a
VX3 1.5-5 x20 on it and used it for a atv rifle for jump shooting hogs in Florida.

I cant find anything to complain about with the rifle other than the BOSS and thats just a personal issue. It mostly sits in the safe as I have new rifles I like better. I got zero dollars in the rifle and I have put some thought into having another barrel put on it. Just never did.

I have seen more A-Bort failures in use than all other failures combined... for a long while the metals in the trigger group turned orange at the sight of salt. standard common failure was frozen (with rust) trigger links.

I've owned a BUNCH of A-Bolt II rifles. There's still a 243Win, Composite Stalker in my safe.

Trigger Tech doesn't make a trigger for an ABII or they didn't last time I checked. The only thing I would do is replace the factory trigger spring with a Timney spring. You can thank me later. It's the best, cheapest and really the only needed upgrade for an ABII.

I’m glad that you responded and I appreciate your experience. I recall hearing that the triggers were less than durable which was why I thought that replacing it with a good aftermarket would solve that problem. I’m just tinkering with this one right now….

I think I’ll thank you now…..thanks. 😀

Does Timney make a drop in trigger? Mine is an A-Bolt I according to the info posted by the knowledgeable guys here.

Supercub…..I found that out years ago….Browning could have ground the stock to a sharp point but they did us a favor and left something that resembles a buttstock, only smaller. 😂

I was sighting my 338 in one day at my buddy’s ranch when 1 friend brought his Supergrade in 338 over for me to check his zero since my rifle was dead on accurate and my shooting was repeatable. Then another buddy brought his A-Bolt for me to check zero. My goodness the difference between the perceived recoil was significant with the Browning being the worst. I’m not recoil averse and I don’t possess enough common sense to avoid it so I’m not worried….I went into knowing that it’ll beat my fillings loose, besides it’s a loaner rifle….😂😂.