New Rifles: The Good, the bad, the ugly

jbronner13

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May 27, 2022
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Location
Winchester, NH
Curious to see what new rifle offerings people are excited about, ones that people are scratching their heads over and ones that being are just plain repulsed by. I'll start the ball rolling with some of my opinions, polite disagreements are encouraged, emphasis on polite.

The good: I think Kimber is onto something with their open range models. They look to be well thought out and nicely spec'd. don't own any Kimbers but these looked interesting to me. Browning continues to impress me with their X-Bolt offerings, it seems like they have a model that would fit the bill for every hunter even though I think it's weird that they run a 1-12 twist on their 308 Win barrels. Ruger I think has nailed the new Marlin 1895's, really excited for the 336's.

The bad: I can't for the life of me understand what Savage was thinking with the impulse. It seems like a waste of time, effort and money. I applaud them for trying something new and thinking outside the box but I can't see that selling or where they thought there would even be a demand for that rifle. I was disappointed to see Weatherby stop offering the vanguard/mk5 in stainless. I like to overkill my rifles and cerakote my stainless steel rifles, I like the idea of a more corrosion resistant bore. Generally I love the Ruger M77 Hawkeyes but the hunter model with the 20 MOA rail on a walnut stock with a stainless action is just a real head scratcher to me. It's like a baseball player going to his game in shoulder pads with basketball shoes on.

The ugly: anything wearing that NRA over watch pattern or the Ruger Go Wild Pattern. I remember it from a few years ago and hope it died.

Episode IV: a new Hope- would love to see the TC Icon come back, that think was ahead of its time.
 
I'm liking the Browning X-bolts, too. Tang safety is a winner. Being able to work the action with the safety on but still have a 'locked closed' bolt is right for a hunting gun. The four screw base mount for scopes is a plus. And - as pointed out above - a number of model variations available to suit just about anyone.

Gun I miss - tang safety Ruger 77s. (Thankfully still able to find used ones that haven't been too abused.)
 
Kimber and Christensen Arms seem to lead the way with hit and miss quality control issues. It seems like flipping a coin to see if you will get a rifle that shoots acceptably or not. Both companies seem to have customer service complaints that exacerbate the issues.

I don't own either but have read too many posts about these companies to ignore.
 
Kimber and Christensen Arms seem to lead the way with hit and miss quality control issues. It seems like flipping a coin to see if you will get a rifle that shoots acceptably or not. Both companies seem to have customer service complaints that exacerbate the issues.

I don't own either but have read too many posts about these companies to ignore.
I haven't heard from many people who own Christensen Arms rifles, but I know about 5 people who bought mesas or ridge lines. I used past tense specifically because they all got rid of them for different reasons. Kimber I have heard similar QC issues, specifically I have heard their pistols are really hit or miss. I think their camp guard model has had quite a few negative reviews. I also heard the rifles have grouping issues that people have hypothesized come from the wafer thin barrels they use….the open range models I think some wear a heavier contour carbon fiber barrel so maybe that's helped?
 
I'm liking the Browning X-bolts, too. Tang safety is a winner. Being able to work the action with the safety on but still have a 'locked closed' bolt is right for a hunting gun. The four screw base mount for scopes is a plus. And - as pointed out above - a number of model variations available to suit just about anyone.

Gun I miss - tang safety Ruger 77s. (Thankfully still able to find used ones that haven't been too abused.)
In 2017 I bought a Savage 110 Storm…..my wife bought an X Bolt Hells Canyon Speed……it was one of those dreaded "Honey you were right, I was wrong." Conversations…..😂
 
I'm liking the Browning X-bolts, too. Tang safety is a winner. Being able to work the action with the safety on but still have a 'locked closed' bolt is right for a hunting gun. The four screw base mount for scopes is a plus. And - as pointed out above - a number of model variations available to suit just about anyone.

Gun I miss - tang safety Ruger 77s. (Thankfully still able to find used ones that haven't been too abused.)

Speaking of Ruger 77's, looks like a tang safety. This guy is a great seller on here. Bought some stuff from him.
 
I've got 2 Xbolts and I think they are the best rifle in the price range.
My buddy wanted a cheap beater deer rifle and purchased a different brand than my recommended Browning and currently it's been sent back for work. He bought my Ruger 77 stainless 280 the day after he sent the other brand out.
 
The Browning is just a solid built, solid performer. If I had gotten a stainless stalker model in 30-06 or one of the Ruger 77 Hawkeyes in Stainless, I probably wouldn't have bought the seven other rifles I picked up since 2017…….that might be a lie.

The new Model 70's I think are also very nice and a good value. The bolt seems to run pretty smoothly, haven't fired one but heard good things about the MOA trigger.

My Savage 110 was very accurate but the bolt had a ton of slop to it, I had constant failure to feeds because the nose of the bullet would dip and not feed into the chamber properly (no I wasn't short stroking the bolt and even had the bolt replace with the same issues, and then had the magwell converted to a PTG AICS magwell with the same issues) and the "stainless" steel started rust freckling after being taken out twice in dry weather and placed into a safe with a dehumidifier……I wouldn't recommend a savage to anyone…..unless it's a 99 which I own and love.
 
Curious to see what new rifle offerings people are excited about, ones that people are scratching their heads over and ones that being are just plain repulsed by. I'll start the ball rolling with some of my opinions, polite disagreements are encouraged, emphasis on polite.

The good: I think Kimber is onto something with their open range models. They look to be well thought out and nicely spec'd. don't own any Kimbers but these looked interesting to me. Browning continues to impress me with their X-Bolt offerings, it seems like they have a model that would fit the bill for every hunter even though I think it's weird that they run a 1-12 twist on their 308 Win barrels. Ruger I think has nailed the new Marlin 1895's, really excited for the 336's.

The bad: I can't for the life of me understand what Savage was thinking with the impulse. It seems like a waste of time, effort and money. I applaud them for trying something new and thinking outside the box but I can't see that selling or where they thought there would even be a demand for that rifle. I was disappointed to see Weatherby stop offering the vanguard/mk5 in stainless. I like to overkill my rifles and cerakote my stainless steel rifles, I like the idea of a more corrosion resistant bore. Generally I love the Ruger M77 Hawkeyes but the hunter model with the 20 MOA rail on a walnut stock with a stainless action is just a real head scratcher to me. It's like a baseball player going to his game in shoulder pads with basketball shoes on.

The ugly: anything wearing that NRA over watch pattern or the Ruger Go Wild Pattern. I remember it from a few years ago and hope it died.

Episode IV: a new Hope- would love to see the TC Icon come back, that think was ahead of its time.
Think your right in line there! Only I'm concerned / confused with. The stock on the C Z alpha. Is it bedded,pillars , blocks or what? Is bottom metal/ trigger guard polymer as it appears?
 

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