Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Another BLR 81. This in 358 Win

Any advice from knowledgeable people? Rusty

Crickets...………………... Be Well. Rusty

It's a popular chambering for the blr and a popular subject on the fire. Search for past conversations.

Compact gun that handles well. I wish mine had a higher comb, but I added some foam insulation under an ammo sleeve.

Heavy trigger, but Neil Jones will fix it if you can't live with it.

Mine carries a 2-7 scope and works just fine. I get Hornady 200 gr round nose for a good price and they work well for eastern woods hunting.

You don't say much about the BLR other than its in 358 Winchester. You also put the word Rusty on the same line...I'm guessing that is your name and not a description of the rifle.

You looking to buy one, found one, got one or want to get rid of one? I have a BLR in 308 and a BLR 81 in 284. I like them just fine. They are handy, accurate and reliable. I don't ask for much more in a rifle. Like my 284 Winchester, ammo for a 358 Winchester is sometimes hard to find, but if I found a BLR 81 in 358 in good shape, at a good price, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Just waltzing though the classified and see that Rusty recently purchased an old model blr in 358 with steel receiver and fishbelly magazine. I got rid of mine 20 years ago because it was butt heavy/muzzle light and I couldn't comfortably carry it one handed due to that sagging magazine. Opinions differ, but I think the BLR81 is a better carrying rifle.

mogwai, my BLR in 308 is one of the early ones and made in Belgium. I like it better than my BLR 81 and I'm not really sure why. I carry mine on a sling, upside down on my left shoulder and have never paid much attention the protruding magazine. I guess If I carried it in my hand a lot I might feel different.

Mathsr, we all use guns differently and this is a Great example of why a person needs to try stuff on as well as getting advice from internet wizards!

Mathsr I found one. Had been looking for a 358 in a Savage 99. Instead of a 99, which already sold, I found the BLR in 358. Cool. I had just bought a steel framed BLR in 308. I guess I won't have to rebore the 308 to 358! Maybe. I have cast 280 gr FPs and 275 gr Hornady RNs in the old boxes, down to 180 gr TTSXs. Would like to try the 275 and 280s on Feral pigs next February in Texas. If you get tired of the 284 let me know what you want for it. And I don't know what you do for 284 cases but I just take some Lake City 7.62 empties I have and run them into a 308 Small Base die. Then into the 358 Winchester die and reload. Both times through the sizing die they get Imperial Sizing Die Wax. Messy but I don't lose cases. If you will notice going smaller in caliber the necks grow but up in caliber and they shrink a small amount. Works for me on 358 Winchester cases. Thanks for the replies. Be Well. Rusty

The info I got is the big belly receivers had a different lug/ locking system over the newer ones.

They are presumed " weaker" I have only had newer ones. Without getting the triggers worked I don't like shooting them.

I've had mine for quite a few years. Some of my favorite powders in it are TAC, XTerminator and IMR 4064. Handles and shoots great.

Love mine, great thumper for Whitetails, bear and Moose. Use 225 gr Nosler partitions over 4895 or TAC. Loaded some 180 gr flat nose Speers that I will use on Whitetail this fall, just to try something different and less expensive to shoot. 225gr .358 Nosler partitions are getting hard to find and pricey. I've got an old 2-7x28 Leupold on mine with the post cross hair that works great.
Got a cheek pad from lever gun leather works to raise my eye up to the scope properly, and it looks good.

John

Can you post a picture of that cheek pad?

https://www.levergunleather.com/images/mikeccheekrest1.jpg
https://www.levergunleather.com/p_buttstock_covers.htm

The top link is like the one I have on my BLR, Moose head wood burn/ painted on the cheek side by a hunting buddy of mine. Page down to "Cheek Rests". There is a lot of nice stuff on there. Pricey, but quality work.

358 win blr--
-250 speer bullet, 44 grains imr 4064 and 215 fed primer seat bullets to max length the magazine easily cycles
its been used for 4 decades in my elk hunt group with complete satisfaction
sight in 3.5" high at 100 yards, this is almost dead on at 200 yards and almost 10 inches low at 300 yards
I don,t remember a single elk even being seen or even shot at, past 250 yards and 1 shot kills are common

Do you have a pistol grip? I think that would slide on my strait buttstock

Looks nice though

What kind of speeds are you getting with that 250? I haven't loaded any that heavy but thought about either the Speer or Hornady just for kicks and a heavy load. IMR 4064 hasn't given the velocity some of the others I've shot but it's been very consistent and accurate, probably my favorite powder in mine.

It is laced on very tightly, and the back end is attached to the rear sling swivel to keep it from sliding forward. I do have to snug it up about once a year, but it doesn't move very much at all.

Ah! Mine has no swivel stud, so I’ll keep using pipe foam and vet wrap, covered by a nylon ammo sleeve

Whatever git's the job done.

i purchased a new BLR S.S. takedown 30-06 and that had no swivel studs either , so today i just got done installing studs .its really not that hard to install them carefully. this rifle is kinda going to be the family workhorse rifle used to take care of business ,matter a fact a dear friend with health issues will BE taking this BLR rifle cow- elk hunting soon said his 30-30 just might not be enough for longer shoots.

I traded for one last week. It shot 5-6" groups at 100 yards in an almost perfect vertical line. Someone had put a pressure pad on the tip of the forearm and the whole rifle was under tension. I took off the pad and free floated the entire front end. Now with BLC2 and 225 grain Sierra's at 2417fps it shoots just under an inch. It has a short throat and I wedged a 200 Spire into the lands during load development. ( i made the mistake of not testing pre-loaded ammo) I assumed that 2.7' would work. When I yanked the cartridge out the bullet staid in the lands and I spilled powder into the action (H4895). Until I had cleaned it all up there was no way that rifle would function as the gear action which creates a wonderful smoothness is not good at handling debris. Very close tolerances, so don't take it to war. Used as a hunting rifle and kept clean it is superb.

I am super impressed with the 358 round. A bit better ballistics than my 348 and pointed bullets only increase that difference down range. Recoil is very manageable. Very efficient round from a powder/energy ratio.

About the BLR Accuracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWJe6kLw_Hg&t=47s

My nephew and I hunt together whenever we can get drawn for elk licenses in Wyoming. He has downed two dandy bulls with his Browning .358 rifle; his longest shot was about 175 yards. No problems with this cartridge. My elk rifle is an older Savage 99 in .308 that shoots very accurately with ordinary 180 grain core-lokts.

Sherwood

My gun club in eastern PA has a bunch of them. They like the 358 better than the 308 for bears (I'm a 308 guy). Guys were using 200 or 225 grain bullets, shot were close and holes were big. Great rifle. Good luck with it.

I have BL-C2 and others but Varget and 4064 are my go to powders. Be Well. Rusty

I had one. I liked it. For some reason, I thought I needed cash and let it go. Dumb move in retrospect.

North 61 there are no fleas on the 348 though. What terminal performance do you see with the 348 with the FP bullets? My experience with the 358 Remington bullets, 200 gr FPs ,in reformed LC brass loaded to the middle of the book ladders in 4064 or Varget gets maximum wounds. Whitetails don't move, they drop. The 200 gr PP Remingtons do as well but open a bit slower. 358 seems to be a good diameter. I have experimented with 148 gr wadcutters as a small game load. 158 gr HPs would probably make a varmint load. I have spent some real time playing with the 358 in a savage 99 brush gun from about '72. Again all I ever needed was the middle loads to use for my personal maximum. I suppose you might want near max for bear or other really large beasties. If you reform LC brass drop two grains from your book max due to the heavy brass. It does make a difference. Thanks and Be Well. Rusty

Ihad an older steel 81 in 358, Used for deer and black bear for about 10 yrs. 225gr Nosler Partition over WIN748 worked well. I traded it off after a range day that it pushed me over the edge. It would always shoot the first two rounds then the trigger would not reset. Cleaned it well thinking the sear wasn't resetting. went to two gunsmiths. One fired a full box of my reloads without a problem. The second saw it act up but couldn't figure it out. I h ad enough. Am now shooting 358win in a Weatherby Vanguard {JES} and a Ruger American from Grice. Never needed a second shot on deer or bear.

Get a Leoupold VXII 1.5 x 5 and low mount rings and stock up on brass and bullets. It's going to be fun ride that you will enjoy very much. It will serve you well.

I stoked up on new old stock 358 Nosler Partitions in 225 gr. I have 3 358s, 2 350 Rem mags and maybe others on their way. I have some 308s I bought to have JES rebore to 358 Winchester. Anyone been to www.35cal.com? Lots of info on 35 cal rifles. Good luck and Be Well, Rustyzipper.

I have looked at them repeatedly. I prefer a pistol grip gun so not as many made as the straight grip guns. I also like something longer than 20" barrel in a BLR caliber.
Never the less, a well balanced rifle. The 308 Win and the 358 Win are good calibers, with my preference leaning towards the 358 Win. I don't think that they ever chambered such but the 338 Federal would be a great choice as well. Why not have all three 308 based calibers?

Just got a blr lightweight in 358 Winchester recently. What scope bases are y’all using? I bought the Leupold std 2 piece and the rear base doesn’t fit the receiver properly.

I got my first one in '81 but, it was the first model with the hangy down magazine and in .358. It was a fantastic shooter with cast bullets but, I got stupid and sold it in 2014. Well, I read this thread and got to aching all over for another. What I found last week was a Lightweight Stainless Takedown .358 in at least 95% wearing a Burris FF II 3-9X40. I ran a few cast loads from my other .358 through it last Friday but, didn't get the accuracy I had hoped for so, I'm going to try some 180, 200, and 225 jacketed this week. I will most probably swap the scope out for a 1.5-5 Leupold that I have on hand after load development.

Sounds like a good buy. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

To say I'm pleased with my BLR T/D is very much an understatement!

Getting it sighted in at 50:


1" aimpoint; 200 grain bullet:



180 Speer FN 1" aimpoint:



180 Speer FN @ 100 2" aimpoint: