charliebravo77
Well-known member
Hell....'s Canyon.
So over the past decade I've been fighting with a Remington 700 SPS trying to make it into an accurate, lightweight, all-weather hunting rifle and it's just been an endless circle of spending money and fits of rage. Its current state is a .30-06 Remington 700 SPS barreled action with a Timney 510 Trigger, Bell & Carlson Alaskan Ti stock, Badger Ordnance bolt knob, Vortex Viper HS-LR 4-16x44 scope, Magpul DBM and a few layers of Krylon Fusion which actually do a fair job at preventing rust and corrosion. It's a decent enough gun but it is a bit clunky, not super accurate, real picky on ammo and just kind of a cobbled together amalgamation of parts trying to improve upon what was never that great in the first place. I've always lamented that I should have just spent $1k on a better gun in the first place rather than the ~$2k over the years adding and changing parts out to get where it is today. So I bought the better gun.
After a couple years of researching, playing with rifles in stores and shooting a couple other models I had narrowed down my list of "perfect" purpose built hunting rifles to a Sako Finnlight/Finnlight 2, Sako A7 Roughtech, Kimber Hunter, Kimber Mountain Ascent, Tikka T3x Superlite, and the Browning Hell's Canyon Speed. I think based on the thread title you can figure out which one I finally settled on.
I started out dead set on the Sako Finnlight, but something about it just didn't sit right with me. I still can't exactly put my finger on it - maybe it's the super lightweight stock but it just felt 'off.' The A7 was too heavy for the calibers I was waffling on, I couldn't get past the wing safety on the Kimbers and the T3x didn't have enough of the features I wanted.
Ultimately my "wants" list were the following: Composite stock, short action, stainless or Cera/Durakoted finish, lightweight action and barrel, bolt lock/release and tang or traditional safety.
For caliber, I wanted something capable of hunting all but the largest (moose/brown bear) of North American game in a short action with great bullet selection and less recoil than .30-06. I shot a friend's Sako A7 Roughtech in 7mm Mag and was blown away by how soft it shot, but I didn't want the heavier rifle to offset the recoil so I was looking at .260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 Rem. The ballistics of all three are very close, and all are capable of taking pronghorn, deer and elk so rifle availability and bullet/load selection were the main driving factors. The slightly heavier bullets available in 7mm-08 ultimately tipped me in that direction, as I'd like to be able to use this rifle on elk and the heavier the bullet the better. 7mm-08 offers great BCs and SDs with premium hunting bullets such as the Hornady ELD-X, Barnes TSX and others.
With that, a box appears.
Enter the Browning X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed in 7mm-08 Rem.
This particular model features a 22" barreled action that's been Cerakoted in Burnt Bronze and set in a composite stock finished with Dura-Touch A-TACS AU (Arid/Urban) camo which should blend in pretty well with the western states' terrain that I hunt a lot.
The rifle comes with a fluted barrel and factory threaded with a radially ported brake, which will be nice for the range as well as a thread protector for hunting with since I don't often wear ear pro while hunting even though I should.
The X-Bolt series gets its name from the 4 hole pattern the scope bases use, which form an X. I don't think the T-Bolt or A-Bolt share a similar naming convention.
I stuck a Vortex Viper HS 2.5-10x44 scope on it, which is maybe the perfect 'cheap' hunting scope. I will likely order a Kenton Industries custom elevation turret for this once I get a load picked out.
One of the main things I was looking for in a new rifle was a bolt that is able to be locked/unlocked either via the safety or a dedicated button. This is particularly handy for traipsing through the brush so you don't accidentally knock the bolt open and eject a round and also so that you can unload the chamber without taking the rifle off safe. The rifle also features a 3 lug bolt with a 60 degree throw which is very fast and allows ample clearance of optics.
A tasteful tramp stamp. Pretty much the only place the Browning logo is actually present.
I'm looking forward to shooting this cartridge and rifle compared to the old .30-06
I've even got a pile of premium food to feed it and see what it likes best.
Old and new.
This now means I won't draw a lottery/limited entry hunting tag for 2018. Range report to come this weekend.
So over the past decade I've been fighting with a Remington 700 SPS trying to make it into an accurate, lightweight, all-weather hunting rifle and it's just been an endless circle of spending money and fits of rage. Its current state is a .30-06 Remington 700 SPS barreled action with a Timney 510 Trigger, Bell & Carlson Alaskan Ti stock, Badger Ordnance bolt knob, Vortex Viper HS-LR 4-16x44 scope, Magpul DBM and a few layers of Krylon Fusion which actually do a fair job at preventing rust and corrosion. It's a decent enough gun but it is a bit clunky, not super accurate, real picky on ammo and just kind of a cobbled together amalgamation of parts trying to improve upon what was never that great in the first place. I've always lamented that I should have just spent $1k on a better gun in the first place rather than the ~$2k over the years adding and changing parts out to get where it is today. So I bought the better gun.
After a couple years of researching, playing with rifles in stores and shooting a couple other models I had narrowed down my list of "perfect" purpose built hunting rifles to a Sako Finnlight/Finnlight 2, Sako A7 Roughtech, Kimber Hunter, Kimber Mountain Ascent, Tikka T3x Superlite, and the Browning Hell's Canyon Speed. I think based on the thread title you can figure out which one I finally settled on.
I started out dead set on the Sako Finnlight, but something about it just didn't sit right with me. I still can't exactly put my finger on it - maybe it's the super lightweight stock but it just felt 'off.' The A7 was too heavy for the calibers I was waffling on, I couldn't get past the wing safety on the Kimbers and the T3x didn't have enough of the features I wanted.
Ultimately my "wants" list were the following: Composite stock, short action, stainless or Cera/Durakoted finish, lightweight action and barrel, bolt lock/release and tang or traditional safety.
For caliber, I wanted something capable of hunting all but the largest (moose/brown bear) of North American game in a short action with great bullet selection and less recoil than .30-06. I shot a friend's Sako A7 Roughtech in 7mm Mag and was blown away by how soft it shot, but I didn't want the heavier rifle to offset the recoil so I was looking at .260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 Rem. The ballistics of all three are very close, and all are capable of taking pronghorn, deer and elk so rifle availability and bullet/load selection were the main driving factors. The slightly heavier bullets available in 7mm-08 ultimately tipped me in that direction, as I'd like to be able to use this rifle on elk and the heavier the bullet the better. 7mm-08 offers great BCs and SDs with premium hunting bullets such as the Hornady ELD-X, Barnes TSX and others.
With that, a box appears.
Enter the Browning X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed in 7mm-08 Rem.
This particular model features a 22" barreled action that's been Cerakoted in Burnt Bronze and set in a composite stock finished with Dura-Touch A-TACS AU (Arid/Urban) camo which should blend in pretty well with the western states' terrain that I hunt a lot.
The rifle comes with a fluted barrel and factory threaded with a radially ported brake, which will be nice for the range as well as a thread protector for hunting with since I don't often wear ear pro while hunting even though I should.
The X-Bolt series gets its name from the 4 hole pattern the scope bases use, which form an X. I don't think the T-Bolt or A-Bolt share a similar naming convention.
I stuck a Vortex Viper HS 2.5-10x44 scope on it, which is maybe the perfect 'cheap' hunting scope. I will likely order a Kenton Industries custom elevation turret for this once I get a load picked out.
One of the main things I was looking for in a new rifle was a bolt that is able to be locked/unlocked either via the safety or a dedicated button. This is particularly handy for traipsing through the brush so you don't accidentally knock the bolt open and eject a round and also so that you can unload the chamber without taking the rifle off safe. The rifle also features a 3 lug bolt with a 60 degree throw which is very fast and allows ample clearance of optics.
A tasteful tramp stamp. Pretty much the only place the Browning logo is actually present.
I'm looking forward to shooting this cartridge and rifle compared to the old .30-06
I've even got a pile of premium food to feed it and see what it likes best.
Old and new.
This now means I won't draw a lottery/limited entry hunting tag for 2018. Range report to come this weekend.
