I finally found a left hand Browning SS in 270 but it has the BOSS. Looking for opinions from BOSS owners. Thanks!

For sure it adds 1/4 lb to the weight and 3" to the length. I have one on a M 70. So far it shoots better without it. I wrapped black tape on the threads.

I got sick of the big blob on mine and had a machinist friend turn down the cr to the barrel contour and shorten it to the length of the threads. Now looks like a normal rifle with a cap on the muzzle.

I had one in 7 mag. at 50 yards a 5 shot group looked like a 338 hole! So if you get it tuned to one particular load you like you're home. Oh yeah I got bored and sold the damn thing. stupid huh?

I can easily live without the boss.....

I had one and it did work. Like others I got tired of the looks of it and sold the rifle. Also, something to consider, Mine was on a 7mag that claimed to have a 26" barrel. they count the the 3" of BOSS as barrel so I really only had a 23" barrel on the rifle.

Terry

I own a Model 70 in .25-06 with a BOSS, but I haven't fired the rifle yet.

There is a gentleman at our rifle club with a BOSS-equipped Model 70, also in .25-06, and that rifle is an incredible, one-hole grouping tackdriver. I asked him about his rifle, and as it turns out, he rebedded the receiver, adjusted the trigger, then carefully worked up a handload and fine-tuned the BOSS. He took plenty of time with the tweeking, adjusting, and load development, which seems to be the real secret to getting the most out of the BOSS system. As I've seen with that rifle, plus several others, the BOSS concept really does work if you give it a full chance.

Because of the integral muzzle break, the BOSS is plenty loud, and I'll be wearing plugs AND muffs when I finally get around to working with my .25-06.....

AD

I've got a Browning Stainless Stalker in .300 WM w/ the BOSS. I really like it for the accuracy. My rifle is a one-holer with 180 BT's & Partitions at 3100 fps.

Yes, it's ugly.

Yes, it's loud.

But, the damn thing works!

BTW....the Gemsbok in my signature pic fell to one well placed partition out of that loud, ugly rifle!

You can replace the "muzzle break" piece in the boss with a solid piece, thus no loud noise [or recoil reduction] but you still have the accuracy tuning advantages iof the boss.

Allen,

You make a good point about really trying the Boss and giving it a chance. I hope I get to mine as you describe.

Keep in mind that there is an attachment that is solid and has no brake. That's the only one I have tried so far.

My 300 WM barrel is only 23.75" long without the Boss!

It has all been said. Ugly. Loud. But ............very effective.

I plan on replacing mine with the CR (conventional recoil) unit as opposed to the standard bake style I have now on my M70 06.

Because it works so well (1/2" groups). It stays on the rifle.

I have a Winchester Model 70 stainless 338 win mag with a Boss on it.I have shot it with ported boss over 150 times in a day .It kicks like a 270.I shot a 1" group with it at 200 yards with factory ammo but beat that with my all weather Ruger Model 77 Mark II 338.It shot 3/4" group.I let a friend borrow it 5 years ago .He has shot 5 moose with it and does not want to give it back!I have had some women and kids shoot it with boss on ,they loved it.It is ugly as a mule but works.The barrel on this 338 winchester is straw thin.The boss maKES UP FOR THIS TOO THIN OF A BARREL ON A 338.

have to chime in here, have one model 70 ss /06 will print a little over 3/8" at 100yrds with 55.5 h4350 and 180grn SSTs. I also have the CR but have not used it yet. I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and I'll be holding that model 70.

The principal behind the BOSS system is very sound, having been proven in benchrest shooting many times. Although not necessary for fine accuracy, it does give you additional tinkering leeway to taylor your loads to your particular rifle. All well and good.
I hate the look of them and find that normally I have not trouble finding loads that shoot very well indeed without the BOSS, so I stay away from it. I MIGHT be interested in a BOSS on a varmint rifle, but again I don't think it's neceeary to achieve good accuracy. I'd worry more about the quality of the barrel than the doo-dads hung on the end of them.

I had a .338 Win Mag Win 70 + BOSS. After wasting 224 rounds of assorted loads and having had it glass bedded, I still couldn't get that "thing" to shoot better than 1.75 MOA. Disgusted, I threw away barrel and stock, which I replaced with a Lothar Walther bbl. and Hogue stock. Today, it averages .75 MOA.

Before

After

I've got a Browning ABolt Composite Stalker in 7mm Rem Mag w/BOSS and it is in the same accuracy league as my Rem 700P and Win 70 HV heavy barrel toys. Yep, it's loud, it's ugly (subjective, given the rifle), and it works as advertised. Gotta fiddle with them to tune them, but once tuned to a given load, they produce some very tight groups.

My girlfriend has a an A bolt in.280 Rem with a boss. I worked up some 150 gr Nosler BT loads and headed for the range. I was able to tune it in and shoot .7" groups all day at 100 yards. The main reason we got the boss was for the recoild reduction. Without it we would have had to settle with something with about a 308 7mm-08 recoil. She ended up with a more versitile caliber and has fun shooting it.

I have a 338 win mag with the boss and it looks ugly, but I must be lucky because it will shoot 1/2 inch at 100 yds with less recoil than a 30-06. You need to try and find the sweet spot for the BOSS depending on what ammo you're shooting, I handload so my ammo is within strict tolerances. I have a BOSS but probably wouldn't get another cause it's ugly. Never tried to shoot it without the BOSS, maybe it's just an accurate rifle. I would try it if your so inclined and see if you like it, it can always be removed. I did absolutley nothing in terms of bedding when I got the rifle, mounted the scope sighted it in made some hand loads and followed the chart for the BOSS and tuned it into my loads and this thing shoots great.

Back 40,

I've got a Stainless, left-handed Stalker in 375 with the Boss system. I used the adjustment that was on the system as it came from the factory, and have not had to make any changes to it. It shoots 1" moa as it stands with 300 grainers. It might do better, but at the cost of 375's I really don't need a better shooting gun.
As to looks, it does look strange. I've not used the CR that came with it, as putting 40 rounds from the bench makes you appreciate the ugliness.HI

Roger QSL

This excerp taken from a GUNTEST rifle comparison



PS Recommends: The $939.95 Browning A-Bolt Varmint with BOSS didn�t perform all that well in our accuracy testing, even though we used the company�s suggested sweet spot for the load weights we examined. That said, we didn�t try to tune the BOSS perfectly for every load, so we can�t conclusively say that the gun won�t shoot better. Still, there are enough other shortcomings on the A-Bolt�its short barrel, its inability to maintain accuracy with a hot barrel, and the poor trigger�that we can�t recommend this rifle

You asked for opinions from owners, how about one from a hunting partner of an owner?

My buddy's Browning stainless/BOSS '06 shoots fine, he didn't take (or really have) the time to fine tune the system. Its just as accurate as any decent rifle and will hit game "out there" all day long.

We were mulie hunting a few years ago, spotted a shooter, both layed down on the top of a small rise. He centers on the deer and shoots (kind of prone). Both of our ears were ringing and there was dust in our eyes after the shot. We're trying to see if the deer was hit, rubbing our eyes, dealing with ringing ears. NOT GOOD!! On the range with ear protection we certainly noticed the noise, but in the field found it much louder than anticipated. Also, kicking up dust off the ground is a non-starter in my opinion.

The next year we went antelope hunting. Poor feller, he was afraid to lay prone, wore ear plugs and I wouldn't let him shoot until I was well away. He didn't take it out last year, opting for a sweet pre-'64 70 that his grandfather stocked.

Maybe if Montana gets some rain and the dirt gets a bit wet and we decide to put ear protection in while hunting...never mind. I think they suck in the field when your hunting with someone else nearby.

I have owned one boss equipped rifle and will not own another.Accuracy was no better than my non-boss equipped guns with handloads and it took as many rounds to fine tune the boss as it takes me to develop a handload.I also didn't like giving up velocity because of the shorter barrel the boss equipped rifles come with.The boss also came loose several times resulting in a change in point of impact.

I've owned two Browning A-Bolt IIs with BOSS:

One in 300Win that shot sub-MOA with every factory load (pre-handloading days)I ever put in it. I could adjust every load easily into tiny groups. My buddy bought the identical rifle at the same time I bought mine - exact same results.

One in 375H&H (post handloading days) that didn't work at all like the 300 - I just couldn't seem to get the groups to adjust much with the BOSS. That said, this was the most accurate rifle I've ever owned - after developing loads, I had several sub-MOA loads and two loads where one hole groups were pretty much the norm.

So my take - if you dont reload, the BOSS may be the ticket to small groups. If you reload it's pretty much just a brake.

One more opinion from the owner of an M70 SS with BOSS. I bought mine (a 338) as a last-minute, only-338-in-town rifle for a deer hunt on Admiralty Island in July 1999. Stuck on a 3.5x10 Leupy, got the trigger tweaked, fired enough rounds to zero it in and get totally impressed by its accuracy.

Good - it is very, very accurate and does not kick at all --

Bad - it really makes a racket, especially under the roof at the range

Ugly - I have yet to hear anyone call a BOSS pretty, or even acceptable..It hurts everyone's eyes, but then I don't like black plastic and silver metal anyway.

Synopsis -- first three rounds fired in anger took down two deer and one Afognak Island elk. The next four rounds were expended on a tough Chicagof Island brownie.

Pretty - no, it will never make it as a fashion statement.

Functional - you bet, and it is hard for me to think of ever getting rid of it.

I'm not a big fan of the BOSS system. It works, no doubt about it, but at a tremendous cost in time.
I shoot a lot of different bullets in every caliber I own. Each bullet, due to weight, shape and length,
requires its own sweet spot. That represents a hell of a lot of testing. Like many shooters I'm just not
prepared for the expenditure of that much time. I'd rather be out shooting. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

EFFECTIVENESS
I own an A bolt stainless stalker in 7mm08. I try to shoot the gun for many things since that gets me more comfortable with it and hence a better shooter; 100 grain Sierra on varmints, 140 Nosler partition on deer, and 175 speer magtips for bear (no chance to shoot one yet, but plenty on targets.) The Boss works decisively to dial-in sweet spots for those three different rounds; I obtain approx 3/4 - 1" at 100 yards with all of these(The Noslers group the poorest, but do their job the best in the field.) I measure 3-shot groups, and keep logs so there is less wasted shooting; but it does take time. Especially because the thin barrel starts to heat and groups open up on shots 4-5. Take something else along to shoot while waiting for cool-down. Browning is also very clear that they want the barrels CLEAN to see any effect. I use a bore snake after every two groups and clean after each session. I think that is important in getting the benefit of this system. You also have to use the rod "wrench" to tighten the Boss down snugly, or of course it will come loose -- like any part of a firearm.

LOUD
I am a gerontologist and routinely talk with old shooters who cannot hear me, regardless of what they shoot. Someday everyone will realize that hearing protection is important even when hunting(Walker, Peltor, etc.) Of course a muzzle brake increases perceived volume, but almost any gun is ruining your hearing. Wear hearing protection and have those around you wear it.

APPEARANCE
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and though the majority prefer old style figured walnut and blued steel it is well accepted that those guns don't take the abuse of hunting as well as the stainless and (good quality) synthetic stocks. The stainless stalker is a "modern precision tool" gun, and I like it for what it does. Do you really want your computer to look like an old woodbox wall telephone?

I think the marketplace tends to agree with the majority of comments on this thread (going to BOSS CR - conventional recoil only), but that does not mean that the BOSS is a bad or ineffective system - it just suits only certain shooters. (I like the comment about the problem prone shooting - I use sticks - but I think that IS a BOSS weakness)

Harmless

Here is a picture of the Boss device without the muzzle brake. I want to remind some that it is available.