Browning X-Bolt Composite Stalker .280

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Outrider

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New to the forum so this ground may have been covered already. I'm considering purchasing an X-Bolt Composite Stalker. To X-Bolt owners out there: what is the good, the bad and the ugly on this rifle. It will be topped with a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10-44 and used for hunting whitetails in the woods and on power lines. I did notice when I handled a number of display models all the empty clips (DBMs) rattled at a slight touch. Do they typically shoot well with factory ammo? Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

Outrider
 
I have an X-bolt Hunter in .308 that I really like. It's light, handles very well and, due to the stock design, has gentle recoil. I can't speak to factory ammo but, with my handloads it's a consistent sub MOA shooter. I have a target in my reloading room that shows a 10 shot, one hole group that measures in the mid eights shot off a front bag at 100 yards. And that's using a plain old cup and core hunting bullet.
My only complaint, and I'm picking nits, is that the overly complicated bolt is a bear to take apart and not as smooth as I would like. The positives out-weigh the negatives and I'd buy another one in a heart beat.
 
I would skip the Browning, I recently purchased my first and probably last Browning. REALLY bad accuracy with any factory ammo, took me seven months of playing with handloads to get it below MOA, by far the hardest of any rifle I have ever loaded for. Action is the roughest of any of my rifles, the recoil pad sucks, and the trigger is the worst of any new rifle I have shot recently. On the flip side the synthetic stock is above average, the magazine is as nice as any and it does have a nice feel overall. Not the wost rifle I have owned all considered but it has a long way to go to catch up with my Winchester 70 Featherweight and Tikka T3 Stainless which are top notch in my book.
 
In my opinion you can't go wrong with a Browning. I have owned several Browning firearms, the oldest one spanning 21 years. No complaints whatsoever. They tend to be very durable good shooting guns. One of my friends that owns a large firearms store and sells every major brand chooses a Browning rifle for his personal hunting rifle. In my opinion that speaks volumes.
 
The man who owns the local shooting range owes seven rifle, all Tikkas, THAT speaks volumes to me :) of all my rifles my Tikka holds the best groups with factory and handloads, and it is also the easiest to work up accurate loads for, only problem with Tikkas are the craptastical recoil pads (easy fix)
Sadly they don't offer the T3 in 280 Rem :(
 
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