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Guys,
I'm looking at a BLR in 325 wsm.
How accurate are these rifle regardless of caliber?
Thanks,
Tony

Tony

I have a .30-06 and a .308. Have worked the most with the .30-06, 100yds, 1 to 1.5" group with factory 150gr and 165gr ammo. The main cause is the trigger, a lot of take up and heavy break weight (6 - 7lbs). The action is a solid lock-up design, fit and finish is very good, and the barrels tolerate heat with POA/POI not changing from cold bore shot to shots after heating up. It does more than what I require from a .30-06 for whitetail and black bear. Weight is good, balance is good, and I like the magazine feed.

I need to work up a load to see just how well this BLR will shoot. Has great potential based on the results so far.

The blr is a great rifle. The weak point, as mentioned is the trigger. A second potential issue is that the comb might be a little low for you, depending on how you mount your scope, but that's more of a personal preference question.

I've been seriously thinking about picking up a takedown model.

Just picked up a takedown .308 with rings, for $500.00, almost like new. This has got to make a good camping, backpacking, travel rifle, if it shoots well and holds zero.

I struggled to find an accurate load with mine. The best groups were over 2inches. Then I tried TSX's and all better now, sub MOA. I really like mine. Sometimes the magazine likes to poop out when not loaded. I am switching my ring set up to Warne quick detatch so I can go to the very nice factory irons if need be.

Guys, I have three of the BLRs and I bought them all used. Have a .7mm-08, .308, & a .358. The triggers are all terrible and the everything else is very nice about these rifles. But, and there is always a but, I cannot make them shoot for caca. I have shot the .7mm-08 a lot and the .358 a little and have never even scoped the .308. All are like new and nice, nice guns. The .7mm-08 kind of broke my heart because it is a straight stock and an nice little carbine style rifle that I thought would be a great little Texas whitetail rig. It seems to pattern it's shots instead of grouping. Ditto for the .358. I am not an amateur and I usually know how to tune a rifle and make it shoot. I just don't git it! Is there a trick to making these rifles shoot that I am missing? Maybe I don't have the patience or haven't tried enough loads, scopes, etc. What do you think? Thanks, Blowtorch

I had an all steel receiver BLR in 358 years ago. I was not in reloading then, so all I shot was the Winchester factory 200gr Silvertip, which consistently put 3-shots at 100 yards into tiny groups. I never got to take a deer with it, as I was offered more than I paid for it and ended up selling it. Yeah, the lever was a little hard to open for the first 1" or so and the trigger was not the best. However, I have to say that I could easily predict when the trigger was going to break, since I could pull the trigger back to where I met resistance and keep pressure on the trigger until I was ready to shoot. So, the trigger did not bother me at all. The biggest thing about that BLR that I did not like was the balance. It was too muzzle light and I've never gotten use to rifles with that feel. YMMV.

My BLR 358 win does have the crappy trigger, but it is definitely sub MOA with 225 grain partitions.

My all steel pre'81 .358 will shoot everything into 2", even cast loads over 2000 fps. Certainly not benchrest standards but, I've never missed a deer or elk because of it.

iflyguns,

I have a BLR in .325 WSM. Mine will reliably group in the 1.25 MOA range, though I've shot numerous groups smaller than that, that would be a fair aggregate to claim...

In my opinion, you want the pistol-grip version for two reasons. First, that stock handles the recoil better, IMHO, than the straight stock which slaps your cheek pretty good. Second, on the straight stock, there's a barrel band while the barrel is floated on the pistol-grip stock.

The comb is a little low as someone else mentioned. They were trying to split the difference with the scope and irons, or something. I have extra-low rings on mine, and a scope with a good eye box (Leupold 2.5x8). If you use the extra-low rings, watch the ocular of your scope. It gets down close to the hammer, so something like a Conquest with a bigger ocular might not work very well; no room for your thumb.

The trigger really is the Achilles Heel of those things. HOWEVER- there's a fix! Once I determined mine was a satisfactory shooter, I sent it to Neil Jones. My BLR trigger is now a relatively clean 3 pounds; much better than the rough 10 pounds or whatever the heck it was! Here's a link to Neil.

http://www.neiljones.com/

For handloaders try seating your bullets a little deeper that what will fit in your magazines. These are notorious for short throats. My TSX oal is 2.675. Then again this is what barness recomended from the start anyway. My .358 was made in 1980, wouldn't part with it for about anything.

Guys,
Great info and feedback...much appreciated.

I'm surprised that you are having problems getting your BLRs to group. I have a 358 with a 2.5 leupold on it that I love to carry in the woods, and for hunting too. Mine groups very acceptably for my old eyes and sighting in with a low power scope. My buddy has one in 358 also and his shoots. We load 200 gr. Rem coreloks with 4198 at one grain under max. in,I think, the Hornady manual. Anyway, if you are interested in the exact load I will get it to you. Let me know. I don't mind the trigger at all. In my mind it just makes the gun safer. The triggers may not be great but they are OK. I would hate to see you trade those rifles out without giving them some woods time. I consider mine to be pretty special. Thanks, Dan

my 308 BLR was made in 1979 and is very acccurate. it sports a 3.5-10x40 leupold in LOW rings.

I have a .308 Model 81. It has the steel reciever and straight stock, which I prefer. It has an older Nikon Monarch 3x9x40 on a one piece steel base.

With 150 gr. factory ammo, the rifle will group 1" -1.25" -3 shots at 100 repeatedly. I guess I got lucky and found a good one, after reading the posts by others on here.

The trigger doesn't bother me. I've shot lever guns all my life, so I am used to sloppy triggers.

Just learn to take up the slack then squeeze her off. If you practice it will become second nature, just takes a little more concentration at first.

Lock time isn't as fast because it's a hammer gun, so keep your head down and follow thru on your shot, just like shooting a bow.

Some folks have a smith correct the trigger thing, I never felt it was a problem.

JM.

I have a BLR stainless laminate in 325 WSM. THis is what it;ll do with handloads. This is a Sierra 220 Gr. Gameking over 61.0 grs, of IMR 4007SSC. The velocity is 2616 FPS which isn't great but the accuracy is. RL17 will prolly get a try.

That is just the way some are. I have tried aa 2015, aa 2520, w748, blc2, Varget, and TAC and about all of the .35 bullets out there. X bullets were my only answer.

Think my name says it all IMHO. Have stainless 7-08, blue
7-08,270, and 308 all with the straight stock. Use winchester silver ballistic tips and all shoot at 1 MOA (3 shot groups). They are easy to tote, flawless in operation, and have been the Love of my heart to hunt white tails, deer that is. They all carry Zeiss 3-9x40's top side. I will never understand why magazine writers never give them the press the deserve. Guess the "tube-mag-lever" actions make them feel the Ole West still lives. For me, I'll take the MODERN Browning Lever ones every time, as 76 deer will attest.

rah, I'd dump that BLR if'n I were you - it's obvious it shoots consistently high-right. :-)

I bought a used BLR in .308 about 1986 or '87. I used it for years as my main pig and deer hunting gun. The only thing I did was replace the scope with a 2-7X32 and later a fixed 2X. I also bought all the bargain magazines I could find at gun shows.

Accuracy wise, it is not a target rifle. From prone position I shoot about 1 1/4" at 100 yards with most factory 150 grain ammo. I generally stick to Federal, Hornady or Winchester with no problems in the field. I used to zero it at 200 yards but finally decided 100 was good enough for anything I intended to shoot. Besides, 200 yards ranges are getting little scarce hereabouts. It usually see between three and four inches of drop at 200 yards.

It wasn't until years later I learned I am supposed to hate the trigger.

I liked the rifle so much that I recently bought a take down model also in .308. No field test yet but at the range it performs about the same as its older brother. It is still a little stiff and did adjust the trigger a little.

My only complaint is the price of magazines has gone through the roof! I used to pick them up at gun shows for $20 each, now the "bargains" are over $50! MSRP is about $70.