Rimfire rifles are great. They can be small, lightweight, have next to zero recoil, and can be found with every type of action under the sun. Bolt-action rifles are also great, they provide mechanical feedback and make the shooter feel more at one with their gun. Combine these elements with an action both smoother and faster than most bolt guns and you end up with the Browning T-Bolt. If you’re feeling spicy then sprinkle in some magnum seasoning to top it off.
Here’s a story about a used T-Bolt in .22 magnum I had seen on the rack months ago. Every time I passed by I had to get it in my hands but always came up with an excuse to leave it behind. Then came one day where without warning I decided the inevitable, it had to be done. What came home with me that day was a “Composite Target/Varmint” model, one of many which had been discontinued by Browning for whatever reason.
From the start it had some very desirable traits. It was light as a feather, small and streamlined. The stock had a place to hold a spare ten round magazine. The action was lightning fast and barely required the hand to depart from the stock long enough to kick out an empty and drive in a live round.
On the other hand it had no sights, requiring a scope and mount. The gold colored polymer trigger wasn’t great. The 22″ barrel seemed unnecessarily long when a 16″ would have done great. It wasn’t threaded at the end.
But you know what? I didn’t care. It was a straight-pull rifle, it was in great shape, and .22 magnum rifles are plain wonderful to shoot. From this foundation I had become inspired. With an action that smooth and fast I knew if nothing else it would be a laugh at the range and this much has remained true.
I’m getting way ahead of myself. The original T-Bolt was produced from 1965 through ’75 then reintroduced in 2006 with some much welcomed revisions. The earlier guns are immediately recognizable with their rounded bolt handles and single stack magazines. I’ve read the earlier models were also a bit more delicate. Any efforts to reinforce the action are good as far as I’m concerned, it’s both easy and fun to work the bolts on these rifles like it was an end of the world scenario. They’re just…so…FAST.
The 2006 revision now included .22 magnum and .17 HMR options. Regardless of caliber the newer rifles all share the same footprint, meaning you can drop any action into any stock. Some of the bull barrels could potentially be too wide for the barrel channels on some factory stocks but this is purely a wild guess.
Speaking of the factory stocks, the two examples I have both came with some manner of bedding for the front receiver lug and both of them locked into the action fantastically tight. You could always get a Boyd’s laminate stock for a T-Bolt if you wanted but somehow I feel like they wouldn’t fit quite as perfectly as the Browning branded varieties.
The magazines also saw big changes from the ’65 models. Instead of a single stack variety they’ve all become ten round flush fit rotary magazines, with a twist. Unlike Ruger’s rotary magazines the T-Bolt uses an S pattern double helix using a pair of internal gears. The top gear even has an area where you can wind it with a thumb which makes loading a T-Bolt mag a breeze.
One nice addition can be found in the magazine well. A pair of bent metal tabs which honestly look like paper clips provide some tension to smartly pop the mag out when released. These are also present on stocks with spare mag holders which lets a reload eagerly jump straight into your palm. This makes me wish the Ruger 10/22 had such a feature!
Worth noting is the roll marks on the barrel which read “Made in Japan/Miroku.” I have to imagine this has something to do with why these rifles aren’t more common, but my goodness the fit and finish is on the money. Quality steel can be felt and I’m getting that feeling from the T-Bolt.
The safety is a simple on/off switch mounted on top, connected to the trigger pack instead of the receiver. Anyone who has spent time on a Mossberg 590 or Ruger American rifle will feel right at home with this simple ambidextrous design.
Disassembly can be a small learning curve. Directly behind the bolt is a small serrated silver button. Pop the bolt out of battery and push this button down until it clicks then the bolt can slide straight out the back.
The sear engages when the bolt closes with a helpful red indicator on top of the bolt body, however on my used example this indicator had completely worn away with use.
Back to the story, I saw room for improvement. The polymer stock, while sleek and light and with that spot for an extra mag, wasn’t quite doing it for me. When I found a factory new laminate thumbhole stock from another discontinued line called the Varmint Special there was no turning back. With the turn of two screws I had effectively turned a youth or a hiking rifle into a grown up target monster. The ergos were vastly improved and the typical polymer forend flex was gone at the cost of a spare mag holder and a sling swivel stud which was a little too crowded for ideal Harris bipod attachment. The satin finished laminate may not have offered much traction for carrying it around and added some weight but for the better grip angle and flow of blues and greens mixed into the wooden browns I was happy with the trade-offs. It’s also darn beautiful.
Optics weren’t a problem. Talley offers an aluminum Picatinny section which I opted for over dedicated scope rings to give myself more options. For glass I went with a variable power Leupold VX Freedom Rimfire scope. The combination of small size, low mass, and fine reticle with bullet drop compensation seemed like a great fit with the 7x max magnification being a good range for a rimfire.
As for the trigger, the factory one left something to be desired. The pull weight was on the heavy side and I noticed a tendency to pull my shots up and right. This also called for improvement which came in the form of a JARD trigger pack. Replacing the polymer bits with all metal and offering multiple adjustment points, the “heavier” of the three models offered is measured at a breath-takingly light twenty ounces. Not only was I immediately back on target but I was putting five rounds through the same hole at 75 feet.
It’s a real shame the T-Bolt series is so uncommon and doubly so to see so many beautiful looking models filling up Browning’s discontinued list. Right now there are Twenty-Seven discontinued models and only six currently in production. Twenty-seven!
There have been two thumbhole laminate versions. Stainless versions. Cerakoted versions. Left-hand versions. Wood, polymer, and laminate stocked versions. Ones with blacked out triggers. 16″ bull barrels. Threaded barrels. Barrels which already had a compensator installed. There are so many different variations it seems inevitable every example a person might find will be different. That is, if you ever manage to find one at all. Those six in production models appear to be sold out everywhere, I could only find new ones for sale on Gunbroker.
While they may be a bit more tricky to customize and wring the most out of, there’s a lot to love about a T-Bolt. Regardless of where you might end up you’ll still be left with a pleasant rimfire which provides something unique and enjoyable to the field.
