Browning BAR - Durable Enough to be a Good Ranch Rifle?

[Blue Jeans]

I've found what I think is a pretty good deal on a used Browning BAR in .30-06. I have been looking at a BLR in .308 for the same uses, an aperture sighted ranch gun, but I think this BAR deserves some consideration, especially as I can actually disassemble the BAR when I learn how; from what I know, you have be one crazy Bubba to even consider that with the BLR
Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a BAR vs BLR thread, I just want to know how people feel these particular rifles (that is to say, BARs) stand up to regular use with proper maintanence. This will be slid in and out of saddle scabbards, bouce around in the back seat, undoubtedly pop many coyotes in its life of use, and serve as a thick woods rifle. Everything many well used Marlin and Winchester 30-30s have been put through.
I realize that semi-autos are an unorthodox choice for a ranch/saddle/truck gun. There are always concerns of malfuntion, this partucular model is probably a bit too long for a saddle gun, and bad things can happen with semi-autos on horseback. Well, I don't shoot off horseback, the BAR is pretty flat sidded, I've never heard anybody packing a Winchester 71 or a 26" inch barreld 30-30 (rifles with longer overall lengths) complain about how awful their rifles are in scabbards, and with all the lever guns that I seen which have never been cleaned for a long long time but still somehow perform reliably I imagine a semi-auto with the proper care and cleaning shouldn't be too much of a bother.
Okay, I suppose a BAR may be somewhat of an unconventional choice, but maybe that's why I like the idea.

So relaibility and durability of the Browning BAR; give me all you got about it.

One other thing, I've heard some people say that that action of the BAR makes it a noisey or blasty rifle. I personally don't get this, but maybe that's just my ignorance showing. As I understand, the BAR employs a gas piston and an interia block and the bolt is driven back by two rods. So no gas is being blown back into the action (not that that seems to make ARs loud), and shouldn't the bullet and gases have already exited the barrel by the time the bolt opens anyway? It all seems like internet BS to me, but I've been proven wrong a few times in the past.

 

[Blue Jeans]

It's worthing saying that I have other shorter, lighter, less powerful ranch guns. This is just to have one that is more suitable for big game.
And I would oy be shooting cototes with it if I happened to come across one while I had this with me.

 

[DPris]

It should hold up, but it's not an easy process to break that action down for thorough cleaning, which at some point you'll need to do.
Denis

 

[axxxel]

My dad has had a BAR as his main hunting rifle for... gosh it must be over 10 years now. It is a sweet shooting rifle, and it's quite accurate as well. If I recall correctly the mag has started to act out a little bit lately, not holding the bolt open or something. He only breaks the rifle down once a year or so and it has given him great reliability except for when he fired really old ammo in really cold (far below zero) weather.

I like the rifle. It's really sweet shooting. and the controls are good. The magazine is a bit odd but for hunting it's great. Easy to fill up. The rifle is very light but the recoil really isn't bad.

 

[rbernie]

It's a very spendy and shiny gun to be used for a knock-around ranch rifle, but it should be reliable enough for the job. I honestly don't know how well the action works in really cold conditions where it might be subject to frozen internal condensation (kept in a warm vehicle cab and then taken out in sub-freezing weather).

Mine were reasonably accurate but not stellar, and I liked them well enough. On the other hand, I never got one to fit me - I can't get a proper cheek weld with the Browning stock. Also, I never much cotton'ed to the fact that the bolt hold open (in the 'II' update - the original design had none, IIRC) was a magazine feature and not built into the receiver - you can't drop the magazine and lock the bolt to the rear.

 

[Blue Jeans]

The BAR isn't something I would normally consider for a ranch gun, it is kind of too pretty to put through a lot of hard use, and even worse the gun I've beem handling is a Safari model (no BOSS, though, thankfully). But, it is amazingly cheap and in great condition, (I guess nobody semi-autos don't move off the shelves aroind here very well for them to be offering it so low). So since I'm not really paying much for all the prettiness, I'm not going to be as concerned about it.

 

[Jim Watson]

Denis has what would be discouraging to me.
You pay a price for that slab sided receiver with no external pins or screws.
The rifle is a major project to take apart to clean the action, I remember My Neighbor The Gunsmith wrassling with one.

 

[Frostbite]

I think it would be a very good choice if you are capable enough to take care of it. Mine and my dad's have not let us down in any hunting weather you can possibly imagine, but are used one week per year. They handle like a charm, are pleasant to shoot and to look at. If it sells for not too much, I encourage you to try it, you might like it.

 

[CB900F]

Blue Jeans;

I'd say it depends on the conditions. Severe conditions, hard use, little time for care, get another gun for that. If it's a good enough deal, buy it for a hunting gun & use it that way. I imagine it's pretty enough too.

But, look where I'm at, Outer Montana. If the 4WD pickup is well & truly stuck, it's 'bout 9 miles back to wherever, and it's started to blizzard, I want a good sleeping bag and dead reliable bolt gun in the truck. Sometimes you've gotta move cattle even if you didn't get the snows on the truck, and if there's a carcass, well, we got griz.

900F

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

They're heavy and, in my experience, not all that accurate.

 

[barnbwt]

A polymer stocked BAR Short Trac would make a fine rifle, though any BAR is kind of nice for any planned abuse. If you bother to take good care of your tools & don't needlessly abuse them, there is no reason the BAR won't hold up or get in the way. I honestly suspect it can take a fair amount of abuse, but for what you're spending it would be kind of foolish to torture the poor thing & shorten its working lifespan for no reason.

As far as accuracy, my Short Trac-derived FNAR gets about 1MOA, and many get better than this. I'm not sure what all is entailed in FNH's accurizing of the BAR platform to build the FNAR, but I doubt the barrel or operating parts are noticeably different; it's probably the stock that is stiffened or floated better in the FNAR that makes all the difference.


Aluminum receiver and polymer furniture; it is literally impossible for it to be notably heavy among 308 semis. They do tend to have heavier barrels than AR10s can though. BTW, any 308 semi will be a bit bulky and heavy to carry all day, but if kept in a vehicle or a short walk away, no big deal.

TCB

 

[Snowbank!]

I hunt with a bar high grade and it is in a saddle scabbard endlessly. Safari model or newer is very simple to break down for cleaning. I haven't had a failure of any kind yet. The newer ones are better than the older ones. My longest kill was 600+ yards. This year I killed a running bull at 150 yds through the timber- one shot. The wood breaks up in bad horse wrecks but my experience has shown marlin and winchester to do the same. I would buy the bar but then again I have four.

 

[Blue Jeans]

So, I guess you'd say a BAR goes pretty good in a scabbard, SnowBank. Does the charging handle handle ever be an incovenience?

Another question, as long as the magazine is in, can the action be locked back even with a loaded magazine? If so, can the BAR's magazine be loaded from the ejection port?

 

[axxxel]

If the bolt hold open lever is actuated when the bolt is to the rear, it will hold the bolt open. The BHO lever is located in front of the magazine, and the easiest way to activate the BHO it is to move your support hand back to the rear of the handguard and pull down on the lever with your left index finger, to let the bolt slam forward. Push it up to lock the bolt back.

The magazine can be loaded from the ejection port. I think there is a variation of the BAR which has the magazine mounted on kind of a floor plate that is hinged forward of the magwell. That made it very easy to top up the magazine.

You should be careful when selecting how to lubricateyour rifle. If the plates that connect the force from the gas system to the bolt get covered in dried up sticky oil and dust they might get too much friction against the receiver and cause reliability issues. I'm not sure that you need to oil those plates at all. Other BAR users might have more to say on this.

 

[RainDodger]

It's not that difficult to take apart. I do it every time I shoot mine. Every step is covered in the owner's manual quite well. It's a slightly heavy rifle, but it's durable and it's accurate enough for the purpose it was designed for. Mine hasn't missed a beat in the 20 years I've had it.

 

[dogrunner]

I've owned three of the things.....gave my old (70's) '06 to a favorite relative....kept a .338 and '06 light weight. Latter has a 20" bbl.....thing shoots like a target rifle and is truly the fastest handling hp rifle I have ever owned....For the record, in over thirty years of hunting with mine I have yet to experience a malfunction, and that's from hunting in the appalachians to running deer dogs here in Florida. (and if you're unfamiliar with that style lemme just tell you that it IS constant in and out of the pickup trying to head off deer and dogs)

You can't go any better!!!

Just noted your question about reloads....if that is a concern then just buy another clip....once you get the hang of removing one its fairly quick, tho the method is somewhat different........can't, tho, imagine why anyone would want a speed reload with a five shot hunting styled rifle.

By the way, I shoot reloads exclusively in all my hp rifles.....my BAR '06 load is just a carryover from my old M/70....57.0 of IMR 4350 under a Sierra 165 HPBT....yeah, I know that's supposedly a bolt gun load but like I said I have NEVER had a failure in two BARs using it.

 

[Snowbank!]

Never had any problem with the charging handle. I did sew a flap on the scabbard to cover the bolt slot to limit snow into the action. By sewing it on the leading side I can still use my bolt guns. The safari models (90s) have a lever that keeps the bolt open if you push it up after opening the bolt. The older models stay open when the clip is empty. I wouldn't load the clip from the top. The ejection port is too small. Drop the floor plate and put them in. You don't have to remove the clip. I often load while walking when I am walking up on an animal or having a hide and seek shooting adventure in the pine thickets.

I never oil the piston more than wiping it with an oily cloth at reassembly ( once a season). In the earlier model I dropped one drop of oil on the piston. I use remington spray oil (not aerosol) and spray the inside of the action not more than twice, cycle it twice and then wipe it clean. The residue is more than ample. If it gets dirty I disassemble, use gun scrubber or ether, pour the junk out, wipe the parts, assemble and oil very lightly. The system works in pouring rain, blowing snow, or -20. Same for my A-5s. If the bar is an earlier model I found it worked best with nickel-plated brass and I reload with small base dies. The 90s guns will eat almost anything.