Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Reviews on the Browning BLR

They are known to strip the gears out of the rack and pinion on the lever, when worked hard. There were pictures of such on here a few years back.

I have seen this happen. Gear was broken so lever wouldn't cycle. I believe different models may have had better gears or gears made of different materials. Receivers made of different materials also. He11 I don't know. I used to know all this $hit. I could prolly go back years and read my old posts and learn something "new".

The BLR has never appealed to me due to it's large awkward looking receiver design. I like traditional style lever guns. Own many. And the BLR is an ugly duckling in comparison. Don't like the looks, the feel, the finish, or the trigger. As for reliability, some may have used them for years without issue, but it still cannot be considered as reliable as a good old USA made Winchester or Marlin IMO.

I am quite certain I could improve the trigger on one. But it is not easy, and there are certain things you must avoid doing when tinkering with one. It still will never be like a nice bolt action trigger, but you can reduce the weight of pull quite a bit, and reduce some of the 10 feet of creep they have. I highly recommend having an experienced smith doing it if you aren't someone who has worked on triggers.....

My brother had one in 358 for a few years, never got to shoot anything but paper with it though. It always functioned just fine, he never had any problems with it. Ending up selling it because he was more comfortable with his 300 Win for elk hunting.

kingfisher,

I'd give a body part for a Sako Finnwolf.

My friend has a BLR. He loves it.

I liked my early 358 BLR. The trigger didn't bother me. However, If I put in all the mag would hold it would not feed well.

If you hunt from a stand, go with a BAR.

I love BLRs. I like Marlins and winchesters, too. I tried to like Savage 99s, but their ugliness and weakness has thrown me off, no matter how much I try. I've seen plenty of pretty 'lipstick' on 99s, but they're still ms piggy in a pretty dress.

i hunt a BLR in 30.06. got it when i was 16, it's not a tack driver, but a good hunting rifle. I'm a lefty so this was a good option for me at the time. the action is smooth. you won't be disappointed with this rifle

I really like the old steel short receiver BLR rifles. I dislike the alloy long receiver rifles.

Do you mean Aluminum? Alloy is steel. I am a toolmaker by trade and deal with all types of materials daily.

Any mix of multiple metals is an alloy. The majority metal can be iron or aluminum or whatever...

I am a shipfitter by trade and work for a company that builds 400' long Navy ships out of aluminum...want to guess how many different types of alloy we use?

I quote and process details for the Aerospace and Defense dept. I have a good idea what metals you work with. Just saying alloy is also a steel. Typically group material that is in the tool steel or heat treatable range. You can heat treat Aluminum to specific temp ranges but they to not get as hard as steel alloy. I am sure you know this, so I won't jump off topic to much.

I have had several BLR's and plan on keeping the 308 and 284 I have now. The triggers take a little getting used to, but they are not really a problem. Both of my BLR's are accurate and very slick operating. If I was going to get another, It would be a short action, steel receiver with a straight grip. I haven't been able to warm up to the aluminum, long action, pistol grip versions… But the takedown feature is interesting.

I do like my Belgium BLR in 308.

sweet.
I put Talley LW on mine. I also found a spare front sight hood a couple years ago to replace the one that came off sometime in the 90's.
I tried a couple of the post 81s, couldn't love them so the departed.
now magazines for the Belgium and Japs and always on my snach list.

This BLR subject jogged my memory a little bit. There are a couple that slipped though my fingers over the years. One was a 257 Roberts, the other was a 450 Marlin Magnum.

This BLR subject jogged my memory a little bit. There are a couple that slipped though my fingers over the years. One was a 257 Roberts, the other was a 450 Marlin Magnum.

I had one in .243 for a number of years. I got it for fast action coyote calling in brush country. I liked the rifle OK and shot gobs of coyotes with it. It was very accurate. I had the trigger worked some, but it was still pretty long.

I just did not like to have a rifle that I could not easily break down and clean. Other than that, I really could not complain about it.

shhhhh.
don't say that too loud. my 1980 308 might hear you and quit shooting sub moa till I take it apart and clean it.
I've only been hunting with it since I was 12.

Thanks for the comments guys. Right now all I can say is I am undecided after reading some of the comments. I do not like Aluminum receivers and the trigger issue.

I will handle it one more time. I do know it really fit well and my boy said the same thing after he handled it.