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Thread: Anybody like the Browning BLR?

  1. #41
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speedo66 View Post
    I'm always amazed how accurate my Belgium version in .308 is with that thin pencil barrel. Also love the apparent lack of recoil, don't know why, just is.

    I use it as a woods gun, and love how light and easy to carry it is.

    Only have one magazine for it, and worry about problems/loss, but haven't come across another mag for sale.
    That's because the Browning BLRs recoil pad (Pachmayr) unlike the "tire patch" on my Guide Guns actually reduces recoil.
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  2. #42
    Boolit Bub
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    My 358 is my main elk gun and I am looking at a 223 now.

  3. #43
    Boolit Master
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    NO! I don't like my pre-81 BLR in .358 Winchester, and it will be for sale on my table at the June gun show in Spokane unless I get a good offer here.--Shuz
    It's all chicken, even the beak!

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shuz View Post
    NO! I don't like my pre-81 BLR in .358 Winchester, and it will be for sale on my table at the June gun show in Spokane unless I get a good offer here.--Shuz
    What's the matter with it?
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  5. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Shuz View Post
    NO! I don't like my pre-81 BLR in .358 Winchester, and it will be for sale on my table at the June gun show in Spokane unless I get a good offer here.--Shuz
    It's Art's Gun and Sports Shop in MO that modifies the modern Miroku BLR magazines
    to fit the older BLRs.
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  6. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by pricedo View Post
    What's the matter with it?
    There is a discussion on the problems in the "Gunsmithing tips and tricks" sub forum on this board. Basically, a good friend and I both have the same problem with magazines not feeding properly. He has a total of 4 magazines that don't work properly and I have one. We are meeting tomorrow in Spokane and comparing mags interchangability etc. We'll keep you all posted on what we find.
    It's all chicken, even the beak!

  7. #47
    Boolit Master
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    The original BLR's with the straight stock and barrel bands I always thought were butt ugly ! And they felt kinda like a club in my hands .

    Later they brought the model out with the round knob PG and the schnable forend and no barrel bands and chambered them for the WSM line of catridges . I had it in my head I wanted a pair in 270 WSM and 325 WSM . And at the time I think dealer cost on new ones was about $800 . Anyway I saw a used one on a dealers rack one day with a Leupold 3-9 on top which was pretty much the way I would have scoped it . Anyway the gun still felt not good in my hands so that ended me wanting two of them !
    Parker's , 6.5mm's and my family in the Philippines

  8. #48
    Boolit Master
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    Well I got the feeding problem solved. I just gotta work the lever "smartly" and not slowly and it feeds fine. I shot the rifle on 5/11/13 and got a lousy pattern of about 8" at 50 meters with the 280g Old West HP of 283g. Velocity with 36g of H-4198 was 2113 fps. The boolit was heat treated to Bhn 22. I'm thinking this rifle must have a 1:16 twist. Shooting with the RCBS 35-200 also heat treated to Bhn 22, gave 2.6" 5 shot groups at both 50 meters and 100 yds. Velocity on those was 1849fps with 23g of 2400.
    I guess if I keep this rifle I will use the RCBS 35-200.
    It's all chicken, even the beak!

  9. #49
    Boolit Bub
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    A takedown BLR in 308 with a barrel mounted "scout" style scope setup is on my short list of firearms to still purchase. I have pretty much what I need, now am in the cool to have or fun to shoot stage of my life.

    I like takedown guns for some reason. I have a Marlin Papoose, Stevens 620 12 gauge and Keltec Sub2k (paired with a Glock 17). All of those can fit in my green tanker tool bag. Toss in extra magazines for the G17/Sub2k, and a couple of boxes of 00 buck, a couple of 100 round boxes of CCI and I have a considerable amount of short range firepower I can grab and toss in the back of my truck. The BLR in 308 would round out that bag for something capable of longer range. I already have an FAL with plenty of surplus 308, so the BLR would be a natural addition.

    I am getting my Papoose barrel threaded for my newly acquired supressor (that I won last year, tax stamp and all included). Was thinking if the BLR barrel could be threaded, of purchasing a good 9mm supressor for the Sub2k that could also double on the BLR with handloaded subsonic ammo. Just a thought...

    My thoughts are starting to get expensive... I started casting to be able to afford to shoot more with my son. That didnt work, now we shoot more but any money saved seems to go to more funstuff.

  10. #50
    Boolit Buddy bear67's Avatar
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    I picked up a '93 BLR 81 in 308 and I love it. I have only shot it with factory or J-word loads so far as I still have to work up a cast load for it. Need to pick up a mold in 150 to 170 g as the 30 cal molds I have are 110 and 180-220 g.

    I am still kicking my rear end regularly as a local pawn shop had a BLR in .257 Roberts advertised in the local classified paper and I did not immediately get buy to look at it. As I have been shooting and loading the 25 bob for 55 years, I would have bought it unless it looked like it had been used for a hammer.

    With J bullets, my Browning shoots like a dream. My 15 year old grandson killed a buck with it this year in a TPWD draw hunt. He really likes lever guns, so this is the one he chose.
    "A gentleman will seldom, if ever, need a pistol. However, if he does,he needs it very badly!" Sir Winston Churchill

  11. #51
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    I must have a "thing" for takedowns to.
    Just dumped $1400 + change for a Winchester 94 Trails End takedown in 450 Marlin as a running mate for my BLR takedown in the same caliber.
    Real slick rifle.
    I'm going to top it off with a Leupold light weight 2-7x28mm scope which comes in at 2" shorter & 4 ounces lighter than the Leupold "Rifleman" 2-7x33mm scope I usually mount on my leverguns.
    The rifle itself (empty) weighs 6 pounds 12 oz.
    I'm going to use Warne QD rings so I can access the pretty decent iron sights if tracking a bear in heavy brush.
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  12. #52
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    At a gun show several years ago I had a Savage 99 on my table. A fellow came by with a Belgian BLR .243 and wanted my Savage in the worst way. I really didn't want his Browning and turned the deal down. He came by several times and kept after me. Finally my table partner said if I didn't make the trade with the guy, he was going to buy my Savage and do the deal himself. Well, the guy came by again and offered me a nice sum to boot so I made the trade. The Browning was in gorgeous condition, but I just never warmed to it and sold it later on an Internet auction. Made a decent buck on it, but I wish now I had it back even though it never really caught my fancy. One of the few guns I've sold that I later regretted selling. Most guys that have them REALLY love them.
    yooper

  13. #53
    Boolit Master
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    Well, since I have 2 ea Rem 700's in .35 Whelen, I've decided to sell or trade off my pre-81 BLR in .358 Winchester. It will be on my table at the next gun show in Spokane,Wa. on June 8 and 9.
    It's all chicken, even the beak!

  14. #54
    Boolit Master Canuck Bob's Avatar
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    I had an earlier 81 model in .243. I liked the rifle more but not the caliber. The trigger wasn't perfect but not too heavy. It was accurate and a joy to carry.

  15. #55
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I enjoy looking at them but for some reason every time I pick one up I put it back down. Just as well, too shiny for a hunting rifle anyway.
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  16. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by TXGunNut View Post
    I enjoy looking at them but for some reason every time I pick one up I put it back down. Just as well, too shiny for a hunting rifle anyway.
    I think the shine is what always put me off. The ones I've shot were accurate enough, handled nice, I am a lever kind of guy, but I've never had the desire to own one.

  17. #57
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    Yup........too shiny !
    Better get rid of my Winchester 94 Trails End as well as my two BLRs cause they're too damn SHINY !
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  18. #58
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    OK maybe it isn't the shine, it may just be that I owned a savage first. lol

  19. #59
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Don't get me wrong; I've always liked BLR's, even like the way they look. From what I understand aboout their mechanicals I bet I'd even like the way they shoot. For some reason I just can't bring myself to take one home. I guess I'm just hung up on Winchesters and Marlins.
    Endowment Life Member NRA, Life Member TSRA, Member WACA, NRA Whittington Center, BBHC
    Smokeless powder is a passing fad! -Steve Garbe
    I hate rude behavior in a man. I won't tolerate it. -Woodrow F. Call, Lonesome Dove
    Some of my favorite recipes start out with a handful of depleted counterbalance devices.

  20. #60
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by TXGunNut View Post
    Don't get me wrong; I've always liked BLR's, even like the way they look. From what I understand aboout their mechanicals I bet I'd even like the way they shoot. For some reason I just can't bring myself to take one home. I guess I'm just hung up on Winchesters and Marlins.
    Thank you for your candor.
    Stating a personal preference for another brand or style of firearm is much better than parroting some mythical BLR problem like the "BLR locking lever" fable I've heard spun a few times.
    I've shot BLRs both Belgian & Japanese in sub-zero weather in the far north and near arctic of Canada and never had a lever lock-up even though the skin on my hands was freezing.
    Lever problems in cold weather come from over lubricating with the wrong lubricant.
    I think the "locking lever" problem is only experienced by people who have never held a BLR in their hands in their lives let alone fired one.
    It's perfectly legitimate to prefer a particular brand or action of firearm and say so.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check