Browning's X-Bolt 2: A Quick Handling Next Generation Rifle

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In 2008, Browning released the original X-Bolt, and that gun was a substantial departure from previous Browning bolt-action rifles. The X-Bolt was an immediate success, and 16 years after its initial launch Browning’s bolt gun remains among the top-selling centerfire rifles. But, as good as it was, the X-Bolt was due for a refresh. Browning understood that, and this year the company released the X-Bolt Generation 2.

The Gen 2 X-Bolt is not a complete redesign. Instead, Browning’s flagship bolt action is receiving some upgrades that make it more competitive in a modern hunting rifle market dominated by guns with features lifted from target and competition guns.

You’ll immediately recognize the X-Bolt 2’s close resemblance to its progenitor, and in large part, the new Browning remains close in design and function to the original. The changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary, but if you look closely you’ll find the Gen 2 receives some modern touches that make it more desirable for today’s hunters and shooters.

Speed

The version I tested was the X-Bolt 2 Speed, which with a suggested retail price of $1,500 makes it the entry-level Gen 2 X-Bolt model. But “entry-level” perhaps isn’t an accurate term for this rifle. It’s not a budget gun, and it is well-equipped with a long list of features.

The list starts with the brand-new Vari-Tech polymer stock that sports a new 1.25-inch Inflex recoil pad. The Vari-Tech has four quarter-inch black stock spacers that are positioned inside the body of the stock itself. Two spacers are inserted in the stock when the rifle arrives from the factory, which gives the gun a length of pull of 13.625 inches. If you remove the Inflex recoil pad, you can adjust the length of pull from 13.125 to 14.125 inches by adding or subtracting spacers.

Browning says the design results in an improved appearance, and I agree. With this system, you don’t have a bunch of ugly, ill-fitting stock spacers serving as eyesores on your $1,500 hunting rifle, a feature that plagues some other stocks. The Vari-Tech stock’s comb offers one inch of vertical adjustment, which is a key feature on modern hunting rifles. It seems every hunter has his or her own recipe for mounting scopes. Some prefer low-profile traditional mounts and optics with small objective lenses that ride close to the rifle; others prefer adding rails, optics with large objectives or both. A single comb height will not properly align the shooter’s eye with optics of greatly differing heights, and with the Vari-Tech Browning has made it easy to adjust the comb so your eye aligns with the scope. The adjustable comb portion itself is also fairly long—about 5.75 inches—and that prevents the shooter’s cheek from being jabbed by the comb under recoil, which, I assure you from previous experience, is quite unpleasant. The odds of being “comb stabbed” by the X-Bolt 2 are remote if your face is in any normal shooting position on the rifle.

Adjusting the length-of-pull spacers and comb isn’t as fast and simple as with most dedicated target rifles, but the process isn’t complicated if you have a bench, a few tools and five minutes. Using a Phillips screwdriver with a long bit, loosen the two screws that hold the Inflex recoil pad in place and remove it. Then loosen the two screws that allow you to remove the lower rear portion of the Vari-Tech onto which the Inflex pad secures. Within the rear portion of the stock are the length-of-pull spacers that ride on the two screws in the stock, and you can add or subtract those spacers as needed. With the rear portion of the stock removed, you can also use the provided hex-head wrench to loosen the comb. The hex-head screw is tucked into the fixed portion of the stock, and when it’s free you can retract the comb and raise or lower it. When the comb is in the proper position, press it toward the muzzle of the rifle so the interlocking teeth hold it in place. Tighten the hex-head screw and replace the rear portion of the stock and recoil pad.

Customization

The customization doesn’t end there. The pistol-grip portion of the stock can be removed and replaced. There are two pistol-grip inserts included with the rifle: one with a more traditional sporter profile and one with a more vertical profile. Both pistol-grip inserts feature a soft-touch polymer surface that matches the soft-touch polymer on the fore-end.

Front and rear sling studs come installed, but the polymer stock also has holes to accommodate Arca rails or other attachment points. These holes are molded into the stock and are visible with the barreled action removed. Simply drill out the holes to add extra attachment points to the rifle, but if you prefer the standard sling stud setup you won’t have to contend with extra gaps in the rifle stock to accommodate accessories you’ll never use. The Speed LR (Long Range) version of the X-Bolt 2 comes with a front rail section with an integral sling stud already in place.

The second-generation X-Bolt also sports a new trigger, the DLX. A component of Browning’s Total Accuracy concept, the new trigger is a multi-lever design developed to virtually eliminate creep, take-up and overtravel. It’s user-adjustable down to three pounds. Factory setting is 3.5 pounds, although the trigger on my test sample actually averaged 3.1 pounds over 10 pulls on an RCBS gauge. The face is rather flat and, as Browning claims, there’s virtually no overtravel.

Receiving Praise

The receiver of the X-Bolt 2 gets additional upgrades, although you’d have to be a devoted student of the X-Bolt line to notice the differences. Essentially, Browning has beefed up the receiver slightly, and the extra metal increases what Browning refers to as the “bolt guidance area”—what many shooters call the raceway.

The increased surface area does smooth out bolt stroke, and the X-Bolt 2 runs more smoothly than its predecessor without increasing gun weight very much. The added beef in the receiver serves other purposes as well. First, it adds more depth to the top portion of the receiver for slightly more thread engagement with scope mounts, and this is especially valuable if you purchase bases with screws that are slightly longer than spec. I suspect the added steel also strengthens the receiver, and increased rigidity generally improves accuracy potential. The bolt receives some minor but noteworthy upgrades as well. The body now features stylish wide-line spiral fluting that enhances the rifle’s looks, and the redesigned bolt handle is easier to grasp and control. The X-Bolt 2’s bolt is machined from solid bar stock, and the design remains largely true to the original X-Bolt since it offers three locking lugs and a spring-powered plunger that protrudes through the recessed bolt face. The extractor is positioned so it faces the center of the action opening when the bolt is retracted, for reliable cycling.

The safety is a bolt-locking two-position tang, just like the original. A bolt-unlock button at the root of the handle allows the bolt to be operated when the rifle is on Safe.

I don’t know anyone who can fault the mechanics of Browning’s excellent flush-fit rotary magazine, and it’s standard on several of the new X-Bolt 2 models, including the Speed version I tested. There’s debate regarding the benefits of a flush-fit magazine versus an extended box magazine, and many shooters and hunters are so firmly entrenched in one camp that they discount rifles that don’t espouse their favorite magazine system. So Browning offers both. X-Bolt 2 Speed rifles like the SPR and LR versions use Browning’s new Plus Magazine System, which accepts the company’s own removable polymer box magazines.

Both the rotary mag that came with the Speed rifle I tested and Browning’s removable magazines in Plus Magazine-equipped models feed the cartridge from the centerline of the magazine for more consistent reliability.

Barrel

Browning’s precision button-rifled barrels are air-gauged for uniformity and feature hand-reamed chambers for across-the-board consistency. The barrels are free-floated, and the action is bedded front and rear. The X-Bolt 2 Speed’s barrel is a fluted sporter-weight, and the Smoked Bronze Cerakote finish on the metalwork includes the base plate of the rotary magazine. Browning introduced its new Ovix camo pattern on the last X-Bolt, and it’s used on the Speed, Speed SPR, Speed Carbon and Speed LR X-Bolt 2 guns.

Depending upon the model, X-Bolt 2 rifles come with either a radial brake or Browning’s Recoil Hawg brake, and the test rifle in .300 Win. Mag. had the radial brake. Its barrel is 26 inches long with a 1:10 twist, and this longer barrel increased overall length to 46.75 inches with the standard (two) stock spacer configuration. Weight is a relatively manageable seven pounds, two ounces.

A good rifle demands a quality optic, and I topped the X-Bolt 2 with a Leupold VX-6 HD 3-18x44. The X-Bolt got its name from the X-Lock optics mounting system, and it’s worth noting that while this setup with its four base screws is extremely sturdy, there are separate front and rear rings with different base contours.

The front portion of the receiver is decidedly more rounded than the rear section, which is very nearly flat. Save yourself the trouble and make certain that your two-piece scope bases are properly oriented. It’s also worth noting that Browning sells X-Bolt-specific rings/bases on its website.

With the scope mounted and bore sighted and the Vari-Tech stock customized to my proportions, I headed to the range. It was a windy day, but the gusting winds didn’t seem to impact accuracy. After firing a cold-bore shot and making final adjustments to the rifle, I started sending rounds downrange, and the group sizes were impressive.

Range Impressed

Accuracy results are found in the accompanying chart. Highlights included SIG’s 165-grain monolithic bullets, which produced the best groups of the day—with one cluster of 0.42 inch and two others under 0.7. Winchester’s Expedition Long Range exhibited only 0.05 inch of variation among the three groups and was the most consistent rifle/scope/load combination I’ve ever tested.

Remington’s 200-grain A-Frame load is one of my favorites, but it’s never been as accurate as many other cup-and-core hunting bullets. The X-Bolt Speed 2’s last group produced the best I’ve seen with that load, a 0.55-incher with two holes so close together I had to remove the paper from the backing to make certain that there were indeed two holes, which appeared like a black figure-eight on the backer. The X-Bolt 2 Speed is an extremely accurate rifle. In fact, it’s one of the best factory rifles I’ve tested and beats guns that cost hundreds or even thousands more.

I like Browning’s modern take on sporting rifle design. In a world where everyone wants something different, the X-Bolt 2 Speed gives you options without looking as though it’s built out of Lego bricks. It’s a traditional sporter in many ways and won’t scare the purists, but you have choices to add the scope and attachment points you like best and customize length of pull and comb height.

It’s not as easy to adjust the comb on the Browning as with some other tactical/hunting hybrid guns, but the rollover cheekpiece is comfortable and won’t pierce your sinuses if you edge your face too far back during the shot. It’s a bit of a hassle to remove the Inflex pad and the rear portion of the stock, but the X-Bolt 2’s stock looks cleaner and more sophisticated than those on guns that use squishy black length-of-pull spacers that ride between the recoil pad and stock.

Subtle, but Noticeable

The improvements over the first-generation rifle are incremental, but the new X-Bolt 2 is a better gun. Charles Darwin theorized that the strongest or the most intelligent of a species do not progress into the future, but rather it’s the most responsive to change that succeeds. The X-Bolt 2 has effectively responded to a changing market without forsaking the qualities that have made it one of the best-selling rifles in the country for more than a decade.

When I asked Browning’s Rafe Nielsen to sum up the changes that set the X-Bolt 2 apart from its predecessor he summed up the new gun’s character this way. “X-Bolts have always shot well, so we didn’t need to improve the rifle’s performance,” he said. “We set out to build a rifle that made the shooter more comfortable and improved performance.”I’d say that’s an accurate summation of the X-Bolt 2 Speed.

X-Bolt 2 Speed Specs

• Type: three-lug bolt-action centerfire
• Caliber: .243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, .270 Win., 6.8 Western, 7mm Rem. Mag., 7mm PRC, .28 Nosler, .308 Win., .30-06, .300 Win. Mag. (tested), .300 PRC
• Capacity: 3
• Barrel: 26 in. fluted sporter profile; 1:10 twist; radial muzzle brake; threaded M13x0.75
• Overall Length: 46.75 in. w/two spacers
• Weight: 7 lb., 2 oz.
• Finish: Smoked Bronze Cerakote
• Stock: Ovix-finished Vari-Tech adjustable for comb height and length of pull; interchangeable pistol grips; Inflex recoil pad
• Trigger: DLX adjustable; 3.1 lb. (measured, as received)
• Sights: none; drilled and tapped for X-Lock bases/rings
• Price: $1,500
• Manufacturer: Browning, browning.com

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