B.O.S.S. worth the $$ ??

The BOSS reduces recoil, but the huge gain in noise quickly makes it useless. The muzzle blast from a hi-power rifle with a BOSS is far more deafening than a normal barrel.

The BOSS system actually works. I was able to take factory .22-250 ammo and fine-tune the muzzle brake until I was getting groups that just about rivaled handloads.

The problem with the BOSS system is that it makes fine-tuning handloads a problem, as it's another variable. I finally decided to keep the muzzle brake at the same setting, and work my loads around that.

But it is, as Jackal pointed out, very loud.

I've got a 375 H&H & a 338 Win Mag Stainless Stalker both with a Boss... gotta admit, both rifles were plenty accurate at factory setting, & the recoil is hugely reduced... Federal Safari grade ammo with TBBC bullets out of the 375 feel like less recoil than a normal 30-06... loud... hmm... I guess they are, but expect a 375 or 338 to be loud anyways... ammo is a bit too expensive to really play around much with the Boss tuning... I'd like to pick up a 223, or 7-08 with the Boss, & have tjhe chance to really play with dialing in the accuracy... but for now I'm content with how sweet both of these rifles are to shoot...

I've shot 2. One in 22-250 and one in 30/06. Both were capable of 1 hole groups at 100yds once tuned in to the load. Recoil on these light rifles was reduced to about what a heavy barrel would have. Wear ear protection.

The brother in law's dad has a 338 with a boss. It does reduce recoil quite a bit and, when tuned, is very accurate.It does also increase noise and muzzle blast. So I guess it depends on what you are looking for. For hunting, probably not worth it unless you are worried about developing a flinch. For punching paper, it might be a nice addition.

A lot of the BOSS rifles are available with a non-ported version called BOSS-CR. You can also buy the BOSS-CR separately for $18 or $20 (MSRP) according to their website. It also says that the ported and non ported versions are interchangeable.

Personal opinion: For hunting rifles for big game, I don't see the need for tighter groups than one MOA for five shots. Inside one MOA for three shots is plenty good to 350 and 450 yards on Bambi, from my own experience.

That's one reason why I'm uninterested in the BOSS system on a hunting rifle. For target shooting, I might well see it differently. Another reason is the aesthetics. Sorta like a Cutts Comp on a Model 12: Yuck.

I've yet to be unable to get a rifle to shoot inside of one MOA just by minor tweaking with the forearm. Free-float, shim, that sort of trivial stuff.

I guess it's worth 2¢...

, Art

I have the BAR Stalker in .308 without BOSS and 300WSM with BOSS. The 300 has less felt recoil and much better accuracy than the .308 with loads I've developed so far. My buddy just bought the 300WSM without BOSS. We are playing with it to see how accurate it will be. It has more recoil.

I wear double ear protection at the range, plugs and muffs, so don't really notice the noise. I have been going up and down the line a bit when there are a lot of shooters and advising that I'm shooting a muzzle break. That seems to be well received by my club members.

The BOSS provides amazing accuracy potential, and the recoil reduction is effective. The muzzle blast is correspondingly much louder. But a tuneable device on the muzzle of your barrel is an intrigueing concept. A poster mentioned the availability of the CR device from Browning. It stands for Conventional Recoil, and delivers all the BOSS's accuracy ability without the muzzle blast. But with full recoil.

The factory provides a suggested "sweet spot" to which to tune the BOSS, and you can experiment for possible improvements. One caveot from one who's shed blood: the milled edges of the BOSS are quite sharp, and use a tool or allen wrench to tighten it down. I managed to get the pad of a thumb quite mangled once as I hurried to adjust a customer's rifle!

I have the CR since I bought it, so no muzzle blast for me.

It is absolutely worth it... even if you reload. The poster above who leaves the BOSS alone and tweaks his handloads has it backwards, IMHO, and is not using his rifle to its potential. And here's why:

The barrel vibrates, and you want to have the bullet leaving the barrel at the optimum time for accuracy. Before BOSS, we only did that by tweaking our handloads. Often we ended up sacrificing velocity for accuracy. With the BOSS system, you can work up to the velocity you want, as long as it's safe in your gun, then tune your gun to be accurate with that load! No more trading accuracy for velocity or vice-versa. I haven't come across a load that I haven't been able to make more than acceptable with the BOSS system.

If you don't reload, you can use the BOSS to tune whatever brand/weight bullet that you picked up at WalMart and get decent accuracy out of it, as long as the components are good and consistent.