Browning bolt actions- leave stock, sell or do upgrades?

[briar rabbit]

I have viewed little info or feedback on the Browning bolt action, when you see one posted for sale it is always stock. Is the A and Xbolt a capable of being a accurate long range rifle? Why are they not used?

 

[Mikecr]

Why are they not used?

Rebarreling difficulties, less aftermarket in bases/rings/triggers.

Beyond that, they are nice 3-lug actions. The Eclipse stocks are great for hunting, and BOSS works as advertised.

 

[Boss Hoss]

There is a reason----not going to go into detail because it hurts peoples feelings who have them. If they were a good platform to build custons from they would be used and you would see them.

Sell it and buy a Remington Clone -- for example a Stiller and go from there.

 

[woods]

I had an older Browning BBR 300 win mag that had an exceedingly short detachable mag. The action is similar to a Weatherby with multiple lugs. The local gunsmith refused to do a rebarrel, said the action was not strong enough. Found a good gunsmith in the Salt Lake City area that said he would do it, but he had problems. Wound up calling it the "BBR from Elm Street". He said the barrel was in a sleeve in the action and had to be pinned. Had to make a special tool to get it just right.

But the rebarrel into a 6.5 rem mag turned out really well and shoots good. 140 gr bullets from 3000 to 3100 fps and 130 gr bullets from 3100 to 3200 fps

I like the shorter bolt lift and the tang safety. So they can be rebarreled into a good hunting gun but would not be the best for benchrest or target.

 

[The Duke007]

Where did you get your stock from?

 

[woods]

McMillan

IIRC

Olive green
Black
Light grey

Love 'em

but the ain't cheap and take forever

 

[The Duke007]

About how long? I am thinking of doing the same to mine but dont know if it will help with accuracy? At this point owning a browning is a little nerve racking. No aftermarket parts and nobody really wants to deal with them. Has it improved anything on your rifle besides looks?

 

[woods]

I had to wait 4 to 5 months for mine but that was about 3 years ago. It may be better now.

The McMillans are machined to very tight tolerances and are completely a drop in situation. I don't recall anyone ever being dissatisfied with a McMillan. I bed all my rifles in the chamber and recoil lug area but I don't know if that was needed or not. The rifle is accurate but I can not directly attribute that to the stock alone.

I will say that I do have complete confidence that if there was an acccuracy problem, it would not have been because of the stock.

I have another on a 280AI and am completely satisfied with it also

but in the safe are also a couple of HS Precision stocks that I can say do as well. The trick is the pillar bedding and the stiffness of the material, IMO.

 

[The Duke007]

Thanks woods I'll let you know what happens.