Browning BLR Lever Rifle - Questions, Poll and Photos

I have a BLR81 in 243 purchased new in 1991. good rifle, accurate. But not light in weight for its size, but thats OK by me as I've handled some of the new alloy BLR's and I am pretty sure I don't want one.

Gave the .22 version to my grandson last year. Bought it in 1976 I think. Good gun.

"alloy BLRs"? I see that they are offered in blued finish and stainless steel. By alloy, do you mean stainless or something else?

Click to expand...

Browning made the more recent BLRs with "machined air-craft grade aluminum" receivers. I love the .358 Winchester cartridge but, on a strictly personal level, I loath the looks of the BLR, particularly the later ones and especially the ones fitted with a pistol grip. For a factory rifle, it's hard to beat any Browning firearm and all of the BLRs I've seen take backseat to nobody in terms of workmanship and finish (that is, if you like gloss on a hunting rifle-I don't).

Don't take my opinions to heart. They are wholly subjective and I'm sure I'm in the extreme minority. I like my lever-action rifles "classic" in configuration and, with the possible exceptions of the Savage Model 99, the Winchester Model 88 and the Sako FinnWolf, unadorned with scopes. If you can find one, the Savage 99, along with the also discontinued Winchester Model 88, were chambered for a few years in .358-fine, if rare and pricey picks.

The new blr's don't appeal at all to me. A friend bought one in .30-06 a few years ago. The only good thing about it was the typical Browning fit and finish. The rifle balanced and shouldered like a cinderblock.

351 WINCHESTER said:

The new blr's don't appeal at all to me. A friend bought one in .30-06 a few years ago. The only good thing about it was the typical Browning fit and finish. The rifle balanced and shouldered like a cinderblock.

Click to expand...

There is a huge difference between the long action (30-06) length BLRs and the short action (308) BLRs. The long actions do indeed handle like anchors. The short actions are much better.

I have an older one, Belgian made, and love it.

It's in .308, and very accurate. The trigger function and feel is fine. Not tuned bolt action, but fine for hunting. The rack and pinion action you refer to is great, because you have a strong rotary bolt like a bolt action, and it's very smooth. The tight bolt helps make it accurate too. No problems with trigger moving with the lever.

As far as the box magazine, the only down side is they're expensive and hard to come by, at least for the older ones. The older type mags came down a little, as opposed to being flush like the newer ones.

The upside is you can load any bullet type you like, no worries about setting off a cartridge in a tubular magazine. Stronger action in the Browning than any other traditional styled lever action. The Savage 99 I believe also had a box magazine on some models, not sure about the Win. 88.

The pistol grip styling is subjective, if you like it, fine. I prefer the straight grip, but hey, many folks bought Marlin 336s with pistol grips and are very happy.

No help with the .358, don't really know anything about it except it's based on the .308 case, and they use the same mag in the Browning. You may find a 3x9 scope looking a little big and ungainly on a short rifle like the BLR. Nikon makes a 2x7 that's a little smaller and looks better.

The rifle is light, accurate, and short, making it a great woods gun. I'll never sell mine.

Go for it.

I had one, but my dad sold it, not by my choice

Mine was a BLR Lightning .243...it awesome, accurate, handy, super slick action from the geared lever system

I would take another in an instant

I have a BLR in .300WM,it is a new model take down,straight grip,black/gray laminate in stainless. Personaly I love the thing.

It is every bit as accurate as most bolt actions and to me the feel and function are top notch. The barrel is long 24",making it swing a bit slow but most all magnum rifles are long and swing slowly compared to shorter rifles. I have only shot it about 200 times and have only hunted with it once. I have not torture tested it so I can not speak to how it may function in adverse conditions save snow and ice...Hunting tip was snowy/rainy and frozen at night. Trigger moving with lever is odd at first but very nice to the fingers,tho' with some practice not a problem with others. Recoil is not all that bad,rather manageable.Mine has a 3-9x40 Leupold VX-I on it.

I have several rifles chambered for .358Win. and can tell you four important things right of the bat...
1)It is VERY hard to find...Winchester only releases it once per year during the hunting season and rumour has it that they may have discontinued it entirely.Small specialty companies load it but only a few.
2)Handloading...it is a freight train on game for it's class of cartridge! Every bit as good mabe a bit better than .338 Federal out to 250-300yrds. at which point the .338 shines in less drop.Necking .308Win. brass up to .358 is very simple.Brass can be found for it but Winchester is the only company making it.
3)Recoil is stout for it's class of cartridge...pushing those heavybullets out puts alot of back pressure your direction. It has roughly 25ftlbs of recoil or about on par with a 300WinMag using 180grn. loads.
4)If you get it,or not, write Winchester and tell them how much you like the cartridge.

Older steel receiver rifles, Yes. The newer aluminum receiver guns look awful to me. Even the short actions which are better.

A take-down .270 for a fly-in/back country hunt sounds interesting.

fixed 4 power with good irons.

But no money this year for interesting.

I've got a straight-stocked one in 270. It is a hell of a rifle. The trigger is not what I would call good, but with some practice and patience you can shoot them accurately. Mine has a Williams rear sight, a Lyman front sight and a Leupold scope. I love it. It makes me wonder why I keep spending money upgrading my custom Mauser.

Remington has never made a centerfire lever action, unless you count them buying Marlin.

If you don't mind the extra weight, you can do "traditional" and "modern centerfire" at the same time.

The 1895 is available from Winchester again, and the CDNN catalog lists a couple of variants, including a takedown, in .30-06.

The traditional ones are usually thought of as Marlins and Winchesters. Low-pressure blunt-nosed cartridges are the norm for them. Savage 99, Sako Finnwolf and Win 88 are considered modern along with the BLR. I assume the Ruger 96-44 and Marlin Levermatics would also be considered modern.

Edited to add: the current Henry and Mossbergs are also 'traditional styled'. As are I believe the Rossi and Uberti ones.

I'm not sure how you would describe the Win 1895. I didn't address many rimfires either.

I currently have two BLR's on a consignment sale on Gunbroker. (seller mgkdrgn) One in 358 Win, the other in .243. Form, finish and function on these rifles is -very very nice-. Light weight, smooth action, reliable and accurate. Personally I prefer a tube feed ... but only so I don't have to worry about loosing mags. (having said that, I've owned a Remington Nylon 77 since I bought it new in 1974 ... and still have all the mags I ever bought for it... go figure!) But, a spare mag will for sure give you a faster reload.

If you find a nice one (hint hint) you would be hard pressed to be unhappy with it I would think.

I never really cared for them. For me, a levergun has a classic look that requires a tube magazine. For a precision hunting rig, I would rather have a bolt gun. The BLR always struck me as a compromise between two platforms. It makes a superior lever gun at the sacrifice of tradition, and a poor substitute for a bolt gun in terms of achieveing highest accuracy.

Traditional and tube magazine are not necessarily equivalent.

Box magazine Winchester, model of 1895.

Available from Winchester right now:


Original examples:

The 1895 and the Savage 99 were both reasonably popular and successful, contemporaneously with the Marlin 1893 (now 336) and the Winchester 1894 (later 94, now again 1894 -- see Winchester's web site).

Hollywood is not reality. The 1892 Winchester didn't exist in 1870. The 1873 Colt didn't exist in 1850.

I have 3 lever guns, all tube-fed. However, it is to be noted that, even 100 years ago, there were some people, including the intrepid Francis Buzzacott, who thought the .30-30 was a pretty lousy cartridge. Don't confuse our notions of "tradition" with actual history.

351 WINCHESTER said:

The new blr's don't appeal at all to me. A friend bought one in .30-06 a few years ago. The only good thing about it was the typical Browning fit and finish. The rifle balanced and shouldered like a cinderblock.

Click to expand...

Yep all the svelt grace of a waterlogged mop with a halfway broken handle

I'd consider one if they made a .357 magnum version. I'd like Stainless Steel model with the Black/grey laminate stock.

Until then, nope...

Sold a 257 Roberts BLR, and picked up a 308 BLR light weight (alloy receiver). Was, and still am, consolidating calibers and picked the 308. Had the stock cut down to fit, as the BLR has a very long trigger reach. Course the long trigger reach fits others. This gave the rifle much better handling characteristics, especially with winter clothing.

Am very pleased with it, for the purpose it is intended. It could also make for a quick loading truck (non-military looking) rifle. Much easier and quicker to insert magazine, than to load tube.

There are other serious advantages to having your semi's, target and hunting rifles in one caliber. So far have several semi's, heavy barreled target, short lightweight bolt and a lever. All in the commonly found caliber 308.