About the browning BLR...

[WinchesterAA]

I was on here about a week ago and there was a thread from some guy asking a question about a light weight detachable magazine fed rifle in some larger caliber that was reliable, accurate, etc etc..

I forget the member who responded, but he did indeed nail the response.

"Browning BLR. That was easy, wasn't it?"

Indeed it was.. I went to the sporting goods store down the road from me to check one out, then went back the next day and bought it because it seemed like exactly what I wanted..

Lever action rifle that reminds me more of a bolt gun with how tightly it locks, is fed by detachable box magazine, and chambered for the .270win cartridge which I have a bunch of, have shot for years, and have been very successful with in various environments and distances.

Unfortunately my job consumes almost all of my time, and it's raining today so I don't think shooting it today is gunna happen, but I sure want it to.

I was just curious, how well does yours perform? The iron sights have an awesome sight picture compared to the others I own, but it's also drilled and tapped for a scope.. I was thinking if the iron sights didn't tickle my fancy afterall that I could get a fixed power 4x scope that'd make it great from 0-300 yards but that's only going to happen if I don't do well with the iron sights.


What do you think of yours? What can I expect from mine in terms of longevity, accuracy, reliability, etc?

 

[Speedo66]

I've got an older BLR, Belgian made, in .308 and love the gun.

It's got a Redfield Frontier 4X on it and works great, i.e., accurate, light, short, and powerful. In other words, the ideal woods gun.

As far as reliability, I've only had 1 round fail to fire. Very cold weather, oiled bolt, and using foreign ammo with hard primers. The second time I pulled the hammer back it went off. Fortunately, the deer stood there and waited for the second try!

The gun still looks new, the blueing is beautiful.

The downside is the price of magazines for the older models has gone through the roof. Also the light weight does not make for an all day range gun, but that's not what the gun was designed for.

I'm sure you'll enjoy yours, good luck.

 

[45Badger]

I sold mine (.308) a couple years ago. It was a beautiful, well made gun. It was plenty accurate for deer hunting, it was not as accurate as a good bolt gun. The trade off in accuracy was not worth the speed of second shot, especially at longer ranges. I use a bolt gun, and don't tend to miss the first shot. And I'm fast enough to meet my needs.

It's a very good gun. Shoot the snot out of it and let us know how you like it!

 

[rodell]

Mine has a Williams peep sight - I wanted to both keep the weapon lightweight and have something "different" from all my telescopic sights. I've accomplished both.

Mine is a 7mm-08.

Bob

 

[browningguy]

Foe a scope check out Natcheszz.com, they have the Nikon Buckmaster 4x40 on sale for $99.95, quite a good deal and I need a scope to use the accuracy and range they have.

I had one in .300 Mag, very accurate for a lever gun, average 1.25-1.5" for 3 shot groups. Unfortunately the stock design is not the best for the hard kicking calibers and I wound up trading it to a friend for a HK SLB2000 in 30-06. I think I would like another one in .243 or 7mm-08. .

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Don't shoot milsup ammo in these rifles unless you want missfires. The hammer spring is on the weak side and most likely won't set off the harder milsup primers. Other than that which isn't a big deal, these are outstanding rifles, especially the earlier ones. I don't care for alum. receivers, but I'm sure they are strong.

 

[WinchesterAA]

I got this since I have a big background with the .270, am gearing up to reload for that cartridge as well, and as it would appear from what I've seen, I have quite a few options for reloading the .270. I have bolt guns in .270 as well, but I wanted a light, quick, and mostly accurate firearm for ranges up to 300 yards, but the average being <100 yards. all of the deer/hogs/etc I've shot was only because I had the opportunity and the preparation for it. There's a million times that I wasn't prepared, but had the opportunity... Mostly because the firearms I hunt with only come out when I'm moving to my location, or to a stand, or whatever, otherwise left in the vehicle. They weren't workhorses. This one is really pretty, and probably gunna last a while, but the latter is all I really care about. I'm just hoping I'm good with it. I've never had a rifle that had iron sights I could use very well. This one's gold bead front sight and low profile receiver and sight design allows for a huge sight picture I didn't get with say, the AK, the m44, etc etc. Haven't gotten to shoot it yet though, so all of this is speculation.