I recently acquired this rifle brand new and over the last few weeks have a bit of shooting at the range. Overall I am quite happy with the rifle, it is a keeper.

It is a Browning BLR Lightweight Stainless Laminate and is chambered in 308Win. It has the pistol grip stock which I prefer, probably because all of my other rifles are bolt actions so this style of stock is more familiar. It is fitted with a decent recoil pad and the barrel is free floating forward of the front screw. The magazine is blue rather than stainless which was a surprise (did they ever make stainless magazines?). It holds 4 rounds.

I�ve fitted a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8x36 with duplex reticle in Talley alloy rings. I had to remove the rear sight to fit the scope. The front sight is visible when the scope is on low power but not really an issue, I�ll probably remove it (front sight) at some stage.

I did a fairly minimal �run in�; it is quite easy to get clean. I�ve been using Hoppes #9 to get rid of the powder fouling then Wipeout to remove copper.

I tried some Remington factory loads which returned 5-shot groups around 2 - 2.5� at 100m. I then started on my handloads with the Nosler 125gn BT (for feral goats). 47grains of AR2206H is returning 5-shot groups averaging 1.2MOA at 100m. More powder increased the size of the groups significantly so I�m happy with the 47gn load. Next step is to develop a 150gn load.

Recently I shot it in an informal lever action match and did OK. Was able to put some reasonable groups down from field positions but need to practice my rapid fire. The rifle is still pretty tight � the lever is a bit �sticky� to cycle but I expect this to loosen up with more shooting. The trigger is pretty ordinary � heavy, creepy and very long. A trip to the gunsmith will hopefully improve it a bit.

To sum up: the positives are the rifle fits me very well, shoots accurately, is light & is fun. The barrel doesn�t foul excessively and I�m happy with my choice of scope to match the rifle. The negatives are the trigger (which I expected to be poor), the blue magazine and the fact that Winchester Australia still hasn�t supplied the spare magazine several months after ordering it.

Cheers

Ian

I agree on the trigger, it will smooth out a bit (mine did) after 400-500 rounds.

I found extra magazines for mine without a problem but I am in the us.

I don't like the black reciever versions of the rifle, I "FELT" that they would chip so I like the alumn. color ones better.

Spot

I just purchased a Belgium made BLR, with straight stock and steel receiver. this is something i have been wanting for a long time. can not wait to shoot it this weekend.

I have three BLRs. All of them are the older steel framed models. I have two .308 Wins, one is a backup in case anything happens to the first one, and I recently purchased a beautiful 22-250 that I believe will make a great coyote, and general purpose varmit gun for most of the varmit shooting I get to do.

Currently, I am trying to decide on how much scope to put on it. I know it will probably be a Leupold, as that is what I usually get. But I am trying to decide on how much magnification I want vs. handyness and compactness.

I have the older model BLR in 358 Win.
It's shooting it's favourite 220 gr load right at 1" and 220 fps.
A couple of other loads open up a bit to 1 1/4".
Have shot 3 elk and grizzly with it.
Light, handy and fun to shoot. Great saddle gun.
Same issues with the trigger.
Current scope in QR rings is Leupold's fixed 2.5 X, but have also used their Vari-X III 1.5-5 on this gun.
Works well in low light, and still fits in the saddle scabbard.
Having the sights still on, ensures back up should there be a problem with the scope.

My hunting partner has a new one in 358 Win.
He's getting 3/8" groups in his!

I have a BLR Lightning in 7mag that I just love to shoot. Never a problem. Had the trigger smoothed and lightened by my gunsmith when I first got it. I get excellent groups with the Fed Premiums, so that's what I use for hunting. It sports a Bushnell 3200 Elite.

I also have the stainless, pistol grip in .308. I have weaver mounts and a Burris 4 power straight tube. I kept the rear sight on. I can remove the rings and pick up the sight picture over the top of the mounts. As a Virginia deer rifle it borders on perfection.
It is an easy 1" shooter with just 20 rounds through it. It will just get better.

I have three of the BLR 81's, the steel Miroku models. My .308 is my go to gun ha a Burris 2x7 and will shoot under 1" with just about any factory ammo.

I got a minty .270 and had it rebored to .35 Whelen, that's a little more finicky because of the rebore but I haven't broken it in yet, and have only put two boxes of shells through it.

I just picked up my third, another steel 81, in .358, haven't even gotten a chance to shoot that yet.

I found that bedding the forend on the .308 made a real difference. Also had the triggers worked.