Rifle: Browning A-bolt, reviews, opinions?

[roklok]

I hate to be the voice of dissent, but the Browning A Bolts, at least the earlier ones, are more prone to misfiring than most bolt rifles. I attribute this to the short bolt lift which necessitates compromises to be made with cocking (cock on open like most all modern bolt rifles). The striker has less energy than most bolt rifles. To make up for reduced striker force, the firing pin is smaller diameter than other bolt actions such as Mausers, Winchesters, or Remingtons. I personally know of three different A-Bolt rifles that misfired with factory ammo causing their owners to lose opportunities at deer. I am sure some will object, and it sounds like some here have used them successfully for dangerous game, but I would not use them for any hunting of importance.

 

[dougfinn]

I had a stainless stalker back in the early 90’s. excellent rifle and very accurate. 5/8” groups at 100 yards. Since then I have had a couple of x-bolts and I found them to be excellent rifles as well. Can’t go wrong with either in my opinion.

 

[leslie hetrick]

my A bolt in .280 loves swift scirocco 150 gr bullets(i have three boxs left) and with 53 grs of imr 4831 it is darn near a one hole shooter at 100 yards. it must be one of the good ones as i never have had a problem with it from day one.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

One of my favorites. Absolute tack driver and very dependable right off the self. I dispatched a lot of North American animals and Plains Game with a Browning A Bolt SS Stalker in 7MM REM MAG. Several Elk, Deer, Pigs, Eland, Zebra, several Wildebeest, including a monster Black Wildebeest at 330 yards, Springbok slam, Nyala, Hartebeest, a couple Gemsbok, a couple Kudu, and that was shooting that right handed rifle left handed…

Never had a problem with it. Killed a lot of animals…

I’ve been looking for an A Bolt 7 REM MAG in left hand lately.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I have a Browning A Bolt blue/walnut in .338WM that I’ve taken all of my elk with. I like the 60 degrees bolt throw, lighter weight (8.5lbs scoped) and accuracy. The stock design seems to mitigate some of the felt recoil too. The 26” barrel hasn’t hampered me when going through thick and/or downed timber or through brush on scant game trails. However, I think the X Bolt’s magazine is a better design and have since purchased .270 Win and .300WM X Bolts. Your friend will love that A Bolt in ‘06. Make sure he can get an extra magazine as the magazines are getting harder to find since Browning discontinued the A Bolt.

 

[CoElkHunter]

The A bolt has a tang 3 position safety also. Which is very handy and silent

Which also blocks the firing pin when on safe unlike some other rifle brands.

 

[RLL]

Had a 300wsm that wouldn’t group with any factory or hand loaded ammo, had a bad barrel and it went down the road.

A buddy just picked up a new model 308 win and it shoots lights out. 124 hammers at 3350…1/2”groups at 100. Changed my opinion on the the ABolt

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Had a 300wsm that wouldn’t group with any factory or hand loaded ammo, had a bad barrel and it went down the road.

A buddy just picked up a new model 308 win and it shoots lights out. 124 hammers at 3350…1/2”groups at 100. Changed my opinion on the the ABolt

Just shot mine after having the scope off to get the barrel threaded for a suppressor. It hasn’t been shot or hunted in close to 10 years. Last weekend: 1 shot zero and 1/2” groups at 100 yards too. I won’t sell it until I get it’s equivalent in left hand…

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I like the 60 degrees bolt throw, lighter weight (8.5lbs scoped) and accuracy. The stock design seems to mitigate some of the felt recoil too. The 26” barrel hasn’t hampered me when going through thick and/or downed timber or through brush on scant game trails.

That short bolt throw is very nice and fast…
The barrel length is a non issue for me. Actually, hadn’t ever thought about it till now.

 

[Ragman]

I’m a Browning fan. Back in the 90s I wanted an A-Bolt in the worst way to pair up with my BLR. A friend had one and it was a thing of beauty. But being in my twenties I didn’t have the money to justify buying one as I had three rifles already. Twenty some years later when the X-bolt came out I decided to trade in my old 7mm RM for one. But at the store I just couldn’t get past that long barrel so I went with a Tikka T3. Great rifle. Finally last year I bought one in 7mm-08. Sweet little rifle to go with my old BLR. But I’ll always remember that A-Bolt that captivated my heart!

 

[Uncontrolled_round_feed]

My first center fire was a 243 Rem 788 and my second this A Bolt in 270. Just works!

 

[steve white]

Short bolt throw feels great. It would speed up a second shot in DG calibers. Usually accurate

But...a gunsmith I knew had occasion to take a barrel off--he was shocked to find that it was epoxied in at the threads, AND, according to him, too loose to put back with only tightening the threads after the expoxy was removed. He had to re-headspace it by turning the barrel in another thread or two, and recutting the chamber. His take was that it was faster and easier for Browning to headspace by turning the barrel in loose but held by epoxy, stopping at the headspace gauge. Above my pay grade.

 

[mark-hunter]

I attribute this to the short bolt lift which necessitates compromises to be made with cocking (cock on open like most all modern bolt rifles). The striker has less energy than most bolt rifles.

This is interesting observation. I have 60 degree bolt rotation, on Sako 85. I never noticed a problem with weaker striker. Thanks for mentioning this!

 

[LimbNoMo]

The fit and finish of the X-bolt rifles seems worth the $200-300 more than the A-bolt to me.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

This is interesting observation. I have 60 degree bolt rotation, on Sako 85. I never noticed a problem with weaker striker. Thanks for mentioning this!

I have a couple SAKO’s and a TIKKA. The A Bolt helped me get to SAKO. I love my SAKO’s too!

 

[Hyde Hunter]

to the folks that think the barrels are to long it is easy to have it cut and re-crowned to the length you want, no reason to not buy it. my 30.06 has an 18 inch barrel and I run a suppressor on it and my 458 Win Mag I had cut to 19 inches will be very handy in the thorn brush chasing Cape Buffalo

 

[375er]

This is interesting observation. I have 60 degree bolt rotation, on Sako 85. I never noticed a problem with weaker striker. Thanks for mentioning this!

I would like to see actual data on this as I have multiple 60 degree bolt rifles, some over 40 years old and have never had a problem. Not to mention the (millions)? of Weatherby rifles with the same bolt throw.

 

[meigsbucks]

Definitely buy it. I have an A-Bolt Stainless Stalker I purchased in the mid to late 1980’s. Taken black bear, two mule deer and a whitetail with it using Sierra and Hornady bullets. Very accurate. Now I’ve gone to the 160gr Barnes TSX and RL25. It gives spot on 3k fps out of it’s 26” tube. Hope to take it to the Kalahari some time.

 

[Ruraldoc]

A 60 degree bolt lift does not require a weeker spring resulting in lighter primer strikes.

It just needs to have the same cocking effort applied over a shoter arc. This way the action with less than a 90 degree arc require a little more force to open if everything else is equal.

I have owned probably half a dozen of the original A bolts though the years.

I have always had good reliability and accuracy out of them.

The safety is a really good design in my opinion.

I have heard that they can be a pain to rebarrel. That is really the only weakness but it doesn’t really matter on a big game rifle for most people.

I wish I had another Stainless Staker in 280 or Micro Medallion in 243.

Still can’t remember why I sold either of them.

 

[Ruraldoc]

Also, I used to work on the triggers of my Abolts. It is a fairly simple job to install a lighter trigger return spring making a crisp three pound trigger easy to use.