Re-barrelling an X-Bolt

TT_270wsm

TT_270wsm

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Hi all,

Hoping some of the smiths on here with experience can provide some insight. I have an X-bolt hunter in 270WSM that was fitted with a brake (Holland QD) by PO, and is an absolute dream to shoot. W/ handloads it shoots anywhere from 0.5-0.9 MOA consistently. I likely have around 1,000 rounds or more down the barrel, and I'm at the point where I have to decide whether I'm going to shoot the barrel out and replace it, or sell it while it still has some value and can still shoot perfectly for quite some time in the next owner's hands. This being an "aggressive" caliber, and the fact that I run my loads hot (165gr Matrix over Retumbo @ 2950 FPS is my go to target/hunting round) have me concerned about barrel life over the next 1,000 rounds. I have heard that the barrel threads have a pretty aggressive loc-tite style compound on them, and that not many smiths will touch them. Is this true, and is fitting an aftermarket match barrel with a little heavier profile down the road feasible and worth the effort on this platform? I've searched extensively on the subject, and most articles refer to the A-Bolts and are in the US, I haven't heard about any smiths in Canada that advertise working on X-Bolts.

Also -before someone else suggests it- I have a customized Rem 700 in 30-06 (action blue-print, aftermarket bedded stock, Pac-Nor bbl, trigger, etc), but there's something about the caliber and the rifle that I love about the X-Bolt, and I'm not ready to give it up even for an obvious alternative like the 700, unless it is a complete waste of time/money.

Thanks
 
I don't believe it has anything to do with any type of Loctite. The way Browning assembles the BBR's, ABolts, etc. cause the barrel threads to be very tight on removal, all the way off very tight. In the many Browning's I have re barreled I have only had one where the threads actually galled on removing the barrel. I had to re thread the action slightly larger. It wasn't a big deal and I was installing a new blank so I just threaded to fit.

I bought an X Bolt with the intention of barreling it but the damn thing shoots too good to pull the barrel off.
 
Thank you for your help, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the factory barrel, but before I shoot it out I wanted to make sure it was feasible to replace with a quality blank. Maybe even change out to a 6.5wsm, and heavier profile. Have you found that truing up the action or bolt work was necessary or provided any real gain? I'm actually quite happy with the factory trigger set low.
 
Any rifle that shoots from 0.5-0.9 MOA consistently is a very long way from being shot out. Especial when using max loads all the time.
"I want to." is a reason. Where you are will matter. Contact one of these guys and talk to 'em about it. Add the W's.
.browning.com/customerservice/partsandservice/servicecenters/index.asp?bg=x#canada
 
Maybe you misunderstood me, I'm not at present worried about shooting out my barrel. My hardly shooting these days TBH, I'm just looking for reassurement that when the time comes, re-barreling wouldn't be a problem. If it had've been, I would consider selling it off now to make sure the next owner is getting a rifle with plenty of life left in it. I am very happy with the performance of the rifle as it came. The only reason I would rebarrel early would be to change caliber, or set the throat back. However, even with the heavy VLD bullets seated at magazine length I'm getting great accuracy, so don't really want to mess with it just to gain a bit of case capacity.

Im not sure about the max load comment, running hot 'n heavy loads all the time is supposed to burn barrels quicker than moderate loads, especially in a magnum caliber.

Anyone else done any work on Xbolts? What was done and was it worth it?
 
For the price of a rebarrel you could almost buy another rifle. Why not keep the X-Bolt for hunting and buy something else for shooting like a 700 that could be easy re-tubed down the road?
 
I think that I have pulled the last barrel off a stainless A Bolt Browning that I want to. I don't have trouble with the blued rifles but the stainless ones have made a fool of me more than once. I also tried to re machine the receiver threads and still ended up with a galled up mess. Had a custom made tap built up but that didn't save the day. Only ran into this once with the Ruger 77 MK2, lets hope my luck holds out. D.H.
 
guntech said:
When you tire of your X-Bolts send them to me...
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Sure, give me 60-70 more years and bring a pry bar. :)

SuperCub said:
I've only handled one once and thought it a decent well thought out rifle. Never fired one.

Why do you like them?
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You have to shoot them to understand, but maybe it's just personal for me. I have a custom 700 that is the logical choice for a shooter (you mentioned earlier), but yet when I go to the safe, the X-Bolt is what I want to pick up and take out. Fits right, and action so smooth it makes my 700 with sleeved bolt and work on the action feel like a Norinco... Even the factory trigger set low is manageable.

The only bullet I've ever had a problem with getting good grouping are the Vmax and any Barnes bullets, 2-4" groups no matter what I do. Pretty much everything else is around MOA, some a bit better, some a bit worse.
 
SuperCub said:
I've only handled one once and thought it a decent well thought out rifle. Never fired one.

Why do you like them?
Click to expand...


I am a big fan of the 700's, the best of the two lug actions ever made... but when it comes to 3 lug actions I really like the X Bolt. Short bolt lift, safety where it should be, great hunting accuracy, fairly light, the detachable mag works well. My 270 shoots the cheapest Federal 130's under an inch.
 
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I don't dislike the Browning A Bolts its just that removing the barrels on the stainless steel models has caused me grief on two occasions now. And its hard to give the customer the bleak news that the perfectly fine rifle he dropped off is now scrap. That's the only down side to them that I have come across. David.
 
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