Since my youth I had always wanted a Browning lever action .308 winchester.I Remember going to Sears and Mont. Wards with my parents in the late 1960's and heading for the Sporting good dept. to look at the guns and lusting after the Browning lever action .308 Win. Most of the store's in my area carried one.I love the way the rear sight looks. Well yesterday I went in a local gun store and there was one,like new with a Bushnell Scopechief 1.5 X 5 scope for a excellent price. I have to say it's the smoothest lever action I have ever felt. This one was made in 1981 and is all steel. Anybody else here hunt with a Browning lever action BLR ?

Did'nt like the look of the magazine/clip on the older ones so never had much use for them.

However, over the years I have crossed paths with quite a few guys using them out West for mulies, especially on horseback. ALL commented on how much they loved them and how accurate the were!

Recently, I came accross an older Belgium gun in .243 for a decent price and bought it for my left handed son. We have'nt scoped it up or shot it yet, but I have great expectations! I might even have to borrow it once or twice!!!

Good luck with yours!

my first deer rifle.
A 1979 made 308. now carries a 3.5-10x40 in low rings and is sub moa with my 165 load.
killed my first deer with it, my first buck with it and a couple every year since.
Because of the BLR i will always be a lever guy at heart.
One day i am going to find a beater pre-81 and rebarrel it to 25 souper.

williamsgunsight has a 308 and a 358 BLR for sale.

Have exact rifle (Model 81 - .308)and its still my primary whitetail rifle.

Shoots 1.25" @ 100 all day with a variety of factory fodder.

Quick handling and well balanced.

Mine was made in 1980 and is in .358 Winchester. As you stated, it is probably the smoothest lever ever made.

I had a .358 and have a .325 WSM. Neat rifles!

Neil Jones can fix the trigger...

i also have memories of the .308 BLR ... it was the 1st gun that allowed me to experience scope bite. tasco scope with low eye relief, shooting at angle, straight stock rifle w plenty of muzzle rise. thump, right between the eyes.

I have a 358 and it goes afield occasionally. Once I got past the fear of banging it up, it was a joy to carry and hunt with.

Enjoy! They are smooth and handy little rifles.

Congratulations, Patrick James, on finally getting your BLR! I found one last year that I could afford, having wanted one for many a year myself. Mine's a 243, a cartridge which I thoroughly despise, but the BLR is so nearly perfect a platform to me that I bought it anyway. Mine's the newer, aluminum-receiver, AR-style-lockup bolt system.

Love the BLR. In addition to the .308 below I have a .243 and .358 in the newer Lightweight style.

Been lusting over a LW 243 BLR for a while. Is there a noticeable difference in the BLRs over the years?

Me too. Got one in 270W and the only rifle I had to sell because I saw several gunsmiths and none could fix it. Pretty darn accurate too but just sometimes it would go bang other times no. I understand has to do with the 2 piece firing pin. Wrote to Browning and not even a reply - piss poor service. This was with factory shells and handloads. Pity!

They seem just about perfect for the woods.

regards
JohnT

I've never messed with them but sometimes think one in 358 would be a good woods rifle.

just a little

The older design has the locking lugs arranged more-or-less helically around the outside/perimeter of the bolt head. The lugs lock directly to the steel receiver, IIRC.

The current-design bolt head looks VERY much like an AR-15's, only much larger. The lugs are radially arrayed, projecting outward from the front of the bolt head. The lugs on the current design lock into a steel extension threaded onto the barrel, again like an AR-15. The body shape of the bolt carrier is different now vs. the old ones, too.

The old steel receivers are thinner through the middle, and sort of 'flare' outward just a bit to meet the wood. The current aluminum receiver material is much thicker than the steel (I believe to retain the same strength, whilst being lighter), so they're slightly thicker through the middle and get just a bit narrower to meet the wood. This aspect isn't something one notices at a casual glance, but is very clear if/when looked for.

The old steel receivers have pins as the axles around which the lever, hammer, & gears rotate. The current aluminum receivers use 'tube' axles that I believe to be noticeably larger in diameter, with screw heads on each end (the one end is a screw that screws into the tube).

Aluminum can't be blued, obviously, so they anodized or painted or covered in bear droppings or something. The color-matching between the aluminum receiver and blued-steel barrel is very good; better than the color-matching on many all-steel-but-differently-heat-treated (and containing MIM parts) bolt guns. I can't comment on the stainless ones as I've not handled one.

I love the pistol-grip models, and would really like a take-down.

Dont know what it means if anythng... but having owned both and currently owning only the pre81 (thats been mine since new) I can say that while the new design incoroprates what are called "features" that one may be pursuaded to want (ie lightweight, takedown, folding trigger, rustproof finish, synthetic stock and so on) I personally prefer the "featurless" pre-81 steel reciever right out of the box. With the addition of an appropriate scope that is.
Love this pic...
Not mine.
We dont have enough stag here in the carolinas to justify a season, yet.

Had a .358 that looked just like this one it was a great shooter and like a idiot I sold it

Would it be reasonable to think that a take down model's real value would be in it's ability to be cleaned from the breach? I have no need for a take down but feel that would really help with cleaning chores.

Patrick_James,

You've got yourself a serious problem. With that rifle you'll have a hard time justifying needing another.

I wish I could find such a rifle.

I hope it brings many years of hunting pleasure to you.


My best,

R

Cleaning from the breech (with other than a Bore Snake or an Otis kit) would be TERRIFIC! It would make it easier to get at the breech for cleaning the locking surfaces of the barrel extension, too.

The portability, if only theoretical 99+% of the time, is really cool, too.