Lately I've been hearing lots of people talking bad about the Browning A-Bolt. I guess I'm outside the circle because I can't seem to figure out why. I own 2 A-Bolt rifles.....I'm not offended, I just would like to know the reasons behind the extreme dislike for this model of rifle. Can someone please help me out here? Is it a reliability issue? design? too non-traditional?

People who speak poorly about products may not even own them it's " Just what I heard " syndrome !.

I own a couple and they will stay with me !. Look what someone else has to say about them !.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/a-bolt.htm

I just have one. It's a .270 WSM in the Medalion that I have re-finished the stock in a rubed oil and re-cut the checkering to be sharp and clean. I realy like this rifle and cary it often. No problems at all.

Well I have one in .300 WSM as my main "all around" rifle and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's a tack driver and I absolutely love it. I've never had a single problem with it.....and I just put a new trigger spring in it and it now has a 1.5 lb trigger pull

The people who don't like them have their reasons. Among these are:
Smallish recoil lug.
Small barrel thread diameter
Short extraction cam.
Three piece bolt
Limited bedding surface
Stupid trigger design and attachment contributing to (above)
Poor quality cast aluminum trigger lever
Awkward detachable magazine system
All of these objections are valid to some while others look upon those features which may be seen as shortcomings to some, as positive attributes. Regards, Bill

You don't really see any posts from A-bolt owners who say they had their rifle rechambered to another caliber. They're basically throw-away guns when the barrel gets shot out. And that stems from their basic design.

My brother has several and all tack drivers right out of the box, he even has an A bolt in 375 H&H that would just irk the CRF crowd!
Everyone of his agreat rifles but may not appeal to some folks.
Why exactly wouldn't you rebarrel one?

I have one in 12 guage that has worked well for me.

They are extremely difficult to work on post factory, compared to most other main mfg rifles. The barrels have some BRUTAL, HELL FOR STOUT threadlocker on there, sometimes it breaks loose with a reasonable amount of heat, sometimes it takes so much you warp your damn action. Browning must have some secret solvent that it uses when it rebarrels a rifle.....

The barrel thread diameter is small as Bill Leeper mentioned, and the trigger is not popular at all, and some (due to poor castings as Bill also mentioned {pot metal}) haave broken from time to time.

I have had several, still have one, and the damn things just flat shoot, despite all else.

I actually LOVE the magazine system, so there's another Kudo for Bill Leepers' post.

I love the detachable magazine as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
The people who don't like them have their reasons. Among these are:
Smallish recoil lug.
Small barrel thread diameter
Short extraction cam.
Three piece bolt
Limited bedding surface
Stupid trigger design and attachment contributing to (above)
Poor quality cast aluminum trigger lever
Awkward detachable magazine system
All of these objections are valid to some while others look upon those features which may be seen as shortcomings to some, as positive attributes. Regards, Bill

I have only ever had one, it was a 270 wsm and I didn't have it very long.

I think it's a really easy gun to not like if your mainly a 700, 70, 98, or Mark V guy.

I really like the Steyr SBS rifles. So I guess I am not totally against modern stuff.

I have a couple and all that stuff about "You can't rebarrel or change cal's is pure B.S. If you gunsmith is to stupid to be able change a barrel on one of these you need a new smith.I've changed mine myself several times just because I wanted to.But I'm just a lowly machinist

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:
You don't really see any posts from A-bolt owners who say they had their rifle rechambered to another caliber. They're basically throw-away guns when the barrel gets shot out. And that stems from their basic design.

Right. Mine in 338 Win Mag wasn't rechambered, it was rebarreled to 7 Rem Mag, with a Sako style McMillan. Shoots fine, handles better.

I have one and I love it. It is the Micro-Medallion in 308. Yes, I wish the trigger were more adjustable, but if I was that worried about it I would put the new spring kit into it and be done with it. I also really like the clip design. It is not going to fall on the ground like the other manufacturers when you hit the button, and I can throw a spare in my pocket for quick reloads if I need to.

Funny story, I sent mine back to factory service because I thought I had screwed the barrel up with a particular cleaner. A week later I got it back with two targets where they shot a group with factory .308 150 and 180 grain Winchesters into a little more than 1/2". The note that came with it said, "If you screwed this barrel up, can we send you some more?" They did rebed the rifle, though.

I bought one of the first .300 WSM to show up here in Knoxville. The Winchesters were having trouble at first feeding that fat case, but my A-Bolt was slick as snot on a cueball. I took it to WVa to deer camp and sighted in at 100 yards with 2 different 180g loads: first 2 were Nosler Partitions, not known for their exceptional accuracy, which impacted 1/2 inch high and 1 inch high, dead center. The third round was a Hornady 180 grain SST which went through the 1 inch high hole. I head shot a doe, offhand, with that rifle from about 60 yards. Easily the most accurate out-of-the-box deer rifle I've ever bought. It will out-shoot my Kimber .300 WSM all day long. I'm not crazy about the plastic coated stock, but the damn gun shoots!

MK160

Bought one for my young son. Was available in down size and left hand.

Shoots fine but sure seems to be made from pot metal.