Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Kids at the Campfire The kid picked a BLR.

Cruising the gunshops, pawnshops and BiMart yesterday for a rifle for the boy we found one that really got him excited. I had a little extra coin from selling a 94 Win. right so we invested it in a Browning BLR 81 in .308 Win. He said he could lever it from the shoulder which he couldn't do with other lever guns so he liked it better. He got the lever bug from a 45-70 I used to have and a .357 lever that I have. Anyway, we picked up this gun for 360.00, a little blue worn and a few stock scratches to contend with but that will be our project to work on together. He shot it last night grinning like a goon all the time. He wants to scope it so we'll shop for a Leupold 4X compact or maybe a reasonably priced 1-4 VXII. I think I'm happier than he is.......

Very nice! Great to hear about more kids getting into hunting.

Good deal - I like, how you are doing a good job to let the kid grow into the deal while keeping tabs on him to stick to the basics.

A BLR in .308 with a 4x Leupold - find a good load for the gun and go hunting.

If you do your part in teaching him and he his in learning - it will be years till he figures, he needs a diferent set-up.

I figure if he puts some effort and some of his own money into it he'll appreciate it more. He likes to hand load so we can do that together too. My other boys like to load too, one puts cases in the press, the other puts the bullet on top, I run the handle.....slower than when I do it alone but much more entertaining.....the conversations we have are priceless!

Dad gave my son his .308 Browning BLR some years ago. The young man has never wanted or needed any other hunting rifle!

Do not let your son log onto the Campfire...

that was a big mistake,the kid is young and he already has all the rifle he will ever need.

The trigger on a BLR is typically a horror show of creep and hard pull... Neil Jones of Neil Jones Custom products is the only gunsmith I could find that would work on that trigger. He turned the one on my BLR from one that's unusable for precision work (by me anyway) to a quite nice 3-lb trigger. Not cheap though- around $100.

Something to consider anyway, especially if the rifle is a shooter (it probably will be) or if the kid is having trouble getting good accuracy because of that god-awful trigger!

If all he shoots is that rifle then he will "learn" the trigger and do well with it. I grew up shooting deer with slug guns before the era of rifled barrels and tuned shotguns. The triggers on the 870's and 1100 were always creepy and hard. But for some reason I was able to shoot some really good 100 yd. groups with those guns, likely because I figured out when the trigger broke. Considering the bargain price I paid for that BLR I couldn't justify spending any $ on trigger work. It WILL wear a Leupold though, hopefully a 4X Compact if I can find one.

Funny you should mention that. He knows what an obsessive gun trader I am and flatly stated that when he's 18 he'll be able to keep it in his room and when he eventually leaves home he's taking it with him. The he looks at me and says "RIGHT DAD!!" OK, OK, we won't trade this one off.......

And I'm not too worried, I've had all the rifle I ever needed a dozen times!

Ain't that the truth.

You did good, that BLR is a fantastic hunting rifle. Your son just may find that even later when he has other guns to choose from, that the BLR is his favorite to take into the woods. I know mine is.

BLR is Great, I've had 3 in .257 Roberts. a 2 x 7 goes good on them too. All my boys started on old NRA Springfields (re-stocked by their dad back in freshman shop) (yes in the 60's we could do that in Montana)& the girls started on my 257s & now the ones that are still "into that" have their own .257s... & their kids are starting now with Grampa's guns. .308 is a good choice, he will use it well.
MC

All 3 of the BLR's I've had (257 Roberts) have been tack drivers I love the guns & unfortunately only kept 1. But, it is a go to when I want to shoot well & the triggers were all adequate, the gun short & light to carry. (& now they come in the short mags too) 3 shot groups with the load the gun liked looked like a field of clover.
Congrats to that most astute young man. Tell him he can keep his BLR & it is nice to have more than 1 gun, his BLR won't mind, always worked for my kids.
MC