Browning booger

[Darryle]

"they don't make cars like they used to"... whereas a car in the 1970s with 80,000 miles was spent and ready for selling off

My 1984 Chevrolet cab and chassis with a 4 speed and 454 had over 1/2 million miles on the body and chassis, first engine lasted about 30k, then it was 35/45k after that. This was pulling a 30' gooseneck almost every day for it's life. I bought a new one in 1994 and it had almost 125k on the first engine before it grenaded.

Had a 2001 Toyota 4 Runner that had 375k on it before the step daughter totaled it.

Technology was great for everyone except for the manufacturer, they had less opportunity to sale, that is until cash for clunkers.

 

[victor3ranger]

My 1984 Chevrolet cab and chassis with a 4 speed and 454 had over 1/2 million miles on the body and chassis, first engine lasted about 30k, then it was 35/45k after that. This was pulling a 30' gooseneck almost every day for it's life. I bought a new one in 1994 and it had almost 125k on the first engine before it grenaded.

Had a 2001 Toyota 4 Runner that had 375k on it before the step daughter totaled it.

Technology was great for everyone except for the manufacturer, they had less opportunity to sale, that is until cash for clunkers.

Cash for clunkers was to get rid of the parts that people would rebuild and use again, it severely put a crunch on supply of used parts

 

[Turpentine21]

I guess it's amazing I was shooting half MOA groups and less with bone stock 700s and Model 70s with hand loads and sub MOA groups with 2 Ruger M77s with corelokts 40 years ago and it wasn't difficult to find a rifle to do that. My Remington pump Model 6 270 shot quite well also but had a terrible trigger. I still have it that rifle.
Rifle technology is better as a whole and accuracy may be easier to achieve with them today. The tools can certainly make for tighter tolerances.
But with a lot of the rack grade rifles today with the Tupperware stocks the shootability and ergonomics is such that it would be a remarkable feat to shoot a half inch group with it. Not all are this way but there are some. Upgrade the stock that chance gets much better. If I had to buy a new non custom rifle today it would probably be a Tikka.
I'll still take an old 700 or Model 70 and build on it if need be or buy an action and build my own given a choice. To each his own.

 

[pecker_wood]

I guess it's amazing I was shooting half MOA groups and less with bone stock 700s and Model 70s with hand loads and sub MOA groups with 2 Ruger M77s with corelokts 40 years ago and it wasn't difficult to find a rifle to do that. My Remington pump Model 6 270 shot quite well also but had a terrible trigger. I still have it that rifle.
Rifle technology is better as a whole and accuracy may be easier to achieve with them today. The tools can certainly make for tighter tolerances.
But with a lot of the rack grade rifles today with the Tupperware stocks the shootability and ergonomics is such that it would be a remarkable feat to shoot a half inch group with it. Not all are this way but there are some. Upgrade the stock that chance gets much better. If I had to buy a new non custom rifle today it would probably be a Tikka.
I'll still take an old 700 or Model 70 and build on it if need be or buy an action and build my own given a choice. To each his own.

Do you think bolts riding on drop of plastic and plastic triggers on high powered rifles is better technology?

I draw the line at plastic bottom metals and plastic magazines... Tikka/Sako has the best value rifle still in the Tikka T3X Lite for $640 plus shipping out the door adn $100 more for stainless, you cant beat it. Downside is no action lengths, outdated twists, limited caliber choice. And the doofy dovetail cut in the action.

Value oriented high powered rifles are tough for me because i like short actions, short magnums with short barrels and they all want to put that combo or magnums with short rifle OAL in their high country/pro trims that I dont want or the fancy rifle makers like fierce Seekins christensen... Or do a custom which I the cost and all the waiting is a pain

 

[Weaver93]

Do you think bolts riding on drop of plastic and plastic triggers on high powered rifles is better technology?

I draw the line at plastic bottom metals and plastic magazines... Tikka/Sako has the best value rifle still in the Tikka T3X Lite for $640 plus shipping out the door adn $100 more for stainless, you cant beat it. Downside is no action lengths, outdated twists, limited caliber choice. And the doofy dovetail cut in the action.

Value oriented high powered rifles are tough for me because i like short actions, short magnums with short barrels and they all want to put that combo or magnums with short rifle OAL in their high country/pro trims that I dont want or the fancy rifle makers like fierce Seekins christensen... Or do a custom which I the cost and all the waiting is a pain

I know where you are coming from, but I work for a company that builds a 300 ton crane that has a 50,000ish pound boom that rides on a hand full of nylon blocks and goes for thousands of hours without replacement. Trigger might irritate me, but the nylon bumper does not.

 

[pecker_wood]

Fair enough. Just waiting for the full plastic rifles with only a metal bolt face and metal lined plastic barrells...

 

[pecker_wood]

They will go great with the plastic bed on my little yota...

 

[Weaver93]

Fair enough. Just waiting for the full plastic rifles with only a metal bolt face and metal lined plastic barrells...

They get that engineered and a good 3D printer might make sense!

 

[Turpentine21]

Do you think bolts riding on drop of plastic and plastic triggers on high powered rifles is better technology?

I

No. I don't care for plastic at all. But I realize it is becoming more prevalent in the gun world and that all "plastic" is not created equally.
I mentioned Tikka because they are pretty well made and the ones I have shot have been accurate. I don't like the trigger angle on a Tikka because it doesn't fit my hand very well. Not the rifles fault. That's a personal thing. Many of the Tikka rifles are too light for me. I like a heavy rifle and I like long actions. Tikka has a few models that I like. So as a value rifle and for the price I would buy one.
For me, I like a Remington 700 footprint because of the available aftermarket parts. But I would not buy a new or recent complete 700. I would buy an old one and build on it if necessary. Or just an action. I just like their older rifles. Or buy a custom action and build on it. Like something along the lines of a Remage build which isn't very expensive. Some companies are even doing shouldered prefits for certain actions now. I just did a Remage build on a custom action and chassis and it is a shooter. The barrel can quickly and easily be replaced by me when I shoot it out.
I have a good friend that just pulled the barrel off of an old Savage 110 and replaced it himself. It's definitely got some character scratches but that thing will flat out shoot.

 

[Turpentine21]

As an aside to the Browning "Booger" that the bolt apparently rides on. I know very little about that booger but have a little story. I grew up on a farm and have run combines now for close to 35 years. At first, the header skids and bottom plates were all metal. These plates when cutting soybeans are in almost constant contact or made frequent contact with the ground, stubble, and occasional unseen rocks.They bent, wore, rusted, took a beating, and had to be reshaped, repaired, or replaced fairly often.
Fast forward and we got a new combine and lo and behold it had polymer skids. We all laughed and bet they wouldn't last a week. Those things turned out to be tough as a hogs snout. You couldn't wear them out. Maybe this little button will be the same way.
I have had some issues with bolt buffers on shotguns wearing out or being damaged but this little button shouldn't be taking that kind of abuse and should last.

 

[manitou]

Regardless, it is threaded and can be replaced for just a few bucks if needed.

I have had X-bolts since they first came out and never had one wear out.

 

[Mark37082]

I did not realize there were so many Browning fans here. I have only owned 3 Brownings. I have owned Remington, Savage, Ruger, Winchester, Bergara rifles and now a Custom with a Defiance action. Brand has really never been a big thing for me. I wanted to try a Tikka, but it just was not to my liking when I held and shouldered it. The only rifle that I truly regret selling was a Browning BAR. The X-Bolt has one of the smoothest actions and gets carried in the hunting grounds more than any rifle I currently own. Addressed the trigger with a Mcarbo and never gave the booger a second thought. Now I want to try a Seekins, but I doubt the X-Bolt will ever be sold.

 

[pecker_wood]

Ive had a bunch of brownings thru the years. The only real issues that ive had with them were the dura touch on a NWTF BPS 10ga turning tacky due to florida heat in the truck or something I cleaned it with and the gas system or magazine on the 300 short mag bar that I bought right after the 300 short mag came out. Never would pick up rounds right. The magazine system on the bar was pretty bad. Mine had a box mag attached to a hinged floorplate. All metal but squirrel headed design.

 

[Leaf Litter]

I just checked my Xbolt and it has the same thing. I had never really noticed it before, but I still love the rifle. I don't have any tangible reason for it to be my favorite rifle, but I 100% prefer the Browning to my Tikkas, Savages, Rugers, Winchester and ESPECIALLY Remington. The 700 platform is garbage, IMO.