MudRunner2005
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Yep, when hunting living things, predictable guns are a very positive feather to have in your cap.
BROWNING
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Capt RB
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You don't need aftermarket support for stuff that works right out of the box. Remington can't say that. Hence the remarkable amount of stuff available to fix them. Just look at the twists available. Everything you'd want to shoot bullet wise they have a rifle twisted properly to shoot it. Then they lap those barrels so they most often shoot very well. When I shot sporting clays I talked with the reps and occasionally engineers on a regular basis. When that sport was growing they were offering what the market wanted. The GTI was so popular you would smear wax into the checkering to pick it out of the rack. I liked the high rib citori special sporting but wanted the weight more centered in my hands. Out came the 325 in England. I got one biggest thing was .730 bore vs the .745 bore of my citori. The public liked the overbore and it evolved when it became available to the US market.
I honestly do not think it has something to do with Miroku aspect, but more of the overall after market support. Case in point, the Weatherby and Howa (Vanguard) partnership/venture. It has nothing to do with being a Japanese made but plenty to do with its quality, marketing, and overall support from the manufacturer and its partnership with other support companies. Howa has a pretty strong following and still growing, perhaps they have what the average hunter/shooter is looking for and Howa is responding for their demands. In my local gun stores, Howa has more offerings/display than the Browning line. Cheers!
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Capt RB
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Now with the bugnut and others offering a barrelnut option. chassis's and other options on a fairly straight action Howa and Tika are going to take a large chunk out of the factory action for a build. They both suffer from short magazines but if that changes I can see a large market share that use to be the 700's market share.
Yep, well said. I was going to use the Tikka/SAKO comparison but was trying to stay with the Japan/USA deal.
I was told by a reputable gunsmith that the lack of Browning aftermarket parts are due to Browning changing their model every several years and companies getting stuck with parts that there is no market to sell. I have a custom 7mm/08 built on a BBR action. I can't even find a trigger for it or a stock at a reasonible price.
Don't forget that everyone also loves Japanese glass... Nightforce, Vortex, Nikon, SWFA, Trijicon, etc...
And this is coming from a guy who does NOT like Japanese cars... I prefer V8-powered American muscle.
I wholeheartedly agree: just an observation.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
The A-Bolt and A-Bolt II use all the same parts, only thing different is the bolt shroud. Original A-Bolt uses a fluted round shroud, ABII uses a A-shaped (triangle) polished bolt shroud. The A-Bolt has been around since 1985, and the A-Bolt II was made up until about 2013... 28 years is a long run with basically the same rifle, so I wouldn't go around claiming it's because they build a new model every couple years.
The A-Bolt III is now a "budget" rifle, and is not the same rifle as the AB and ABII rifles and parts do not interchange with the AB and ABII rifles at all, and that's straight from Browning's website.
And the X-Bolt is a whole different rifle, as well.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
Browning isn't in the aftermarket stock making business... BUT, I'm not gonna lie, I would love to see them make a retrofit stock identical to that new X-Bolt LR Max rifle, but for the AB & ABII rifles. They would sell TONS of them! Nearly 30 years of building A-Bolt rifles, there's millions of them out there.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
I was agreeing, and own a few of those optics, just stating my distaste for import cars...They sound like pizzed-off weedeaters. Hahaha
Like a Bumblebee in a Spinach can.
I recently rebarreled my 1989 A-Bolt. Every gunsmith I asked, turned me down. They were scared to work on it was the excuse most of them gave me. McGowan were the only ones I found that would rebarrel it and they did not disappoint. They made me a full custom barrel in a 25-06. I bought a Mcmillan stock, a timmney spring kit, EGW pic rail and a Nightforce scope to complete the build. Took about a box of ammo to break in. Shoots Federal ammo in a 115gr Partion pretty good. Can't wait to start reloading to see what it can really do. Here is a couple of pics of the rifle and the 5 shot group at 100yds. That one flyer was my fault. I pulled it a little.
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MudRunner2005
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Nice!!! I need to put a new stock on mine. I'm running the same EGW rail, and a Rifle Basix trigger spring (wish Timney would make a drop-in trigger). I rebarreled my ABII about 5 years ago, and it shoots great, but thinking I would like to put a Proof CF barrel on it just because I've always wanted one of those rare 2000-2002 model Browning Composite Stalkers with the factory Christensen Arms CF barrels on them. I used to sell guns back then, but never could afford one.
As for building, my smith didn't hesitate to build mine. He said most smiths are just scared and won't touch them because of rumors of the actions breaking when trying to remove the factory barrel, because they put some sort of loctite-type material on the barrel threads at the factory. He said he heated mine up with a heat-gun for a little while to get the loc-tite type stuff flexible again, and then mine spun-off like every 700 he's ever worked on.
