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i like browning firearms and have had no problems with them. actually i am quite fond of them. the action is " slick as snot " . i think the browning stainless stalker chambered in 300WSM. with a nice variX-III 2.5-8 would be great little setup.

Welcome to the board Turkey Slayer. The Browning " A" Bolt is a fine rifle.There are so many quality made rifles your best bet would be which one feels good to you.I prefer the Ruger M-77' s. They fit me well and accuracy is more then accectable for hunting purposes. The Ruger' s come with scope rings as standard equipment.I' ve only owned a couple Winchesters and have been happy with their performance.I shot a Browning " A" Bolt once and I was amazed how accurate it was right out of the box.Talk to friends who have different rifles and see if you can try them out.You still have time to find one that you' ll be happy with.Whatever rifle you decide on,I would recommend buying a good scope and leave the lower end scopes alone.That' s of course if you plan on scoping your rifle. Take your time and try as many out as possible.Good luck in your selection.
Ruger Redhawk

Brownings are a real purty rifle but before you buy one check out the books Bolt Action Rifles and Frank DeHause' s book on Bolt action rifles. These guys are the experts and my findings as a custom rifle builder go with them! Non hardened reciever, barrel threaded into a pressed in insert, weak camming geometry due to the short lift on the bolt, lots of pot metal and a marginal trigger. This is a rifle with a finite life and not somthing which will wear out barrels get re barreled and keep going. It is a rifle with a short life especially if you hand load on the warn side. Look at these books and the Ruger 77, or a custom rifle, had to put that in here since that is what I do for a living. As to the short mags, thumbs down! They offer nothing not already on the market and do not beat what is already out there. According to reports sales have been lower then expected. I may well be wrong but I expect to see them die out. Do not forget, this has been tried before and failed, remember the .350 Rem Mag and the 6.5 Rem Mag.
One other thing, .300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag and such are available almost any place in the world, when I was in Africa you found this ammo in all gun shops.
Last time I talked to the P.H. I used over there he was telling me that the short mags were not availably and they doubted it would be in the near future, he is not only a guide but also works with a leading gunshop in South Africa, just somthing to keep in mind.


Hope I have been of some help, your friend
Jud

I think the more important question should be is this rifle going to be strictly a deer rifle or will you be hunting other game with it. The WSM' s don' t exactly have the market on ammo availability, and they will be somewhat expensive to shoot. There are many other cartridges that will do what you want and be lighter recoil and factory ammo more readily available, like the .270, 7MM Mag, 30-06, 6.5x55 on and on and on.

Browning is one of the best available. Smooth action, accurate, reliable, excellent trigger and they look good too. The cost is a little more than a Ruger but IMO it' s a little nicer rifle. Also look at Winchester and Tikka both very good rifles.

Judson, Are you sure you don' t have the A-bolts mixed up with the 710? I' ve never heard anyone claim that Browning has the strongest action but it is more than strong enough even when shooting hot handloads. In my experiance, out of the box, the Browning action is smoother and the trigger lighter and more positive than a Ruger.

Love them Brownings! Never shot one that wasn' t accurate. Smooth action, good feel...quality rifle no doubt. I plan on filling my safe up with ' em if I ever make any money.

I personally don' t own a Browning rifle, only shotguns. The A-bolts I have been handling in gunshops recently have very slick actions, nice wood, the glossy blueing is nice, matte ok if you like matte finish. I like the short throw of the bolt. The Brownings are also lighter on average than other MFGS. The only thing I see wrong with Brownings are those gold triggers[X(].

If I was going to hunt anywhere in Alaska I would want a rifle with a stainless action and barrel and a laminate stock. Caliber? probably start with a .300 mag of some kind, .338 mag would be ok too. Lots of brownies on Kodiak Island, something to keep in the back of your mind.

I would go with the Winchester because the magazine is a little bit longer. This really maters when handloads come into play. Good luck.

I do not plan to buy a short Mag but I think they are here to stay. The reason that the other short cartridges did not fly was that there was never a good supply of rifles. Everyone is building the short mags and they will soon be available in all calibers and factory ammo will be easy to find. Its true that they do not better the long versions but you can,t dispute the fact that the action is much shorter to work and in the past the shorter actions offered a slight advantage in accuacy. I may take a look at the 223 SSM. This even though I love the 22-250. The biggest danger to the short mags is the hot air with which they were introduced made them sound like magic wands. More Power Less Recoil??? Newton will always have his way.