Both are excellent rifles, and yes I have and do own both. The Browning says it is glass bedded from the factory, when I tore mine apart the bedding material felt more like hot melt glue from a craft store than glass bedding material. It was soft and rubbery like and seemed to flex more than I would like, so a little work with the dremel and a bit of Devcon later and I had what I considered to be a properly bedded rifle. The Remingtons on the other hand have no bedding at all, just regular factory inletting. They seem to shoot quite well in spite of very sloppy inletting jobs, but all of mine get pillars and Devcon now. Two of my Remingtons are also highly customized and don't look anything like their original form when they left the factory. I don't think there is much in the way of aftermarket accessories available for the Browning so you have to live with it as it came from the factory.
Reminton 700 vs Browning X-Bolt? Help me decide!
- Thread starter Snafu9er
- Start date
My first (and only) hunting rifle is an XBolt in .308.
Being LH I didn't have a ton of choices. I loved the short throw bolt but found it very sticky out of the box - to the point where cycling the bolt 40 times didn't seem to make it any better, still catching, still jamming. I thought to myself "maybe it's my technique", but if my natural motion jammed the bolt maybe I needed a new rifle!
Then I cleaned and lubed it after a frustrating shooting session.
Closed the action. Smooth. *shock*
Opened and closed again. Smooth. *curious*
Openend and closed again. Smooooooth. *feelings of idiocy wash over me*
I now love my X Bolt. The only thing that changed was a lube job. No more sticky bolt. Just smooth action, quick loadin, tack drivin fun!
And the stock recoil pad is sweet. It turns out that I flinch at the boom. Wearing ear pro and it's point and shoot all day. Great rifle out of the box!
Being LH I didn't have a ton of choices. I loved the short throw bolt but found it very sticky out of the box - to the point where cycling the bolt 40 times didn't seem to make it any better, still catching, still jamming. I thought to myself "maybe it's my technique", but if my natural motion jammed the bolt maybe I needed a new rifle!
Then I cleaned and lubed it after a frustrating shooting session.
Closed the action. Smooth. *shock*
Opened and closed again. Smooth. *curious*
Openend and closed again. Smooooooth. *feelings of idiocy wash over me*
I now love my X Bolt. The only thing that changed was a lube job. No more sticky bolt. Just smooth action, quick loadin, tack drivin fun!
And the stock recoil pad is sweet. It turns out that I flinch at the boom. Wearing ear pro and it's point and shoot all day. Great rifle out of the box!
If you decide for the X-Bolt, stay away from their Dura-Touch stocks. They are beautiful when new, but not so resistant in real hunting life, and looks bad after scratches start to build up.
Other than that, I'm very happy with my .308 X-bolt.
Other than that, I'm very happy with my .308 X-bolt.
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I did ALOT of research this spring when buying a new rifle and settled on a x bolt in 30-06. While I can't say getting it shooting sub MOA was easy, it's now there and it's a tack driver. After buying my X bolt alot of buddies bought new rifles for this hunting season and when we had them side by side shooting and the range and they shot theirs (from savages to sakos), the look of disappointment on their face said it all. As much as they didnt want to they couldn't argue the X bolt was a pleasure to shoot, the recoil pad and stock design eliminates alot of recoil, and it's an all round nice rifle to handle. Take this for what it's worth but the dealer I was looking at remy's at let it slip they would not be ordering any more this year due to so many unhappy customers and that steered me clear away from them. While at the range this year a buddy of ours let me and my wife shoot their 7mm08 xbolt and I have to say its the most accurate rifle I've ever shot, and my wife loved it so much we had to go and order one. I haven't shot a Remington 700 and I'm not a biased person, every company has their flaws and great products, but I haven't heard of a whole lot of proud Remington 700 owners lately. I'm very fussy about my gun cleaning and proper lubrication and haven't had a problem with a sticky bolt, and this year when I shot my first buck at 200 yards (perfect heart shot, couldn't be more happy about placement), in the heat if the moment I had a second shell racked in and ready to go without a hint of hesitation. That's my opinion but go with whatever fits you best, at the end of the day, it's YOUR rifle and your decision. Let us know what you get!
