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Browning X-Bolt Medallion Safari Grade .308 Rifle By the Guns and Shooting Online Staff  The Browning (www.browning.com) X-Bolt Medallion Safari Grade rifle is the first Browning to bear the "Safari Grade" designation in a long time. This new model was introduced in 2017 and may be a one year "one and done" model, according to what we hear from the folks at Browning. If so, it will be a shame, as this is the nicest X-Bolt model ever. Browning describes the X-Bolt Safari Grade as a, "Highly collectable and functional big game rifle." If production is limited only to 2017, that will certainly be true. It is, indeed, a very functional big game rifle and if it is produced for only one year it will almost certainly become highly collectable. The Safari Grade is supplied with what Browning describes as a "Grade V/VI" walnut stock with a Monte Carlo comb, shadow line cheekpiece, rosewood fore end tip and pistol grip cap set off with brass line spacers. There is the usual Medallion grade roll stamped scroll engraving on the receiver and gold accented barrel engraving. The barreled action wears Browning's highly polished luster blue finish, as befits a high grade rifle, and the trigger is gold plated. The 24" sporter contour barrel is fluted to reduce weight and aid cooling.  Other features include the usual smooth, X-Bolt three lug, 60 degree rotation bolt, bolt unlock feature, adjustable Feather trigger and detachable rotary magazine. The butt terminates in Browning's superb Inflex recoil pad that effectively reduces felt recoil. X-Bolt Medallion Safari Grade rifles are offered in 11 calibers, from .243 Winchester to .375 H&H Magnum. Like all modern Browning rifles, the X-Bolt rifles are produced in Japan. Browning is generally considered an American arms company, but Browning rifles have not been made in the USA, as far as we know, since the late 19th Century. In our youth, they were made in Belgium by FN, but decades ago production was moved from Belgium to Japan, where they are still made today by Browning's long time partner, Miroku. We described the X-Bolt action in considerable detail in our review of an X-Bolt White Gold Medallion rifle, so we will offer a somewhat abbreviated version here. The steel X-Bolt receiver has three wide facets on top. It appears to be machined from bar stock and uses a separate recoil lug trapped between the barrel and receiver. There are attractive, scroll engraved panels on the sides of the receiver that appear to have been roll stamped. This harkens back to the days when all Browning rifles and shotguns were engraved. The receiver's rectangular ejection port extends between the front and rear receiver rings and is open for approximately a 90-degree arc (from roughly 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock). It is considerably smaller than the open top of a Mauser 98 or Winchester Model 70, but larger than the ovals cut into the tubular receivers of rifles like the Tikka T3. It is no problem to single load a cartridge directly into the X-Bolt's chamber, but the smallish ejection port could make clearing a jammed case more frustrating than it needs to be. Bigger is better for the ejection ports of big game hunting rifles. The convenient and easy to use bolt release is located at the left rear of the receiver. Press in to remove the bolt. The bolt is assembled using a steel bolt body, a separate bolt head double pinned in place, a bolt handle assembly on a collar that is pinned in place at the rear and a shroud that is pinned in place at the very back. The bolt head uses three locking lugs at the front of the bolt, has a bolt guide bump (the front locking lugs ride in cuts in the receiver as the bolt is withdrawn to minimize slop) and requires only a 60-degree bolt rotation to open or close. The Safari Grade's bolt body is left in the white and highly polished. There is a notch at the right rear of the receiver that mates with an auxiliary locking lug at the root of the bolt handle when the bolt is closed and locked. When the bolt is pulled all the way back, wobble is noticeably less than with a conventional Mauser 98 type, two locking lug action. The whole X-Bolt rotates when the handle is lifted, as per conventional bolt actions. The bolt body is round on the bottom, but faceted as if hexagonal on top. The bolt handle terminates in the very ergonomic, angled and flattened ball first popularized by the original A-Bolt. We regard this as the most comfortable bolt knob extant. The extractor is a small Sako type claw at the front of the recessed bolt head and the ejector is of the bolt-face plunger type. The rear shroud, which appears to be made of aluminum and is pinned in place at the rear of the bolt, is streamlined in a couple of steps and designed to keep powder gasses from a blown primer or a ruptured case out of the shooter's face. There is a red cocking indicator tab at the rear of the bolt shroud. The two-position, tang mounted safety is smooth, positive and quiet in operation. It locks the bolt closed when applied. The slider's rear position is "Safe" and forward is "Fire." A tang mounted safety slider is our favorite kind, intuitive, fast and convenient to use. An unusual feature is a small, square button at the root of the bolt handle that pops up when the safety is switched on. Depressing this allows the bolt to be opened with the safety on to remove an unfired cartridge from the chamber, the best of all possible worlds. The barreled action is glass bedded in the stock. The 24", heavy sporter contour barrel is free floating and the muzzle is finished with a target crown. The chamber is said to be hand cut. Our test rifle's trigger pull was set at four pounds out of the box. The pull is crisp, clean and without take-up or noticeable over travel. The Feather trigger is user adjustable for pull weight between three and five pounds; we set it for three pounds on the nose. This is the way all hunting rifle triggers should be. To adjust the trigger pull, first make sure the rifle is unloaded by opening the bolt and removing the magazine. Next, remove the bottom metal from the stock, using a 4mm Allen wrench. The trigger pull adjustment screw is located immediately in front of the trigger. Use a 2mm Allen wrench to reduce the pull weight by turning this screw counter-clockwise. The one-piece bottom metal and trigger guard is shared with other X-Bolt models. It is made from an aluminum alloy and gloss black finished to approximately match the gloss blued barreled action. The trigger guard bow itself has a somewhat trapezoidal shape, instead of being oval, a remnant of the Euro-trash styling that currently afflicts the lower grade X-Bolt models. It does allow adequate space for gloved fingers. Gone are the other Euro-trash styling elements that mar the lower grade X-Bolt rifles. The polymer rotary magazine holds four cartridges and fits flush with the bottom of the stock. The magazine release is in front of the magazine and very easy to operate. The magazine is exceptionally easy to load and to insert or remove. Some of us still prefer a fixed internal magazine with a hinged floor plate in a hunting rifle, as it cannot be lost, dropped or damaged in the field, but as detachable magazine systems go, this is one of the best, most convenient and most reliable we have used. The stock design is influenced by the California school of design pioneered by Weatherby, but in a moderate form. It eschews the weird angles and accents that mar the blued Medallion, Hunter and Stalker X-Bolt stocks. It incorporates a fluted, level Monte Carlo comb, raised shadow line cheek piece and a rather sharply curved pistol grip with a slight, right hand, palm swell. The pistol grip cap and fore end tip are rosewood set off by brass line spacers and both are attached at an angle. Generous, four panel, bordered, 18 lpi, hand-cut checkering graces the stock. An Inflex Technology recoil pad and detachable sling swivel studs are standard. The lines and overall design of this stock is essentially the same as the White Gold Medallion we reviewed in 2010 and, by far, the best currently available on an X-Bolt rifle. The fore end and receiver area are nicely rounded. The stock is not only attractive, it handles recoil very well, making the Medallion Safari a very pleasant rifle to shoot in its weight class. Browning claims the Medallion Safari Grade stocks are cut from "Grade V/IV" walnut blanks. According to the traditional Browning standards, this would be very high grade wood, Fancy (AA) to Extra Fancy (AAA) grade, according to most authorities. Don't get us wrong, our test Safari rifle has a nice walnut stock, much better than average with nice color and some attractive grain and figure in the butt stock. However, we would rate it about Semi-Fancy (Grade III), or possibly Moderately Fancy (A, or Grade IV) at best. Of course, every stock is unique, which is one of the beauties of genuine walnut, so the next Medallion Safari Grade stock will be different from ours. The stock wears an extremely attractive and durable gloss finish that shows off the wood's grain and color to best advantage. Specifications
Browning's Paul Thompson sent us two-piece, standard height, 30mm, X-Lock integrated scope mount/rings (item #12510) for our test rifle, which we used to mount a Leupold VX-R 2-7x33mm riflescope. VX-R riflescopes share most of the characteristics of VX-3 riflescopes, but feature 30mm main tubes and an illuminated center dot, "FireDot" Duplex reticle. The FireDot reticle really isn't necessary in daylight conditions and we did not use it during our test shooting. It is, however, a real asset is very dim light. We wish we had been using this scope when we were hunting feral hogs in Texas, which are mostly nocturnal. Despite its 30mm main tube, this Leupold scope is relatively light in weight, which makes it ideal for use on a moderate weight hunting rife, such as our X-Bolt Safari Grade. The X-Lock scope mounts deserve mention. These are made by Talley and machined from 7000 series aluminum alloy; they are secured by mild steel Torx screws. Each mount base and ring is integrated into a single unit. The mount is secured to the top of the rifle's receiver with four Torx head screws in a box pattern, one in each corner of the base. (A small Torx wrench is supplied with the mounts.) The ring is split horizontally and four more Torx head screws are used to secure the top half of each ring to the bottom half (two screws in each side of the ring). Note that the rings use longer 6-32 screws, while the base uses shorter 6-48 screws, so while the diameter of the screws is the same, the length and pitch is not. The 2017 MSRP for the mount set is $69.99 and these mounts can be purchased direct from the Browning website, or from any Browning dealer. Also worth noting is the scope mounting holes drilled and tapped into the rifle's receiver were perfectly centered and precisely aligned with the barrel. Sadly, this is often not the case with factory produced rifles these days, especially the cheap economy model rifles that seem to be the top sellers. We did our test shooting at the Izaak Walton outdoor shooting range south of Eugene, Oregon. Guns and Shooting Online staff members Chuck Hawks, Rocky Hays and Jim Fleck did the shooting for record, while Bob fleck observed and spotted our shots. The summer temperature was in the high 80s with smokey skies from multiple forest fires in the mountains, but minimal wind. All shooting for record was done at 100 yards from a bench rest mounted Caldwell Lead Sled FTX at Champion Redfield Sight-in targets. We fired three shot groups and, at times, the rifle's barrel became rather hot, but this seemed to have little effect on the Safari grade X-Bolt. We did try to allow time for the barrel to cool between the three shot groups. We had Remington and Creedmoor .308 ammo in stock. In addition, our friends at Hornady and Winchester were able to supply us with additional ammunition for this review. Once again, our thanks go out to them. Please use their products. The factory loaded test ammunition included Hornady Custom Lite 125 grain SST (MV 2675 fps), Remington Express 150 grain Core-Lokt PSP (MV 2820 fps), Creedmoor Remanufactured (using once fired military brass) 150 grain Spire Point (MV 2820 fps) and Winchester Supreme 168 grain Ballistic Silvertip (MV 2670 fps). Shooting Results
This time out, Jim shot the smallest single group and he also shot the smallest average groups overall. Actually, all three of our shooters shot very well. Unusual for a big game rifle, all three shooters shot each brand and bullet weight to the same place. Our groups with any particular load could essentially be superimposed. This is outstanding performance for any hunting rifle. Ammunition wise, the Winchester Supreme 168 grain Ballistic Silvertip load proved to be the most accurate in the test rifle, but there was actually little to choose in accuracy and consistency between the three brands of virgin factory loaded ammunition. Any of these loads would be a fine choice for hunting, depending on the game and specific situation. The 150 grain Creedmoor remanufactured ammo was inferior in terms of accuracy and it also had a louder report, probably due to the powder used, rather than any performance advantage over the Remington Express 150 grain factory load. We had two instances of sticky cases that made the bolt stiff to open and primers were consistently flattened with this ammunition, which we cannot recommend. Even so, the X-Bolt Safari turned in a credible accuracy performance with this load that would be entirely adequate for deer hunting. At the conclusion of our shooting for record, Jim fired one shot with the Creedmoor load at a 12" plate suspended at 200 yards, not using the Lead Sled, and hit it cleanly. Everyone praised the rifle's soft Inflex recoil pad and Monte Carlo comb, which made recoil a non-issue. Without doubt, the clean, three pound Feather trigger makes accurate shooting easier. Also receiving praise was the easy loading and smooth feeding detachable magazine. Magazines are one area where we have found polymer functionally superior to steel. Because the X-Bolt uses a rotary magazine, cartridges are pressed straight down into the magazine against minimal resistance. There is no offset, as when loading cartridges into a staggered (double column) box magazine. To single load a cartridge with the empty magazine in place, just drop it into the loading/ejection port and close the bolt. There is no need to start the bullet into the chamber. The X-Bolt's smooth 60 degree bolt rotation with minimum bolt wobble is always appreciated, while the angled, flattened sphere bolt knob remains the most comfortable to use of any bolt action rifle, at least in our opinion. When it comes to stroking the action the Browning X-Bolt, along with the Weatherby Mark V, are as good as it gets. There were no malfunctions of any kind during our time at the range with this rifle. Jim commented that the Leupold 2-7x33mm VX-R's Duplex reticle, coupled with its maximum magnification of seven power, made it less than a prefect scope for bench rest shooting. He felt he could have shot smaller groups with a finer reticle. On the other hand, the VX-R reticle stands out well against a shadowed forest background, has the advantage of a red illuminated dot at the center of the cross-hair for use in very low light (a feature we did not use during our daylight range time) and an excellent field of view at its minimum two power setting. It is a hunting scope, not a target scope, and a darned good one. Conclusion Browning X-Bolt Medallion rifles have always been a superior product in terms of fit and finish. The Medallion Safari Grade is clearly a deluxe rifle and it rates high in that important intangible, pride of ownership. With a 2017 MSRP of $2000 it is not cheap, but this is a moderate price tag for a high grade rifle at a time when it is easy to drop $1500 or more on a composite stocked hunting rifle with an essentially unpolished ("matte finish") barreled action and no refinement or adornment of any kind. X-Bolt rifles have also carried on Browning's long standing and enviable reputation for excellent accuracy, right out of the box. This Medallion Safari Grade rifle only enhances the Browning image. Our range time with the X-Bolt Safari was both fun and rewarding. Everyone wanted to take this beautiful rifle home at the conclusion of testing. RIFLE REVIEW SUMMARY
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