Browning X Bolt Composite Stalker Hunting Rifle Review
Editor: John
Just the Facts:
Receiver – Steel • Matte blued finish• Glass bedded • Drilled and tapped for scope mounts
Barrel – Matte blued finish • Free floating • Hand chambered • Target Crown
Action – Bolt-action • 60º bolt lift • Adjustable Feather Trigger™ • Detachable rotary magazine • Top-tang safety with Bolt Unlock Button
Stock – Composite • Textured gripping surfaces • Palm swell • Matte black • Dura-Touch® Armor Coating
Features – Sling swivel studs installed • Inflex Technology recoil pad • Scope and mounts not included
Story:
Browning was good enough to ship me a new 300 WSM X-Bolt Composite Stalker earlier this year. I spent the summer shooting it and preparing for an Idaho Deer Hunt. I did not want to spend a fortune in ammo, so I purchased Fusion Ammo, in the 165 grain variety.
I topped the gun with a Vortex Viper 6.5-20 Mil Dot scope.
I decided to set up the gun for a medium range type hunting gun. So I zeroed it at 200 yards.
The sight in process was not an easy one with this gun. I initially was only able to get a 2 inch group at 100 yards, and an obvious 4 inch group at 200 yards. After cleaning multiple times, fine tuning, and 50 or so rounds, I got that to a 1 inch group at 100 yards, so very good.
There were several things that I like about this gun, and several things that really bother me. The most concerning issue, was the lack of ability to consistently eject the spent shell. The gun will only properly eject about every 5th shot, the rest of the time the spent shell is left laying in the chamber. I am taking the gun back to Browning next week for repairs.
I have captured my pro and con list in the table below.
This is a very nice looking and adequate gun. However for this price I would consider other options.
Browning X Bolt Composite Stalker | Pros:Crisp Adjustable Trigger
Very nice duratouch finish on stock Outstanding butt pad Well balanced in hand Detachable Magazine Cons: Detachable Mag little hard to snap in place Bolt not as smooth as competition Least accurate out of group tested. 1.5MOA Gun would not eject spent bullets from day 1 |
What they could do better:
Fix the issues list above
-Clip not fitting great
-Ejection button too weak
Browning X- bolt Rifle Review, Composite Stalker
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Functionality
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Value
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Ergonomics
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Durability
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