I had the camo stainless carbine version BLR in 450. I used it for crawling down bear trails through manzanita thickets when bear hunting. I liked everything about it except the hammer. I prefer lever guns w/o. Recoil is a pleasant stiff push. Not like a 300 magnum, so no worries. If you like the BLR and don't mind recoil, you'll like it just fine.

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An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack

LOL