Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Browning X-Bolt Trigger Help

I bought an X-Bolt and knew beforehand that the trigger was going to be the weak link and in fact that's the case.The lowest I could adjust it was 4 pounds so I bought an M-Carbo spring and the lowest I can get it is 3 - 3 1/4. I've been emailing back and forth with M-Carbo and their last advice was to polish the sear. I'm ok with changing out a spring but I'm not going to go beyond that. I'd normally just put a Timney on it but then I'd lose the bolt lock down feature which I really don't want to do.

So, does anyone have a recommendation to get it around 2 1/2 lbs? Also anyone know of a smith that works on x-bolt triggers? (I realize these triggers aren't known for being able to be improved much.)

Is there an aftermarket trigger that locks down the bolt? Jard and Timney do not.

Lastly, I've read where some guys have gotten around 2 lbs with the M-Carbo spring, maybe if I buy another factory trigger of someone that went the Timney route, it would end up better than mine? Thoughts?

Sorry for the scatter brained bouncing around.

I ran into the exact same problem as you. The McCarbo spring was a waste of money. I disassembled the trigger assembly to remove the original spring before trying the McCarbo spring. The sear was plenty smooth. I was not about to polish it. I cut a coil off of the original spring and adjusted all the way down, my trigger now has a very crisp 2 pound pull weight. If you have already destroyed the original spring, removing it, I am sure you can cut a bit off the McCarbo spring and get the same result. I am also sure that McCarbo would say not to do that. RJ

Thanks for the info. I totally trashed the original spring but can snip the M-Carbo.

I have had excellent results from the Timney and Ernie the Gunsmith springs. Current 7-08 has a crisp 2 1/2 # pull from a Timney spring.
I would try those as a next step.
GreggH

I don't think Timney makes a spring for the X-Bolt just the A-Bolt. Is that what you used?

I don't think Ernie the Gunsmith makes a spring for the X-bolt either.

What year was your rifle made? I have 2 Xbolts, one from 2016 and one from 2017, both have the Mcarbo spring, and both break clean as glass at exactly 2 lbs, every time. I have heard the newer models are a bit different.

Slammer my apologies. I missed the X part. You are correct they were used on A-Bolts
GreggH

http://erniethegunsmith.com/catalog/i136.html

It certainly looks like Ernie the Gunsmith is shipping an X-Bolt trigger spring again. I'd probably give that a try before I started snipping my only spring. The MCarbo spring got the pull on my X Bolt where I wanted it without modification, but it wasn't too bad to start off with.

You got an old webpage. They no longer offer an Xbolt spring

I believe Jard makes triggers for the X-Bolt. I have one for a T-Bolt and think I saw an X-Bolt offering on their website.

https://www.jardinc.com/x-bolt

Yes, but I do not know how good they are.

I don't know, I went through the process of adding Ernie's x-bolt spring to my cart from the web page that Gtscotty linked and it let me do so, so maybe he still has some in stock. At any rate, Ernie is incorrect about having to remove the entire assembly, as M-Carbo has shown in their video instructions. It is definitely a bitch to get the old one out directly, but with persistence can be done.

I emailed Ernie yesterday and he said he no longer sells them. On the Jard, they are like the Timney and don't lock the bolt. I see there is an outfit out of Australia selling springs on ebay. Might have to try them.

The outfit in Australia will take a month to get to you, I ordered a Mark V spring from them and it was dangerously light when it was advertised at 2.5lbs. I don't think it was a pound. Your results may vary.