I bought my first BA CF rifle 40 years ago and have had lot more since then. Browning, Ruger, Savage, Winchester, Sig, TC, Remington and maybe one or two others I forgot about.
All this to say my X-bolt is by far the best of them all.

Mine is super accurate, bug hole groups with more than 1 load combo. Only complaint I have is the short magazine, cannot load to lands and have more than a 2 shot gun. Wish they had a blind mag or floor plate.

Trigger not too bad at probably 3# with no creep but not the 2# I prefer on my coyote rifles, may do a spring swap after this season.

Weight of the rifle is nice, heavy barrel and slim forearm, none of that beavertail stuff manufacturers think a heavy barrel needs. Bolt is as slick as any Tikka I have owned or been around.

Aftermarket there is no support so be aware of that if you want to do any mods.

I had a Browning X-Bolt in 270 Winchester for a while and it was a very accurate rifle. It had a very good factory trigger and the bolt operation was smooth as glass. I can't imagine that the 223 would not be extremely accurate. I wound up selling mine to fund another project. Aftermarket support may be an issue depending on what you want but I highly doubt accuracy will be a problem.

I'll take an X-Bolt any day over any Savage model, RAR or Remington. With Tikka it would be a much harder decision.

I own an x-bolt predator hunter in .204, no complaints so far. It is listed as a heavy sporter weight, so it is a dream to carry. It is my first and only browning but it is crazy accurate with 2 seperate loads.

Very good and accurate rifles. Upgrade options are limited but most of the time not needed.

Hi Bill,

I've shot my hunting partner's x-bolt .204 (it is the eclipse model). I think the eclipse is the same action just with a difference barrel and stock???? Not sure, but anyway....it might honestly be the most accurate rifle I've ever shot at 200-300 yards. It shoots flat and he has no issues with accuracy, even from the 32gr fiochiis that he shoots that I've heard other guys say aren't as accurate for them. THat's all I know about them. I love the 60 degree bolt throw too, I know you will too - wish the ruger I use for pred hunting had only 60 deg throw....

Well, this was a tough decision. After a "reasonably" objective selection process I went with two rifles. The .223 ended up to be a Rem 700P LTR. The x bolt sure looked good to me although I was nervous about negative reviews. Regardless, I read a lot of positive stuff here and that convinced me to replace the old 22-250 with an x-bolt predator in 22-250. I'll be selling off a lot of guns to pay for these big .22s.

You won't be disappointed

There are lots of agendas floating around on the internet that tend to muddy the waters for some people. Good luck with your choices and enjoy them.

You will like it. Bet its a shooter too.

Thanks, I'm confident they'll both be good shooters. I'll post some photos after I get scopes mounted.

Bill