X bolt vs. the A bolt
 

any guys experienced with both models from Browning? I understand that the X bolts will soon be coming out in a left hand version. I have a couple A bolts in lefty and may look into an X bolt.

I like the A bolt better. Better feel, metal magazine rather than plastic, easy to adjust trigger, and it looks a bit less 'contemporary' if that matters to you at all.

I like the X-Bolt a tad better than the A-Bolt but either is fine...a heck of a lot better than the last 3 Remmy's I have dealt with (briefly).

Those original A-bolts were very nice, shot superb, handled beautifully and were about as nice as a factory rifle can get.. loved the short bolt throw, stock cut and fit, the metal magazine and just about everything else...own a 7mm mag and 338 win mag in the stainless synthetic versions... SWEET and also the fact that they came in left hand!!!!

I ordered an X-Bolt Stainless Stalker in .338 win for Christmas.....................

haha thats the exact gun i want at the moment. but right now i have an a-bolt stalker in 7mm wsm and its great

My 7MM Rem Mag is a Sako



http://www.sakoa7.net/

My brother has the X-Bolt medallion in 270 WSM, I have an A-bolt medallion in 270 Win. I honestly thought about the X, but the A fit me like a glove, and the X didn't seem to shoulder right to me. I think they are both very nice guns, seems the X has a better trigger, both of ours are still how they came from the factory, and one other thing that is better with the X is that you can cycle the bolt with the safety on. People gripe about the plastic mag on the X-bolt, but it really is a very "nice" piece of plastic. I see nothing wrong with it at all.

For me, the A bolt gets the vote...I like the way mine shoulders, fit and finish is incredible, the bottom metal, especially the box concept, is a work of art...the trigger is adjustable on the a bolt as well, mine is set a little over 2 lbs and crisp...

As you can see from my signature, I have two A Bolts and one X Bolt. While I am a big fan of them both, I think the X Bolt wins me over. I thought the A Bolt had the nicest trigger on a factory rifle I had ever felt, until the X Bolt. The X Bolt's trigger is just pure awesome. Like someone mentioned, the magazine is made of polymer, well who cares? It is strong and it won't rust. We are so advanced in our polymer technology now I would not worry about it at all. It is actually a rotary magazine too, I didn't realize that until I had bought it. Nothing wrong with that, I just hadn't seen a rotary magazine on a high power rifle before, I am sure they are out there, I just haven't owned one until now. Another small interesting tid bit about the X Bolt, it uses a two piece scope mount base and it actually has four screws to hold on each part while the A Bolts only have two screws per piece. I also like the feel of the new Inflex, or whatever it is, recoil pad. The ability to press the bolt release and open the bolt while the safety is on is a real nice safety feature too, specially for young or new shooters. The stock on the X Bolt seems to fit me real nice too, it still maintains that palm swell from the A Bolt I like so much. As far as accuracy goes, they both shoot really good and I don't see much difference there other than I find it easier to shoot good groups on the X Bolt due to the smoother trigger it has.

I hope this helps, you can't go wrong with either of the rifles, that you can't argue with.

Have never really cared for the A-Bolts as they did not seem to feel right to me. The X-Bolt feels good to me for some reason. I also kind of like the different styling it has. I'm considering either an X-Bolt or a Sako A7 for my next purchase.

I own both, you can't go wrong with either....................


Tough choice, Browning seem more refined (better fit all the way around).


Love the way it feels also !!!

wow - really no majority either way. I have 2 A bolts. But I guess I will have to wait for the lefty X bolt and try it out at the shop

Is there a lefty x bolt coming??? Nothing on there web site and the '10's are up.

i only have [1] A-BOLT S/S STALKER 300 WSM thats all i need for the hunting i do .

Im looking at buying a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker 300 wsm buy dont know anything about Browning

Well Browning makes some very good quality rifles, I don't think anyone has ever really argued that. Some people say they don't fit them very well, which can be said for any rifle really and is understandable. I think both the Browning A Bolt and X Bolt fit and feel great to me. As far as the accuracy department goes, they aren't 1/4 MOA sniper rifles, but are more than adequate for hunting and if you handload, I would bet you could easily find some loads that make a nice ragged hole for whatever model of Browning you buy. I do believe Browning is known for having nice triggers on their rifles. I think the X Bolt trigger feels smoother than the A Bolt, which is a lot to say because the A Bolt's is really nice. I will say that I do NOT like the synthetic stock on the X Bolt, just the looks of it, it feels ok, but again, that is a personal preference. The scope mounting system on the X Bolt is an improvement I think also. I think buying an X Bolt is a good investment.

Update?
 

I know this thread is a couple years old, and it's kind of stale, but I wondered about getting an update. I'm currently looking for an elk rifle. The three models I'm considering most seriously are the X-bolt, the A-Bolt, and the Rem. 700.

I'm a lefty and not finding any X-Bolts. There are several used lefty SS A-Bolts available, mostly in .338 win mag. The 700s can be found in a variety of calibers, both new and used. Clearly the selection is more limited for us lefties.

Now that the x-bolt has been out a while longer, what are you all thinking about them? I'm especially interested in the opinions of folks that own more than one of the models I am considering, as almost everyone is pretty happy with the rifle they have (which I think is a good thing).

I sure appreciate your input.

Love the wife's Xbolt 300win. It hasnt touched my model 70 in 300RUM yet, but it still shoots decent, and love the feel in my hands. Recoil pad and stock design do a great job soaking up felt recoil. I prefer control round feeding, but I have zero complaints about her rifle.

Thanks for the response streetglide, although being a Road King guy myself I have to take your opinions with a grain of salt. ;)

Let's say you were buying a new long distance shooter elk rifle. Browning doesn't make the X-bolt in 300 RUM. Is there an X-Bolt caliber that you think you would rather have than your Model 70? Assuming the same caliber, would you prefer the Model 70 or the X-Bolt?

Boy, you cant make it easy can you? What should I expect from a FLHR rider :s2: :poke:. Just about any caliber the Xbolt comes in, the model 70 comes in too. Of all the guns I have, if I were to get an Xbolt to my collection, I would consider a 325WSM. Not a real long range gun though. My wife's 300win would be about the only long range caliber they offer, I think, and I already have one of them,lol. Of the Xbolt and model 70, I'm inclined to go with my model 70. I love the looks and feel of the Xbolt, but I like the CRF of the model 70, the conservative lines of the '70 more so, and the fact that I'm more familiar with them. Dont get me wrong, I like the palm swell of the xbolt stock, and the short throw. If I wasnt a model 70 fan already, I would be an Xbolt fan. Does that help you any? I need to post some pics of my two winnies, and her Xbolt, and you tell me which looks good to you

Yeah, I'm obviously not one for the creature comforts, eh? You'd think I would be a duck hunter, but I'm not. The frustrating thing for me in my search for a new rifle is that so few are available locally in left handed models. That means I can't shoulder one to see how I like it, much less shoot one to try it out.

Right now I am very close to making a deal on a lightly used A-bolt in .338. The only leftie A-Bolts I've seen are all the Stainless Stalker model, and they all have the BOSS. Kind of inconsistent with my classic "no frills" motorcycle choice, but I do think it's a rifle that will make an outstanding elk rifle for Utah and Colorado.

X Bolt
 

According to Brownings web site the Hunter,Medalion and Micro are available in left hand. These are all wood stocked guns. I have had A Bolts,shot others and currently have a X Bolt in 270 Win. For me personally the X Bolt is the absolute winner. Both good guns but you have to go with what feels best to you not what someone else likes.

Have you looked on CDNN's website?

The only problem is that I have been unable to find anyone that actually has one of those rifles.

Streetglide I hadn't checked the CDNN site. Thanks for that tip. I don't find any lefty X-Bolts there though. :(

Seems that hunting the lefty x-bolt is as challenging as wapiti himself!

Keep looking, also look at gunsamerica.com, gunbroker.com, and auctionarms.com.

I'm pretty sure the A-bolt stainless/synthetic only come with the boss, which I would not want personally.

So if you want a stainless-synthetic without the boss that only leaves the x-bolt...

I have not been happy with my x-bolt.
You can read a pretty good review that reflects my experience at:

http://ireviewgear.com/misc/browning...posite-stalker

I don't suppose you're a lefty are you?

I have a left handed A-bolt micro hunter in .270wsm that I like so much that when I saw one in .308 I grabbed it right away. I was at the range and shot three rounds w/ the .270wsm at 175 yards,the group was the size of a quarter(using 140 gr. fed./
nosler accubonds) and I am not that good of a shot, so I'm sure someone else could have closed that spread even smaller.