Whos had experiences with Browning BOSS System? Good or Bad?

[TheSportsman]

Hey guys.  I wanted to get some opinions. Im leaning towards getting a new rifle.  I am left handed and am wanting a stainless/syn gun.  all of my rifles are good looking rifles(Kimbers, Dakotas, Win Model 70 SuperGrades/Featherweights, etc.)  I am wanting a "Bad weather" gun.  Something I can use when conditions are bad. 

I have narrowed it down to a Browning Abolt Stainless Stalker, Left Hand, in 30'06.  Heres the deal Im worried about.  Browning only offers the gun with the BOSS System.  I have never had a BOSS System or been around one.  I have been around some custom muzzle breaks and wow...LOUD.  I have been doing some reading and sure seems you can fine tune the Boss and make a rifle extremely accurate.  I have also ready you can get a CR option for the Boss thats not ported that will help with the excessive noise. 

I want to hear some feed back from you guys that have owned rifles with the Boss System.  Pros, cons, etc.  Thanks! Preciate it.

[ctwny1]

It's a great system in my opinion. You can really dial in on target with this BOSS system. Learn how it's done and it's a real tack driver.

[Tail Feathers]

I dont have one but I've heard they do work but beware of the extra noise.
My 12 year old Browning A Bolt Stalker in 25.06 shoots great groups without BOSS but if that is all they offer it in...
My Stalker isn't stainless and I don't know what they put on it for finish but I don't think you can make it rust.  Maybe a different finish would come without BOSS?  Just a thought.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Help is on the way.  I used to own a 270 Win Browning Bar Mark II Safari(BOSS) and it would shoot with a lot of factory bolt actions right out of the factory box and even beat quite a few.  Now that's dang good for a semi-auto centerfire to say that due to the fact that typically speaking most bolt actions have a tendency to be more accurate due to the solid bolt lock up once the round is chambered.  My very first 3 shot group I shot with this gun at 100yds after getting it dialed in at 50yds was under .600ctc which I knew right then this gun was a shooter.  I shot a 4 shot group with some of the Win Fail Safe ammo that came as a bonus in a box of Winchester 130gr soft point ammo that was in the upper .600ctc at 100yds.  This gun would easily shoot under 3/4" 3 shot groups at 100yds by setting the BOSS to the setting Browning recommended with the 130gr bullets.  The BOSS works just like a barrel tuner works on custom rimfire or custom centerfire rifles that cost anywhere from $2000 to say $5000 or so.  I used to have a Suhl 150 custom Benchmark barrel 22 rimfire with a Hoehn tuner that could shoot 5 shots at 50yds that was just about the size of this smily.       And that is no joke.  I know for a fact that a tuner works and the BOSS will work too, but it would work even better if they made them heavier than what they currently are.  The tuner I had on my rimfire rig weighed 8oz but then you could put added screw on weights if you liked.  But you just had to find the right sweet spot to make the groups shrink depending on what ammo you were shooting and what tuner weight you were using.  Basically all a tuner does is control the vibration of the barrel so that the bullet exits the barrel at about the same vibration point thus improving accuracy.  

I hope that helps.  

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I don't have any pictures of the custom rimfire Suhl 150 1:16" Benchmark barrel with the Hoehn tuner, custom painted McMillan Edge stock anymore I don't believe.  But I did keep these.  They deserved to be put in a picture frame.  My wife thought I was crazy.  LOL!

But this sort of shows you why I say a tuner will make any barrel more accurate more times than not.  



On both these groups you could cover with the either end of a Bic ink pen to put that in perspective of how small each is.  

At 25yds that gun could shoot 5 shot groups that looked like 1 single bullet hole.

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I wanted to add that I bought the optional BOSS CR.  I would recommend you to do as well if you want to save your hearing while hunting. 

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

I dug these 2 groups up to show you just how good the original Suhl 150 factory German barrel would shoot.  Some guys told me I was crazy to put another barrel on it.  But the first group on the left I sent it to guy in Alaska to measure and he came up with .021ctc.  That means it was .021 from being a perfect 5 shot group through the exact same hole.  The other one is very close to being as small.  These were at 25yds.  Notice I had the tuner setting on .180 on each group.

[Reloader]

I have handloaded for several BOSS equiped rifles.  I wouldn't own one for hunting.  Loud aint the word, those darn things are brutal.  They do greatly reduce recoil, but the blast is not worth the benefit IMO.  One other con is cleaning if you routinely clean your rifle, to easy for debris buildup(not to mentio left over solvent if you don't remove the brake).


If that is the gun you are set on, you could just buy the non-ported version and avoid the blast.  It's not like a 30-06 is a shoulder pounder(at least for most shooters).

[ILIKEHEVI-13]

Although a heavier tuner wouldn't be feasible for hunting purposes, but I wanted to show you a picture of a Suhl 150 action which is what I had and a Harrells tuner.  These tuners like I said were threaded at the end and would take added weights.  With no weight added, the tuner weighed 8oz.  The BOSS system I think only weighs 4oz or maybe 3oz.  The Suhl 150 was a east German made gun.  They had probably the most accurate factory barrel of any rimfire ever made.  But all these custom rimfire guns had tuners to make them shoot better.   And just so you know the Suhl factory trigger could be adjusted down to 2oz.  They had no safety. 

[TheTwistedOne]

You should never shoot a ported muzzle brake without hearing protection.  Ever!  Just one shot will do permanent hearing damage.  Not might, not maybe it will cause hearing damage for sure.

The Boss is no exception.  Ported muzzle brakes on rifles are several levels louder than ported shotgun chokes.

If you are gonna hunt with a ported muzzle brake.  Have hearing protection to put on before the shot or wear some type of active hearing protection (Walker's Game Ear, Radians are a couple).

The CR option is a good way to go if you don't need the recoil reduction.

I'd also suggest you reload for whatever cartridge you get the gun in.  You are simply gonna have to shoot the gun more at the range to dial that BOSS in.  That's gonna drive up your expense. 

[natman]

Get the CR. You can live with 30-06 recoil.

The BOSS is great if:

You are willing to invest the time and ammo to set it up.
You don't want to change ammo very often. Every different load requires a different setting for best results.

If you set it up correctly, you will get very nice groups.

Or you can simply pretend it isn't there and you'll get random results, just like with a conventional barrel.