Review for Winchester Xpr Hunter in 65 Creedmoor

Budget burglarize warning! While we never decline an opportunity to play with the fancy stuff, your humble TTAG scribes are always on the picket for affordable functioning. With retail prices starting around $469, Winchester's new-for-2017 XPR line certainly gets the "affordable" part correct. So . . . how 'tour that functioning?

Already bachelor in a dozen calibers from .243 Winchester to .338 Win Magazine and in at least 14 configurations and styles — from the base model seen hither to various flavors of camouflage to a high-tech aluminum chassis — the XPR bolt-action rifle line is a veritable firearms farrago. TTAG borrowed this XPR chambered in vi.five Creedmoor for testing.

With a set of 30mm Talley rings made for the venerable Winchester Model 70, we mounted a Leupold VX-3i LRP four.v-14×50 riflescope with their Impact-32 MOA Reticle.

I'm not a Winchester Repeating Arms Model lxx historian. So I won't be running down the exact differences between the Model seventy and the Winchester XPR burglarize. Or examining Winchester's assertion that they've kept some of the proven Model 70's features alive in the XPR while streamlining the rifle's design and manufacturing processes to reduce costs. But that's the company line.

One obvious change (at to the lowest degree as compared to the current and original Model 70): The employ of a 3-lug, push button feed bolt with a plunger ejector. This is simpler to make and less expensive than a Mauser-fashion controlled round feed design.

The XPR's nickel teflon-coated commodities operates smoothly. It isn't much of a looker, but it doesn't bind and it locks into battery like a central into a lock. It unlocks just as easily, cocking the striker upon bolt lift without manhandling.The cocking indicator on the bolt shroud offers both a tactile and visual reference of the rifle's cocked/uncocked status.

Every XPR rifle has a ii-position safety that's convenient to operate with the pollex of your firing hand. The XPR's pollex safety slider is a unproblematic thing; dorsum for Safe and forwards for Fire. On Safe, the bolt is locked and can't exist manipulated. A bolt-release button is positioned in front of the safety. Pushing forwards on this push button unlocks the bolt assuasive for unloading or disassembly while the gun is on safety.

The XPR's one-piece bolt handle doesn't allow for bolt knob swapping, merely the manufacturing plant knob balances comfort, purchase, and a low-snag design. It's just right for a hunting burglarize.

A prominent lever on the receiver'due south left side makes removing the XPR's commodities a doddle. Simply button the serrated front end inward like a magazine release and slide the bolt out.

Of form, that isn't how the XPR's actual magazine release functions. In typical bolt-gun manner, a flappy tab (upward front) locks the magazine in identify. Pull it towards you lot and the magazine drops free.

The Winchester XPR ships with 2 detachable box magazines. In 6.5 Creedmoor, the magazine holds 3 rounds. At $20 for a spare, they're inexpensive enough to carry a couple loaded backups on your hunt.

The polymer mags go out plenty of room for fifty-fifty the longest vi.5 Creedmoor loads. For both of yous handloaders who work upwardly custom loads for sub-$500 rifles, this is sure to be appreciated.

The polymer stock's forend and grip are covered a sandpaper-like cease. The texturing looks and feels vastly superior to the molded-in checkering found on most plastic rifle stocks.

Slim and lightweight, the base model XPR'due south stock isn't specific to right- or left-handed shooters. Comb, grip expanse, and bandage are all mirrored or centered.

Winchester's Inflex Technology recoil pad appears to be made of some exotic leather (rhino, perhaps?). It turns out it'due south rubber. Regardless, the pad creates a comfortable shooting experience, providing the right amount of cushion while squishing in a fashion designed to pull the comb away from the shooter's confront.

For a few bucks more, Winchester volition sell you a suppressor-ready XPR with threaded muzzle. Our base model — and most of the 14-plus variants — culminates in a recessed target crown on its 22-inch, sporter profile barrel. The barrel is push button rifled in 1:8″ twist, and so treated with Winchester's black Perma-Cote (appears to be nitrided) for durability.

Hitting the range with some Halloween pumpkins, the XPR proved itself reliable and accurate on its first outing. I had it sighted in with 3 shots and didn't get worn out, fifty-fifty afterward blowing through 8 boxes of ammo.

While the XPR was authentic enough to cleave a face in a pumpkin at 100 yards, 6.5 Creedmoor was a mite as well destructive on the orangish gourd to git 'er done. My pumpkin failed on the third shot (the nose). Trying for destruction, though, worked pretty well, with Winchester Trek Large Game Long-Range ammo doing a heck of a number on a water-filled pumpkin.

The XPR's factory-adapted Grand.O.A. trigger certainly helped in the accuracy department. It broke cleanly at a hair under iv pounds with no slack or real creep of which to speak. The trigger guard is wide and comfortable.

The XPR's stock is a bit of a disappointment. Sure, it feels and looks hollow and cheap and plastic (which information technology is). That's to be expected in a budget rifle designed for hunting, field, and generally rough use, though. But the stock's comb is likewise skinny and lacked adequate height, fifty-fifty with the scope mounted equally low every bit possible.

Winchester offers the XPR with a laminate thumbhole stock, a walnut stock, and an aluminum chassis, likewise. But if this base model were my rifle I'd add a cheek piece right away. And budget-priced or not, the stock could also utilize a tad more bear on-upward at the factory, with visible mold flashing more obvious than it needs to be.

Grabbing 5 different vi.5 Creedmoor loads — admittedly a bit Hornady-heavy — it was time to put five-shot groups on paper.

Hornady American Gunner 140 grain BTHP at 0.965 MOA.

Hornady BLACK 140 grain BTHP at 0.961 MOA.

Hornady Lucifer 120 grain ELD at 1.378 MOA.

Hornady Match 147 grain ELD at i.052 MOA.

Turning in the tightest group: Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range 142 grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range at 0.844 MOA.

I reckon the XPR's sporter barrel is slightly affected by heat. I kept shooting tight three-round groups just didn't take the patience to permit the butt cool when shooting more than. A 10-round group, fired fairly apace, opened up to 1.four MOA, which is likely a combination of me declining to keep it together for that many shots in a row and a hot butt.

Overall this is a fairly modest walk for a skinny-barrel hunting rifle, though, and a lot of that is cheers to the XPR's free-bladder blueprint and steel recoil lug bedded into the stock. Additionally, Winchester stress relieves each XPR barrel after industry, which is a nice touch that reduces heat-induced movement.

In most rifles we wait to see MOA-or-meliorate accurateness by the time nosotros hit $1,000 MSRP. In the example of the Winchester XPR, we're easily beating 1-infinitesimal accurateness at one-half that price.

The XPR has a squeamish activity, groovy trigger, detachable box magazine, and quality metallic finish. For shooters seeking an affordable, accurate hunting or full general-use rifle, the XPR lineup absolutely demands a look.

Specifications: Winchester XPR in half-dozen.five Creedmoor

Caliber: vi.v Creedmoor (also available in xi other calibers)
Barrel Length: 22″
Barrel Twist: i:eight″
Overall Length: 42″
Length of Pull: xiii.75″
Weight: vi lbs 12 oz
Magazine Capacity: 3 rounds
Stock Material: blended with steel recoil lug
Receiver Material: chromoly steel barstock
Barrel / Receiver End: matte black Perma-Cote
Bolt Finish: nickel teflon
Trigger: Winchester K.O.A. Trigger System (single action, approx four lbs, adjustable for overtravel and pull weight)
Scope Mount: receiver drilled and tapped for 4, viii-40 bolts
MSRP: $549.99 (check recent cost on Brownells)

Ratings (out of five stars):

Manner and appearance  * * *
The base model XPR is a no-frills, basic hunting rifle.

Ergonomics  * * *
I appreciate the relatively flat bottom of the fore-finish and like the grip texture, but the stock's comb doesn't do it for me. The recoil pad is nifty, though, and the commodities, safe, and trigger's ergos are excellent.

Customization  * *
Other than swapping the stock for a different one, there isn't much yous can do to the XPR aside from pocket-size trigger aligning and slapping on a bipod or sling.

Accuracy  * * * * *
With sub-MOA accuracy and a street toll in the mid-$400 range, the XPR is style ahead of the curve hither. Winchester's chassis rifle variant should be giving the Ruger Precision Rifle a run for its coin.

Reliability  * * * * *
Null issues. Ran smoothly and properly equally a bolt gun should.

Overall  * * * *
Winchester's XPR is a bang-for-the-buck bullseye.

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Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/winchester-xpr-gun-review/