From Colorado to New Mexico, Browning’s X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite proves range and field worthy.
by Jace Bauserman
It was a crazy fall. For an elk addict like me, it couldn’t get much better. During September, I’d harvested a pair of Colorado bulls. The first, a 313-inch brute of a 6×6, fell to Browning’s X-Bolt 2 McMillan Pro SPR Carbon Fiber, chambered in .300 Win. Mag. The shot was taken from the top of the rocky canyon bluff, looking down at the cedar-sprinkled landscape below. The bull didn’t know what him. The 190-grain Winchester Expedition Big Game Bullet shattered his front shoulder, causing his butt to hit before his chest.
Two weeks later, while riding my three-year-old filly through the shale hills, I heard the roar of an old dinosaur. Another 6×6 300-inch class bull, this public-land warrior was caked in dried mud and pushing four cows and calves back-and-froth through a endless maze of dense cedars.
Last season, my scabbard rifle was Browning’s X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite chambered in one of the most legit elk-killing calibers of all time: 7mm Rem. Mag. The lovesick bull was out of his mind, and the shot was close. So close that I dialed my Leupold Gen 2 scope to 6 power, and shot the bull offhand. Lord, do I love September.
Now, before you begin sending emails or letting the CPW know that I killed two bulls with a rifle in September in Colorado, let me assure you the acts were 100 percent legal.
Though the shot on the second bull was close, it built my confidence in the new X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite. I’d spent time on the range with it, sending lead beyond 500 yards. However, nothing boosts shooting confidence like smashing a big, stinky, rutting bull in the lungs.
The best news: My elk season wasn’t over. In early October, I’d head to the land of Enchantment with an elk tag in my pocket and the X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite slung over my shoulder.
The X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite
Fitted with a 26-inch sporter contour barrel and spiral-fluted bolt with a reconfigured receiver with additional bolt guidance surface area for smoother operation, this Black synthetic rifle is a tack driver.
Fully customizable, the Vari-Tech Stock helps boost shooter confidence via an adjustable length-of-pull, adjustable comb height, and grip angle adjustments.
LOP (length of pull) is adjustable via four included spacers between 13-5/8 and 14-18. You don’t have to be a gunsmith to make your X-Bolt 2 fit you like a glove.
To make LOP adjustments, use a small Phillips-head screwdriver to loosen the two screws holding the Inflex II recoil pad. Next, remove the recoil pad and use the same screwdriver to remove two more internal screws in the top half of the stock’s backend.
With the two screws removed, pull back on the stock’s bottom half. The bottom half will pull away, exposing the pair of spacers that come standard with any X-Bolt 2 rifle. You can now stack one or two of the included spacers on top of the spacers already in the stock. Once LOP is set, repeat the assembly process.
The Vari-Tech’s adjustable comb height is one of the X-Bolt 2’s most attractive and accuracy-enhancing features. Like adjusting LOP, altering comb height doesn’t require an MIT degree.
With your optic mounted, look through that optic standing, kneeling, prone, on a shooting bench, and on sticks. Regardless of your shooting position, your eye-to-optic alignment must be perfect. With your cheek welded to the rifle’s comb, you should be able to close your eyes, open them, and have a clear, full field of view. The size of the optic you place on your rifle and the slope or contour of the barrel as it exits the receiver will dictate whether you need low, high, or medium rings. Without an adjustable comb, you’re at the mercy of those rings and how high or low your scope sits on the receiver. With an adjustable comb, you move your comb up or down so you’re not craning or scrunching your neck to see through your optic.
The Vari-Tech Stock provides the shooter with three comb-height positions to ensure precise eye-to-optic alignment and a proper fit, feel, and maximum downrange accuracy.
Like a traditional stock, you’ll find two holes that connect the 1-1/4-inch Inflex recoil pad to the stock. Above the top hole, you’ll find a second, smaller hole. Begin the comb height adjustment process by inserting a 2.5mm Hex wrench into the hole. You will need a wrench with a longer stem to reach the internal screw. You will feel the wrench drop into the screw hole. If you don’t, turn the wrench clockwise slightly. You’re in the proper comb adjustment hole if the wrench feels tight. You’ll also feel the nut loosen as you turn the Allen counterclockwise, which you’ll need to do to relieve screw tension so you can properly adjust the comb.
The last piece of the Vari-Tech Stock puzzle is the grip. Your X-Bolt 2 rifle will come with Browning’s Sporter grip attached, but you’ll also receive a Vertical grip. I recommend trying both grips to determine which one feels most comfortable for you. Accuracy is all about confidence. That’s why Browning added purposeful bells and whistles to the X-Bolt 2 line. The manufacturer strives to give you that unwavering confidence.
Swapping grips means removing the stock. To remove the stock, take out the pair of bolts that run through the trigger housing and lock the stock in place to the barrel and action. All that’s required is a 4mm Hex head screw. Pull up firmly on the barrel, and the barrel and action will pull away from the stock.
Inside your Browning box, you’ll find your vertical target-style grip. Looking down inside the stock, you’ll notice a single silver Phillips head screw. Loosen the screw until the grip falls away. Now, insert your vertical-style target grip and reassemble.
Is Suck At Plans!
My New Mexico elk hunt was amazing. I’ve never been in a location with so many rutting bulla. After watching Leupold’s Kayley Anderson drop the hammer on an ancient bull from over 300 yards with Browning’s X-Bolt 2 Speed chambered in 6.8 Western, I was up to bat.
The plan was simple: Take my time until I found the 330-inch bull I was looking for. The problem: I suck at following plans, especially when it comes to elk.
I hadn’t slept in three days and was running on a combination of caffeine and nicotine. The bugling action was insane, and the cottonwood bottom in front of me held 24 bulls and over 100 cows. Bulls were screaming, wallowing, breeding. For a public-land elk nut, it was too much, and it pushed me over the edge.
There was no approach to the 360-plus-inch bull. The monarch was surrounded by his ladies, and every time a new bull would wander in, his harem would gather around him like bees to honey. The range from our glassing knob, which was covered in two-inch-tall desiccated yellow grass, was over 700 yards, and in the fading light, I wasn’t going to take that shot. I knew the X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite and Leupold scope combo was capable, and I had a CDS-SZL2 Elevation Dial I could turn.
Still, I hadn’t tested the rifle, bullet, and optic combo beyond 550, and a test run of such magnitude should never be on a living, breathing creature.
We waited; rifle resting in a shooting bag atop my ALPS Elite Frame + 3800 backpack. Light drained quickly from the western sky, painting the river bottom in colors of orange, purple, red, and some far too magnificent to describe. It was the end of a perfect evening, or was it? Little did I know, because my gaze was fixed on the Creator’s handiwork, a bull, one I’d yet to fix my Leupold binos on, was working down a fence line toward me.
For a Full Review of ALPS Elite Frame +3800 Backpack, CLICK HERE
Looking back, I should’ve waited—stuck to the 330″ or bust plan—but again, I suck at plans. There’s something about a mature 6×6 pull that teases my trigger finger into action every single time, and this instance was no different. With minutes of legal light remaining, I settled the crosshairs and pulled through the factory-set but fully customizable 3.5-pound DLX Trigger. The break was immediate, and due to my prone position, the all-new 1-1/4-inch thick Inflex recoil pad and muzzle brake, the rifle barely jumped.
I have a rule with elk: If a bull is on his feet, I keep shooting. I strongly advise you to follow the same rule. The shot was lethal, but the bull turned and started walking away. I put another round behind his last rib before he disappeared over an embankment into a tangle of dried sunflowers. With cold temperatures forecasted, we opted to leave the bull overnight.
I never looked inside my eyelids that night. Instead, I replayed the shot over and over in my mind. I don’t sleep well anyway, and the thought of a wounded 6×6 bull meant a night of YouTube on my cellular phone and prayers, lots and lots of prayers.
As it turned out, all the worry was for nothing. The bull barely made it into the sunflower patch before tipping over. The New Mexico bull completed an elk-rich fall, not just for me, but for my family and friends. Later in the hunt, I watched my good friend and Browning’s Rafe Nielsen make a stellar shot with his wood-stock X-Bolt 2 Hunter chambered in .300 Win. Mag. His bull, a unique 6-point, stopped for a brief moment between two cedars. Rafe had less than two seconds to shoot before the bull disappeared into a maze of pinon and cedar. In typical Rafe fashion, he dropped the bull in his tracks.
Friends, if you’re in the market for an excellent elk killer, buy a Browning X-Bolt 2. As for which model, I pose this question: Does it really matter?
