When a red-colored tab is in view at the rear of the bolt shroud, the firing pin is cocked. In the event of a blown primer or ruptured case, the bolt shroud protects the shooter from propellant gas and debris by completely blocking off the rear of the bolt, as well as the bolt raceway in the receiver. The combination bolt stop/bolt release consists of a grooved tap located on the left-hand side of the receiver bridge. Though seemingly larger than it needs to be, it nonetheless operates quite smoothly. Protruding from the front of the triggerguard, the latch of the hinged floorplate is easy to operate, and yet its spring is strong enough to resist accidental opening in the field.

The trigger has overtravel but is quite crisp and light enough on a hunting rifle.

The 23-inch stainless steel barrel of the Mountain Ti screws directly into a hardened-steel sleeve inside the titanium receiver, and sandwiched between the two is the recoil lug. The barrel measures 1.170 inches in diameter at the receiver and rapidly tapers to a rather slim .555 inch at the muzzle. A deep crown protects the rifling at the muzzle from dings in the field.

The bolt contains three evenly spaced locking lugs; a spring-loaded, plunger-style ejector; and an extractor that's much stronger than it appears to be. Except for the small extractor cut, the wall of the recessed bolt face encloses the head of a cartridge in a solid ring of steel. Pulling an average of 32 ounces, with a pull-to-pull variation of only two ounces, the trigger is of the ideal weight for a hunting rifle, especially one to be used with fingers made insensitive by extremely cold weather. Lack of detectable creep and a crisp break more than make up for quite a bit of overtravel in the trigger. Or at least that's how I look at it.

Of the many synthetic stock finishes I have tried, I like the Dura Touch armor coating on the stock of the Mountain Ti best of all. In addition to being warm and friendly to the touch, its velvety texture offers a no-slip gripping surface for cold, wet hands. On top of that, the dull finish won't spook game into the next county like a shiny finish will. You can get any color you want, as long as the color you want is Mossy Oak BreakUp.

The author took this nice elk in New Mexico with the A-Bolt Mountain Ti rifle and Winchester Supreme Elite .300 WSM ammo loaded with the 180-grain XP3 bullet.

The Mountain Ti had a few surprises in store for me, one being its ability to shoot all five of Winchester's .300 WSM loads inside two inches at 100 yards. This alone is not bad for so light a rifle, but even more impressive is the fact that it averaged 11?2 inches or less with three of the loads. As should be done when testing any lightweight rifle, I allowed the barrel to cool completely between each three-shot string. I was also surprised by how comfortable the rifle is to shoot. No doubt the excellent shape of the stock and the recoil-absorbing Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad had a lot to do with that. The texture of the stock finish is kind to the cheek, and that, too, adds to shooter comfort.

WINCHESTER'S XP3 BIG GAME BULLET

Winchester's New XP3 Big-Game Bullet Winchester is raising the performance bar of its Supreme lineup of premium-grade centerfire ammunition by adding Supreme Elite. As a Winchester representative put it, Supreme Elite is destined to usher in the very latest in cutting-edge technology as it is developed. The first examples are eight cartridges loaded with a new big-game bullet called XP3, which is short for Extreme Precision, Power and Performance. Billed as an improvement over the Fail Safe, which it will eventually replace, the XP3 offers the high weight retention and deep, bone-smashing penetration of that bullet. But due to a polymer tip positioned at the front of its nose cavity, it will expand at lower impact velocities. The Fail Safe is best suited for use on elk, moose and other heavy game, and from what I have seen, the XP3 should work equally well in that role and certainly do a better job of expanding at long range on smaller game such as deer and pronghorn antelope. This XP3 bullet was sectioned to show the polymer tip in its nose cavity and its bonded rear core. The front of the XP3 is a solid-copper alloy with a deep cavity, while a lead core in its rear section is bonded in place. During expansion the midsection of the bullet swells out to about twice its original caliber for maximum frontal-diameter retention, even if the bullet sheds its front petals. Weight retention after expansion can be expected to run 90 percent and higher. A Lubalox coating worn by the bullet cuts down on bore fouling. Options slated for availability in 2006 are 150 grain only in .308 Winchester; 150 and 180 grain in .30-06, .300 WSM and .300 Winchester Magnum; 160 grain only in 7mm Remington Magnum and 7mm WSM; and 150 grain in .270 Winchester and .270 WSM. Ballistic coefficients are quite high, with an example being the .30-caliber 180-grain XP3 at .527 compared to .391 for the Fail Safe of the same weight. That's also a bit higher than the .507 listed by Nosler for its 180-grain Ballistic Tip. The .30-caliber 150-grain bullet has a ballistic coefficient of .437, while the .270- and .280-caliber bullets are rated at .496 and .500, respectively. I used a Browning A-Bolt Mountain Ti in .300 WSM and the 180-grain XP3 load to take a very nice elk in New Mexico while hunting with Elite Outfitters (505/937-7767) and got complete penetration on a shoulder shot at about 95 yards. Impact velocity had to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,800 fps, so that was rather a demanding test. As I proved then and while punching paper prior to the hunt, accuracy of the new load was plenty good for big-game hunting. I was also pleasantly surprised to see my chronograph indicate only minor differences in the velocities of Winchester's five 180-grain loadings of the .300 WSM. As you can see in the accuracy-results chart, the maximum spread was 60 fps, with a mere 15 fps difference between four of the five loads. Regardless of whether the box of ammo you buy is Super-X, Supreme or the new Supreme Elite, you can bet the outcome of your hunt on the fact that Winchester takes the precision, power and performance of its ammunition quite seriously.

My wife, Phyllis, says I can pick nits with the best of them, but I'll just be darned if I can come up with any major criticism of Browning's feathery rifle. It is plenty light for toting in the high country, accurate enough for shooting game as far away as game should be shot and durable enough to keep on ticking after taking quite a licking. If (heaven forbid) I had to do all the rest of my big-game hunting in North America with just one rifle, the Mountain Ti in .300 WSM would most certainly be a strong candidate.