Glock4ever
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Edmonton, AB
I thought I would post a review of my new coyote rifle: Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker in .223 Remington. I noticed that there are a lot of questions about this rifle lately so I thought I would share my observations of this particular rifle. First off, I just got this rifle Sunday from Elwood Epps in Ontario, this particular caliber seems to be hard to find probably because it was introduced much later then the standard fare. I have no idea why but it some serious searching to find one in stock... So when I opened up the box, I went over the whole rifle with a fine tooth comb. Things I noted:
The stock, barrel and action are perfectly fitted together. Frequently I have observed small imperfections from other manufacturers (Remington, CZ-USA, and Winchester to name a few) primarily I will see the barreled action not perfectly lined up in the stock usually if the barrel is free floated it will touch one side. It is not the end of the world as I can adjust it myself but it was nice to see that Browning had done it right out of the box.
I also noticed that Browning uses Allen Head Screws - a feature that many manufacturers don't seem to have (primarily the high end Remingtons will have them and I have seen them on Savage). I don't know why all the manufacturers don't use them as they are much better then the standard slot screws.
After clearing the action, I cocked it and dry fired the rifle to see how heavy the trigger was. It fired at about 3lbs, a little bit heavy for me but I am not going to adjust it until I fire it for zeroing but it was nice not to have a heavy trigger straight out of the box. The adjustment is very easy - just unscrew the two allen screws remove the Aluminum Trigger Guard and use a 2mm allen key to adjust the trigger - clockwise heavier, counter-clockwise lighter...
I took the action out to clean the rifle and stock and check the fit. As you can see Browning glass bedded the action. Even in a synthetic stock, it was done which is really nice to see. Some guys will argue that it isn't required in a Synthetic but I personally think that this feature won't hurt and is definitely value added.
What really sold me on this particular rifle is that the action is a super-small action. Similar to the CZ527 Micro Action, it is perfectly fitted to the 223 Rem round and requires no spacers. No wasted movement working this action! I also liked that the magazine had a little bit of room for longer bullets but with a 1-12" Twist I don't think I need to worry about super long bullets.
Action:
Magazine:
I looked over the safety of this rifle and noted with some great satisfaction that the safety is located on the tang. Beneath the shroud there is cocked action indicator and that the bolt handle contains a nifty bolt release for when the action is cocked. In essence it gives the user the ability to either take the weapon off safe and work the action normally or leave the weapon on safe and depress the bolt release to remove a live round from the chamber. It is nice as there is no wasted movement (Rugers/Winchesters with wing safeties force you to move through all 3 positions - Remingtons/CZ only have two positions) when you want to drop an animal. To work the safety the hand also doesn't have to leave the pistol grip.
Cocked and Safety Off:
Cocked and Safety On:
After playing around with the rifle, I decided to install the scope. I purchased a brand new Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40mm Boone and Crockett for this particular rifle. I decided to go with the Leupold Std Rings/Mounts as the 223 doesn't recoil heavily and they look perfect on this particular rifle. The Scope:
After installing the rings, I proceeded to lap the rings. Many will argue with new CNC manf techniques that this isn't required but I have a lapping bar it only takes a little bit of elbow grease to ensure that your rings are not permanently marred. If you notice, I did remove some material from the rings when I worked the lapping bar. I also like to lap as it ensures that the rings are perfectly straight on the rifle.
Lapping the rings:
I had also mechanically zeroed the windage on the scope to ensure that the rear rings were at mechanical zero and installed the scope. I then installed the Browning Army Digital Pattern Sling and called her good.
Complete Rifle Right
Complete Rifle Left
Final Thoughts:
I haven't fired this rifle so the final test will be to see how well she can shoot. However, I am very happy thus far with the rifle. I currently use a CZ 527 American Lite which I consider to be the best coyote rifle made to date. If this rifle shoots well, I will have to change my opinion. The 527 while an amazing rifle has a few things I don't like namely:
1.) Scope Mounting Options are the challenging - is in impossible to low mount a 40mm scope on a 527 as bolt handle will interfere. I was forced to use a 50mm scope to keep the scope mounted as low as possible but I do prefer 40mm scopes for their size. The Browning has a 60 degree bolt throw so the limiting factor is the bell size of the scope which is really nice if you want to have lighter scopes without making the rifle look clownish (Looks are important to killing yotes y'all!
)
2.) Magazine Capacity - The 527 with a flush magazine sacrifices 2 rounds to the Browning. Some guys don't care but I prefer to have more rounds then less. I could use the 5 round mags for the 527 but I hate how the mag extends past the stock as I like to carry the rifle at that point while walking around.
3.) Push Feed vs CRF - Some would argue that the 527 is superior with the CRF but I am changing my view on CRF. I made the mistake the other day of trying to single load the 527 by dropping a round into the chamber directly. I forgot in the heat of the moment that you can't do that with a CRF and jammed a round which required a cleaning rod to knock out at home, effectively ending my hunt for that morning. This isn't the 527's fault just my own stupidity but I would point out that this wouldn't have happened on a Push Feed. Coyotes are not African Lions and I would have still been able to hunt if I had done the same thing with the Browning.
4.) Stainless vs Blued: I was able to get a Stainless Browning for the same price as a Blued CZ527... enough said. Winter weather and snow don't mix well with a blued rifle.
All in all, this could be the newest ultimate yote rifle (for me that is) to date. I have only gone through about 5 iterations in the last 13 years or so. Changing rifles every 3 years isn't too crazy.... is it?
The stock, barrel and action are perfectly fitted together. Frequently I have observed small imperfections from other manufacturers (Remington, CZ-USA, and Winchester to name a few) primarily I will see the barreled action not perfectly lined up in the stock usually if the barrel is free floated it will touch one side. It is not the end of the world as I can adjust it myself but it was nice to see that Browning had done it right out of the box.
I also noticed that Browning uses Allen Head Screws - a feature that many manufacturers don't seem to have (primarily the high end Remingtons will have them and I have seen them on Savage). I don't know why all the manufacturers don't use them as they are much better then the standard slot screws.
After clearing the action, I cocked it and dry fired the rifle to see how heavy the trigger was. It fired at about 3lbs, a little bit heavy for me but I am not going to adjust it until I fire it for zeroing but it was nice not to have a heavy trigger straight out of the box. The adjustment is very easy - just unscrew the two allen screws remove the Aluminum Trigger Guard and use a 2mm allen key to adjust the trigger - clockwise heavier, counter-clockwise lighter...
I took the action out to clean the rifle and stock and check the fit. As you can see Browning glass bedded the action. Even in a synthetic stock, it was done which is really nice to see. Some guys will argue that it isn't required in a Synthetic but I personally think that this feature won't hurt and is definitely value added.
What really sold me on this particular rifle is that the action is a super-small action. Similar to the CZ527 Micro Action, it is perfectly fitted to the 223 Rem round and requires no spacers. No wasted movement working this action! I also liked that the magazine had a little bit of room for longer bullets but with a 1-12" Twist I don't think I need to worry about super long bullets.
Action:
Magazine:
I looked over the safety of this rifle and noted with some great satisfaction that the safety is located on the tang. Beneath the shroud there is cocked action indicator and that the bolt handle contains a nifty bolt release for when the action is cocked. In essence it gives the user the ability to either take the weapon off safe and work the action normally or leave the weapon on safe and depress the bolt release to remove a live round from the chamber. It is nice as there is no wasted movement (Rugers/Winchesters with wing safeties force you to move through all 3 positions - Remingtons/CZ only have two positions) when you want to drop an animal. To work the safety the hand also doesn't have to leave the pistol grip.
Cocked and Safety Off:
Cocked and Safety On:
After playing around with the rifle, I decided to install the scope. I purchased a brand new Leupold VX3 3.5-10x40mm Boone and Crockett for this particular rifle. I decided to go with the Leupold Std Rings/Mounts as the 223 doesn't recoil heavily and they look perfect on this particular rifle. The Scope:
After installing the rings, I proceeded to lap the rings. Many will argue with new CNC manf techniques that this isn't required but I have a lapping bar it only takes a little bit of elbow grease to ensure that your rings are not permanently marred. If you notice, I did remove some material from the rings when I worked the lapping bar. I also like to lap as it ensures that the rings are perfectly straight on the rifle.
Lapping the rings:
I had also mechanically zeroed the windage on the scope to ensure that the rear rings were at mechanical zero and installed the scope. I then installed the Browning Army Digital Pattern Sling and called her good.
Complete Rifle Right
Complete Rifle Left
Final Thoughts:
I haven't fired this rifle so the final test will be to see how well she can shoot. However, I am very happy thus far with the rifle. I currently use a CZ 527 American Lite which I consider to be the best coyote rifle made to date. If this rifle shoots well, I will have to change my opinion. The 527 while an amazing rifle has a few things I don't like namely:
1.) Scope Mounting Options are the challenging - is in impossible to low mount a 40mm scope on a 527 as bolt handle will interfere. I was forced to use a 50mm scope to keep the scope mounted as low as possible but I do prefer 40mm scopes for their size. The Browning has a 60 degree bolt throw so the limiting factor is the bell size of the scope which is really nice if you want to have lighter scopes without making the rifle look clownish (Looks are important to killing yotes y'all!
)2.) Magazine Capacity - The 527 with a flush magazine sacrifices 2 rounds to the Browning. Some guys don't care but I prefer to have more rounds then less. I could use the 5 round mags for the 527 but I hate how the mag extends past the stock as I like to carry the rifle at that point while walking around.
3.) Push Feed vs CRF - Some would argue that the 527 is superior with the CRF but I am changing my view on CRF. I made the mistake the other day of trying to single load the 527 by dropping a round into the chamber directly. I forgot in the heat of the moment that you can't do that with a CRF and jammed a round which required a cleaning rod to knock out at home, effectively ending my hunt for that morning. This isn't the 527's fault just my own stupidity but I would point out that this wouldn't have happened on a Push Feed. Coyotes are not African Lions and I would have still been able to hunt if I had done the same thing with the Browning.
4.) Stainless vs Blued: I was able to get a Stainless Browning for the same price as a Blued CZ527... enough said. Winter weather and snow don't mix well with a blued rifle.
All in all, this could be the newest ultimate yote rifle (for me that is) to date. I have only gone through about 5 iterations in the last 13 years or so. Changing rifles every 3 years isn't too crazy.... is it?
