Looking at a rifle with the BOSS system. Opinions?

Thank you in advance.

300winnie

I have A bolts in 7 Mag and 270, BAR's in 270, 30/06, and two 7 Mags. You can dial in very, very tight groups.

Biggest mistake is that a guy would move the adjustment too much.

They also make what is called a CLR if you do not want the muzzle break.

I had one, it worked and worked well. Could not ever get to like it (not logical I know), sold the rifle.

I’d not let it sway me one way or the other.

Works good. But get the non ported version of the boss. The ported one is LOUD.

Had a stainless model 70 in 7mm Rem mag.
That thing would shoot like a house a fire.
No matter what I put in it the worst it would do as half inch at a 100.
That being said it’s bark was something to behold.

I have a abolt II medallion 7 mag with boss. I installed the CR and it just gave me more recoil. I installed a limbsaver because the browning pad is made of granite. I need to put a new optic on it but it shot very well. I never played with the boss to get stupid accuracy but others I know did.

As other have said, the ported BOSS is very loud. The CR version on the other hand, isn't, but it does allow you to tune to rifle to the load, rather than the load to the rifle. If my experience is anything to go by it works very well. I have one on a .30/06 Stainless Stalker, and with very little work to find the "sweet spot" that rifle will consistently put 5 rounds into one ragged hole at 100 yards. Browning also published suggestions for the sweet spot with different loads, as a starting point.

I had one on a 30-06 BAR, it worked.

I have a model 70 in the .264 win mag, it is the most accurate rifle I have ever owned , 100 yard targets are just a ragged hole, at 300 its usually under an inch if I do my part and don't get it to hot.

Ugly yes, loud ,very, but they do work very well.

Researched it, thought about it, did not come across one when looking.
I did see a Browning variety CR unit on a shelf mixed in amongst the used reloading stuff. Did not note the caliber, but havea card for the shop if you wind up going that route..

I have three now... they will all shoot lights out.

As with any muzzle brake, they are loud. Wear muffs. Little recoil.

Put on the solid BOSS and you can shoot normally with normal recoil. Just depends on what you want.

I LOVE all mine... highly recommended !!!

I have one on a 338 Win Mag. A few years ago I found a CR on ebay. I have not shot it with the CR boss yet so I can't say anything about it. It should recoil more but be quieter.

All things considered and being I have one and never attempted to adjust, how much do you actually adjust it one way or the other? Just curious. I set it for a particular load on their "boss settings", it shot moa so I left it alone.

Just do it like their instructions state - 1/4 to 1/2 turn and test

https://www.browning.com/content/dam/browning/support/owners-manuals/bossmanual.pdf

I have one on a model 70 super grade 270. Do they work? Yes. Are they ugly? Most definitely. Are they loud? Very!

Blue Book sez it's worth a "premium"... Real world sez otherwise. I've had several people ask me to cut off the sumbish and recrown the barrel... FWIW..

The concept apparently is sound. I'm surprised more companies don't offer something similar, especially now that oogly stuff hanging on the end of the barrel is pretty widely accepted. A range buddy bought a couple of those rubber dinguses for his .22s and reports substantial improvements, though he has to fiddle with them when he changes ammo types, or even lots in some cases.

Ruger put a similar weight on its discontinued Target Mini 14, and according to reviews it worked too.

Are the Boss rifles still available, or just used ones?

a buddy of mine has a white gold medallion in 7mmremmag, with boss. extremely accurate. i wouldn't hesitate to buy one if that's the rifle you want.

Don't recall if I read the instructions in the CR box, or online but can confirm what SndA said above. Just like reloading. Change one thing, slightly, at a time.

Had the BOSS on two Brownings. A BAR 338 Winmag and an Eclipse Hunter 308. Worked great on both. As a hand loader it made things easy. Load as hot as you can without pressure signs then dial in the accuracy. I wonder why they aren't offered anymore. Maybe because it appeared too complex for most?

I think you are correct...

Probably cost, and staying competitive. Other manufacturers successfully sell rifles without the device.

They change the vibration of the barrel so you can tune in whatever load you desire vs. taking what ever bullet performs in a fixed barrel.

they work...

Just a note, but match barrels / custom barrels tend to like all bullets, especially when the smith does a good precision chambering job... or so I’ve learned over the years.

I had Model 70 in 338 Win with a BOSS. Super accurate when dialed. I just didn't care for the looks and extra noise.

works great

I bought a '06 BOSS SS A-bolt in 1995

its been my primary goto rifle ever since

DON'T USE THE MUZZLE break version, you will get tinnitus and have to buy a suppressor

3/4" groups are easy to tune in, 1/2" groups are possible to with a lot of trial and error

I have swapped the weight for a suppressor and dial that in/out to tune loads

Got mine in 1994. I don't use the boss either, but it could be nice to get the groups I want then put the CR back on.

I'm somewhat surprised that these aren't being slicked-up as "suppressor-ready" rifles. Or, maybe they are and I just let the cat outta the bag?

I have one on a composite stalker 7mm-08. The idea is sound and it certainly does work. In my opinion it was marketed to make the buyer be able to get factory ammo to shoot itty bitty groups. The reality is that while possible with factory ammo, many people do not buy enough ammo to really take advantage of that. You can initially set it and then start to tweak it. This will require a fair amount of ammo to find the best setting for a particular gun and load. The issue is when you run out of that ammo and head to the store to buy more you may not get the exact same lot number and you may have to start over with the tuning and waste mote time and ammo. If you reload just pick a bullet and velocity you want to be at then tune for that load. As long as you have the components to load more exactly the same you are good to go. If I had to do it over again I probably would not buy my rifle with the BOSS. It is generally easy enough to find an accurate load and the BOSS does add some length and weight to an otherwise really handy rifle.

"The concept apparently is sound. I'm surprised more companies don't offer something similar, especially now that oogly stuff hanging on the end of the barrel is pretty widely accepted."

Probably because Browning or the conglomerate that owns Browning controls the patents on the BOSS. There was an outfit called QUE that made a muzzle device that was a clone of the BOSS. It worked as a friend put on on a temperamental Ruger #1 and it tamed that rifle down quite nicely. I decided to get one for a rifle that wasn't cooperating but but then QUE had shut down and was no more.

On another note, I've only shot two rifles with the BOSS or the QUE clone. The Ruger was a .300 Win. mag. and the recoil was somewhat less with the QUE. The Browning BAR in .338 Win. Mag. running a hot premium load with 250 gr. bullets was actually the first time I found the .338 Win. to be a pleasure to shoot. Accuracy was very good in both rifles.
Paul B.

Might have had you cut a couple off for me, grin.

I bought a m70 338 BOSS second hand. It came with muzzle brake, the clr as well as a thread protector collar.

If it bothers you, just get a smith to make a collar for you.

I had a BOSS on an A-Bolt Synthetic 22-250 in the 90's. It worked well but was loud, as everyone mentions. I ran it through paper exercises with different loads and it definitely opened up and closed group sizes. I ended up rebarrelling the rifle to a faster twist 22-250 but I used the setup for many hogs and deer. Even with the 14 twist, it was a hammer with Green and Yellow box, Remington 55 gr SPs.

I was wondering about the patent issue. Harrell's Precision makes them for rimfires and the AR15 and calls them tuners - the AR15 versions are also a combined brake. Same principle of an adjustable weight.

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php/products/harrell-rimfire-tuners-403

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php/products/ar15-tuner-brake

http://harrellsprec.com/index.php/products/tactical-tuner-brake-for-ar15

I've got the BOSS on a model 70 in 22-250. I'd rather have the 4" of barrel that they lopped off to put on the BOSS. The actual barrel length is only 19-3/4".