I just picked up a new toy, and haven't seen a lot of metion about them.

Most of my heavy rifles have been in the .40 to .45 sizes for the last several years. I have always been a Mauser fan, and built most of them. I used to have a nice custom 375 MkX Whitworth I really liked, but it was too heavy and physically big, so I sold it in favor of heavier calibers. I had been thinking of getting another 375, simply because I didn't have one, but couldn't find one light and trim enough. The newer winchesters came close, but didn't appeal.

I was in a gunshop the other day, and they had a Browning X-bolt stainless stalker with sights. With the composite stock, it weighed less than 7 pounds bare. It had several features I liked, and reminded me of the Tikkas I own. I really like the Tikka, but the caliber selection is limited in the larger bores, and the 375 is not chambered. The stock was comfortable with a comfortable grip, it had a recoil pad that appeared to be able to stand considerable recoil, the trigger was very good and broke a little over three pounds and the scope bases had four screws per base, an idea I think is great. It also had a tang safety, which I really prefer, since I shoot double shotguns, and I find them comfortable to switch to.

The iron sights weren't great, but I figured I could swap them out later. I ended up buying it at a few bucks over $900. It seemed a fair deal for serviceable 375. I purchased one of the Burris 1-4X Tactical scopes with a 30mm tube and the lighted reticle system. This one has the hunter turrets so is very compact. I was drawn to the retical which has a center circle with internal ranging dots arrayed down the center and windage dots to the side. At one power at close range, you can shoot with both eyes open and use the entire reticle circle as a sighting device. I don't think I have ever seen a faster sight for close running game. Target acquisition seems even faster than my Trijicon with the post.

When I got the rifle home, I loaded up some ammo and tried the cycling. It is incredibly smooth feeding, due to the rotary magazine, which also allows you to carry extras in multiple loadings easily. I felt kind of stupid, but I laid in the floor and cycled 10 magazines through from various positions, even completely upside down. I didn't have one single misfeed, even upside down and cycling as slow as I could move the bolt. I suspect this is due to the design of the rotory magazine holding the cases until well after the bullet has entered the chamber. They won't pop up out of the clip but must slide forward to come free. This is a nice solution to the push feed issue. It still doesn't eliminate short stroking, but I have never found that to be an issue.

Bottom line is that the gun weighed 8# 3 oz with the scope mounted. Shooting the 260 gr loads I made up, recoil was not an issue, due to the stock and pad design. It was surprisingly pleasant, much more so than my 450/400, and seemed to kick about the same as a couple of 9.3x74's I own, even though the mv is much higher. The load I started with shot into less than 1" at 100 with one flier putting the 5 shot group at around 1-1/4". I tried some 40 year old Remington 300 gr solid loads I had, an they shot into about 2" with the center being about 1-1/2" lower.

Altogether, I was very impressed. Here was an accurate rifle, light recoiling, low maintenance, excellent sights, light to carry with a good selection of loads, and enough power to marginally handle anything you might hunt for around $1350 out the door. Even with a change of iron sights and a couple of extra magazines, you should be ready to go for $1500.

I haven't seen a lot about these, but given that Tikka is building a good reputation, I am surprised that the X-bolt isn't. I don't know about all calibers, but in the H&H, I really like this one.