I have a friend that is thinking about getting a rifle for deer hunting and elk hunting. He likes the idea of a lever gun and is looking at the BLR. I have never been around one so I told him that some of the campfire member would be able to shed some light on the subject. All opinions welcome.
I like the short action BLRs and have had one in 358 Win for several years. They cycle smoothly and carry nicely too. The long actions for the 30-06 length seem awkward to me, but at 5'6", I don't have long arms either. The first load I shot through it put 3 Speer 220 grain bullets into a 1.5" group at 100 yards, so I quit load development right there since I wasn't going to scope it anyway.
Between the 2 I'd opt for the 308. If you want one better in the short action try a 300 WSM!
Having a short action in a 308 Win and 325 WSM the short action is the way to go.....IMHO!!!
jayhawker has it right- the long action BLR's are capital-K CLUNKY! <grin>
I liked the straight-grip .358 I had, but I LOVE the pistol-grip .325 I currently own. At any rate, he might want to at least consider the WSM's - the 300 WSM being the obvious choice- as he can easily load down to .308 spec if he wants, but has the option of running the bullets 300 fps (or more) faster, too, with all the flight and terminal ballistics advantages.
All in a short action still.
Neil jones Custom Products will fix the horrific trigger on those.
Love, love, love the short action BLRs. The long action ones feel awkward to me as well and I'm 6"3
The .308 with the shorter 20-inch barrel is handier for deer hunting. A friend has the .30-06 in a straight grip and it looks, handles and shoots well. I have a 7mm-08, shorter barrel and pistol grip. It looks a bit odd, but it feels just like a Winchester Model 71, and that isn't a bad thing.
I'd go with the 308, the short action BLr's just look and feel better, of course mine is and ole steel model
Every BLR thread needs to have this link. This guy can give your BLR a 3-lb relatively clean trigger. The trigger on my .325 was basically unusable until Neil did his thing:
http://www.neiljones.com/
Do any of you guys have your BLR's scoped. If so, what scope are you using?
My BLR 308 Win wears a Sightron SSII 1.5-6 X 40. My BLR 325 WSM wears a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5-10 X 50
I had a 2x7 Burris compact on my .358. My .325 WSM has a 2.5x8 Leupold on it. I had to take the sights off to get the scope mounted low enough. The comb of the stock is a little high for the irons, and a little low for even low-as-it-gets scopes, IMHO. Like they kind of split the difference.
I did get one of my most visually spectacular kills on a deer with my .358 before I scoped it though. About 125 yards with the irons. That deer went ass over teakettle!!
Bushnell 3200 3x9x40 w/firefly
My BLR 308 (pistol grip) wears a VX-III 2.5-8x36 with heavy duplex reticle. Mounts are Talley Alloys (low).
Ian
I bought a BLR in 30-06 and had t rebarreled to 35 Whelen, mounted a 2-7 Leupy on it. 225 grain TSX make an AWESOME bear rig
I went to a local gun shop yesterday to just look at the BLR for my friend. They had both the 30-06 and the 308. The 308 came home with me! The wife told me that I needed that gun like I need another hole in my head. I tried to tell her that she could use it if she wants and she said she will just stick to the Kimber Montana. Maybe my friend will bail me out if I don't like it after I shoot it.
I have the stainless pistol grip .308 with a Neil Jones trigger.
I think having the trigger work done is something I would recommend without hesitation to anyone. Short action is much more keeping with the gun's balance. I like the pistol grip more than the straight grip for control. I use a straight tube Burris 4X on weaver mounts. A bright non adjustable 4X is to me perfectly matched to the rig. As a tree stand 200 yards or less rifle, most of the time much less, a 4X scope is perfect. It allows me to keep the rear sight in place and I can remove the scope and use (barely) the open sights looking over the weaver mounts.
No ma doubt for me, 308 all the way!
Dober
No ma doubt for me, 308 all the way!
Dober
Dotto.
There's just something "right" about the BLR and the 308 Win...