Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Browning BAR .338 Winchester

Went by the gunshop this morning and there was this really nice Browning BAR on the shelf and I could not resist and bought it.

Anybody ever fool with one of these?

I have a 300 WM made in ‘68.its a chootin S.O.B.

I had a 7 mag, great gun!

Are they finicky with feeding/ chambering hand loads?

No they work great, I knew a guy that owned one and he absolutely loved it. Great buy. As long as you full size them they should work fine.

That is good news. I have dies and a box of factory ammo on order to give it a run. Now, I just need to decide on a scope.

I loaded up some 250 accubonds and it was accurate, but recoil was considerable.

Not finicky in my limited experience..

I had a 338. Good gun, quite dependable and shot good.

I've owned several BARs through the years and known guys who used them too. All shot very well, a few were finicky, a few were jammers. My first was 7mm Rem Mag ( 1973) and it was finicky, but very accurate. A friend 3 other friends used BARs in 30-06, 7mm RM and 300WM. About 15 yrs ago, I bought one in 338WM, for a recoil sensitive friend who wanted to hunt elk. I had it Magnaported and used the factory 200NBT (the coated ones) and it was perfect. It was one of the models with the side lever bolt release. I had my smith take it out. Hangs up on everything! I had an older Belgium made one in .270W that was excellent. I had a financial shortfall and had to sell it. They are great rifles, a bit heavy for the mountains but with a 2x7 or 3x9 very useable. Even a straight 4x Leupold will work fine for elk and not add more weight to the rifle. Have ball pard!

Bull Creek Arms B-A-R

.416 Taylor
https://revivaler.com/wp-content/up...chester-Magnum-1a-bullcreekarms.com_.jpg

.458win
https://images.app.goo.gl/RoN1R3NszzEG7uwUA


...grins;

I have read that Browning actually made a few BAR in .458.

I love the old ones, though I never took the plunge. Now that I'm on the light rifle bandwagon, I don't suppose I ever will. I'd like to see one of the new straight-pulls they made using the design in person. You just yank the bolt and let it go; the spring slams it back into battery. Pretty slick, and they moved the bolt to a better location than on the previous one.

Nice one.

The previous owner musta had the Hubble screwed to it!

Yep, it had a 3-9 x 50 Simmons Prohunter on it. That thing went in the trading fodder pile.

NICE! Congrats, I have a 1969 year model BAR 338, it loves 250gr partitions over imr-4350 for an easy 2700 fps, mine wears an old gloss Burris 1-3/4-5 in Conetrol rings and bases, plenty of accuracy and glass for 300+ yard hunting of medium sized game, I'd go 400 for Elk.

Sounds like a really nice rig. I am thinking something like a 1.5-5 or 2-7 for mine.

Nice one HB! Like most of the magnums, few people shoot them enough to do more than just break them in! When I bought my Belgium made .270W, it was from an old guy who had used it for years. The outside looked well cared for, but you could tell he hadn't messed with the inside! I took it to my gunsmith and had him clean it all super good, including the gas port, etc, and checking it all out. I don't know if it wasn't working fine as it was, but I wanted no chances. I am OCD for reliability on any semi, ha. Good luck to you and try those Nosler 180 Accubonds in that thing! I used that bullet in a 338 RUM going 3500fps on a big aoudad back in '07. It acted like a Partition!

Thanks for the bullet suggestion. I will give them a run.

I've also used the 185 XLC in the 338WM on elk and the 210xbt in 340W (more of a lightweight than a 225) on Plains Game. I think that even a lwt 338 cal bullet cuts a bigger hole than the same weight in a 300 mag. Slight, but bigger. I have always loaded on both ends of the weight range in almost every caliber. I have never really wanted to mess with the mid-weight bullets, except the 165 in 30 cal. In a Medium caliber, I love the benefits of a flat shooting (300 mag type) bullet/load and a heavy stomper (250+) bullet. Even round nose like the Woodleighs. But I never found that I "needed" any magnum for anything, I just "wanted to use it"....which is enough reason to own!