What’s everyone’s thoughts of the browning BLR in 358?

I like mine. Accurate and handles well.

Love mine as well. Only complaint is it likes to rear up under recoil so have a goodly eye relief optic.

CW

I had an early one. The magazines were poor so I sold it. Likely they fixed the issue.
Other than the magazines I liked mine.

I like mine. It's a pre 81 straight stock model.

I'd love to have one and contacted Browning about availability. Their response was there are no new production BLR rifles in 358 due to lack of sales orders and demand. Used is going to be your only avenue or perhaps a rebore of an 308 BLR.

I've had mine 15+ years. Great, accurate rifle.

Really like mine a lot, would love to find another with a pistol grip.

good cartridge and an excellent lever the BLR , i prefer the newer S.S. levers myself .

Love mine! Steel receiver and straight grip. I use Hornady 180gr Single Shot pistol bullets and IMR4895 powder. Stays under 1-1/2" for 3 shots at 100 yards all day. It also likes the Hornady 200rgr spire point and H335 powder for 2,550fps. I never chronographed the 180's.

I have the blue pistol grip version and love it. Accurate and ergonomic.

Have 1979 steel frame straight stock. Love that little rifle. Topped it with a VX-II 2-7 with custom post and duplex reticle that I got on the fire.

I’m not sure if I ever handled one of the pistol grip ones I am kind of partial to the looks of the straight stock

Mine is a BLR 81 steel frame . It is one of the four rifles that I absolutely would not part with. I would not care to have one of the alloy framed ones they sell now but the steel framed ones are a great rifle.

I’d like to have one if I can find it.

I have two other 358 wins a savage 99 and a savage bolt gun the BLR has been on my radar just need to get the nerve up to spend the money awesome caliber

I have the pre-81 version and it was my favorite black bear gun. It definitely had a bite when using 250 gr Hornady bullets but it does the job. I bought a Savage 99 in 358 Win but it doesn't grab me like the Browning.

Both have been supplanted by a plastic/stainless Savage bolt gun I rebarreled to 358. I prefer using this gun when the weather is bad which is when bears are most active. It is also front heavy making it nicer to shoot with the heavy bullets.

I had an older straight grip in .358. It shot very well with 225 Nosler Partitions at about 2450 fps. Worked great for black bear and elk in the timber.

Regards,
Manny

I just bought one. Pistol grip LW. It came with a Burris 3-9×40. I swapped it for a Redfield 2-7×33 that I had on my 350 Rem mag.
I now have the dies and brass so looking at loads. I still have 250 Soeer 180 JFP that I plan on loading. I bought 358 Win cases rather than forming 308 Winchester as doing so thins pit the nock walls. Lots of guys do it thought.
So far as balance, I find it quite nice. Trigger is not the best but that seems to be a common complaint. .
I really wanted one in stainless but as stated above,, Briwning dropped the cartridge. I suspect that recoil will be a tad snotty.
I can see it replacing my Rem 673.

I’ve shot a pile of stuff through mine. Had the trigger worked on a bit and it’s pretty decent.

I don’t have one, but have often wished that I had bought one in the Model 88 Win. after getting mine in .308 Win. It would have been better in the thickets of Central Louisiana than the little .308! memtb

Earlier I did a post about the BLR and cartridge favorites. I was looking at 308 vs 358, if I could find one. Fate and luck were with me.
I was surprised by the support for the 7-08. A little bit for the 30-06 with the 308 seeming to be the favorite.

Consider the 308 WCF and its ability to shoot 110 gr-200 gr loads for any big game hunting and predator dispatch. While the 358 WCF has its merits, it’s not near as versatile in long range work. A .35 cal 225 gr vs a .30 cal 200 gr, both at around 2,500 fps is for all intense purposes of equal authority. Granted the 358 has a 16% increase in frontal area, but the 308 will have much better bullet designs, much higher BC and greater Sectional Density. The 358 is a good one, however stamped brass and loaded ammunition are far and few between, the 308 however is available in every configuration and truth be told gives up nothing in the field to the 358, the same can’t be said for the 358 when going light or long distance and looking at the versatility for the 308.

Yep. Hard to beat an 308win for the reason you've mentioned. I've always wanted a 358win and thought of reboring my BLR to one but it's just more useful in it 308win configuration.

Mine is a pre '81 straight grip in .358. It's my "go to" rifle for hunting bear, deer and elk here in Washington. I've got dozens of other rifles that I hunt with but this .358 is my favorite. I generally keep ranges within 200 yards and it works like the hammer of Thor. One thing to remember, the magazines for these early steel frame guns are expensive to replace (They go for $200 to $300 when you can find them.) so don't break them or lose them.

I would like to have the pistol grip version of the BLR.

I stumbled into it...I called a LGS and asked. He had o e coming in on trade. The guy wanted $1250 and the shop thought it was too much. I thought that was reasonable. Supposedly was traded to another shop but that shop knew nothing about it.
I found another one on an auction site. I was able to get that one and have it shipped to my usual shop. All total it cost me $1600 to get into my hands. It did come with a nice Burris scope and was a 95+%.

So check the auctions and call shops in driving distance every coue of weeks... if you find one at a decent price grab it.

If you see any, the old 200 grain Silvertip and Power Point Grey box is pretty accurate in mine and works great on deer.

The Brownings are 1-12 and do well with about anything you can fit in the magazine.

The Sierra 225 is my favorite deer bullet and always very accurate. Expands wide and leaves a lot of blood if they run much which they don’t typically.

Mine shoots the Speer 180 better than anything else but will do very well with about anything I put in it. Keep the Speer 180 FN's below 2600 fps or they do not hold together . They still kill like lightning but ruin lots of meat. My load is 43 grains of H 4198 which gives right at 2711 average and just destroys the bullet even with a soft tissue shot but is so accurate I just can't not use it. The bullet is really a great .35 Remington bullet which I believe is what it was intended for. If you want to shoot lighter bullets fast in the .358 look at some of the Hawk bullets or the Fury stuff with slightly thicker jackets. Not sure what thickness the Speers are but it must be pretty thin compared to other .358 bullets.


PS: Looks like I quoted the wrong post, meant to quote your earlier one where you mentioned the 180 grain Speer bullets.

A few months ago I sold some of my Speer 180s to a guy to help him out. Now I am looking for more...
Speer says they are coming.

I stocked up before everything got short. Also bought a bunch of 200 grain Core Lokt in RN and SP both . I shoot .35 Remington as well as .358 .

I have just recently acquired a couple of the steel receiver and straight stock Model 81's in 308 & 358. I have not shot either, yet. I bought the 308 first. I had given up on finding a 358 Winchester in decent shape at a price that I was willing to pay.

I think the BLR and the 358 Winchester are a near perfect match.
My personal view is if I am hunting in area with shots over 200 yards, I will be carrying something other than my lever guns. The 358 Winchester is ideal-plus for me.

I was fortunate enough to find 358 Winchester brass, reloading dies, and my choice of Hammer Bullets within a couple of hours.

I like the 178 Hammer over RL-7.

DF

BLR in 358 was my first Alaskan rifle. Used it lots and eventually got the rifle to 6lbs. Was a dream to carry.

I did have a couple failures to fire. Once on a caribou in 30 below zero weather and once on a fall time moose. The slop of rotating bolt lock-up combine with a complicated firing pin, combined with old gummy gun oil in a rifle that shouldn't be taken apart was the cause.

The rifle was loaned out and frog lube and/or rem-oil was used in it. Flog lube eventually turns to sticky gummy crap. It is terrible in cold weather environments.

What I eventually did, was pull the buttstock, shucked the bolt open and soaked the action in a gallon jug of sea foam. Rifle sat there for a week. Followed up with compressed air and the light primer strike issue went away.

The blr has the strongest extractor out of any lever action I've ever owned. I've owned savage 99, marlin 1894 and 1895, marlin 256 win mag, browning 95 and win mod 94.

*if you have an old blr with God knows how many different brands of gun oil in the thing, shuck the fkn bolt open and soak it in sea foam.

I’d agree. The BLR and 358 are danged good together.

When I saw a new one for sale, I knew they rarely come up so I grabbed it.



And enough ammo to keep me stocked for many years.



Now I just gotta find something willing to commit suicide in front of it.

Dayum! That’s dang nice.

Not many people put their stuff through that kind of real world testing. Thanks for sharing! That is such a cool picture by the way

The worst is WD40..
We don't get real cold weather here in PA but I always use GunScru ber on the firing pin channel.

I am going to try the 203 grain Shock Hammer.

I finally got the the range today. My "go-to" primer is WLR. For some reason about half of my reloads didn't fire on the first try. I had some other cases that were loaded with different primers that I took along as sighters. They all fired lawlessly.
When I got home I first tried resetting the sizing die thinking that it might be set too far back and headspace allows the case to slide forward.
Not the issue. When I switched out for CCI #34 primers, they all fired. Winchesters still not 100%
I might have a bad batch of primers. I bought them from GB and them were reportedly stored correctly...
I hope to try the WLR in my Rem 673.
I also sprayed GunScrubber down into the firing pin channel just to make sure. No difference.
So do you think it might be the primers or an issue with the gun? Traditionally the WLR has been easy to ignite in other guns. Is the BLR known for light hammer spring?

FWIW, I found a small applicator tube for GunScrubber and have given it a couple of shots into the firing pin hole. Gun is sitting with lever open hoping that this will resolve the problem.
No idea how long the gun was sitting before I got it.
Lots of crud ran out of the action as well.
Fingers crossed...

Hopefully that works out for you.

WStrayer,
I spelled it out for u. Pull the buttstock and soak the entire action.

Get a small-nozzle air sprayer and spray the cleaner oughtta the thing.

Then oil with sea foam deep-creep (different product than the cleaner)

The 2 different sea foam products are gentle on the finish,especially if it's a painted aluminum receiver......

If the GunScrubber doesn't work I will look into the Sea Foam

my 02, you already have what you need, have two, cut one down, hog killing machines

I have a pre 81 BLR in 358. Plan on using it for bear this spring. Only complaint is the trigger. I have 200 gr interlocks and a few 225 gamekings. Thought about trying Hammers as well, as I had pretty good luck with then out of an 06. Any loads that you recommend?
I have some TAC i would like to try, but some of the data seems to be to hot for a lever action.

The BLR will take whatever you can throw at a bolt.

Looks like great choices though. Can’t see a loser.

178 Shock Hammer over RL-7 is my current fav load for my .358 W pre-64 FWT. Accurate and destructive on WT’s.

DF

as a dealer i just check to see if any new BLR`s are available from wholesalers not a one , sure glad i have a few BLR`S just not a 358 Win. but i did get a few years ago a take-down S.S. 30-06 BLR for myself. good luck finding a 358 Win. ,Pete53

I checked a couple of months ago and Briwning is not building the BLR in 358 Win. I picked up an UL off of GB..I was out of time but is now fixed. Super! Loves the Speer 180.jfp.

Tell us about getting it timed. Those are in another league, IMO. And the triggers.

DF