By Bruce Potts
Friday, 14 May 2010
Browning T-Bolt rifle review: The Browning T-Bolt rifle is a trim straight-pull, rimfire rifle by Browning.
Browning T-Bolt rifle review.
Straight-pull rifles are usually confined to centrefire rifles but Browning offers a super-fast action straight-pull rimfire chambered in either .22LR, .22 Magnum or .17HMR.
First introduced in 1965, this trim little rimfire sported a super-fast bolt operation with a very short operating stroke but it was just a bit too way out there, even for the sixties, and it only lasted until the mid-seventies.
Today’s rifle is very similar to the early T-Bolt but is now made in Japan by Miroku. However, it still has a quality feel and some innovative features for a small rimfire rifle.
ACTION AND BARREL
The T-Bolt cycles its bolt with a single straight pull back and then forth with incredible speed and smoothness. The short bolt handle of 1.5in is used as a pivot that releases two large circular locking lugs/rings from the receiver walls.
The right-hand one is 0.624in and the left side is 0.486in diameter. When you close the bolt, the action or mainspring is cocked so requires a little more effort, but it is hardly noticeable.
The one-piece bolt is 4.85in long and is rigid, with twin extractors that really grip the case’s rim securely for a positive case ejection.
The flat-faced firing pin is exposed at the top of the bolt for its entire length, and there is a small red strip that is visible when the T-Bolt is cocked and hidden when not.
This acts as a clear visual aid that the rifle is ready to shoot. The action is drilled and tapped for the pair of Weaver-type scope bases that are supplied, and the barrel on this example is 22in long.
It came unthreaded for a sound moderator but you can order a shorter 16in barrel that comes threaded, which would be my personal choice.
The Sporter profile starts at 0.825 diameter at the receiver ring, quickly tapering down to 0.535 at the muzzle, which has the advantage that the crown is recessed to avoid damaging the rifling.
Another feature that certainly contributed to the fine accuracy from this model was the fully free-floated barrel along its entire length, alleviating any pressure from the fore-end wood.
MAGAZINE
I was impressed with the magazine design when I tested the .22LR version of the T-Bolt.
It is the same as on the other calibres only longer (1.5in) to accommodate the .17HMR and .22 Magnum rounds. It is a double helix arrangement that allows 10 cartridges to be loaded into the compact magazine.
Polycarbonate in construction, the body has a metal rear wall that reaches over the top of the magazine and forms the loading lips.
This stops wear to the magazine top and also acts as an ejector when the bolt is withdrawn.
The double helix operation and gears are in an “S” configuration, and a small exposed section of the top gear - when rotated by your thumb a quarter of a turn - loads a round at a time.
This is a great, highly functional way to get 10 rounds into the smallest possible magazine space.
ACCURACY AND TARGETS
I tested accuracy at 50 and 100 yards. The tightest five-shot group were the Winchesters with 0.35in groups at 50 yards and 1in at 100 yards.
The other 17-grain bullets were all around the 1/2inch mark at 50 yards with the odd flier at 100 yards.
The heavier 20-grain CCI Game Points shot put all their shots into 0.5in at 50 yards and not much larger at 100 yards.
That’s great accuracy, which meant vermin out to 125 yards was in trouble.
The 17-grain Winchester bullet travelling at 2,659fps when zeroed at 50 yards was -0.8in at 25 yards, +0.4in at 75 yards and +0.3in at 100 yards and -1.2in at 125 yards.
That’s pretty flat with 130ft/lb energy remaining at 125 yards.
TRIGGER AND SAFETY
The T-Bolt uses a modular trigger and safety unit that is made from a polycarbonate material that forms part of the two sections to the underneath of the T-Bolt.
The safety lever or slide is sited in the pistol grip tang area, so it is conveniently placed for smooth, almost silent operation by your thumb.
It is a simple, two-position unit: up for fire and down to make safe.
When down, this locks the trigger only so the bolt can still be operated if, for instance, you need to remove a chambered round.
The trigger blade is quite broad, finished in a gold colour and adjustable from 1.5-2.5kg.
Factory-set at about 3.5-4lb weight, it felt a lot lighter and broke crisply and predictably.
STOCK
Browning now makes two versions of the stock for the T-Bolt. The first is the classic walnut Sporter stock and the other is a practical synthetic one.
The walnut has a good colour and fine grain pattern, which is protected from the elements with a semi-matt lacquer.
Personally, I would prefer an oiled finish.
There is no cheekpiece or palm swell, but the pistol grip has a long rake that provides a good grip and positions your trigger finger on the trigger blade correctly.
Cut chequering to the pistol grip and fore-end is well executed. The fore-end is one piece and wraps around it and has three plain diamond panels as relief.
A feature I really liked - I discovered this on the rimfire model I tested some time ago - was that the action is bedded in the stock with a synthetic compound.
This is common on a centrefire and this, coupled to the free-floating barrel, is probably why this T-Bolt shoots so accurately.
CONCLUSION
The T-Bolt fits the bill and is a good alternative to a traditional bolt-action design.
It accounted for many rabbits on test right out to 100 yards.
I would have a 16in model screw cut for a moderator to keep the same weight.
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