X-Bolt - First Impressions

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JeffDilla

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My new X-Bolt Hunter in .270 arrived today, so I went to my local shop to pick it up. My first impression is that it's a nice rifle, shoulders and points well, the stock and finish are nice.

The bolt will be seeing some action while I watch some of my shows over the next couple of nights. It's not bad by any means, but certainly could use some break-in and smoothing out. I cleaned the bore and put a little lube on the bolt then wiped it down. The bolt-release button is a nice feature, so that the bolt can be opened while the safety is on.

I adjusted the trigger down from the factory 4 lbs to about 3 lbs. I do really like the feather trigger, nice and crisp.

One thing that surprised me a little was the roughness of the inner stock where it houses the action. It almost looks splintered, just no finish work there. However, it's not a big deal and doesn't really bother me. One other minor complaint is the metal quality of the bottom metal/trigger guard. It leaves a little to be desired. Also, the tang safety seems to be a bit of a loose fit, with a small amount of slop. These are all minor complaints, but things I thought might be refined at the price-point of these rifles. Certainly not deal-breakers.

I've read a lot of complaints about the composite detachable magazine but I actually like it. It's tough as nails and I like the smooth, flush fit, unlike that of my Tikka's magazine.

Overall, I really like the rifle and am anxious to get it to the range. I'm rebuilding my fun-budget in order to get some good glass for it. In the meantime, I'll be putting my Nikon 2-7x32 on it so it can see some range time and hopefully spend the last couple weeks of Maine's rifle deer season in the woods with me.
 
I almost bought an xbolt micro midas. I agree with what you say; nice wood, nice checkering, good trigger, and I like the two position safety plus bolt button. I would have bought it if it wasn't for the stock shape. There's just no drop in the stock; it seemed like my only two options were to mount a scope a mile high or place the middle of the butt pad on my collar bone (not a great option for a six pound 308).

I ended up going with a Vanguard S2 because I love their stock shape -- it puts the recoil pad in the shoulder pocket while allowing cheek weld with a low mounted scope. I also love two stage triggers and prefer 90° bolt throws. Those are all personal preferences though, if the x-bolt fit me I'm sure I would have loved it.
 
I have been looking hard at getting an X-Bolt in 7mm-08 or .270 Win. I am considering the composite stainless stalker. Don't get me wrong, I love the look of wood and stainless, but the duro-touch stock appeals to me.

The glass is another issue and another hit to the fun budget. If I could just decide on the caliber......
 
I find that my X-bolt Stainless Stalker bolt and raceway respond well to thin application of grease. I now use grease on all my bolt guns, but I tried the X-Bolt on oil one time and it was definitely rougher.

JeffDilla,
What complaints have you heard about the X-Bolt's magazine? Its honestly one of my favorite magazine designs, it feeds well, seems pretty tough, and is very compact for its capacity. As an added plus, it doesn't allow rounds to slam forward and deform their tips under recoil.

Swanee,
I don't have an X-Bolt in .270, but I have an X-Bolt and a .270, and I think the two would go perfectly together. Even with the slower barrel on my .270 I can still get a 140gr Accubond to 2940 fps, which makes for a low recoil, flat shooting, hard hitting round.
 
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Swanee, it was a toss up between the 7mm-08 and 270 for me as well. I decided on the 270 for two basic reasons, factory ammo availability in my area and because my local gun shop owner could get the 270 but couldn't find a 7mm-08, so it would have taken some time. Being the impatient person I am, I went with the 270.

Gtscotty, the only complaints I've heard about the magazine is that it's plastic and not metal, so they must assume that it's cheap and fragile. I'm thinking these people have never taken the time to actually inspect one.

I think the plastic, or "composite", mag is actually more durable than the comparable steel magazine of my Browning BLR. No need to worry about feed lips becoming bent or anything like that. It's surprising how hefty the X-Bolt's magazine is. I'm pretty sure you could run it over with a car with no consequences. I'm not about to try that one though, I've seen the cost of spare mags. :eek:
 
Just put it away after cleaning it as I write this, as a matter of fact. I put 32 rounds through it at the range on Sunday to get it sighted in. The rifle shoots really, really well. The trigger is certainly one of the highlights of the rifle. The perceived recoil, in my opinion, was pretty mild. The recoil pad does its job well. I'm also used to shooting my Tikka T3 lite 300 WSM, which has pretty sharp, but manageable, recoil, so the X-Bolt didn't seem bad at all.

This rifle is still new to me, and I have limited shooting time with it, but as of now I'd highly recommend an X-Bolt Hunter to anyone.
 
Not to bust your chops, but I hardly consider a 3 lb. trigger to represent anything relative to a light weight pull. A glass breaking 3 lb trigger is more than I will tolerate from any purposed bolt gun, be it for hunting or range use, 3 lbs. won't cut it. Even my hunting rifles are 1.5 lbs., a couple of them are a little lighter.

GS
 
Fair enough. I'll use what works for me and you use what works for you. C'est la vie. I don't recall ever claiming that it was a light weight pull, just where I prefer it.
 
I think gamestalker is in the minority on this, there are a lot of us that like a hunting trigger right around 3lbs.
 
May be so. People should just use whatever they're comfortable with and prefer. The trigger pull on my Tikka is set about the same as this X-Bolt. That's why I lightened the X-Bolt's trigger, so it matched what I'm used to with the Tikka. The trigger on my Marlin 1895 is quite a bit heavier but I haven't bothered to mess around with the trigger too much, I don't even know if it's adjustable. It doesn't bother me too much and I've taken deer with it, so I'm happy with it.
 
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