Browning Medallion A Bolt

manderson

Have been looking at a Browning Medallion A Bolt in 7MM. Would this be a good rifle for up to and possibly more than 1000 yards? I've seen a couple of posts about the "best bolt action rifle". Lots of people like the Remington 700, Winchester 70 and others, but haven't seen anyone mention the Browning.

What do you think? Good gun? What would be a reasonable price? The one I am looking at is listed for $625 "AS NEW".

Thanks for any response.

Snellstrom

I sure hope you are only talking about "target shooting" at 1,000 + yards. How would you feel if you were shooting at a beautiful buck and only blow a leg off, what am I worried about anyways the chance of you even landing within 50' of it are remote. I'm sure a full 90% of the shooters out there are completely incapable of hitting a deer size target at 500 yards let alone 1000. On another note Brownings are excellent guns, but if you are talking long range you need to talk to the serious target shooters and I expect heavy target guns with heavy a barrel for starters.

manderson

Yes, I am strictly a target shooter. I have a friend that does target shooting at 1000 yards and I was thinking about giving it a try.

Snellstrom

Okay sorry about that! I can't tell you how it riles me when every hunting season I hear guys talking about 600 and 800 yard shots on big game and when you press them a bit they don't have a clue that their flat shooting 7 mag is dropping 5 to 8 feet at those ranges.
( when sighted in at 100-200 yards). I am sorry about that I kinda unloaded on ya. Maybe one of the bench resters will respond for you. With due respect Dave Snellstrom.

JustC

That rifle has no business on the 1000yd line. the action can't be trued well enough by a smith,..the trigger is lacking,..and the stock/barrel are way out of their league. there are NO browning actions on the benchrest circuit,..and there is a reason for that (see above).

If you wish to get into 1000yd shooting,...then go with a 700rem action,..or at least a 70win action.

I shoot 1000yd matches,...and I can tell you to RUN from a browning action. they are great hunting guns,..very smooth,..and very aestheticly pleasing,..but as far as inherent accuracy,..no chance. You first need to find a good gunsmith (I can point you to mine if you wish,..as well as many others).

Here is the skinny on the 1000yd game.
You need a TRUE action,..of the push feed design. You need a Match quality stainless barrel ( PacNor, Lilja, Hart, Shilen, Kreiger, Schneider, Border, Broughton) Then a flat bottom stock to ride the bags of your front rest (mcmillan MBR TOOLEY,..Shehane Tracker,..etc) The trigger needs to be beyond reproach,..(Jewell, shilen, rifle basix, timney, etc) and great glass along with mounts and rings. Then,..a high dollar loading set-up. This is not a thing to entered into lightly. If you wish to try your hand,..many corners can be cut while you learn,..but if you wish to be competitive,..you'll be in the game for THOUSANDS of dollars.

I use rem 700 actions for my bench guns,...with a .250" hardened recoil lug. the action is benchrest trued (lapped lugs,..squared bolt face, squared action face, titanium firing pin and spring, aftermarket trigger) I pillar bed that in a mcmillan stock,..then attach a tight chambered match stainless barrel which is stress releived,..and top it with the best glass you can find. Set it all in a top notch mechanical front rest with a rear bag,..and load the best ammo I can.

In closing this long post,...you have to decide what it is you want from your gun. If you just want to shoot for fun at 1000yds,..then a factory heavy barreled gun with a good stock is the minimum (remington sendero being the best starter gun out there).

Be forewarned,...1000yds is a long haul for any factory gun and any non-competition shooter. Hope this helps.

why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?

manderson

Snellstrom...no offense taken. Came from a family of hunters and I know the ropes even though I don't do it. There is no stupidity here, just the desire to learn. Most of my friends are tree stand bow hunters. I always have good venison in our freezer.

JustC...excellent information and thank you. I'll do some more serious reading on this. There are plenty of magazines that will cover the subject. What do you mean by "high dollar loading setup"? Do you mean reloading equipment and the need to purchase more expensive equipment for the quality and accuracy of the reloading procss?

JustC

Yes,...my loading info was focused at competiton. You will be needing such things as:

neck turning equipment
concentricity guages
OAL guages
Bushing dies
case trimmers
case mouth chamfering and deburring tools
primer pocket uniformers
flash hole deburring tool
neck expander mandrals
scales
powder measurers (if not done by hand)
priming tool
calipers
neck brushes
bore guides and solvent ports
coated cleaning rods
jags
bolt disasembly tools
etc etc etc

Your best bet is to consult a good benchrest gunsmith before hand,..and let him lead you into your project with his experience in the industry. Even if he charges for this,..he will save you a LOT of $$$ in the long run.

Read a book by the name of "Rifle Accuracy Facts" by Harold Vaughn. He is the father of the U.S. balistic missle program and his knowledge of firearm related physics is second to none. Then Read "precision shooting at 1000yds" . That should give you a good heads up on the sport,..and prepare you for your journey. Best of luck,..and nice to see someone who has the desire to learn,....1000yd shooting will consume you[8D]



why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?

cussedemgun

Mr. Anderson;
Let me start over & try to shed some light on the dark, secret, misterious sport of "match shooting". The Browning you reference is a hunter class firearm. The price seems high per book by about $100+ but prices vary from area to area, my opinion is it's not so much a bargain you have to snap it up right away. My Browning (same model) shoots about 1.5" 5 shot groups at 100 yd. That means ideally with no wind, heat waves, etc. to throw you off the best the gun could do at 1000 yd. is 15" groups. Add human error due to eyesight etc. that figure will triple. Add a 5 mph cross wind and bullet drift at that range would be around 12 ft.
Hopefully we are not going to discourage you from challenging us old fogies, we welcome you in the sport but at the same time want to see new challengers have a chance to suceed and above all enjoy the game.
A Cadalac is a mighty fine automobile but if I want to compete on the sport car race circuit it would be a poor choice for a starting point. The best way to gain knowledge & experience before spending a fortune is join a shooting club, volunteer to set up, pull targets, patch targets etc. You will be there to see first hand their equipment, methods, sucesses, failures, & fun.
When you get to the point that you can't stay on the sideline any longer, you will have a base of first hand knowledge to back your choices. Good luck & remember, the learning process is fun too.

"all I really need to know I learned in kindergarten" Robert Fulghum


anyone who says "nobody needs a full auto" has never been in front of a brown bear charge

stalion10

if you want a browning go for it but make sure you get a boss on it, i've took 4 deer and 2 elk ranging from a true 1000 yds. to 1600 yrds. gant it it was a 300 win mag, and a 7mm mag is capable to, but what i sugest is that you never, EVER shot out of your ability, do i have to repeat on this????????????????????????? a gun that is true is ONLY as good as its shooter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! some may not have that ability to do that using the best gun ever built or even out a 300-400-500 hundred yrds. to them no matter what gun they shoot, they should stay in 300 or less. to answer you question a browning 7mm mag with a boss will shoot as fine as a $4000.00 target rifle in the right hands, if you reload your own and pay strict adtention to making every shell exactly the same. including case capasity, powder weight,and weighing ea. bullets weight(because even though they come from the factory as a certain grain bullet, they came varie as much a 2-3 gains ea., that dont sound like much, but out at a 1000 yrds. it depending on cal. can equate to under shooting your quarrie completly, to blowing off a hoof, to a clean shoot, to over shooting it........ the bottum line is to make sure that if your hunting, make sure that you are within your ability!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even if its 10 yrds. as far as the boss, it will bring a regular gun up to target grade........ i've proved it many, many time in the past, including against the other guns you metioned. but like i said, you have to have match grade bullets, the ability to soot that distance, and a good computer program in ballistics to acheive a 1000 plus yrd. shot

it's not the type of gun you have in the heat of a battle that counts, only if you have enough ammo for it, lets face it, a gun without ammo is only as good as a base ball bat!!

hardley davidson

I have a friend who just died and and he was a bench shooter but just a guy with alota money and he bought what he liked. there was Browning medallions,low walls,high walls ...all target stuff.
theres a sako , ..anyway there were 17 different ones and i remember at dinner one time he said..Ive spent a ton on those guns and the best shooter was the mod 700 remington. justa thought

he reloaded everything he shot and was good...but he didnt shoot over 100 yards

manderson

Thanks everyone for the replies. Will probably go with the Remington 700 or a Sako 75. I've never heard anything bad about a Sako. However, I now see this is biting off a big chunk (not just plinking at the local range). I think the idea of checking out a shooting club to gain some education and experience is excellent advice. Will let you all know how I fare.

Thanks again!