Home Forums Lever Action Central Rimfire Levers Bought a Browning BL-22 on a whim: what da ya think?

I picked up a used BL-22 on a whim the other day. Haven't shot it yet, and know very little about it.

What did I get???

You got a great little gun!
Picked a used one up myself a while back and the wife has claimed it for herself. It is a first year production gun and smooth as silk. I may have to find another for me.

I bought a used one a while back, and gave it to my granddaughter. Great little (but solid feeling) rifle. Mine had a great trigger, which I guess is unusual, and is quite accurate.

Thanks. I look forward to getting out and using it. I am hoping that the trigger-connected-to-the-lever works easier for me, as I have never quite got the feel of using a standard lever action. My trigger finger always gets caught on the way back through the cycle.

Bought one for my daughter too, and now my wife wants one. Any I have owned or shot have been very accurate and dependable.

I just pickeda used one for my son. I like how small it is. It seems put together well.

I bought my BL-22 new back in the late 70's. It proved to be a tough and reliable little rifle and I used it as my trappin' gun. I abused the crap out of this rifle. When lucky it rode around on the dash, but most times it was in the bed of the pickup amongst dead critters, traps, barb wire, fence posts, and other assorted things that ain't good to ride rifles around on. It likely went 15 years before I ever really cleaned it and I'm still waiting for the first malfunction of any kind. It's been dropped in mud, in a creek, and even fell out of the truck on to gravel once. I remember hosing it off at the carwash when it was covered in mud and blood. Wiped it down with some oil and away it went.

I really like the short throw lever, makes for quick shooting and you never have to take your thumb off the top of the stock. Mine has a decent trigger, never put a scale on it but I'd guess about 5lbs and crisp.

The BL-22 is kind of what I'd call a 'tweener rifle. A bit too big for little kids, and a bit too small for big kids, such as meself.

I've since started taking better care of my guns. I refinished the stock a few years back and gave it a nice oil coating.

My 11 year old son is growing into that rifle now and really likes it. Funny thing is, if he treated it like I did I'd take it away until he learned better. My 22 lever gun of choice these days is my 39A, but I've nothing but good to say for the BL-22.

Absolutely the best 22 rifle ever :-) Mine is very accurate even with different brands of ammo. I really like the short throw and the fact the trigger travels with the lever like on the BLR.

Mine shoots pretty much anything I load it with though it seems to prefer the 40 gr high velocity. I use the Paco Kelly tool to convert the round nose to either a flat tip or a hollow point for hunting. It has a controlled feed to it can use the CB caps reliably making it a good rifle for those "stealth" jobs around the homestead.

The very short dovetail makes it difficult to put a scope on it so I ended up clamping a Burris scout scope to the barrel.

I really like mine. I bought mine back in the late 70's. It's killed a bunch of prairie dogs over the years. CB

[quote=DakotaDeer]I picked up a used BL-22 on a whim the other day. Haven't shot it yet, and know very little about it.

I did the same thing.....Went to a gun auction and when I saw this thing I fell in love with it.....I new absolutely nothing about them...It's a BL-22 Grade II....

Beautiful wood, nice engraving, and a decent scope....even came with a nice weaved leather sling.....

what do you think?







Joe

I did the same thing, BL-22's are nice lightweight .22 rifles, accurate, the trigger is getting better after a few hundred rounds through.

Not sure why I waited all these years to get one.

The Bl-22 is a great gun, I'm on my second. The first one met a horrible demise. One of my buddies had it on top of the jeep when he drove away, when it fell off he backed up to see what it was. you guessed it rolled right over it, there was a very distinct bend in the barrel. As I'm not proud I will admit I wept. My buddy paid me for the gun and he is still shooting it, with a bit of Kentucky windage.

Well ..... I don't like leverguns!

But the BL22 is on the [very] short list of leverguns I would actually consider owning and think I'd enjoy.

The BL22 is a lot of "gun for the money," along with a short 30degree lever throw, it has a hammer that won't discharge a round unless its at full-cock (IOW this gun is quite safe even if the hammer slips off of a new shooter-youngster's thumb while in the process of cocking it but not quite ready to shoot), and the magazine tube snaps "shut" 100% of the time just by firmly slamming it "home!" No need to worry about whether anything is aligned perfectly. Slam the mag tube shut and it locks "safely" 100% of the time.

All features I find very good for young or inexperienced shooters just learning to shoot, and also learning all the idiosyncrasies in a firearm. Would I be redundant to say the BL22 is very well engineered!!??

Both sad and humorous!

Glad you treated yourself to a 2nd BL22.

My lil bro LOVES his BL22, shot his limit of tree squirrels many times using shorts w/irons.

Took it 'plinking' once, and it really shoots naturally well w/irons, as 'instinctually' almost by feel.

Hit very well w/it.

My bro does say that if Browning would ever do one in 22 mag....
he dearly loves the short throw.

I intend to own one someday.

I've had a BL22 for several years now and really like it.It's the 22lr I grab most of the time.

BL-22's (and especially the Miroku ML-22 ..arent most of them made by Miroku ?) are held in very high regard in Australia were they have slain countless rabbits and larger game...

I just gave one to my soon to be eight years old grandson and told him yesterday while we were out shooting that I needed one for myself. His is extremley accurate. Well, last night I visited Gun Broker and found the grade II model at a local pawn shop so off to there I go this morning. This model has a 24" octagon barrel and better wood that is checkered plus a few other niceties and this one looked to be shot no more than maybe a mag full at the most plus it has a Williams reciever sight that clamps into the scope mounting groove. The front sight has been replaced with one that matches the Williams also. Pretty cool. So I talk the guy down to less than half of what a new one is and it came home with me. Haven't got to fire it yet and the trigger seems to be a little heavier than on grandsons. Is there anything that can be done to lighten the trigger a little?

That was MY gun Send me the gun, I'll send payment prompt.

Darn! I can't read yo' address. By now I have ran a couple of boxes or so thru it and sure do like that BL22. I lucked out!