Browning T-Bolt your thoughts.
- Thread starter 270BBR
- Start date
.22 T-Bolt with the varmint stock. I like the rifle but the trigger pull was too heavy in my opinion. Even when adjusted to the lightest setting.I looked for a replacement trigger but the only one I could find was a JARD and they are expensive. So I ended up watching some YouTube videos and I worked on the trigger myself. I managed to get it a pound lighter but still a little heavier than I would like.
Walnut yes,Tupperware no!have both. Trigger didn’t please me even after several tweaks so I bought the Jard. Came with the 20oz trigger,nice but should have bought some of the lighter springs as well. Would I do it again,yes, now 4 walnuts in the safe
Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I had the T bolt 17 HMR with the plastic stock and I would get wood next time. The plastic stock is not stable enough to shoot the rifle accurately. I filled my stock full of epoxy to stiffen it and it made a world of difference to the accuracy.
I used to have one back in 80s. Like a fool, I sold it some years later because I needed some money. It was one of the most accurate and sweetest .22 rifles I've ever owned. Back then, I was able to shoot around 1 MOA groups at 100y with it. I wish I still had it.
I have a maple sporter in 22lr, & its a very accurate nice handling rifle . Like others have said the trigger was too heavy so i worked on the spring & got it to about 2 # but with a bit of creep. I will probably put a jard trigger in it at some point. The only issue is the feed end of the magazine wore down slightly after about 4000 rounds & some ammo doesnt feed as well anymore. I have a second mag that i mostly use now.
I have the walnut sporter in 22lr. I find it to be accurate. Unlike other posters, the trigger on mine was pretty good right out of the box. Not terribly heavy at about 2.5lbs and reasonably crisp.
I've always wanted a T-Bolt and will eventually own an original, then I'll be able to compare them!
I've always wanted a T-Bolt and will eventually own an original, then I'll be able to compare them!
Had a blued/synthetic version in 22 WMR. Hated the trigger [as did others, by comments on here]
Did not care for the tupperware stock, but my biggest beef was accuracy. I appreciate that the
biggest limiting factor in WMR accuracy is the ammunition. No match ammo is available for the WMR,
and it is hard to find ammo that groups well. But this T-Bolt was ridiculous!! Ammo that shot close
to MOA in a Mossberg 640K, and a Ruger 77/22WMR, shot over 2 moa in the Browning. Best I got
from any WMR ammo I tried [about 8 types] was 1.6 moa. I flogged it. Dave.
Did not care for the tupperware stock, but my biggest beef was accuracy. I appreciate that the
biggest limiting factor in WMR accuracy is the ammunition. No match ammo is available for the WMR,
and it is hard to find ammo that groups well. But this T-Bolt was ridiculous!! Ammo that shot close
to MOA in a Mossberg 640K, and a Ruger 77/22WMR, shot over 2 moa in the Browning. Best I got
from any WMR ammo I tried [about 8 types] was 1.6 moa. I flogged it. Dave.
I own for 5 year now a T-Bolt Varmint Reaper, and I love it!!! Varmint aroud the house just call it the same. https://www.browning.com/products/f...d/t-bolt-varmint-reaper-suppressor-ready.html It's my go to gun. I mostly hunt with it. Grouse head shot up to meters. Trigger is good enough for me, never test it to the weight. Shoot well with CCI standar vélocity, and CCI subsonic hp.
It just receive This beauty : https://www.browning.com/products/f...oduction/t-bolt-target-with-muzzle-brake.html
winter is gonna be soooo long!!!!
It just receive This beauty : https://www.browning.com/products/f...oduction/t-bolt-target-with-muzzle-brake.html
winter is gonna be soooo long!!!!
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Falconflyer
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
I'm willing to bet your accuracy problem was due to the Tupperware stock. I had one in 17 HMR and the action would move in the stock when I squeezed the trigger, I filled the stock with epoxy and then the rifle was a tack driver.
OP, if you can find an early Browning T-Bolt, made between 1965 and 1978, you will have found a "dream" rifle.
Smooth as glass cycling of the action, 2 pound factory trigger, extremely accurate with ammo it likes.
I had one of those for a few years, left to my by a very good friend, when he passed. Appx 5-6 years ago, one of his favorite grandson's came to me and asked if he could purchase it from me.
I was very reluctant to part with it, both for nostalgic reasons and the fact I really liked that rifle.
The thing is, the grandson had a boy that was coming 10 and his first wish was for a rifle of his own. I told the grandson that I would give his son the rifle, but he had to let me help the young fellow learn to strip it down, clean it properly and then learn how to shoot, first off the bench, then offhand. He readily agreed. The whole deal went down as agreed upon and it was a very good experience for all of us. I can't think of a more fitting placement of that rifle.
I missed it so much that I purchased a new manufacture model. The differences were immediately discernable, once it was out of the box.
First, the plastic rotary magazine system, which I personally dislike for all sorts of reasons. One is that the darn things take up so much space in a pocket and can be finicky when feeding.
Next, the action wasn't smooth at all, at least not what I had been expecting. It did come around though, after a lot of surface polishing and stoning. The lock up was OK but it didn't feel as positive nor was it as easy to fully close as its predecessor. The clean up of the bolt and receiver internals helped a lot with this. For the price, it should have been much better out of the box.
The trigger on mine was, as mentioned by Kamlooky, abysmal. The adjustment screw, was a good idea, except it didn't work. I polished the top of the sea, and cut away part of the plastic housing that was intentionally placed to inhibit trigger pull adjustment below the factory setting. The adjustment screw has a keeper on it as well, so needs to be carefully stoned lower. None of this is difficult. If you're ham fisted (no shame in that) take it to a smith or get a drop in replacement trigger assembly.
https://youtu.be/B4fdI3Klckk
When I was finished, I knew this rifle wouldn't be in my safe much longer and sold it to a friend, who loves it.
The trigger could be safely adjusted to two pounds now, maybe less. The action was much smoother and the rifle was accurate with most ammo, even high velocity fodder. I get a bit anal about accuracy.
This is what I didn't like about the rifle, once I was OK with its function.
The plastic stock made if feel unbalanced and made it awkward for offhand shooting. Likely something I could get used to, but I have other rifles that I like to shoot with proper balance.
The "soft plastic" trigger housing, really turns me off. Maybe old school thinking, but in the past, this sort of "improvement" has proven to be a problem waiting to happen, especially if you shoot a lot, under different weather conditions.
Anyway, if you're an occasional shooter and handy, you can make this rifle perform very well with a few hours of careful/tedious work, but IMHO, they are to expensive for what you're getting and there are other 22 rifles out there that will perform as well or better, right out of the box, for a better price.
Some folks are under the impression that the straight pull will give them faster bolt cycling, MAYBE, after a lot of practice.
There may be competitions where you need to gain time, with a quick smooth bolt, that doesn't require lifting and dropping. Or maybe you just like the idea. Both are OK.
I'll stick with my Tikka T1X, which does everything it's supposed to do right out of the box and the trigger pull screw works.
Smooth as glass cycling of the action, 2 pound factory trigger, extremely accurate with ammo it likes.
I had one of those for a few years, left to my by a very good friend, when he passed. Appx 5-6 years ago, one of his favorite grandson's came to me and asked if he could purchase it from me.
I was very reluctant to part with it, both for nostalgic reasons and the fact I really liked that rifle.
The thing is, the grandson had a boy that was coming 10 and his first wish was for a rifle of his own. I told the grandson that I would give his son the rifle, but he had to let me help the young fellow learn to strip it down, clean it properly and then learn how to shoot, first off the bench, then offhand. He readily agreed. The whole deal went down as agreed upon and it was a very good experience for all of us. I can't think of a more fitting placement of that rifle.
I missed it so much that I purchased a new manufacture model. The differences were immediately discernable, once it was out of the box.
First, the plastic rotary magazine system, which I personally dislike for all sorts of reasons. One is that the darn things take up so much space in a pocket and can be finicky when feeding.
Next, the action wasn't smooth at all, at least not what I had been expecting. It did come around though, after a lot of surface polishing and stoning. The lock up was OK but it didn't feel as positive nor was it as easy to fully close as its predecessor. The clean up of the bolt and receiver internals helped a lot with this. For the price, it should have been much better out of the box.
The trigger on mine was, as mentioned by Kamlooky, abysmal. The adjustment screw, was a good idea, except it didn't work. I polished the top of the sea, and cut away part of the plastic housing that was intentionally placed to inhibit trigger pull adjustment below the factory setting. The adjustment screw has a keeper on it as well, so needs to be carefully stoned lower. None of this is difficult. If you're ham fisted (no shame in that) take it to a smith or get a drop in replacement trigger assembly.
https://youtu.be/B4fdI3Klckk
When I was finished, I knew this rifle wouldn't be in my safe much longer and sold it to a friend, who loves it.
The trigger could be safely adjusted to two pounds now, maybe less. The action was much smoother and the rifle was accurate with most ammo, even high velocity fodder. I get a bit anal about accuracy.
This is what I didn't like about the rifle, once I was OK with its function.
The plastic stock made if feel unbalanced and made it awkward for offhand shooting. Likely something I could get used to, but I have other rifles that I like to shoot with proper balance.
The "soft plastic" trigger housing, really turns me off. Maybe old school thinking, but in the past, this sort of "improvement" has proven to be a problem waiting to happen, especially if you shoot a lot, under different weather conditions.
Anyway, if you're an occasional shooter and handy, you can make this rifle perform very well with a few hours of careful/tedious work, but IMHO, they are to expensive for what you're getting and there are other 22 rifles out there that will perform as well or better, right out of the box, for a better price.
Some folks are under the impression that the straight pull will give them faster bolt cycling, MAYBE, after a lot of practice.
There may be competitions where you need to gain time, with a quick smooth bolt, that doesn't require lifting and dropping. Or maybe you just like the idea. Both are OK.
I'll stick with my Tikka T1X, which does everything it's supposed to do right out of the box and the trigger pull screw works.
