Thoughts on x bolt

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rosebute

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I bought a new Browning x bolt in 30-06 this spring, & love it. Light, accurate, & the most pleasant 06 ive ever fired. I think its the nicest all round rifle ive ever owned.
But I dont see many posts about them on here. What are peoples thoughts on these rifles?
 
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rosebute said:
I bought a new x bolt in 30-06 this spring, & love it. Light, accurate, & the most pleasant 06 ive ever fired. I think its the nicest all round rifle ive ever owned.
But I dont see many posts about them on here. What are peoples thoughts on these rifles?
Click to expand...

My experience pretty much echo's yours. In .308 compared side by side to a model 16 savage the x-bolt is lighter, gave me consistently smaller groups and it feels like it recoils a lot less. This could just be that the stock fits me better, so it feels like it kicks less, but it is lighter. I feel like the inflex recoil pads do a really good job of doing what is supposed to do. I wish they sold them pre fit aftermarket like limbsaver or decelerator pads.
 
my youngest son has an X-bolt Micro Hunter in 7mm-08, he loves it and it is extremely accurate with the Leupold scope. Brings home the venison with zero meat damage (head shots). I may get an X-bolt someday, but for the time being, I'm happy with my A-bolts.
 
X-bolt stalker in 325 here, accurate, smooth, absorbs recoil well with factory duratouch stock and recoil pad, fit and finish is excellent, handles like a dream.... What more can a guy ask for in a hunting rifle!
 
X-bolts are nice. Can't go wrong.

I wish the bolt was easier to field strip, but it is at least possible to do, just a pain. Otherwise, really nothing to crticize... Except the fit and finish on the castings, which is no big deal.
 
X-Bolt Eclipse Hunter 30.06

Got an X-Bolt Eclipse Hunter (laminated stock with thumbhole) about a year and a bit ago, in 30.06. Right out of the box after mounting a Nikon Prostaff 5 scope on it, with less than 12 shots from new, I was nailing 3 rounds <7/8" at 100 yards - it might even have been a little bit less, it was over a year ago. Since then, I've managed to reduce the group to about 5/8" on a couple of occasions when I drag it out of the safe to keep it sighted in.

Astounding performance for a hunting, mass produced rifle - and the stock and Inflex recoil pad are superb for comfort as well as looks.

O.N.G.
 
rosebute said:
Yes I agree about the inflex pad being wonderful. After shooting my 30-06 all summer i fired a Marlin 1894 in 44 mag, & was surprised at the felt recoil.
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have the carbon fibre stainless stalker in 300 Win Mag (very light to carry ) yet its much nicer to shoot than my wood stocked '06 . they figured it out on this rifle
 
Hands down the most accurate out of the box rifle I have owned. Drop your trigger pull down and its beauty to shoot.
 
My wife bought me an X-Bolt Stainless Hunter in .375 H&H for our anniversary a few years ago.
First time out to the range with it, I shot a 5/8", 3-shot group at 100 meters.

Love the rifle although it's a bit light (8.5 lbs) for a .375 Ouch & Ouch.
 
I think they're a great rifle. I have two in small calibers, 223 and 204. Both shoot great. They handle, balance and point very naturally for me. When I purchased the first one, I had a weatherby vanguard, a TC venture, a CZ527 and the XBolt lined up on the gun counter to have a head to head feel and comparison. The Browning won me over. I also liked the dedicated action lengths for super short, short, long, and long magnum action lengths as well as their rotary style detach magazine that gives a decent capacity without hanging out the bottom of the stock. Pricier, but worth the extra $ imho.
 
I have two X-bolts (223 and 300 WSM) and both are great rifles. X-bolts tend to not be as popular here on the forum because many folks either dislike the Browning brand - mainly cause there is too much of it (i.e. Stickers, promotional posters, etc) and some don't like the esthetics of the rifle. I am a function over form kind of guy so I really like what the X-bolts have to offer and I personally think that they are a great value. When I first cracked one apart, I was amazed that they came from the factory bedded to the stock. Many rifles don't come with any sort of bedding and the ones that do are almost 2-300 dollars more than what a Browning would cost. The attention to detail is very apparent and I have not been disappointed in the build quality of my two x-bolts. That being said different strokes for different folks and it is always great to have variety.
 
A while ago I bought a used X Bolt with the thought of putting a new barrel on it... but I thought I should shoot it first...

So I bought a box of factory 130 grain Federal, the cheapest I could find. Sad to say it shot several groups well under 1 inch.

That prompted me to buy a laminated stock for it. (Boyd stock landed cost about $230) Dual dovetail mounts, 3-9x33 LR Duplex. Reworked the trigger to 2.5 pounds.
boydstock-0.jpg


It kept shooting the factory ammo well so now it is time to try a hand load. So I took a few of the once fired brass and loaded 150 grain Hornady SST's with an almost max load of 55 grains of H4831SC.. about 2750 f/s.

Well it shoots! After a couple shots sighting and adjusting I shot these 3 at 100 yards... measures under 1/2 inch... followed that up on another target after another adjustment and that group was under 3/4 inch.
270group-0.jpg


So I have a keeper, no new barrel required and that bullet will be very flat shooting and I know it will perform.
 
guntech said:
A while ago I bought a used X Bolt with the thought of putting a new barrel on it... but I thought I should shoot it first...

So I bought a box of factory 130 grain Federal, the cheapest I could find. Sad to say it shot several groups well under 1 inch.

That prompted me to buy a laminated stock for it. (Boyd stock landed cost about $230) Dual dovetail mounts, 3-9x33 LR Duplex. Reworked the trigger to 2.5 pounds.
boydstock-0.jpg


It kept shooting the factory ammo well so now it is time to try a hand load. So I took a few of the once fired brass and loaded 150 grain Hornady SST's with an almost max load of 55 grains of H4831SC.. about 2750 f/s.

Well it shoots! After a couple shots sighting and adjusting I shot these 3 at 100 yards... measures under 1/2 inch... followed that up on another target after another adjustment and that group was under 3/4 inch.
270group-0.jpg


So I have a keeper, no new barrel required and that bullet will be very flat shooting and I know it will perform.
Click to expand...
What did you do to the trigger to get it down to 2.5#
 
Have one in 7-08. Crazy accurate with 140 Partition hand loads. Put a buck in the freezer at 260 yes this fall as well as a coyote and of all things a wild boar. Going to be hard to look at much else, in the safe, for a while now.
 
I've never handled one but they look very well finished and I like the shape of the stock around the action and magazine. It looks nice and rounded. Got to get my mitts on one to see how they feel.
 
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