browning "BOSS" questions

[floritucky]

Anyone have experiance with this? How do u like it?

Also, ir seems the barrel has the threads on it so that if you own a browning a bolt already, it cannot be purchased as an add on, unless you purchase the barrel too. Is this correct?

I had to get rid of my remington sportsman 78 .30-06 over the summer and am looking to replace it hopefully in november. But im left handed and while plenty of people seem to be able to adapt to a right handed bolt action. I just couldnt get quick with it. And just want a left handed bolt action for hunting this time. But cant seen to find it in. 30-06 with the BOSS. So i didnt know if i could get it without the boss (still hard to find but does open up the search perameters) and then get the boss later... that would be better for me anyway as budgrt wise. Get the gun sooner and then if need be get the boss in time for next season.

 

[Abel]

Anyone have experiance with this? How do u like it?

I saw one on a rifle in a gun store. It looked like a turd in a punch bowl.

 

[Bushpilot]

While the concept may have some validity, in practice I wouldn't hold out for one. You're probably going to have to mess with it a lot to get it dialed in for whichever load you will be using, as the settings provided are just recommended starting points. Even then you may not notice any consistant difference at all. If resale value is much of a factor for you, BOSS equipped Brownings and Winchesters tend to have a lower resale value. There are plenty of other, more straight forward, things that you can do to tune your rifle to make it shoot better than the BOSS. Just my .02

 

[creeper1956]

The BOSS is, primarily, a barrel harmonics tuning device. Brownells has one here, and Chad Dixon at Long Rifles Inc., among others, will make custom ones... but you need to call him for details.

They are quite popular with BR50 .22RF benchrest shooters. If you do a search for barrel harmonics you should find several threads.

C

 

[jmr40]

The BOSS was basically a flop after a lot or initial fanfare. It is one way to make a rifle accurate, but not the only way. Most people left them on the shelves. You can often find them for sale used cheap. A great many simply have the BOSS cut off and have the barrel recrowned. Winchester offered a few, none in lefty that I'm aware of, and none currenty. Browning is the only company offering the BOSS system and I believe they do offer a lefty with the BOSS.

Personally, I wouldn't have a rifle with the BOSS as a gift. It would see a hacksaw within hours.

 

[floritucky]

Wow. Lol. Ok, guess i shouldnt worry about it then. Saves me abour $400-$500 anyway. Better spent on another leupold. It would seem.

 

[Reloadron]

My experience runs with JMR40 & BushPilot. When they first came out a friend just had to have one so I ordered the rifle. I want to recall it was a .270 but am not 100%. We screwed with that rifle for months trying different loads and settings and while to some small extent it did what it was supposed to do it was never anything to write home about. Save yourself the time and money. Yeah, don't worry about it.

Just My Thinking
Ron

 

[narco99]

I have one on a .270...never played with it, supposed to be dialed in from the factory for 140gr. but most common loads are 130 and 150gr. You don't want to go prone with one as they kick up dirt and they are loud.

 

[adelbridge]

I have one in 7mm rem mag and I got two thread on attachments. One is a muzzle brake and the other is non ported. They muzzle brake works very well and reduces recoil to .308 levels and is not noticeably louder. For comparison my .44 mag 14" is louder and guys shooting 16" ar-15s next to me are much louder (from my position). I am not sold on the BOSS as an accuracy enhancer, my gun is very accurate no matter where I set the BOSS at. You could thread your barrel at a later time but it wont have the same effect. Browning machines in a perpendicular channel across the thread pattern that serves to slightly constrict the muzzle crown hence changing the harmonics.

 

[gpb]

I have a BOSS on a Browning 243 A-Bolt that I bought new about 17 years ago. At the time, most of the new Brownings seemed to have a BOSS whether you wanted it or not. At the time Browning seemed to really be pushing it. The gun came with two threaded attachments. One with brake holes and one without.

The brake made the gun louder and on a 243 didn't seem to offer any substantial recoil reduction. I put the attachment without the holes on the gun and it's been on it ever since. I reload, so I tune the loads for the gun. I don't tune the gun for the loads. I haven't changed the setting of the boss since I put it on. The gun is accurate, so I don't worry about it.

Would I seek out a gun with the BOSS? No I wouldn't. However, if I got a very good deal on a gun, that I wanted, with the BOSS I wouldn't turn it down. As far as accuracy the BOSS may offer an advantage to a non-reloader. However, for a reloader I don't see any advantage. As far as recoil reduction, I can't speak to that as my 243 doesn't recoil enough to serve as a useful test.