Two parter, Browning X Bolt and Round Choice

[need4sneed]

Here's my advise after four years with an x-bolt gen 1 speed in 28 nosler:

Speed stock has bad ergonomics and needs a lot of weight added to it for a magnum caliber. Barrel channel was also very tight and I opened it up - as stated in the xbolt threads here. Very little offerings to swap speed stock out.

Trigger works, not a lot of great things to say about it after that.

weird threadings were annoying but the Recoil Hawg MB I chose to buy actually performs really well. I would Opt for traditional threading and shorter barrels and simplify all of the options available to you at muzzle.

I would choose a selection of bullets you would be happy to work with of those two calibers and pick the CHEAPEST and most readily available of the two chamberings. The more I shoot, the less any of the small differences in comparable chamberings matter to me. Building the next gun is inevitable and will be more about the fun of the next gun anyways.

My 2cents:
If you want a factory gun - go down in recoil. If you want a magnum - save your money and build one out. so much of recoil mitigation is custom to the shooter and building one is almost cost effective. Or at least pick a 700 clone so you have the options down the line. Personally, I drank the koolaid and went tikka and 6.5 - accuracy wise I'm happy as a clam (limited terminal experience but so far so good) and only going further down the rabbit hole in 0-600 open shooting.

 

[Kurts86]

If I had to buy an X-bolt in either 7mm prc or 300 win mag it would be A McMillan Suppressor ready 7mm PRC.

300 win mag is a dumb cartridge in an xbolt because the magazine length will limit bullet selection to 200 gr class at which point 180 gr 7mm PRC is a much better option. 30 cal magnums are overkill in most cases and their BC values don’t really approach interesting until 215-225 gr weights. If you so desire a 30 magnum in an xbolt go to 300 prc so you can get the extra long action and a modern cartridge design.

As so many have said I’d really consider a smaller caliber round even if it’s only stepping down to 6.5 prc or 6.5 creedmoor. 6mm and .223 have substantial merits but intermediate steps are good too. I don’t shoot my 7mm rem mag anymore once I figured out I could in fact kill elk with a 6.5 creedmoor.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

Will do fine with either cartridge. I'd go with 7PRC and an x-bolt pro or x-bolt mountain pro. I'd stay away from: long range version (unless you are mostly target shooting) and SPR barrel (unless you are going to use suppressor).

 

[Unckebob]

I have a X-bolt Mountain Pro in 6.8 Western. It is extremely light for a gun having a 24" barrel. Without my suppressor, it kicks like a mule.

If you go with a larger round, I would get a heavier version of the rifle.

 

[Lou270]

Ok two part one sort of feeds into another. Been on REDDIT and got no help, except for everything I was asking about.

First off 7PRC or 300WINMAG? I see 7PRC has slightly better ballistics, I dont know enough to write home about but is better with less recoil and the gun weighs slightly less with a shorter barrel. However ammo accessibility is really important and to a certain extent price. I had a 300SAUM and is virtually impossible to find. Been hunting with a 300WSM, however finding that is almost as bad, and the ammo I put into the gun hasn't been in stores for 2 years. So with that being said the PRC being out a year or two, I dont think anybody can know which way it goes. So really leaning towards the 300 Winmag.

Next is gun. Getting an Xbolt, but there are so many options. One there is the mountain version, just not sure Im getting a whole lot more for grand. After that is the Xbolt 2 a must after the Xbolt? After that, there is the speed, the speed long range, and the sporter. I like sporter as the barrel is shorter like 22 or 24in, however range matters to me. Also is the recoil hawg worth it over the 360 brake. See some people complaining about gas back in the face on the recoil hawg.

For a little context this is for my out west gun. weight and length somewhat matters but not a first priority over accuracy. We routinely are shooting deer from 3-500yards. Comfortable range right now for me is probably up to 700. Wouldnt mind working my way up to 1000 at some point.

No im not reloading, no Im not finding 5k worth of ammo and stocking up. Want to keep it to these two options.

Of the 2 I prefer the 300 Win Mag. Just a classic. For a long action Magnum just prefer 30 cal and option for 200+ premium bullets. In general I’m not a fan of very light 7/30 magnums so would opt for a config of standard weight vs the lightest versions. The xbolt radial brake on my 6.8 works fine but no experience with recoil hawg. It is a Speed SR version and run can. Made me a fan of xbolts so if wanted a 300 a full length barrel version would be where I start. A 300 prc good too but recoil getting up there with the heaviest 30 cals.

Lou

 

[BCD]

Ok two part one sort of feeds into another. Been on REDDIT and got no help, except for everything I was asking about.

First off 7PRC or 300WINMAG? I see 7PRC has slightly better ballistics, I dont know enough to write home about but is better with less recoil and the gun weighs slightly less with a shorter barrel. However ammo accessibility is really important and to a certain extent price. I had a 300SAUM and is virtually impossible to find. Been hunting with a 300WSM, however finding that is almost as bad, and the ammo I put into the gun hasn't been in stores for 2 years. So with that being said the PRC being out a year or two, I dont think anybody can know which way it goes. So really leaning towards the 300 Winmag.

Next is gun. Getting an Xbolt, but there are so many options. One there is the mountain version, just not sure Im getting a whole lot more for grand. After that is the Xbolt 2 a must after the Xbolt? After that, there is the speed, the speed long range, and the sporter. I like sporter as the barrel is shorter like 22 or 24in, however range matters to me. Also is the recoil hawg worth it over the 360 brake. See some people complaining about gas back in the face on the recoil hawg.

For a little context this is for my out west gun. weight and length somewhat matters but not a first priority over accuracy. We routinely are shooting deer from 3-500yards. Comfortable range right now for me is probably up to 700. Wouldnt mind working my way up to 1000 at some point.

No im not reloading, no Im not finding 5k worth of ammo and stocking up. Want to keep it to these two options.

I have a 300WSM and feel like ammo is becoming more available compared to the last several years. Are you checking Ammoseek on a regular basis?

 

[wind gypsy]

7PRC is a lot for deer, 300 is more so without much benefit besides factory ammo with lighter for caliber bullets and in turn higher MV. so of the 2 choices I'd go 7.

I wouldn't want the LR version of xbolt, i think the speed or sporter configs are very nice carrying weapons with good ergos for a sporter stock. The tupperware stock however is a little prone to barrel contact so I'd like the carbon stock to mitigate that a bit.

700-1000 yards on deer is pretty "optimistic".

 

[RocketRob16]

I picked up an X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR in 6.5 PRC earlier this year. Here are my findings so far. The rubberized grip feels good to carry. 20" barrel length is nice, especially with a suppressor hanging off the end. Rifle was very butt-heavy and didn't balance well. Barrel channel was too tight, easily made contact with a little pressure so I had to hog it out. Forend is very slim and rounded so it is not particularly stable on a rest. My bolt was so tight I was barely able to get it installed. Has broken in fairly well after cycling the bolt several hundred times and shooting it over 100 rounds so far. Trigger was poor, decided to replace the trigger spring with an MCARBO and broke an ear off the trigger assembly when I was removing it. Called Browning and according to the parts rep, they break so often that Bowning will not send a replacement to you. They require you to ship the entire rifle to them for a replacement. Instead of doing that, I tossed in a Timney and am much happier. As far as accuracy goes, the rifle averages 1.5" for a 10-shot 100 yard group with both Hornady ELD-X and ELD-M. Groups are wider than they are tall and I attribute that to the poor ergonomics of the stock design and my inexperience as a shooter. Overall, I think you can find a better rifle for the money.

 

[Nards444]

Picked up a mountain pro 300wm 26in barrel for 1500 sale today. Happy with the purchase.

Can’t have cans here and can’t order ammo online here. So with that said went to the two places in town to get ammo. Had half a dozen choices in the 300, no 6.5prc and one 7prc. So made the right choice.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

Picked up a mountain pro 300wm 26in barrel for 1500 sale today. Happy with the purchase.

Can’t have cans here and can’t order ammo online here. So with that said went to the two places in town to get ammo. Had half a dozen choices in the 300, no 6.5prc and one 7prc. So made the right choice.

Nice. Put in the MCarbo sear spring and let us know how it shoots. My 300PRC x-bolt Pro shoots 3/4 MOA out to 600 yards. My 6.8 Western x-bolt Mountain Pro is about 1 MOA so far. I epoxy bed all my rifles but these x-bolts with carbon stock don’t appear to need any improvement on bedding as they’re pretty good already.

 

[Robobiss]

I have a X-bolt Mountain Pro in 6.8 Western. It is extremely light for a gun having a 24" barrel. Without my suppressor, it kicks like a mule.

If you go with a larger round, I would get a heavier version of the rifle.

I’ll 2nd the surprising recoil of the 6.8 western. My dad has one in a light X bolt that I loaded some 145 ELD’s around 3100 FPS for with H1000. It was alright with the can, shootable but not necessarily “pleasant”, but without was easily 30-06 or similar recoil. Same with the little bit of factory stuff we shot with heavier bullets.

Guess you can’t be surprised with a 145 grain bullet, and 64 grains of powder leaving the muzzle at 3100.

 

[Nards444]

I have a 300WSM and feel like ammo is becoming more available compared to the last several years. Are you checking Ammoseek on a regular basis?

Yeah I’ve had mine for 10 years. It’s gone in waves it seems. Can’t find it, can find it. However the kind I shoot I can’t find in over 2 years and I can never find it locally and can’t buy online. Love the gun, but over the anxiety of trying to find ammo

 

[BCD]

Yeah I’ve had mine for 10 years. It’s gone in waves it seems. Can’t find it, can find it. However the kind I shoot I can’t find in over 2 years and I can never find it locally and can’t buy online. Love the gun, but over the anxiety of trying to find ammo

What ammo do you prefer?

 

[Nards444]

What ammo do you prefer?

HSM 168 Bergers. Used Winchester deer season XP 180s in a pinch and they work ok