After a busy holiday weekend, I finally got the green light to hit the range late afternoon on Sunday. I was ready to go at the Frederick IWLA firing line, with targets mounted down range, 30 minutes before dusk.
I had been dying to take this rifle out ...
It's a Browning T-bolt Sporter with 22-inch barrel that chambers 22 Mag. It has a Leupold VX-1 3-9x 40mm Rifle Scope and with scope comes in at less than 6 lbs loaded. It has what Browning advertises as a AAA grade maple stock, and with the Browning bluing, may be the most beautiful rifle that I own (including other Brownings). The maple also provides a weight savings relative to walnut. The trigger on this rifle is wonderful. I think the break must be around 3 lbs, despite what they advertise, with very little travel.
Two notable features of this rifle are its operating system and the type of magazine that it uses.
Similar to old Swiss military rifles, this Browning has a straight pull back, non-rotating bolt, that Browning calls the T-bolt. It's a very quick action, and I was able to keep my eyes on the target while cycling it.
It also has a 10-round magazine very similar in size to the Ruger 10/22 BX-10 mags. The T-bolt rifles that utilize this magazine system are available in 17 HMR, 22 LR, and 22 Mag (17 HMR and 22 Mag use the same mag). As you might be able to see in the picture, this magazine has a small dial near the top. Turning this dial rotates the top round down, and provides a new slot in which to load another round. Browning refers to these as double helix magazines. Notably, they load extremely fast. Faster in my hands than BX-10s, and faster than using speed loader to load a 10-rd pistol mag. The magazines insert easily and with a positive click into the rifle's mag well, and they drop smoothly when the under the stock mag release is depressed.
Given the limited time that I had before the range had to go cold (and a second rifle with a red dot being sighted in), you'll see very few shots on target below. For example, I shot 3 rounds of 30 gr Hornady V-Max to sight in at 25 yards, shot 3 more rounds at 50 yards, and then 4 rounds at 100 yards.
Two types of ammo were tested today. CCI Maxi Mags TNT Jacketed Hollow Points (30 gr) and the Hornady. Both are rated with a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps and will be supersonic to nearly 150 yards. The Hornady's ballistics put it at 1777 fps at 50 yards, 1419 fps at 100 yards, 1154 fps (just subsonic) at 150 yards, and 1000 fps at 200 yards. The CCI ballistics are almost the same (1140 fps at 150 yards and 989 fps at 200 yards). There's a 5-inch drop between 100 and 150 yards with both types of rounds.
CCI at 50 yards ... group of 4 smaller holes ... larger holes are 9mm rounds from a CZ Scorpion Evo with a red dot ... squares are 1-inch ...
Hornady at 50 yards ...
Hornady at 100 yards (last shots of the day and rushed) ...
At first blush, I like 22 Mag. It's a fun round. Little bit of percussiveness, nice rifle crack, no recoil, easy to pack, and probably good for game up to coyote size up to 150 yds. I have a Colt revolver that has 22 LR and 22 Mag cylinders, and am eager to now try 22 Mag in that platform.
More germane to the post, this rifle is more than just its pretty looks. It shoots close to 2 MOA. I think with a little patience (more range time) and other ammo testing, it's possibly capable of 1 MOA performance. Not bad for the "sporter" model of the rifle that can be easily taken to the field. Browning sells a heavier and presumably more accurate, target T-bolt as well.
I had been dying to take this rifle out ...
It's a Browning T-bolt Sporter with 22-inch barrel that chambers 22 Mag. It has a Leupold VX-1 3-9x 40mm Rifle Scope and with scope comes in at less than 6 lbs loaded. It has what Browning advertises as a AAA grade maple stock, and with the Browning bluing, may be the most beautiful rifle that I own (including other Brownings). The maple also provides a weight savings relative to walnut. The trigger on this rifle is wonderful. I think the break must be around 3 lbs, despite what they advertise, with very little travel.
Two notable features of this rifle are its operating system and the type of magazine that it uses.
Similar to old Swiss military rifles, this Browning has a straight pull back, non-rotating bolt, that Browning calls the T-bolt. It's a very quick action, and I was able to keep my eyes on the target while cycling it.
It also has a 10-round magazine very similar in size to the Ruger 10/22 BX-10 mags. The T-bolt rifles that utilize this magazine system are available in 17 HMR, 22 LR, and 22 Mag (17 HMR and 22 Mag use the same mag). As you might be able to see in the picture, this magazine has a small dial near the top. Turning this dial rotates the top round down, and provides a new slot in which to load another round. Browning refers to these as double helix magazines. Notably, they load extremely fast. Faster in my hands than BX-10s, and faster than using speed loader to load a 10-rd pistol mag. The magazines insert easily and with a positive click into the rifle's mag well, and they drop smoothly when the under the stock mag release is depressed.
Given the limited time that I had before the range had to go cold (and a second rifle with a red dot being sighted in), you'll see very few shots on target below. For example, I shot 3 rounds of 30 gr Hornady V-Max to sight in at 25 yards, shot 3 more rounds at 50 yards, and then 4 rounds at 100 yards.
Two types of ammo were tested today. CCI Maxi Mags TNT Jacketed Hollow Points (30 gr) and the Hornady. Both are rated with a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps and will be supersonic to nearly 150 yards. The Hornady's ballistics put it at 1777 fps at 50 yards, 1419 fps at 100 yards, 1154 fps (just subsonic) at 150 yards, and 1000 fps at 200 yards. The CCI ballistics are almost the same (1140 fps at 150 yards and 989 fps at 200 yards). There's a 5-inch drop between 100 and 150 yards with both types of rounds.
CCI at 50 yards ... group of 4 smaller holes ... larger holes are 9mm rounds from a CZ Scorpion Evo with a red dot ... squares are 1-inch ...
Hornady at 50 yards ...
Hornady at 100 yards (last shots of the day and rushed) ...
At first blush, I like 22 Mag. It's a fun round. Little bit of percussiveness, nice rifle crack, no recoil, easy to pack, and probably good for game up to coyote size up to 150 yds. I have a Colt revolver that has 22 LR and 22 Mag cylinders, and am eager to now try 22 Mag in that platform.
More germane to the post, this rifle is more than just its pretty looks. It shoots close to 2 MOA. I think with a little patience (more range time) and other ammo testing, it's possibly capable of 1 MOA performance. Not bad for the "sporter" model of the rifle that can be easily taken to the field. Browning sells a heavier and presumably more accurate, target T-bolt as well.
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