Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Browning Rifles in Alaska

I was wondering if Browning rifles are very popular in Alaska and if they hold up well or are total pieces of junk especially the new AB3?

'hawk, welcome to the fire! There seems to be a learning curve regarding AK outdoor gear. Newcomers buy a shiny SS .338 with a 3X9 scope usually whatever they can get to match the budget.( I see Ruger/Bushnell a lot at the ranges in ANC and here in JNU.) And some do just fine. Elmer Keith said it was "95% indian and 5% arrow" That said, Brownings are represented their due in AK. Some time ago a thread with photo of an A-bolt with banana peel SS barrel painted all Brownings as no good in the frozen tundra. The fact is the shooter left a bore sight spud in the bore and fired a round out of the gun.But a picture need not a thousand words!

This a Browning? maybe not, but this was one where it was '100% Indian, not taking care of his arrow"

I recall a couple of Brownings being used up here, but that was before the A-Bolt had been unvented.

I fail to see how they would be better or worse than any other well maintained rifle up there....

Some folks get to wound up on brand stuff....

I'll still take an accurate but cheap single shot whatever with the best glass I can get, over other setups if I have the choice. Excepting for the ever present around every corner charging, killer bears..... LOL.

There are a lot of people hunting up here with guns that would be scoffed at by many on here , that is until those same guys saw the piles of animals they killed with "crappy" guns in "crappy" calibers. Its Alaska , sometimes the "only in Alaska" card gets played a bit much , but when you see a guy flatten a bull moose with a rusty 30-30 or a Brownie with a 25-06 it kinda rings true sometimes. They might not be the best tools , but they are the only tools they have.

All nondescript rifles in this pic more or less - at least the brand attachment wasn't very fierce. The fellow on the left saved the day with his Browning 300 Win Mag. Fellow in the middle had a 300 Win Mag as well; not sure what make. And a 6mm M788 on the right. No one ever forgets what has failed them. Understanding why is sometimes not much credited though perhaps.

Speaking of single shots, the Ruger #1 has always been a faithful rifle, even in deep cold; albeit, perhaps, not cheap by most reckoning.

Does anybody use BLRs?

One of my early buds up here was a Browning fellow, but no BLRs. He ran a BAR for his high power needs, though I never saw him put it to much use.

Klik, look at the seriousness in the guy on the left's face (is that you??). He's still in "hunt mode". Awesome pic, regardless of what rifle was in use!!!

I agree. If I was on the strictest of budgets and needed this stuff, my focus would be on optics first - bino's and scope including mounts, then would come foot wear, then other clothes, with the particular rifle being about last (within reason).

The browning user in the video should've used some blue tape on the muzzle. No doubt something was up the pipe.

Not me. He was just a few years removed from his time on the varsity wrestling squad at Iowa State. The "look" may have had something to do with the fact that that bull had just about done some butt-kicking before he raised his rifle and ended it at very close quarters. He was our "human crane", a term coined by long-time Iditarod musher, Jerry Austin, whom we happened to be hunting with at the time. He did dead serious really well, but he could also turn a phrase better than anyone else I have known and have us all rolling. I have certainly been privileged to have shared campfires with a bunch of interesting and wonderful folks over the years.

I have a friend who has used a BLR in .358 Win for years and years up here. Always works when it has to. I have a BLR in .450 Marlin, but have only taken it hunting a couple of times.

I've used 3 different A-Bolts up here, used em for years before moving up and never knew they were a POS until I read it on here.
Never had any problem with any of em. A former hunting pardner has been using a BAR for a while and he likes it. He's not one for maintenance either but it keeps running year after year.

I shot a black bear once (ok, twice) with a 300 Win A-bolt. There, I said it. I used an A-bol/rt and it didn't fail me.

I bought that gun cheap, and probably lost money when I sold it. I read that they don't work here on the fire, and it was gone. Replaced by a Tikka, which was replaced by a Rem 700, because the 700 shot good.

Kinda funny, in that I got the tikka for $350, and it shot like a dirty SOB. Paid something similar for the 700, and it shot even better. I think I sold the 700 too, but would have to check the safe to know for sure. Down to a single 300 Win now, and even that doesn't see the light of day.

I have a buddy that runs a BLR. That's the only other Browning rifle that I know of in use up here personally, but that don't mean much.

Is that you on the right in Klik's pic?

It does kind of look like me, but he's lacking the "WHERETF am I" look.

And, he's not flipping the bird.

a close friens of mine and his boat's captain both did a lot of hunting in SE Alaska with browning a bolt stainless stalkers, their single complaint was the hindged bottom metal, they prefered adl bottoms for the thick stuff.

hinged bottom comes on lots of brands..