I have owned what I thought to be a Browning Micro-Medallion 308 Winchester for many years. It has a 20 inch barrel, a fluted bolt and a length of pull of about 13.3 inches. I have found that this carbine comes to my shoulder very quickly and naturally allowing me to hit quickly and accurately. The tang safety has never come off unintentionally and works perfectly. I have found that other rifles with a long length of pull frequently don't come up quickly or naturally and that I squirm to get into a shooting position. I have also found that rifles with the safety on the right side of the gun are slow, not at all natural and at least 1 model is subject to coming off unintentionally- which is a deal breaker for me. I am dumping one such rifle (after a trip back to the manufacturer) and want to go back to what works for me- an A Bolt, with a proper length stock, thumb safety and 30-06 caliber. As I study the current versions of Browning rifles, I notice that none has a length of pull similar to my Micro-Medallion and that current models have a greater length of pull than the standard A-Bolt. I visited a local Browning dealer and was told that I would have to buy an out of production model. The X Bolt is a much larger rifle and I certainly don't want a child model How do I tell the difference between an A-Bolt, A-Bolt II ??? The A-Bolt III seems to be a cheapened model in comparison to the earlier models. I am thinking that an original A-Bolt or A-Bolt II might be the right rifle for me. ?????? Thanks, John
Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum John !! Please introduce yourself to our community via the New Member Welcome Area... Enjoy the forum.
The A-bolt had a fluted bolt body. The A-bolt II has a shroud around the body, to reduce binding. The A-bolt II's trigger has some hard-chromed (IIRC?) parts, and it's adjustable. That's all I know of, or can think of right now. I don't know about stock shape or scope mount hole pattern, etc.
I have never had binding. Mine is as slick as can be. The trigger is not as light or consistent as the old Remington 700 trigger or the Tikka T3 trigger, but it works well enough for me.
From what I have seen and the above: A-Bolt (original) has a fluted bolt and a hinged detachable magazine. A-Bolt II has a shrouded bolt and a hinged detachable magazine and an adjustable trigger. A-Bolt III looks like it has a synthetic stock, synthetic trigger guard and detachable box magazine- as well as a bolt release safety. ???? AB ????? A 4th but cheapened model or is that the A-Bolt III?
I have both an A-bolt and an A-bolt II and I believe the only difference is the fluted bolt vs bolt shroud. Personally, I like the original A-bolt better, never had an issue with a binding bolt. The original A-bolt also has the adjustable trigger (though they never seem to adjust quite as light as I would like them to). I don't know when they discontinued the micro medallion but I think it was only a short action rifle, never a long action caliber offering. I think you're going to have to settle for a .308 instead of a 30-06 but there's not much difference between the two anyway.