Browning ~ A-Bolt Stalker ~ 12 Ga.

[dsh1106]

Anyone have one of these?

Good - Bad ?

What say you?

[Hogtamer]

my a-bolt .270 is a mighty fine weapon. If you can get it for a decent price I'd sure buy it. They don't make it anymore but it was a $1,000 gun new.

[curdog]

I have one and I use it for deer hunting. It is a very good and accurate slug gun,i use Winchester dual bond 3 inch slugs in it and it is very accurate. My only gripe is that it kicks hard...………………...curdog

[dsh1106]

I saw these are now discontinued, I found them on sale for $699+ tax.

[W.R.Buchanan]

So they have a 3" chamber? Is the barrel rifled?

That means using 3" hulls or accuracy is mediocre.

That also means that unless you load your own that it is going to kick like a mule, since there is no such thing as "Factory made Low Recoil 3" Magnums."

kind of defeats the purpose.

Randy

[dsh1106]

So they have a 3" chamber? Is the barrel rifled?

That means using 3" hulls or accuracy is mediocre.

That also means that unless you load your own that it is going to kick like a mule, since there is no such thing as "Factory made Low Recoil 3" Magnums."

kind of defeats the purpose.

Randy

Randy
You are correct, I should be able to insert "spacers" in my current loads to adjust them to a 3" hull....

Scott

[gpidaho]

You know you NEED one Scott. Better buy it Quick. Gp

[NyFirefighter357]

https://www.chuckhawks.com/browning_A-Bolt_slug_gun.htm

[6pt-sika]

They made these things the first time in fully rifled or smooth with screw ins . I was fortunate and picked up one of the fully rifled stalkers NIB for like $450 . Killed several deer with it and it shot very well using the Winchester Partition Gold 2 3/4” slug . I had a Leupold Vari XII 3-9 on top and it wasn’t difficult to keep three shots in about 1 1/2” at 100 yards . The downside to this is I also had a Savage 210F that would do as well with the Federal 2 3/4” Barnes Expander slug . Ammo costs were the same but at that time a new Savage 210F could be had most anywhere for $350 or less . So eventually I sold the Browning for a profit as it was in between the two production runs of the A-Bolt shotgun . Nice enough guns but I like the Savage 220 20 gauge a good bit more and the 220 is a heck of a lot easier to carry .

[NyFirefighter357]

Nice enough guns but I like the Savage 220 20 gauge a good bit more and the 220 is a heck of a lot easier to carry .

I have to agree, those 12ga bolt guns are heavy & kick like a mule If I were to run across a Savage 220 for the right price I'd grab it. I already have 2 Marlin 512's, the second one I got because it was replaced with a 220 & I couldn't pass it up for the price. The 12ga rifled slug guns are not in demand any more. Many guys I know now hunt with 220's.

[6pt-sika]

I have to agree, those 12ga bolt guns are heavy & kick like a mule If I were to run across a Savage 220 for the right price I'd grab it. I already have 2 Marlin 512's, the second one I got because it was replaced with a 220 & I couldn't pass it up for the price. The 12ga rifled slug guns are not in demand any more. Many guys I know now hunt with 220's.
The Savage 210F I sold I kinda wish I’d kept . The guy that bought it took the barrel off and the stock and turned it into a 20+ pound turkey shoot gun . I honestly didn’t think the recoil in the Savage 210 or Browning that bad with 2 3/4” slugs . But the Marlin 512 I had for a short period was just cumbersome but from the bench in the bags it shot some rather impressive groups even though the trigger in the gun was terrible . I will say the Savage 210 I had was pre AccuTrigger and I had put a rather nice RifleBasix trigger in it . Took the trigger out before I sold it LOL’s .

[Ranch Dog]

What has attracted me to the Browning is occasionally, you will see one with the wood stock. I watch all that comes up on the auction sites in that configuration and will eventually snag one.

I'm a Savage bolt action fan, but I don't know why I've shied away from the 212. I have talked to their custom shop gal once, I called about a Scout 10FCM in 300 Savage. Not sure why I didn't do it, it was only about $100 more than the 308 Win and 7.62x39 offerings I already had. Anyway, I've thought about calling them to see if I could buy a 212 with a wooden stock and 2¾" chamber.

[6pt-sika]

What has attracted me to the Browning is occasionally, you will see one with the wood stock. I watch all that comes up on the auction sites in that configuration and will eventually snag one.

I'm a Savage bolt action fan, but I don't know why I've shied away from the 212. I have talked to their custom shop gal once, I called about a Scout 10FCM in 300 Savage. Not sure why I didn't do it, it was only about $100 more than the 308 Win and 7.62x39 offerings I already had. Anyway, I've thought about calling them to see if I could buy a 212 with a wooden stock and 2¾" chamber.

There is an A-Bolt slug gun with a very nice walnut stock up for sale in the next Morphy’s Auction believe it’s September 10-12 or 11-13 something like that .

[dsh1106]

Cabela's has quite a few of the molded checkered composite stock models in stock as "USED" but these have never been shot.

Just shy of $700 for a $1100-$1200 gun.

[Ranch Dog]

There is an A-Bolt slug gun with a very nice walnut stock up for sale in the next Morphy’s Auction believe it’s September 10-12 or 11-13 something like that .

Thanks! Feeding the beast!

[W.R.Buchanan]

I wonder why all these guns are built with 3" Chambers when there is so many heavy 2 3/4" loads out there. The Factories have to know that this degrades accuracy in what is essentially a 12 ga Rifle. I see no significant reason to go to 3" loads unless you are going to shoot a Cape Buffalo or something that big and strong. Brenneke Heavy Field Short Magnum 2 3/4" Slugs (1 1/4 oz 1476 fps ) are just short of 3" Black Magic 3" slugs (1 3/8 oz 1502 fps) or the most powerful Magnum Crush Slugs (1 1/2 oz 1604 fps) the latter two being good for anything on earth and the 2 3/4" slug rated for everything up to all but the biggest game.

Point being there is enough power available in just about any 2 3/4" slug to take anything in NA, and we can load these with either Home Made Slugs like the Russian ones or slugs like the Gualandi Thunderbolt (1 3/8 oz) from BPI if you don't cast. And yet the vast majority of 12 ga Slug Guns are 3" chambered? Do they think you will need more power?

But the back side of this is,,, anyone who thinks they are going to shoot more than 1 of those Brenneke 1 1/2 slugs at 1600 fps is not playing with a full deck and will have even less cards to play with after they touch one off. 1 3/8 oz = 600 gr, and 1 1/2 oz is 655 gr! The big one has 3804 ft lbs of ME and a TKO of 110 !!!!! This is 1.6 times the TKO of a .458 WM. Then you're going to shoot it out of a 7-8 lb gun? Dude, you're really not thinking strait.

Thus my point is, "Why all the 3" Magnum Chambers?" When nobody is going to be able to use them effectively?

I have to order some RIO 3" primed hulls from BPI and see what differences I can see in accuracy between shooting 2 3/4" and 3" shells in the same gun. RD did some testing and there appears to be some significant differences. My own testing between the same rounds ran in my 2 3/4 A5 versus the 3" M500, both with rifled barrels and the same ammo showed a huge difference in accuracy. The A5 groups were great and the M500 groups looked like 3/4" buckshot!

I will inquire at the Savage Booth next year at SHOT as to why these guns have 3" chambers?

Randy

[jmort]

Are we certain the jump really degrades accuracy
significantly ?

[Hogtamer]

I used to think so, but my Lyman 525 loads in 2 3/4 do better than the 3" in the same barrel. Shotguns don't seem to agree with each other about anything.

[6pt-sika]

Are we certain the jump really degrades accuracy
significantly ?

No , we aren’t ! And it’s been my experience that’s not the case .

[bikerbeans]

The most accurate slug ammo i ever shot in my 3" Marlin 512 was 2 3/4" Winchester Partition Gold sabots.

BB

[Jedman]

I have a friend named Glenn. He is a poor shot with any rifle or shotgun I have seen him shoot.
He bought a Browning A bolt slug 12 ga. Slug gun and a new bolt rifle in 26 Nosler and neither made him a better shot. The Browning is a nice gun but much heavier than I would carry.

Jedman

[centershot]

I wonder why all these guns are built with 3" Chambers when there is so many heavy 2 3/4" loads out there. The Factories have to know that this degrades accuracy in what is essentially a 12 ga Rifle. I see no significant reason to go to 3" loads unless you are going to shoot a Cape Buffalo or something that big and strong. Brenneke Heavy Field Short Magnum 2 3/4" Slugs (1 1/4 oz 1476 fps ) are just short of 3" Black Magic 3" slugs (1 3/8 oz 1502 fps) or the most powerful Magnum Crush Slugs (1 1/2 oz 1604 fps) the latter two being good for anything on earth and the 2 3/4" slug rated for everything up to all but the biggest game.

Point being there is enough power available in just about any 2 3/4" slug to take anything in NA, and we can load these with either Home Made Slugs like the Russian ones or slugs like the Gualandi Thunderbolt (1 3/8 oz) from BPI if you don't cast. And yet the vast majority of 12 ga Slug Guns are 3" chambered? Do they think you will need more power?

But the back side of this is,,, anyone who thinks they are going to shoot more than 1 of those Brenneke 1 1/2 slugs at 1600 fps is not playing with a full deck and will have even less cards to play with after they touch one off. 1 3/8 oz = 600 gr, and 1 1/2 oz is 655 gr! The big one has 3804 ft lbs of ME and a TKO of 110 !!!!! This is 1.6 times the TKO of a .458 WM. Then you're going to shoot it out of a 7-8 lb gun? Dude, you're really not thinking strait.

Thus my point is, "Why all the 3" Magnum Chambers?" When nobody is going to be able to use them effectively?

I have to order some RIO 3" primed hulls from BPI and see what differences I can see in accuracy between shooting 2 3/4" and 3" shells in the same gun. RD did some testing and there appears to be some significant differences. My own testing between the same rounds ran in my 2 3/4 A5 versus the 3" M500, both with rifled barrels and the same ammo showed a huge difference in accuracy. The A5 groups were great and the M500 groups looked like 3/4" buckshot!

I will inquire at the Savage Booth next year at SHOT as to why these guns have 3" chambers?

Randy

Randy, your point regarding the recoil is well taken. The area I hunt was shotgun-only for decades, then they allowed muzzleloaders, and then handguns. Finally, about 10 years ago rifles were allowed on a county by county basis. Finally! I switched from shotguns as soon as I could, choosing a .50 Hawken, then a T/C Contender .44 mag. No, the T/C DID NOT recoil more than the shotgun. Today I've gone back to shotguns, largely because I've learned to load good, accurate, low recoil ammo for them largely because of what I've learned here at Cast Boolits.

I run the running deer target at our club's annual Deer Shoot. Of the fellows that still use shotguns, about 20 % of them use 3" magnum deer slugs. I do not understand why anyone would put themselves through that! Not for me. I shoot a 1 oz. RB @ 1300 fps and that kills deer way out at 100 yds., and that's 3 times further than I need to shoot! I cringe when people start talking about 1-1/2 or 2 oz. slugs....UGH!

[NyFirefighter357]

The commercial slugs in 2 3/4" & 3" that I shoot are the same specs, just more spacers. They are the same velocity & recoil.