Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Browning BAR 300 WSM

Don't really need names but I was wondering are there Gunsmiths who work on BARs or semi-autos to improve accuracy and change calibers?

There might be a gunsmith who could handle a trigger job on a BAR but one I could trust would be an almost endangered specie. Have you shot the rifle yet? They tend to be very accurate.

Compared to what?

I don't know what your expectations are for "accuracy" out of a BAR, but about the only thing you can reasonably do to help these shoot better is to install a fresh crown and then change your cleaning habits, make sure the trigger doesn't pull you off target and work up some good handloads. Much more beyond that and you are probably wasting money.

DP-have you shot it yet? I concur that they tend to be quite accurate. Had no issues with them going sub 1" and to me is plenty good enough.

Dober

It shoots .75 to 1 inch groups. No problem with the rifle. I was just wondering why you never hear of gunsmith customizing a BAR.

They are very accurate compared to most bolt guns how about that for an answer? You must have no experience with them if you think otherwise.

I have a lot of experience with BAR's. Mostly in repairing and trying to get them to shoot better. Are there accurate BAR's? Sure. Are there inaccurate BAR's? You can bet your a.s.s. For a semi-auto they are not bad. But the money one would dump into one to get it to shoot with a bolt action would be a waste of money. Hows that for an answer?

Well I have known some true idjuts that own them and they know zero about gun maintenance and they still keep ticking. They Shoot fine enough out of the box for 99% of what any person needs. Of course a so-called "accuracy" smith is not going to like one or endorse it for long range applications.

The BAR shoots well enough but I wish it was lighter.

I'm not a gunsmith but I will throw out a couple of guesses. First, they shoot well enough from the factory for what they are....hunting rifles. I wish I could outshoot mine but that won't be happening anytime soon. So, the demand for "accurizing" one probably is not there.

My understanding is that handloading is somewhat limited with semi-autos. You can't fool around with OAL and powders like you can with bolt guns....you basically have to duplicate factory ammo. The tolerences in the chambers have to be more loose than a bolt gun to ensure proper functioning.

Rebarreling is pretty much out because of the gas ports and housing for the piston that are on the barrel. Ditto things like refacing and squaring the bolt. Trigger work could be dicey....a little creep on a semi auto might be a good thing. It has a two piece stock with a moving piston under the forearm....so I guess the bedding tricks people use on bolt guns are not going to happen.

I believe the barrel is free floated. At least on the one I am looking at, the barrel is free floating. You can always change the gas ports. Yes not as much that you can change on a semi-auto.