I received as a gift a Browning Stainless Stalker chambered in .270 Win to get out after nature's biggest varmint, the whitetail deer. The gun included Browning's "BOSS" attachment. I've read Browning's literature on it, and, frankly, it seems a bit hokey. Seeing as I've never seen any other product from another manufacturer out there (patents be damned) purporting to do the same thing, what are gunnit's thoughts on thing?
Posted Feb 3, 2011, 8:19 PM UTC · edited
I've had a .270 BOSS since ~1994 and it has been a great gun. I put a Leopold Vari-X III on it, and it's exceptionally accurate. Shortly after getting the rifle, I did a school project and tested it's accuracy with different loads. I'll edit this post if I can find the information, but I think the best load I found resulted in an average of ~1" between holes in 3-shot groupings at 100 yards.
It has also taken its fair share of deer, but like you said, WEAR EAR PROTECTION!!! Double bag it with plugs and earmuffs if you can. I always kept ear plugs in my lap while still hunting and put them in before I shot, which I know is a big downside.
Wow. I just read up on what that thing is supposed to do. My head almost exploded.
If this BOSS item is so revolutionary, why don't all rifles have them?
Yeah, that is, essentially, what I'm asking -- you're just more straight to the point on the question.
Probably because this type of device is for a very niche shooter. Sure all shooters want accuracy, but accuracy is different for different shooters.
Really only competition shooters want accuracy to navigate a bullet up a nat's asshole. For everything else if you're within 6 inches of where you're shooting you're generally doing alright.
The BOSS pretty much works as advertised. It does reduce recoil slightly and makes the rifle more accurate (my dad has a .270 Browning with the BOSS attached). The downside is it is insanely loud. It is a good bit louder than his .375 H&H. Doubled up hearing protection is a must. This is why all rifles don't have it. You pay for the accuracy with a lot more noise.
Huntin' motha' fuckin' deer... like with a BOSS!
I had one on very similar model. It actually works very well if your concerned about dialing in the MOA to near cunt-hair splitting levels.
However, I will fair warn you about how fucking LOUD these guns are. I mean near deafening levels if you shoot it without hearing protection. Once shot a deer out of a shooting house and my ears rang for three days. That'll learn ya to bring ear plugs next time...
Do benchrest shooters use anything like this? If not, it's probably snake oil.
A benchrest shooter's loads are tuned to his rifle, including his barrel's harmonics. Supposedly, the BOSS allows you to tune your barrel's harmonics to your load, but I imagine that doing this is less reliable than having a load tuned to a fixed barrel.
Some of the benchrest guys I shoot with use them, I've only seen them on rimfire rifles though. It's just a weight that you can adjust back and forth, they call it a tuner.
Barrel harmonics are a pretty big deal if you're concerned with getting the absolute maximum accuracy. I've seen harmonic dampeners for rifle barrels before. The Mini-14 target model apparently comes equipped with a dampener very similar to the BOSS. Usually they are a big rubber washer thing you put somewhere along the barrel, or in the case of the Mini-14, a stiffening rod that attaches to the barrel for a similar function. You'll also see the thickened "bull barrels" on some rifles to cut down on barrel flex without adding any sort of external dampener.
I'd say it probably won't hurt, but unless you're a pretty good marksman you probably won't see a huge benefit.
World class marksman or otherwise, I doubt very much that the effect from the BOSS is going to amount to much when shooting offhand, between branches, dangling in a tree.
Browning also claims that the BOSS reduces recoil. I've shot more than a few different A-bolt .270's. They're pretty ubiquitous around here. And I've never really even noticed much recoil off of them, so its hard to say that the BOSS cuts down on it any.
The BOSS is, however, LOUD AS ALL FUCK. Seriously, hunting partners a half-mile away jump out of their orange thinking I shot right over their shoulder. If I don't get my ear plugs in before shooting this thing, my ears will ring for 2 days following.
I think any accuracy improvement would be negligible, you'd have to shoot a lot to really figure it out. The thing I would consider more is how loud is it. Anything with a muzzle brake is effen loud because the blast is directed sideways and back. You would probably want ear plugs even for that one shot at a deer.
Yes. Certainly. One shot out of this thing is two days of ear ringing if your ears aren't plugged. And about a day of ear ringing even if they are. ಠ_ಠ
http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=107
For everyone else who didn't know what the hell OP was talking about.