Browning A-Bolt II Eclipse

[Quadzillabill]

I've always admired these from afar, as one of the local shops had the '1000' (yard?) version - which is a 300 win mag - on hand when I was purchasing my first bolt gun several years ago.  The green laminated thumbhole stock is a looker indeed.  I was inspired enough to buy the cheaper 'Hunter' version of that same gun.

I ran across an Eclipse Varmint in .22-250 yesterday, in mint shape.  Its got a Vari-XIII 6.5-20x40 AO on top of it and probably could walk out the door with me for $900-950.  The ones I can find in various online sources (and they are not .22-250) are priced $800-$1000+ for the gun only.

Anyone own an Eclipse?  How's this setup shoot?  It looks and feels great, and of course the high quality optics are an incredible bonus.  With a bipod on this thing I'd guess it could be quite the shooter - assuming the pilot was up to the task.

[WCHunter]

I thought they looked pretty hot myself.  I bought the M1000 Eclipse in 300 Win Mag.  Then I doubled my investment with a Leupold 4.5-15 LPS.  Also had the browning trigger adjusted to about 3 pounds.  This ought to be a great rifle.

Well.....I've been less than impressed.  I've put about 40 rounds of Hornady 165's and about a dozen Winchester Fail Safe in 165 also.  I have not gotten a 3 shot group inside 2 inches.

Admittedly, that's not a lot of rounds and I have not spent a significant amount of time playing with the BOSS, I just expected better results.

In comparison, this summer I bought a stainless Rem 700 VLS in22-250 with the Laminated Stock and put the Leupold VXIII long range (silver finish of course) 6.5-20x50 on it.  Out of the box with Hornady 55 and 50 grain v-max, I consistantly got .75 3 shot groups and 1 .75 inch 5 shot group.  And, that's with the 400 lb factory trigger pull.

Now, I know these are apples and oranges, ie, 300 win mag v 22-250, but I the point I'm making is that with half the investment (OK, maybe a little more than half) I got twice the accuracy.  I spent 10 years in Law Enforcement and consistantly qualified at a marksman level, so I feel comfortable its not me.

I havn't given up on the M1000.  I need to spend a few more weekends with different rounds and play with the boss.  It looks great, just hope I can get it to shoot as well.

Anyway, enough of my jabboring and sorry for not seeing your post sooner.  If you've already bought the 22-250, let me know how you've done with it.  The 22-250 is a fun round...especially after shooting the 300.