Britt,
You are correct. I just got off the phone with Browning and they said that the gear was indeed metal, not plastic.
The BLR is back on my Christmas list for sure!
Now, which caliber shall I get? Hmmm.....
.358 Win. Unless you exclusively hunt bean fields on the coastal plain, the .358 will do it all. Awesome for those big boy Black Bear too. I hunt NC swampland, and love the .358