No gunsmith here, but I do most of the work on my own firearms, whenever I can. Most of what I need to do is usually pretty straight forward. Over the last week, and for the first time in more than 20 years, I took the time to look over some videos, then completely disassemble (except for the trigger group and firing pen/extractor mechanisms in the bolt) both my older Belgium BAR I in 7 RemMag and my somewhat newer Belgium BAR II in 243. Learned a few things the videos either didn't show or didn't show clearly enough that may help any other first-timers, should you choose to try this with these particular rifles. As it turns out, time well spent. Both needed some serious cleaning and the 7 Rem Mag had a broken buffer. Both are now clean as a whistle. The 7 Rem mag is still waiting for a new buffer block and action spring, though.
First, for reference, here is the parts list and schematic for these rifles:
http://media.browning.com/pdf/parts/2013/12-arn-432-bar-type-i-type-ii.pdf
For videos, use your favorite search engine. There are a few on You-Tube worth watching.
Second, if you are going to take her knickers off BAR and take the time to clean the gas-operated piston mechanism (which should be done a lot more frequently than every 20 years), then you should plan on also removing the stock, bolt, and trigger group from the receiver. Those items don't seem to require much more than a wipe down and light application of gun oil, and maybe a bit of a blow with compressed air, if you have it. But most importantly, doing so gives access to the rifle's bore from the breech, which IMO, is the only direction from which to properly and thoroughly clean the bore. I am a big believer in getting rid of absolutely all copper fouling and powder residue with the use of (insert your favorites) bore cleaning solvents and compounds. Mine are Hoppes 9, Butche's Bore Shine, JB Bore Polish, and Kroil, as appropriate. Neither cleaning from the muzzle nor cleaning with a bore snake is nearly as effective.
Lacking a bore guide, I laid a clean rag across and into the disassembled receiver, which made it easier to hold the action, protected the rifle's receiver, kept the stainless cleaning rod cleaner, and actually worked pretty well as a bore guide.
Here are the tools I used or ended up needing to use, that made it successful.
The two-handled yellow tool in the middle are inexpensive wire cutter/stripper pliers. These were relatively hard steel, could be opened out straight, as shown, and because the (obsolete) slotted gas regulator (Part 31) on the older BAR was indeed really hard to break loose, and because I chose not to go after it with a hammer and punch (like in one of the videos), and luckily, because the slot was horizontally oriented relative to the barrel, I was able to lay a rag over the barrel, turn the pliers on edge, and use the edge to traverse the slot, then, with the action in a vise, use both hands to break loose the threads on the gas regulator. I didn't booger up the slot or mar the barrel doing so.
The tube of FLITZ, if you haven't used it, is an excellent metal polishing compound that will absolutely do an excellent job on rust, corrosion, or any general filth on metal parts. The gas pistons in both rifles were functional, but both sorely needed cleaning an polishing. I used a wire brush on the regulator threads and the grooves in the piston, put a cotton gun patch over one end, chucked up the piston (carefully) in a 1/2 inch drill, and polished it to a mirror finish in short time, then flipped it over and did the other end.
After driving out the tiny roll pin in the piston chamber (1/16th roll pin punch), I used a bronze brush with powder solvent, then FLITZ on a bore swab to polish the piston chamber. Since the gas port goes from piston chamber to the barrels bore, make sure you clean the barrel after polishing the piston chamber to remove any polish or residue that makes its way into the bore. The short handle with a 410 bronze brush got most of the crud from the piston chamber and female threads. The chamber swab with the longer handle was just the thing for the final polishing of the piston chamber.
The older 7 Mag was, as it turns out, relatively easy to work on, giving me a false sense of confidence when I then started on the 243. The newer version was a lot trickier in several ways, at least for me. Less room to work, and less leeway to get the parts in exactly the right position to remove or re-install. On the older rifle, everything would slide out the backside, and back in the same way with little difficulty. On the newer version, that isn't possible. One of the videos shows that difference and what's required to remove the stock bolt plate (part #66) and the bolt on the newer rifle. Both were really tricky compared to the older BAR I.
My biggest SNAFU was forgetting to set the safety after cocking the trigger on the 243. Apparently, even the cocked hammer has to be depressed slightly in the newer version to give clearance to slide the trigger group out the back side. But if, like me, you manage, stupidly, to drop the hammer when trying to slide the trigger group out, and it binds and locks up on the underside of the bolt, with both the bolt and the trigger group stuck in the back end of the receiver, then things get difficult -- you can't go forward or backward with either the bolt or the trigger group.
Also if you have big hands and fingers, there's no room to reach in and do it with a finger. Note also that a small flashlight in your mouth may help, but is still cumbersome. A good headlamp, if you have one, is just the thing.
Notice on the photo of the breech end of the chamber (cleaning rod is in the barrel) that there is a hole below the chamber (or above it in the picture), between it and the hinge plate that holds the magazine? That hole machined to accept the guide rod for the action spring of the gas piston/operating rods on the opposite (lower front end) of the receiver.
A long, thin slotted screwdriver can be passed through that hole and pushed back into the receiver, which makes depressing the spring-loaded hammer much easier. That is how I ended up clearing the jammed trigger group and bolt.
There may be a better way, but this was the easiest for me. Once I pressed the hammer down, I could pull the bolt forward. I still ended up needing a small hook to then reach in from the back side and pull the hammer back a bit more to clear the trigger group, then slide the trigger group out. That wasn't possible with the bolt locked back, jammed on top of the trigger group.
Also, an issue with the 243 was that I reassembled it the first try by putting the gas operating system and foreshock back on the rifle before putting the butt stock back on. Mistake. With the gas-op rods and foreshock installed, the L/R support rails (part #69) slide to the back of the receiver. Cocked or not cocked, the support rails prevent the stock bolt plate from sliding back from over the trigger group and rotating into position to re-attach the butt stock. Each has to be out, or well forward for that maneuver in the newer rifle. Also the stock bolt plate slides into a slot, but not securely. With the rifle standing on the end of the barrel, if the long bolt that passes through the butt stock doesn't mate perfectly, any force pushes the stock bolt plate out of position. Drop the long bolt through the stock first, the put the screwdriver in the screw slot, then (with someone else holding the action, or with the action vertical in a vise, CAREFULLY line up the end of the bolt to the threads of the bolt plate stock. It took me almost 30 minutes to put the darned butt stock back on.
And, on the newer rifle (at least mine), installing the foreshock required not just locking the action open, but manually pressing the bolt handle back the extra fraction of an inch before I could actually get the forestock to slip back into place.
None of these problems occurred with the older style, (more open rear end of the receiver) in the older 7 Rem Mag. It took me maybe 30 -45 minutes to disassemble and maybe an hour to reassemble the 7 Rem Mag the first time. It took me maybe 2 hours last evening and at least 2 hours this evening to disassemble and reassemble the 243 on my first try, not counting cleaning time.
Next time will be faster, and less fraught with error. And (understandably, I suppose) if you undertake the project for the first time on your own, don't count on either Browning Service or any gunsmith to offer any helpful suggestions (other than "You can ship your partially disassembled rifle and parts for me to take a look at", should you get stuck.
First, for reference, here is the parts list and schematic for these rifles:
http://media.browning.com/pdf/parts/2013/12-arn-432-bar-type-i-type-ii.pdf
For videos, use your favorite search engine. There are a few on You-Tube worth watching.
Second, if you are going to take her knickers off BAR and take the time to clean the gas-operated piston mechanism (which should be done a lot more frequently than every 20 years), then you should plan on also removing the stock, bolt, and trigger group from the receiver. Those items don't seem to require much more than a wipe down and light application of gun oil, and maybe a bit of a blow with compressed air, if you have it. But most importantly, doing so gives access to the rifle's bore from the breech, which IMO, is the only direction from which to properly and thoroughly clean the bore. I am a big believer in getting rid of absolutely all copper fouling and powder residue with the use of (insert your favorites) bore cleaning solvents and compounds. Mine are Hoppes 9, Butche's Bore Shine, JB Bore Polish, and Kroil, as appropriate. Neither cleaning from the muzzle nor cleaning with a bore snake is nearly as effective.
Lacking a bore guide, I laid a clean rag across and into the disassembled receiver, which made it easier to hold the action, protected the rifle's receiver, kept the stainless cleaning rod cleaner, and actually worked pretty well as a bore guide.
Here are the tools I used or ended up needing to use, that made it successful.
The two-handled yellow tool in the middle are inexpensive wire cutter/stripper pliers. These were relatively hard steel, could be opened out straight, as shown, and because the (obsolete) slotted gas regulator (Part 31) on the older BAR was indeed really hard to break loose, and because I chose not to go after it with a hammer and punch (like in one of the videos), and luckily, because the slot was horizontally oriented relative to the barrel, I was able to lay a rag over the barrel, turn the pliers on edge, and use the edge to traverse the slot, then, with the action in a vise, use both hands to break loose the threads on the gas regulator. I didn't booger up the slot or mar the barrel doing so.
The tube of FLITZ, if you haven't used it, is an excellent metal polishing compound that will absolutely do an excellent job on rust, corrosion, or any general filth on metal parts. The gas pistons in both rifles were functional, but both sorely needed cleaning an polishing. I used a wire brush on the regulator threads and the grooves in the piston, put a cotton gun patch over one end, chucked up the piston (carefully) in a 1/2 inch drill, and polished it to a mirror finish in short time, then flipped it over and did the other end.
After driving out the tiny roll pin in the piston chamber (1/16th roll pin punch), I used a bronze brush with powder solvent, then FLITZ on a bore swab to polish the piston chamber. Since the gas port goes from piston chamber to the barrels bore, make sure you clean the barrel after polishing the piston chamber to remove any polish or residue that makes its way into the bore. The short handle with a 410 bronze brush got most of the crud from the piston chamber and female threads. The chamber swab with the longer handle was just the thing for the final polishing of the piston chamber.
The older 7 Mag was, as it turns out, relatively easy to work on, giving me a false sense of confidence when I then started on the 243. The newer version was a lot trickier in several ways, at least for me. Less room to work, and less leeway to get the parts in exactly the right position to remove or re-install. On the older rifle, everything would slide out the backside, and back in the same way with little difficulty. On the newer version, that isn't possible. One of the videos shows that difference and what's required to remove the stock bolt plate (part #66) and the bolt on the newer rifle. Both were really tricky compared to the older BAR I.
My biggest SNAFU was forgetting to set the safety after cocking the trigger on the 243. Apparently, even the cocked hammer has to be depressed slightly in the newer version to give clearance to slide the trigger group out the back side. But if, like me, you manage, stupidly, to drop the hammer when trying to slide the trigger group out, and it binds and locks up on the underside of the bolt, with both the bolt and the trigger group stuck in the back end of the receiver, then things get difficult -- you can't go forward or backward with either the bolt or the trigger group.
Also if you have big hands and fingers, there's no room to reach in and do it with a finger. Note also that a small flashlight in your mouth may help, but is still cumbersome. A good headlamp, if you have one, is just the thing.Notice on the photo of the breech end of the chamber (cleaning rod is in the barrel) that there is a hole below the chamber (or above it in the picture), between it and the hinge plate that holds the magazine? That hole machined to accept the guide rod for the action spring of the gas piston/operating rods on the opposite (lower front end) of the receiver.
A long, thin slotted screwdriver can be passed through that hole and pushed back into the receiver, which makes depressing the spring-loaded hammer much easier. That is how I ended up clearing the jammed trigger group and bolt.
There may be a better way, but this was the easiest for me. Once I pressed the hammer down, I could pull the bolt forward. I still ended up needing a small hook to then reach in from the back side and pull the hammer back a bit more to clear the trigger group, then slide the trigger group out. That wasn't possible with the bolt locked back, jammed on top of the trigger group.
Also, an issue with the 243 was that I reassembled it the first try by putting the gas operating system and foreshock back on the rifle before putting the butt stock back on. Mistake. With the gas-op rods and foreshock installed, the L/R support rails (part #69) slide to the back of the receiver. Cocked or not cocked, the support rails prevent the stock bolt plate from sliding back from over the trigger group and rotating into position to re-attach the butt stock. Each has to be out, or well forward for that maneuver in the newer rifle. Also the stock bolt plate slides into a slot, but not securely. With the rifle standing on the end of the barrel, if the long bolt that passes through the butt stock doesn't mate perfectly, any force pushes the stock bolt plate out of position. Drop the long bolt through the stock first, the put the screwdriver in the screw slot, then (with someone else holding the action, or with the action vertical in a vise, CAREFULLY line up the end of the bolt to the threads of the bolt plate stock. It took me almost 30 minutes to put the darned butt stock back on.
And, on the newer rifle (at least mine), installing the foreshock required not just locking the action open, but manually pressing the bolt handle back the extra fraction of an inch before I could actually get the forestock to slip back into place.
None of these problems occurred with the older style, (more open rear end of the receiver) in the older 7 Rem Mag. It took me maybe 30 -45 minutes to disassemble and maybe an hour to reassemble the 7 Rem Mag the first time. It took me maybe 2 hours last evening and at least 2 hours this evening to disassemble and reassemble the 243 on my first try, not counting cleaning time.
Next time will be faster, and less fraught with error. And (understandably, I suppose) if you undertake the project for the first time on your own, don't count on either Browning Service or any gunsmith to offer any helpful suggestions (other than "You can ship your partially disassembled rifle and parts for me to take a look at", should you get stuck.
