Browning X-Bolt

MACKY

Well-Known Member
Got myself a Browning X-Bolt in .270 a while back.
Shoots pretty good 1" at 100m.

Only problem is when i put on a mod & a bipod the extra weight makes the rifle unballanced & it end up pointing at the groung.

Was thinking about getting the barrel shortend to 19 or 20" to see if this would resolve the problem.

Any thoughts on this would be apreceated.

John
 
Macky, my Finnlight has a 21" barrel and is fine. There is a 16" RPA in .308 marketed as a "stalker", so you have room to play with. There seems to be no argument that you lose velocity, but a slight disagreement over the amount. Quoted figures from many sources vary from a drop of 25fps to 50fps per inch of barrel removed.

From an article on the Chuck Hawk's web site comes this;

Combine a high intensity cartridge with a 20 inch barrel, however, and the velocity drops noticeably while the blast becomes annoying. Still, a rifle with a 20 inch barrel, chambered for short action cartridges like the 7mm-08, .308 and .358 Win., makes a very effective mountain or woods rifle. These cartridges retain enough velocity in a 20 inch barrel for medium range shooting and the stubby barrel is less likely than longer tubes to get hung up on branches, overhanging ledges, rocky outcroppings and so forth.
To my mind it is hard to justify barrels shorter than 20 inches for any purpose. I have owned rifles with 18-19 inch barrels and in every case I wished that they had come with at least a 20 inch barrel. Very short barrels of standard contour (not bull barrels) tend to make the rifle muzzle light and unsteady to hold and swing. I like a rifle to balance between my hands, not toward the butt. Even .22 rimfire rifles balance better with 20-22 inch barrels, although in this instance the longer barrel has no ballistic advantage, since the .22 LR cartridge burns all of of its powder in about 16 inches. Very short barrels also increase the muzzle blast from high intensity cartridges to very annoying levels and the velocity loss is excessive.

Here is the full link; http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_barrel.htm

atb, ft
 
Got myself a Browning X-Bolt in .270 a while back.
Shoots pretty good 1" at 100m.

Only problem is when i put on a mod & a bipod the extra weight makes the rifle unballanced & it end up pointing at the groung.

Was thinking about getting the barrel shortend to 19 or 20" to see if this would resolve the problem.

Any thoughts on this would be apreceated.

John

In the 270 Win with a barrel of 20" muzzle blast is impressive as is the fire ball when shot with bare barrel. Mine is not moderated so I handload with faster powders to reduce this effect. H-380 works well in mine :D which is a BSA CF2 Stutzen (Fullstock) with 20" barrel. The unbalanced feel with the moderator (muzzle heavy) will depend a lot on the type and make of moderator. Ash can make a rifle sling to help keep the rifle upright on your shoulder ;).
 
A 270 with a 20" barrel will have an impressive muzzle blast. As Brit says, this can be managed up to a point with careful handloads using a faster powder.

I have become a big fan of moderated short barrelled rifles, but I think this style of gun is best suited to a 308 based round. I know it is not what you asked us for, but I would investigate swapping the X Bolt for a 7/08 or 260 with a threaded 20" barrel. It might not cost you much more to swap than it costs to get the 270 chopped and rethreaded and recrowned.
 
Your comments are greatly appreceated.

I have just go myself set up with some reloading gear for the .270
This is my first foray into this mine field.
I am using H-4895, Speer BTSP 130gr & CCI 200 Primers.


Sound like i will need to get a faster powder if i go down the road of getting the barrel shortend.

I will send Ash a PM to see if he can help out with a sling before i get the barrel shortend.


Thanks
John
 
Only problem is when i put on a mod & a bipod the extra weight makes the rifle unballanced & it end up pointing at the groung.
John

Do you mean when you are carrying the rifle? If so look at the photo.
P1010233.jpg

If you mount the sling on the barrel African safari style this allows you the carry the rifle muzzle up, it makes no effect to accuracy so long as you make sure the sling is not tight when you take the shot.

One point, and a bloody obvious one, with all you gents bigging up the short case equals short barrel, is that if you have more velocity to start with, which with “high intensity cartridges” you will have, you can loose some barrel length and still have the same velocity as a smaller cartridge. Of course somebody will start going on about cartridge efficiency:rolleyes: but in the scheme of things I am sure we can all afford to put an extra 5/10 gains of powder in a case. The muzzle blast will be no issue while you shoot it with a modd’y on.

ATB

Tahr
 
I have an X-Bolt (.223)with a 20 inch barrel and a PES T12, sits on a bipod fine, but I carry muzzle down when slung on shoulder with mod and bipod fitted.

Neil. :)
 
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