Anyone anyone used a browning bar rifle?

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K1W1

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I had a look at one at the local gunshop the other day, seemed like a nice shooter and it felt good, anyone used one and if so what were your thoughts?Im in New Zealand and really don,t need a new rifle (god I sound like my wife)[ as I hunt with a tikka or X-bolt already ,just feel the need for more.
 
Most I have seen are not as accurate as bolt guns and feel like a fence post when you are carrying them around. However, on the plus side they tend to be one of the less problematic semi hunting rifles.
 
My all time deer killer is a BAR in 30.06. Plenty accurate. Smooth shooter. Been using it for 20+ years.
 
A lot of guys I hunt with swear by them. An older guy has used the same 7mm Mag Safari Grade with a Bushnell scope for years and it is still a very deadly combo.
 
I had one of the original BARs in 30/06 when they first came out many years ago. Nice wood and checkering, shot MOA, and the recoil was lighter than a bolt action. If you intend to reload, I'd suggest the RCBS small base die set, otherwise, there's a tendency to not fully return to battery. Other than that, a very good auto loader.

kerf
 
Browning Bar, is for most part the best autoloader as quality is concerned, just under the military type. If its been taken care of you'll have a heirloom to pass down to the next generation...
 
I have a BAR II Safari (steel receiver) in .243 Win. Love to shoot it -it's very soft shooting. Granted, it's heavier than many rifles but mine is just as accurate for me as my bolt guns, other than dedicated heavy barreled varmint rifles. Mine has never malfunctioned whatsoever. It's one that I won't ever get rid of. On top of that, the fit/finish is excellent.
 
I had one in 30-06 and imo it was decent as a hunting rifle, but that's about it. It shot horribly. 4-6" groups at 100 yards with most ammo. I finally found Federal Fusion ammo which would shoot about 2" groups in it, and that's the only ammo I found that shot anywhere near hat well. I also never could get handloads to shoot well in it either. Finally after trying a ton of things I read online to improve accuracy, I just gave up on it. I've talked to about 10 guys locally about it in my mission to try to get it to shoot accurately, and all but one has had the same problem I've had with it shooting more of a pattern instead of groups. When I get online, I read many reports of them shooting MOA, but then I've also read many other reports mirroring my experience.

I just don't think you can expect it to be accurate as it seems like it's rare that one is. However, the accuracy aside, they are beautiful rifles, and super reliable for a semi automatic. So if you can live with 3"+ groups, it might be a good choice for you. IMO I can't when my other hunting rifle shoots .5" groups at 100 yards, so it's not a good choice for me.
 
BAR

I had two of them, both Grade II. One was in .243, bought it new in 1967. It was never a tack-driver, and after having a wounded buck get away from me, I dumped it. Always missed the rifle, though, and a few years later I found the same rifle in .308. Boy, that thing was a shooter. And it put the game down for keeps. The last time I hunted with it, we got our antelope early, and so I shot up the rest of two boxes of ammo at prairie dogs. We were shooting at 350 yards, and we were getting the dogs. It had a Leupold 2-7 on it. Sadly, I disposed of it. If I were to go hunting again, I would look up another.
 
FWIW, I found tension of the forearm screw to be critical to accuracy in mine.
 
I have a longtrac .30-06 an it shoots Moa all day with core lokts as long as I don't let it get hot. If it gets warm it will walk vertically about 1-2".
 
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