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I like my A Bolt! It works, it's accurate, great to carry even though there are no swamps around here. The last Remington I had was a dud. A 700 CDL SF in 7-08. Poor finish on the stock, even poorer accuracy, plus it sprayed rounds all over when the floor plate was unlatched. Spent more time looking for ammo than hunting some days! This experience won't stop me from buying another 700 sometime...who knows, may even buy another A Bolt...or three!

Merry Christmas folks...Stay Safe

Paul

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My dad has two BLR's from the late 70's. Great rifles, never a problem. We have, conservatively, 10,000 rounds through a 30 year old BL-22 and never a hiccup. Great luck with a Browning semi-auto .22 that my dad traded off after 5 years.

I have a Browning BPS 12 gauge that has been a gem. I have a Browning 71, in .348 of course, whose fit and finish can match anyones and is better than most. Great rifle! I had a Browning 53 and 65 made by Miroku; again excellent fit, finish and accuracy.

Browning and Miroku have been superb choices for my dad and I, but I've never owned an A-Bolt.

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Originally Posted by eldave
Speaking only for myself here. I see browning stickers on just about every truck that looks like it might be a hunting truck.

I think that the people that sport these on their trucks think they know something about rifles because they spent a little extra for a shiny rifle that is expensive, and will likely never shoot at a deer with it at over a hundred yards.


Orr it could be that they are fans of the very excellent Citori line of shotguns, which are a bit better than good....

I have said more than once - I would trade an A-bolt for a ham sandwich mae with bad mayo. Friend of mine is a dyed in the wool Browning nut, if it is Browning it is his, he even admits that his ABolt isn't all that great of a rifle.

I can't imagine spending the $$ on an A bolt when just about anything else on the shelf is more inexpensive without the drawbacks.

While I absolutely dote on Browning's design of the 1911 and Hi-Power, he would have a heart attack if he looked at the complication Browning is putting into their rifle line today.


Me



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If Big Stick was opposed to A-bolts that is just about recommendation enough to go out and buy one!

I had one in .223 target model and it was excellent. As is my custom it got traded off in order to try something else. At times it is one I wish I had back, however.

I have a Browning Gold Medallion .22 which I am unhappy with because the clip acted up and then I found the company didn't provide support by maintaining a supply of replacements.

I have a 20 gauge Browning Citori (Sitka Deer - Clitori? Was that a Freudian slip?) It is my absolute favourite shotgun.

Back probably in the '70s for a short time I had a .270 BBR. It was one of the most ungainly rifles I ever owned so it went down the road fairly quickly. Mechanically I had no complaint with it.

Just my thoughts,

Jim

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I regret that I wasn't able to meet this "Big Stick" character...sounds like he was the life of the party.

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Originally Posted by Hawk_Driver
I love my Stainless A-Bolt 260. Shoots friggin great, light and came out of the box not needing any work done to the trigger or bedding. Hunted with in in rain, sleet, snow and hot dry dusty stuff. Never a single hiccup. Magazine doesnt rattle at all. Done some low crawling with in in Wyoming sneaking up on an antelope, trigger guard didnt even break! I shoot, alot, never had a single problem with that gun. I do favor Rugers, but that A-Bolt is not a gun I am ashamed to own.

The only rifle I have ever owned that was a complete and total POS was a FWT M-70. I will never own another one of those again.
Hey Hawk driver- 260 Stainless stalker - so you bought the other one smile Absolutely love mine. I did replace the trigger spring(so easy) and while I loved the feel of the stock -how anyone could call that svelt lightweight and NOT expensive rifle "clublike"...........I replaced it with a much more clubby B and C Medalist that is oh so consistant. The trigger breaks VERY cleanly. Extremely good shooter and the absolute perfect deer rifle\round for my needs. The short throw, slanted, bolt cycles faster than any action I have ever tried and allows for follow ups where others wouldn't. I love tha mag design and still haven't broken anything on it. I will admit to wishing it stripped easier for cleaning and will have to live with the stygma of not being a true rifle-man I guess..


When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are something to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are something to be ashamed of
. Confucius
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Originally Posted by mcknight77
Not here to badmouth A-bolts or any other rifles.

In 1971 I bought my first Ruger. Bought many more since then, along with many other brands.

Over the years the Rugers stayed and the others went. For me, they fit right, work well and don't cost a fortune.
Yeah -thank God there is no Ruger detractors -right? whistle


When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are something to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are something to be ashamed of
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My left-handed son has a Medalion II 30-06.I got good buy on it.Very Accurate. We were second owner.When we got ot,it looked a little rough for only being a couple of years old.But after one season,it looked much worse,and my son was easy on it.The factory gloss finish is much too hard,it shatters.The bluing wears off quickly,too.Except for the metric checkering which requires a single point,it's easy to refinish.

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This is actually a pretty interesting discussion. I can't really think of a Browning product that I don't like, other that the A-Bolt...and no, I never had anything go wrong with one. Some had more felt recoil than they should have (for caliber), and the others just didn't feel good. But then again, I don't like .270's either! smile


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will second the felt recoil on the Brownings. They are a bit lighter than other traditional rifles. Not enitrely sure but the butt stock might be a touch shorter. That is a bad combination when trying to avoid recoil and why I dislike most youth guns for young'uns. It resulted in a fast recoil. Even after swapping to a Sims Limbsaver the kick garnered some surprise in a few. Changing the stock to a B and C Medalist fixed that completely. It is still lightweight, just more pleasant.


When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are something to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are something to be ashamed of
. Confucius
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Originally Posted by eldave
Speaking only for myself here. I see browning stickers on just about every truck that looks like it might be a hunting truck.

I think that the people that sport these on their trucks think they know something about rifles because they spent a little extra for a shiny rifle that is expensive, and will likely never shoot at a deer with it at over a hundred yards.

That's why I don't. But that's just me.

With the gay buckhead sticker on the truck. And it's made in Japan. It's marketing genius. That's just from where I am though. I perused this on the way to work this morning. The guy had a sticker on his truck that said "nothing kills a deer like a browning". I had to wonder why. But he didn't stop so I could ask him.

I guess the deer knows that the 150 gr. .308 bullet was propelled by a browning. If I told the dude it was made by a French company I would have to prove something.

Anyway, for some reason in south carolina Brownings are to redneck hunters what spinning rims are to our ghetto brothers.


Nice to see such a non-judgmental , unbiased, well-reasoned response.

While I don�t own, or particularly care for, Browning A-Bolt rifles, I do own three different Browning firearms and love every one of them. These include a Buckmark .22 pistol, B92 carbine in .44 Mag, and what I consider to be the finest lightweight .22 semi-auto design ever, a Browning take-down .22LR. The Buckmark is stamped �Made in USA� and is very accurate and reliable, a great little pistol. The .22 and .44 are both products of Miroku in Japan and, in spite of not having �Made in Belgium� stamped on them, they are both are excellent firearms.

You may find the Browning logo �gay� but I rather like it, even if I don�t adorn my possessions with it. That said, I do wear a beautiful, handmade silver belt buckle with a Ruger logo on it, and would not mind having a similar buckle with the Browning logo. I think the �gayness� of the Browning logo reflects more on the mindset of the viewer than the logo itself.

I would agree the �nothing kills a deer like a browning" claim is ridiculous, but no more so than labeling Browning owners as rednecks or coming to the conclusion that Browning owners will �likely never shoot at a deer with it at over a hundred yards�. While I�ve never hunted down south, I have met many southerners while hunting my home state of Colorado and haven�t seen any state in the south where longer shots are not possible.

Ruger, Remington and Savage rifles are more to my taste but the A-bolt owners I know think pretty highly of their rifles.




Coyote Hunter - NRA Patriot Life, NRA Whittington Center Life, GOA, DAD - and I VOTE!

No, I'm not a Ruger bigot - just an unabashed fan of their revolvers, M77's and #1's.

A good .30-06 is a 99% solution.
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Originally Posted by kenjs1
will second the felt recoil on the Brownings. They are a bit lighter than other traditional rifles. Not enitrely sure but the butt stock might be a touch shorter. That is a bad combination when trying to avoid recoil and why I dislike most youth guns for young'uns. It resulted in a fast recoil. Even after swapping to a Sims Limbsaver the kick garnered some surprise in a few. Changing the stock to a B and C Medalist fixed that completely. It is still lightweight, just more pleasant.

Make that another vote for the harsh recoil from the A-Bolt. They're typically on the lighter side which doesn't help with recoil at all, but I do enjoy the lightness when carrying.

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....I haven't read through this thread, but responding to the original question, here goes...The Browning rifles favor a more Euro style in an American market that has been 'owned' by more traditional American classic styling. The glitz of gold triggers and extreme high gloss finishes on the stock don't appeal to those who cling to the appeal of soft luster hand rubbed finishes. The newest rifle offering from Browning , the X-bolt leans even more heavily toward Euro styling. With the increasing success of Tikka in our market perhaps this trend toward more European styling will continue to gain market here..For me, the best of Browning's offerings are the Winchester re-productions they do from time to time. They build good quality, but for this old timer's tastes, they miss the mark...

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The A-bolt would not be my first choice in a rifle because I don't reallly like how they feel when I shoulder them. But the people I know who own them are pleased with them. I've asked my gunsmith, who I believe to be one of the best in the Pittsburgh area, his opinion of the a-bolts and he has nothing bad to say about them. He has done at least two custom jobs that I know of using a-bolts.

I've seen every brand of rifle out there bashed at some point on the internet. Some seem to get more than others and the a-bolt is one of them. The only two rifles I've bought and not been pleased with were a model 70 and a model 94, both of which I sold. But I'd like to own another of each. They just aren't high on the priority list compared to some other rifles I plan to add to the safe.

I'd say if you like the fit and feel of the A-bolt over other riles you should go with it. I've never been able to "try before I buy" so they are all a crap shoot when you lay your money down.


"The peasants may be conned by every pitchman that introduces a new super magnum, but the members of the cognoscenti stick with classic calibers." Jack O'Conner
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The new X bolts appear even cheesier and cheaper than the A bolts, which is nice.

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What's cheesy about them. I've only seen one so far?

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Boman,
Hold one and look at the metal used for the trigger, floorplate, detachable magazine, and safety - then you'll know what's meant by cheesy.

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Boman,
Hold one and look at the metal used for the trigger, floorplate, detachable magazine, and safety - then you'll know what's meant by cheesy.

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I own several Browning firearms, two of which are A-bolts. One is a Stainless Stalker in 300 win mag and the other is a 325WSM. Both of these rifles are very accurate and I have had absolutely no problems with either. The 300 win mag I have owned for over 10 years and have killed 8-10 elk and 3-4 deer, some close some over 300 yards. The 325wsm has killed 2 elk and 2 deer, the one deer was a lasered 445 yards. I also have winchester, remington, savage, sako, ruger, interarms etc. Most of these guns shoot as well as I can. The only gun that I ever had that I was never able to get to shoot well was a Model 70 classic FWT in 22-250 I tried many factory loads and at least 15 different handloads that worked in some of my other 22-250's and could never get it to shoot better than about 3" at 100yards. I also have other model 70 classics and pre 64's, and push feeds that shoot very well. So I guess the moral of the story is: Sometimes you win sometimes you lose.

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The Citori Upland FW fits me perfectly; I'm on my second one. A beautifully made firearm. Except the plating on the receiver on my first one <g>.

I like BLR's for what they do, which is unique, but the glossy stock, gold trigger, BAD trigger... not so much. Neil Jones can fix those BLR triggers by the way.

My elk hunting bud Jerry has been dragging an A-Bolt in 338 around the woods for over a decade, no problems. We get plenty of harsh weather up where we hunt 'em. No salt though. Reading Sitka's comments, I almost wonder if they used a couple different types of steel for their trigger groups or something?

I personally can't abide by the Euro-styling of the A-bolt... about as non-classic as it gets, from an American perspective.

That they are made is Japan is a GOOD thing as far as I'm concerned. The Japanese know how to build nice things.

As far as Big Stick... the guy who gets banned from every forum he joins... who went and formed his own forum, where boys could be boys, which then had to be scaled way back once all his legions of enemies found him... and because, well, it SUCKS... this place is better off without him. Most of the guys here who live to degrade the quality of polite discourse, are associated with BS.


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