Browning's X Bolt Hunter Part 1

Looking at earlier X-Bolt Hunter 300 Winchester Mag and X-Bolt Micro Midas Browning rifles, the current iteration is clearly a better looking firearm. The bluing sheen is toned down a bit and a more brown and less reddish walnut coloration with satin finish gives the Browning classic hunting rifle appeal. Mechanically, it remains the same; very slick and very reliable in function.

The X-Bolts rotary magazine design accomplishes a few things. The rotary storage puts more rounds in a shallow, flush fitting magazine. Rounds to be fed are centered to the bolt and chamber for positive, reliable feed. The rounds are retained at the shoulder, which prevents bullet tips from being battered against the front of the magazine under recoil. The catch is out of the way, but easy to release even with gloved hands. Preloaded spares can be carried in a coat pocket.

The interior of the Browning stock is cleanly inletted, however, the action is glass bedded to the stock at two points as indicated below. The result is a very tight barreled action to stock meld that assure consistent contact and pressure. The barrel itself is floated all the way down the forearm with no pressure pad at the forend. Each Browning barrel is target crowned, button rifled, air gauged and hand chambered.

The Browning’s bottom metal is matte black anodized aluminum, framing the detachable magazine. The piece fits the lines of the rifle well and adds little weight. The mag is flush and out of the way, but the mag release is still easy to access, even with gloved hands.

I assume I was unconscious the last time I reviewed the X-Bolt as I seemed to have mostly skipped over the three lever Feather Trigger. No take up, no creep, clean braking and virtually no over travel. The trigger is preset to 3 1/2 Lbs at the factory, but pull is adjustable from 3 to 5 Lbs. The components are hard chromed and precision finished to assure the same quality trigger pull persists through thousands of rounds without maintenance.

X-Lock 4 fastener scope mounting doubles the fasteners holding Browning X-Lock scope mounts and  aftermarket based securely and in precise alignment. In this case, Weaver bases are used with Warne steel rings with cross locks to prevent fore and aft movement.

The X bolt is a very low profile receiver, rising not much above the recoil lug and barrel shank. The benefit is low scope mounting that keeps optical center line as close as possible to bore centerline. The result is a shallow intersecting angle with no exaggerated scope adjustment.

The Browning’s tang safety blocks the sear and blocks the firing  pin. It also locks the bolt in the closed position. The Bolt Unlock Button allows the bolt to be cycled to empty a loaded chamber with the safety in the on position.

The Browning X-Bolt has three forward locking lugs which gives it a shallow 60º bolt lift for reduced bolt throw, shallow lift and plenty of ocular lens scope clearance.

The bolt face is recessed, providing additional safety by enclosing a cartridge case head. The ejector is plunger type. Rather than a long non-rotating full length claw type extractor, or a small fixed extractor embedded in the recess of the bolt face, the Browning has a spring loaded hinged extractor recessed into the side of the bolt.  The result is no extractor drag and no space taken away from the bolt face.

The bolt body is fluted rather than round to add stiffness to the assembly. The bolt handle is a separate assembly.

Hmm… This would seem like a good image to bring this segment to a close. The X-Bolt is fitted with one of Browning’s Inflex  recoil pads. In addition to the typical recoil absorbing mass, the pad has an internal skeleton that directs the stock’s comb down from the shooter’s face in addition to cushioning the blow to the shooter’s shoulder.

The X-Bolt, I think, installs pride of ownership. It has a very rich, but understated appearance, thanks to the overall quality of fit and finish and the conservative satin finish wood and matte finish metal parts.

It is a light rifle as sporters go, but it is well balanced and fast tracking. The checkering is crisp and certainly non-slip with useful and tasteful panels. Browning quality.

Applications

 

I don’t consider the 243 Winchester to be light enough for prairie dog hunting, but I am sure there are many who hunt them would take exception to that assessment. I would suggest that the Browning X-Bolt can cover anything from Coyote to cape buffalo and larger, game laws permitting.

 

Looking down the chamber list, and glancing over at rifle weights, some might raise an eyebrow. Unless your a person who is recoil squeamish, good stock geometry and good recoil systems permit some significantly powerful cartridges in concert with some relatively light rifles. My personal 375 Mag weighs 7 1/4 lbs and has a 21″ barrel and that is shot with frequency, but it fits me well and we get along just fine.

This particular example is chambered for the 30-06 Springfield. We’ve got some boxes of factory ammo and a good supply of handloads. The intent is to haul it out to the range, blast through a bunch of it and see what type of impressions the rifle leaves in terms of accuracy and feel. So far, very nice rifle, something a little special.