Every year we include at least one new rifle from Browning in our annual test, and every year these rifles perform and score very well. Last year the Browning X-Bolt 2 Speed OVIX MB was one of the top-scoring rifles, and like most of the rifles in our test, it had many of the features modern hunters look for in a new rifle. Now we’re looking at another new Browning X-Bolt 2 rifle, but this rifle is a bit of a throwback. It looks more like the rifles hunters were buying about three decades ago. And that’s not a bad thing. Some folks, myself included, still like the look and feel of a rifle with a wood stock and blued steel, and the new Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter is one of the best modern examples of a traditional bolt-action hunting rifle on the market. I recently put this rifle through its paces on my home range, and here is my full review.
Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter Specs
Length: 42 inches
Weight: 6.625 pounds
Barrel: 22 inches
Action: X Bolt 2 (bolt action)
Trigger: DLX Trigger 3.0 pounds (as tested)
Capacity: 4+1
Finish: Matte blue
Stock: Grade 1 walnut
Available Chamberings: 243 Winchester, 6.5 PRC, 270 Winchester, 6.8 Western, 7mm Remington Magnum, 308 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, 300 Winchester Magnum
Price: $1249.99
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Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter Overview
The X-Bolt 2 Hunter is a traditionally styled, bolt-action hunting rifle that weighs less than 7 pounds and is available chambered for a dozen popular big-game cartridges. The standard X-Bolt-2 push-feed-style action has a 60° bolt throw, and the radially fluted bolt has three lugs, a Sako-style extractor, and a plunger ejector. The rifle has a two-position, tang-mounted safety that locks the bolt when you place it in the rear—safe—position. But there is also a unique bolt-release button located on the bolt handle where the handle connects to the bolt.
Like all X-Bolt 2 rifles, Browning fits the Hunter with their new DLX trigger, which is user adjustable for pull weight. This is a very, very good trigger. It has zero creep and almost no perceivable movement. You just apply pressure—3.0 pounds in the case of the test rifle—and the rifle goes bang. It is one of the best triggers I’ve ever used on a factory-made, mass-produced, bolt-action rifle.
The grade 1 walnut stock on the Hunter X-Bolt 2 has traditional lines with checkering at the wrist and along the forend, and there is a raised Buckmark logo inside the checkering on each side of the grip that adds a bit of pop. The rifle feeds from a smartly configured detachable magazine that inserts into a one-piece magazine well/trigger guard that’s held in place by two action screws. At the front of the magazine, there is a release that allows the magazine to drop free. A 22-inch free-floated but unthreaded barrel is standard; there are no open sights, and the receiver is drilled for scope mounts. Unlike most bolt-action rifles that have two screws for each scope mount, X-Bolt 2 rifles uses Browning’s X-Lock Scope Mounting System, which accepts four screws for the front and rear scope mount.
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Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter Test Results
By modern standards, this is a very simple rifle. There are no adjustments on the stock, and the muzzle is threadless. This means that in terms of testing, about the only thing we needed to do was shoot it. The rifle shot well from the bench, averaging right at an inch for five shot groups with three different loads suitable for big-game hunting. Away from the bench, when shooting from various offhand and field shooting positions, I interfaced well with the traditionally configured stock, and the soft 1 ¼-inch Inflex recoil pad absorbed the light kick of the 6.5 Creedmoor very well.
With a 21-ounce Leupold VX-6HD riflescope mounted fairly far to the rear, the rifle was a tad butt heavy, balancing about an inch behind the front action screw. This made the rifle handle very well; it seemed like it wanted to jump to your shoulder. With a 12-ounce Swarovski riflescope mounted, the balance point moved closer to the forward action screw and made offhand shooting a tad more stable.
The X-Bolt 2 Hunter really stood out in three areas. First, the trigger was exceptional, and while it will for sure help you shoot better groups from the bench, where it really aids the hunter is when shooting offhand. Second, the flush-fitting magazine makes carrying the rifle at the balance point very easy and comfortable, and insertion and removal of the magazine was easy to accomplish even with gloves on. Finally, cartridges fed butter-smooth from the magazine, partly because of the excellent magazine, but also because the bolt was exceptionally smooth to operate. Browning deserves kudos for the enhancements they’ve made to the X-Bolt 2 series of rifles with the reconfigured receiver, additional bolt guidance surface area, and the redesigned bolt with its more ergonomic bolt handle.
Final Thoughts on the Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter
Pros
Traditional Styling
Fantastic Trigger
Great, flush-fitting magazine
Practical bolt un-lock button
Cons
Muzzle not threaded
It seems like most big-game hunters in this new millennium want a rifle that looks like something a special forces sniper would carry. There’s a current infatuation with carbon-fiber barrels and carbon-fiber stocks with multitudes of adjustment and near vertical grips. The truth is that these features—as cool as they look and as practical as they might be for a designated marksman—really do not provide a tremendous advantage for most big-game hunters. If you’re a whitetail hunter in a tree stand watching an oak covered ridge in Virgina, or a mule deer hunter sneaking among the junipers in west Texas, a good-handling rifle that’s not too heavy, always functions, and that’s safe to carry and shoots where you aim it, is all you need.
The Browning X-Bolt 2 Hunter not only does all that very well, but it is also a good-looking rifle. The rifle calls back to the wood-stocked and blued-steel rifles like the ones your father and grandfather used. It also proves that a rifle like that does not have to weigh 8 pounds to get the job done. Browning offers a wide array of X-Bolt 2 rifles, ranging in price from $1,159.99 to as much as $4,269.99. The X-Bolt 2 Hunter is very nice rifle with traditional appeal, but as much as we like traditional rifles, it’s a shame Browning does not offer it with a threaded muzzle.
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