The Boss is good for helping recoil and accuracy but, you better invest in some good hearing protection because they are simply TOO LOUD!

I hate it when a guy is shooting w/ a Boss at the range. Especially when he is on the very next bench.

I would rather feel some recoil than loose my hearing while out deer hunting.

Good Luck!

Reloader

Subject: Your opinion on Winchester 70 with BOSS, stainless, 300 Win Mag or 7mm Rem Mag

Dear fellow shooters,

I'm a newbie in here. Living in a different country (Russia) my resources on advice about this particular gun are very limited so please be forgiving if my questions seem to be not specific.

The problem is I put my eye on it but never had a chance neither try it out nor talk to some one who owns it.

So I'd be interested to know about the following:

1. What kind of accuracy, group size can I expect from this gun?

2. Are there any common / known problems with this gun?

3. Any pros, cons.

Even your general impression from using this gun would be really appreciated.


Best regards and thank you in advance

I've only had one rifle with a Boss, a Browning A-bolt. My recommendation is to get the non-ported Boss. The ported boss is simply too loud for my liking. Everytime I shot it at the range, it would deafen the folks on either side of me. I believe you can buy the non-ported one for retrofit.

My Win. 70 with BOSS is stainless steel and has the sport contour barrel. I bought the gun to hunt over large soy bean fields in costal Virginia. I've had it fitted with an HS precision stock, had it cryro treated and the trigger lightened to about 3 lb.s. I was disappointed with the accuracy with light loads, but with the 160 gr. and especially 175 gr. bullets it shoot very well once I'd determined the best BOSS setting. With 175 gr. bullets, setting the BOSS to ten, the gun shoots @1" at 200 yrd.s from the bench. My best shot hunting so far was a 340 yrd. head shot on a whitetail doe. I don't know how a 300 Win. Mag would compare.

I shoot at the range with the vented BOSS using very good ear protection and switch to the compesator (unvented BOSS) at the same settings when I hunt. I wouldn't hunt with the vented BOSS, it's too loud.

I liked the 7mm Mag's performance so well I bought another M.70 in .270 for shorter ranges. The .270 weighs over 3 lb.s less and shooting 130 gr. ammo is more accurate than the 7mm Mag at 100 yards! It shoots one ragged hole from the bench. My best shot hunting with the .270 has been a 325 yrd. chest shot in a strong cross wind.

The only down sides I see with the BOSS system are the extra weight and expense of finding the best BOSS setting for the bullet weight, but you have to experiment to find what shoot best in a gun without a BOSS
anyway. For me both problems are insignificant compared to the pinpoint accuracy the guns achieve.

Tchuss!

Don't know about the Win. but, the Brownings come standard with a ported and a non ported boss.

My LH Stainless & wood M70 30-06 came with the BOSS. Originally I was going to cut it off until I shot it...........1/2" groups at 100 are the norm with factory 165 grain core lokts. Sighted 2" high at 100 yards gives me groups at 300 yards that are 6.5" low and groups of 1.5-2" with a 2.5-8x Leupold. A very accurate rifle..........But BOY IS IT LOUD!!!! I need to get a CR replacement for the vented one I have now. Winchesters did not come with it when I bought mine.

Sergey,
As far as the caliber goes. What species do you plan on hunting? That should help influence your caliber decision.

I live in Alaska and if I were limited to choosing between the 300 Win Mag and the 7MM I would take the 300 because it shoots bigger, heavier bullets. That's exactly what I prefer when hunting Moose and coastal bears.

The BOSS can be bought two different ways. One as a BOSS with a muzzle brake and one as a BOSS without a muzzle brake. I know a few guys who have em and they like em. It seems to do a good job tailoring the barrel to the load.

The muzzle brake works too and I have read it reduces recoil up to 30% depending on caliber. I have owned and used muzzle braked rifles since the early 1990s and I really like em. I use the KDF muzzle brake and I believe it reduces more recoil than the BOSS version. I also wear hearing protection when I shoot at game while hunting because the muzzle brake will definitely make the rifle seem louder.

I do not own any Winchesters because I don't particularly like their design. I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with them, I just don't like em. Specifically, I don't like the 3 position safety, the bolt handle, the hinged floorplate, and the fact it uses three action screws instead of two. These are just my preferences and if you like these features, by all means get yourself a Winchester. There are plenty of satisfied Winchester customers around the world.

One final thought about push feed vs controlled round feeding (CRF) rifles. The Winchesters can be bought as either a push feed or CRF. Some people believe CRF is the most reliable design. I did a test more than 10 years ago with my Browning 338 Win Mag push feed rifle. I grabbed 50 rounds of loaded ammo and filled my magazine. I then laid on my back on the floor and worked the action with the rifle upside down, sideways etc. varying the speed at which I opened and closed the bolt. Guess what, round after round, try as I might I could not get one failure to feed or eject. IMHO, push feeds are very reliable designs.

Good hunting.

Sep

Sergey:

I bought a 300 Win Mag Browning A-bolt lefthand about 6 months after the BOSS system started hitting the shelves. I'm going by memory but I don't think that Browning and Winchester (US repeating arms) were owned by the same French company yet, so the Winchester version M70 was not available. Is that right guys? A French company does own both now, right?

I thought that since I could 'tune' in the barrel, handloading would take half as long which, in my case, was true. It was the only rifle I had while in Tucson AND I was invited to go to WY on a left over tag antelope hunt. I loaded up some Sierra 165 boat-tails and sighted it in at the range there in Tucson (90+ degrees, sunny, no wind). My groups, once dialed in, were amazing. I was pleased.

BUT...when we got to Wyoming and I rechecked my gun (I was the only one that did this, which I thought was strange), the groups had opened up to about 2.5" at 100 yards. The weather in Wyoming was much cooler and I'm certain the elevation was different.

I didn't bother changing the BOSS while there. When I got back to Tucson, it was tight grouping again. When I later went back to school (university of Alabama), I shot it again and the groups were up to 3" at 100 yards.

I sold the gun. Way to inconsistent for me. Maybe I had a lemon. And by the way, the gun was loud as SH_T!!

There were some lawsuits filed against Browning before they were bought up by a Eurofirm about the BOSS system because the muzzlebreak system damaged people's hearing. Now what those fools were doing shooting without ear protection I can't say but individual responsibility is very politically incorrect now, and besides, it would damage the lawyers' income stream. So . . . by all means use the non-ported version (which came out in response to the suits) to tune for accuracy in the field. Never hunt with a ported BOSS unless you are muffed and I can't imagine wearing muffs in the field, myself. As is stated above, they do what they are advertised to do, produce small groups. If you are shooting at extreme range that is important. However, they also shorten the barrel which cuts velocity. Everything has its price.

According to Brownings web site their test show NO decrease in velocity on their BOSS rifles compared to their non-BOSS rifles.

Some other aspects to the M70 SS Boss are that one should look at the specific stock that comes with the new M70. Some injection molded Winchester stocks had a very hard recoil pad and the stock's forend had a memory to the right and that hurt accurate shooting.

The Boss adds 1/4 lb and about 3" in length to a rifle and mine shoots the same with it on or off. Having read Sergey's questions on another forum he explains that he is a very tall man who can carry such a big rifle. Also there is no reloading of rifle cartridges allowed in Russia and that they are limited to 5 rifles and 5 shotguns.

YES, that is exactly what it was. Blue with wood...apparently a bad combo.

Hi! I ask a pardon for mine English. If to buy M 70 without system BOSS that what size of group it is possible to wait from a rifle? We in Russia have problems with a home relood , in prison for it do not put but can fine. And the powder should be delivered illegally or to assort 7,62x54R. Sergey

The BOSS CR (conventional recoil) is not ported and is no louder than a non bossed rifle. Brownings come standard with both the ported BOSS and the BOSS CR. I think that the guys at the range are being a little inconsiderate of their fellow shooters by using the ported BOSS when others are nearby. If they do not have a CR they should contact Browning or Win. and get one.