Getting the most Browning Hunter X-Bolt 30-06

[David_h]

I've got the torque wrench already so the bedding and spring seem to be a no brainer. Thanks.

Both my x-bolts have the carbon fiber stocks and I have not felt the need to bed them. I've been tinkering with the idea of buying a third x-bolt with wood stock and try bedding it; and maybe pillar(s). However I have read that the rear tang area is fussy to bed because of the design; or maybe it is fussy to install a pillar in the rear. When I installed the Mcarbo springs in my carbon x-bolts I did not pay attention to this area so I may take another look in the near future to see what kind of project it would be for a wood stock bed and maybe pillars.

 

[Mike Matteson]

the 7mm Rem is a great cartridge, but for myself, I'm going to avoid the whole belted magnum thing going forward. The 7mm WSM has a nearly identical case volume, but no belt.....same as the 300 WSM

Getting the most out of your 30-06: MCarbo trigger spring, bed the action and about an inch of the barrel, free float the rest of the barrel, torque action bolts to about 40 inch lbs in the front and 30 in the rear. Then find a Hammer bullet that works for your choice of game species and anticipated distances. Do load development and then go enjoy it!

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He doesn't have high twist rate barrel. Have the action bedded, float the barrel. Trigger would be next.
Reloading the next step. The rabbit hole. A lot of those tools can be adapted to do different calibers. It's the quest to develop a tighter group. and can change your ways to reload with. DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE.
Belted Mag's: I believe that most don't like them because the base separation. That can be overcome by either Neck sized the case or bump the shoulder by a thousand or two. That generally take care of that or that's been my experiences. Annealing was the other major item that help with the belted mag's in adding life to the case.

 

[Koda_]

I've got a wooden stock Browning Hunter X-Bolt in 30-06. I'm capable of shooting at or just under MOA as validated on several other rifles but have never really been able to get the xbolt to shoot better than about 1.25 MOA. What would you guys recommend to get a bit more accuracy out of the gun?

And before everyone jumps to "shoot more" I'm the first to admit admit that I'm not the best shot and am working on improving my technique. I'm looking for simple things that can supplement that work.

The gun already has a viper PST 4x16 gen 1 and a cheek riser which gets me into a good position.

It could just be as simple as the factory ammo your using. Try a different brand.


As for the gun how old is it?
I thought all Browning xbolts came bedded and floated from the factory. The triggers are nice on the two Ive sampled.

My cold bore zero is right on, and then it walks about 1" right and 1.5" high. Makes it tough to grow my skills when it's hard to tell if it's the gun or me.

I had a similar experience with an older Remington, it had a pencil thin barrel, I found 3 shots were the most it could handle before walking then it was imperative to let it cool completely before the next 3 shot string. It was frustratingly slow process to zero a new load but worth it. In the end, in the field a second shot is rare and in fall colder temps it wont matter.

If you want to work with the gun you have, I would try a different brand or bullet with factory ammo and keep the barrel cold on each shots to determine cold bore group size.

 

[GetNorth]

@FEENIX - I went down the route for awhile with the idea to change it over to a 280 AI. Love the better case designs, efficiency and powder capacity improvement. Ultimately decided that while I plan on getting into reloading, I also want my primary hunting rifle to be a caliber I can get in store. Might not keep this rule forever but it's my plan as of now.

 

[choprzrul]

...

I thought all Browning xbolts came bedded and floated from the factory. The triggers are nice on the two Ive sampled.

....

I thought the same thing until I got some plastigauge from the auto parts store and checked. There was a definite gap of 0.004" between the action and the bedding. I suppose the material Browning uses as the factory shrinks....or they use a generic action before setting the new action in the stock....but either way, a skim coat is a good idea IMHO.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/clevite/tools---equipment/measuring-tools/calipers--micrometers---dials/cf9ecdb188c1/clevite-red-plastigauge/cle0/mpr1

 

[Darryle]

There's nothing enough meat to install a pillar in the rear, it's a half hole. Pillar up front and then bed the entire action. I have only bedded the lug and tang and seen good improvement. I did order a Boyd's stock with a pillar and then had the entire action bedded, saw a slight improvement over the factory stock, certainly not worth the $500 I was out for the stock and bedding work.

 

[Darryle]

You can see the squeeze tube looking bedding on the front lug/screw and rear action screw. It's plausible it could shrink since it doesn't fully harden like Marine Tex.

 

[Koda_]

I thought the same thing until I got some plastigauge from the auto parts store and checked. There was a definite gap of 0.004" between the action and the bedding. I suppose the material Browning uses as the factory shrinks....or they use a generic action before setting the new action in the stock....but either way, a skim coat is a good idea IMHO.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/clevite/tools---equipment/measuring-tools/calipers--micrometers---dials/cf9ecdb188c1/clevite-red-plastigauge/cle0/mpr1

I found where I heard it, according to Browning themselves, all Xbolts come glass bedded and floated. Now as far as the quality of that work I cant speak for though Im about to find out with a brand new xbolt. My hunting partner just bought a new xbolt earlier this year and it shot 1moa right out of the box with factory ammo.

 

[GetNorth]

@Koda_ thats exactly what I'm seeing. Sometimes even sooner which could be me but I don't really know considering it moves a decent amount.

 

[haisardao]

I changed the trigger of mine for a Timney, lost the bolt lock feature, but I can shoot mine 3/4 MOA. Mine came with bedding around the recoil lug. I shoot best Federal Fusion 150 gr.

 

[GetNorth]

Hmmm, that's a nice feature that I don't really want to lose. Decisions to make….

 

[Koda_]

@Koda_ thats exactly what I'm seeing. Sometimes even sooner which could be me but I don't really know considering it moves a decent amount.

Depends on the factory ammo, you, your setup... lots of things to check off before you start modifying the rifle.
Ive found with some factory ammo that roughly 30% of the box would be off where the rest held a tight 1moa group and I know the others werent me. I learned to not beat myself up over factory ammo fliers and zero on the tight group. Eventually I found a brand (Hornady) that grouped most consistently and used that.

Make certain the rifle crown isnt dinged.

 

[Darryle]

@Koda_ is right

Here are 2 different loads from the same X-Bolt, same shooter and at the same yardage. The Barnes was a magazine dump and the Norma Whitetail was a slow methodical fire, 1 round and in went the barrel cooler for a minimum of 2 minutes, most longer because I wanted to be fair to the Whitetail ammo and shoot it like a one and done hunting scenario.

5rds of Barnes Match

10rds of Norma Whitetail advertised at 2657fps

 

[GetNorth]

So far it's liked 180 TSX a best. I took my elk with terminal accent but after shooting more it really didn't like it. Just got a few eldx 178 to try but I really would prefer a mono if I can.