Browning X-Bolt 2: A Year's Worth of Winning

Published on December 18th, 2024

Time flies when you're having fun, and those who trusted Browning’s 2024 X-Bolt 2 lineup had plenty of it on the range and in the woods this past year.

From the plains of Africa to the towering Rockies to the ag-rich Midwest, success story after success story rolled in. Hunters spanning the globe dubbed the X-Bolt 2 lineup accurate and durable and praised new features like the improved smoother bolt design, DLX Trigger, and shooter customizable Vari-Tech Stock.

If you didn’t go for a Browning upgrade in 2024, don’t fret. The X-Bolt 2 lineup isn’t going anywhere, and in case the successes all over social media, pictures on websites and hunting magazines, and numerous harvests on outdoor television didn’t convince you, here’s a little X-Bolt 2 year in review.

X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite

The X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite is a rifle win and available in an array of big-game killing calibers. The price point alone should raise an eyebrow, especially knowing this all-black (minus the gray over-molded grip surfaces) composite rifle sports the fully adjustable Vari-Tech stock with adjustable length of pull, comb height, and interchangeable grip modules. You’ll love the spiral fluting on the bolt, and though you still get the same quick 60-degree lift, the new handle knob is easier to find, feels excellent, and promotes rapid cycling. A rifle that’s ready to ride in a scabbard, get bounced around in the back of a truck, strapped to backpacks, and more, the Hunter Composite was built to hunt.

I took the X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite to New Mexico for October elk. My caliber of choice was the tried-and-true 7mm Rem. Mag. The rifle wore a 26-inch sporter contour barrel with a non-reflective matte-blued finish. After confirming zero at 100 yards, I rang steel at 600. My next shot was on a healthy 6-point New Mexico bull. The range was 373 yards, and the bullet impact was perfect when the factory set 3-1/2-pound DLX Trigger (adjustable to 3 pounds) broke. The quick cycling of the bolt let me put an insurance round in the staggering bull.

Another member of the X-Bolt 2 Composite Family is the Micro. It is lightweight and compact and available in five big-game calibers, including 6.8 Western (22 in. barrel) and 6.5 PRC (22 in. barrel). The length of pull is adjustable between 12-7/8 inches and 13-7/8 inches, which lets smaller-framed shooters enjoy the benefits of the X-Bolt 2.

X-Bolt 2 Hunter

I was annoyed when one of my favorite outdoor gun writers, Brad Fitzpatrick, arrived at the same New Mexico elk camp with the X-Bolt 2 Hunter chambered in 6.8 Western.

Why?

First, I love the accuracy and absolute lethality of the 6.8 Western. Secondly, I’m a sucker for a wood stock. For me, toting a wood-stock rifle ushers in some nostalgia. My first big-game rifle had a wood stock, and I loved it. The X-Bolt 2 Hunter showcases a classic walnut stock with a non-game-spooking satin finish that jumps at you. Add the non-reflective matte-blued finish on the sporter contour barrel, and you have a woods-ready rifle ready to answer the go-hunt call.

“Carbon fiber may be lighter and injection-molded polymer cheaper, but neither can match the look of walnut. The X-Bolt 2’s stock is nicely figured, and the fit and finish are excellent. It’s a thoroughly modern sporter that pays homage to Browning rifles of the past,” Fitzpatrick said.

The new 1-1/4-inch Inflex recoil pad soaks up vibration from any caliber in the Hunter lineup, and since Hunter models have no muzzle brake, a tad more recoil is expected. The walnut stock is checkered in the grip and on the bottom of the fore-end for increased security, and like all X-Bolt 2 models, the X-Lock Scope Mounting System uses four screws per base to ensure rock-solid base attachment to the new receiver.

After my New Mexico elk harvest, I spent time with Browning’s Rafe Nielsen. The hunt’s final evening found Nielsen, myself, and my friend Garry Gallegos in the middle of a bugle fest. The question was: Which bull would emerge first?

The shot was as classic as one could want. Nielsen crouched in a tight spot between two mountain boulders, used a backpack as a rest, and made a perfect full-frontal 250-plus yard shot on a 5x6 bull elk with a cheater that refused to give him a broadside or quartering shot. The bull blew through openings multiple times and wound around a maze of cedars and pines. When the shot came, it had to be perfect and quick; it was the last shooting window before the bull would disappear into a tangle of dark, dense timber. The X-Bolt 2 Hunter chambered in .300 Win. Mag. thundered; the bull’s backend hit before his front, and he never moved a muscle.

X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR

The OVIX camo finish, blended with the durable Cerakote Smoked Bronze finish, and the black adjustable Vari-Tech comb, over-molded grip areas, and recoil pad give the X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR a stellar look.

The bolt and barrel are fluted, which reduces weight, and the belled muzzle with removable radial-style muzzle brake is suppressor-ready. Designed to be an easy carry and allow the hunter to dominate in any terrain, the barrel is 4 inches shorter than standard length, which means when you add a suppressor, you’re not toting a telephone pole around the woods. The action is bedded, and the barrel is free floated for remarkable accuracy.

I saw the X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR in action on a June Dark Continent hunt. First, Browning’s Shaundi Campbell, after a quick stalk through a semi-open terrain, made a perfect 300-plus yard shot on a trophy sable. Aside from the one-shot kill, a Campbell standard, I noticed how easily she maneuvered through the terrain. Not knowing exactly where the bull sable was, Campbell chose not to sling the gun. Instead, she carried it safely and comfortably as she and her PH made the stalk. Campbell had the height of the Vari-Tech stock set to her liking and adjusted the length of pull pre-hunt to fit her frame better. When she propped the rifle up on the pond bank, she shouldered as she crawled into the scope; it was smooth and fluid. The shot was perfect, and Campbell got her sable. On that same African adventure, using the X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR, I watched Campbell make a 400-plus yard shot off shooting sticks while standing on a walking kudu bull.

“I love my X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR,” said Campbell. “I used it from Africa to Canada, and every time I squeeze the trigger, I know with absolute confidence I will hit what I am aiming at. When you have a rifle that fills you with that kind of shooting confidence chambered in a caliber that doesn’t beat you up and with recoil-negating features like the muzzle brake and Inflex Recoil Pad, you can focus on executing an accurate shot, staying in your scope, and making a rapid follow-up shot if needed.

Other X-Bolt 2 Speed Family members include the Speed Carbon Fiber, which sports a Preferred Barrel Blanks stainless steel barrel wrapped in carbon fiber finished with a Recoil Hawg muzzle brake engineered to reduce recoil up to 76 percent. Then, for those who put a premium on long-range performance, the Speed LR with Browning’s new proprietary Plus Magazine — a single-stack, extended magazine that holds five or six rounds (cartridge-depending) with a center feed design, is superbly accurate. Barrels on Speed LR models are 2 inches longer than standard for increased ballistic performance.

X-Bolt 2 Pro McMillan SPR Carbon Fiber

An ultra-accurate rifle I used to bring down 10 African animals and two bull elk, Browning's X-Bolt 2 Pro McMillian SPR Carbon Fiber deserves a spot in any gun case, and that spot should be toward the front where it’s easy to grab.

The rifle is an out-of-box beauty, and the McMillan Game Warden 2.0 stock, made from lightweight carbon fiber, fits me like a glove. The raised design of the comb and steep drop to the thick grip with a top thumb rest created a rock-solid platform. The second my cheek hit the carbon comb, eye-to-scope alignment was perfect. I love the accent graphics, which help the rifle stand out on the shelf and not in the woods. The aluminum Picatinny optics rail with bubble-level made for easy bi-pod attachment and chambered in .300 Win. Mag., the Recoil Hawg muzzle brake and Pachmayr® Decelerator recoil pad reduced shoulder shock.

I used this rifle to ring an 8-inch steel plate at 1,000 yards, and it proved lethal in multiple hunting situations. The wrapped carbon fiber barrel from Preferred Barrels was precision bored and button rifled before being stress relived — standard operating procedure on all barrel blanks from Preferred. This stronger, stiffer carbon fiber wrapping process improves accuracy at any range.