Ive got my heart set on the x-bolt hunter as my new whitetail rifle. However i cant decide what caliber to get. I originally wanted it in 7mm mag, but im hearing because of its light weight it can handle the mag load and be accurate. Im getting alot of recommendations for the .270 WIN. Anyone with experience and opinions on this rifle in these calibers?

I had one in 300 WSM and a friend has one in 30-06. Both were deadly...albeit a bit snappy recoil-wise.

I own the Stainless Stalker in .338 Win Mag.


I wish all my rifles were that good !


BTW - I'm not recoil sensitive, but it's not one of those I shoot from the bench all day long.


IMO - The .270 is the best caliber for the whitetail hunter who only has one rifle.

I have one in 270 and it shoots great. Mine is the all black synth and I love that stock. Very nice carrying rifle and that new clip is way nicer than the old swing door type. I have the Browning(Talley) one piece base/ring set for mounts. Leupold makes bases for the X Bolt as well.

My wife has one, in 300win, that she shoots. It is light, however, it has a great design for a stock, and an awsome recoil pad. I can shoot it all day. 7mm mag will kick less then that. If you can handle the recoil of an '06, then dont worry about what the big 7 will do in an Xbolt.

but would the accuracy be better with the smaller caliber (.270 win) compared to the 7mm mag. i need an accurate rifle, one good shot with a smaller round is better than an inaccurate shot with a large caliber. what size groups are you getting with these rifles?

Both the .270 & the 7MM RM are super flat out to 300 + yards.


So, do you "need" a 130 gr. bullet or a 175 gr. bullet ?

Interesting that you should ask that. I met a guy last week who bought one in all 15 calibers! (The gunstore owner must've loved that!) Of course, you might not be able to afford that....

My father and I own an X-Bolt each. We have the X-Bolt Hunter line. His is a .243 and mine is a 7mm08. They shoot well, and are easy to carry.

My father took a decent 8 pt buck at 120 yards with his last year. I took a buck with a chip shot, so not much of a test. Anything at the 50 yard or less (45 yards for me) doesn't take much of a gun to make if the shooter can shoot relatively straight.

It's going to be awfully hard to beat the 7mm08 for a good allround whitetail rifle. I used to have a 7mm08 till my daughter took it away from me. Now my whitetail rifle is my A-bolt in .284.