I few months back I had a post asking what to do with a Browning 223WSSM a friend of mine owns. After digging into it I found it was pretty much a dud. It wasn't worth my time to try to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I told him to send it back to Browning and ask for a new rifle. He stopped at our cottage Saturday to tell me he sent it back, and they did replace it with a new X Bolt NC, chambered in standard .223. I think more of Browning for doing the right thing. Barlow