I bought 3 BLRs

[BeeKay]

Long story short: I thought it would be cool to test some guns like the magazine writers do and I couldn't find anyone to sponsor me so I bought some different guns to try out and I'll pick the one I like best and I'll sell the others because I'll probably need the money by the time I'm done.
Long story a little longer : I wanted to buy a semi auto rifle, but as a CA resident, it seems like semi auto ban is on the horizon.
Originally I liked the BAR and while I was looking at those the BLR caught my eye. I liked the concept of a stainless, box mag, takedown, levergun in .308, as a survival gun but none were available at the time so I bought a regular blued one (Not the takedown model)
Then, the idea of a .358 winchester chambering intrigued me and there was one of those available so I got it too, thinking I'd try them out and see.
I finally got a stainless .308 takedown and picked it up a few days ago.
Well... maybe I'm nuts, but I plan on having some fun at the range finding out which of these rifles best meets my needs.

Anyhow - I'll have to handload for the .358 win, so I need to empty out some .308 cartridges.
This is a spare-time project for me to do for my retirement
Can anyone make suggestions for some factory .308 ammo or handloads the have worked well in the .308 BLR?
I want to compare the takedown model to the std '81 to see how they do out to 300 yd or so
I'll probably be getting started in a couple weeks if there's clear weather on weekends.

I know that some guys aren't fans of the BLR and others are. It's the stainless takedown concept with the box mag that has me going on this

Thanks in advance for any support - I'll be posting as things progress

[Lastmohecken]

I own an old steel framed .308 Blr from the late 80's. it's been my main go to gun for all of those years, however, I also used a lot of other guns intermittently, but the BLR has been my favorite and most used. Several of my extended family have also used the steel framed BLR's with great success. Most of them were capable of around 2.5 inches or so at 200yd which is where we usually always sighted them in at.

I still use Winchester 180 silvertips in mine, which are no longer available, but I am still shooting out of a case of them I bought many years ago. Our Blr's like 180gr bullets pretty good.
I don't have much experience with the newer alloy framed BLR's, although most people I have talked to who bought them didn't report quite as good accuracy out of them.
Mileage may vary, others might report good results.
I also once owned a steel framed Blr in 358 Win, and it was very accurate with my handloads at the time. I think I used 180 Spears and 200 gr roundnose Sierra's. It was an older gun with the rounded bottom Mag, as opposed to the later flatter bottom mag guns. I finally gave up on it, though, because I had some feeding reliability issued, and blamed it on the fatter neck of the 358 and that particular magazine design. I do not believe the later guns with the flat mag bottom, will suffer from the same issue. I found the feed lips on the rounded bottom mags to not even hold the .308's in the mag without popping out sometimes on their own. The later Mag design was a better design, IMHO.

[BeeKay]

I should include here that I am leaning toward a larger bore rather that maybe .243 or 7mm because in CA there is now a lead ban for hunting ammo.
And Barnes solids appear to perform best with bigger calibers unless very high velocity is used.

The twist rate of my .308 is 1:14 - I wonder how that compares to the steel framed older ones?

[DocRock]

150 grs flat base bullet of your choice over 44 grs IMR 4064 or 45 grs Varget will be an ideal place to start. You should find your accuracy node within a grain for each.

[Bill in Oregon]

Someone on one of the forums built a 9,3X62 on a BLR chambered for .30-06. Now that is a righteous tool!

[BenT]

My model 81 in 308 likes Rem 150 grain core locks.

[Old Savage]

I have a .243 81 BLR. Very accurate. Not sure what you are hunting but the copper Bullets have performed very well on deer. 243 is about 3250 fps for the 85 gr which is about like 100 gr because there is no weight loss on impact. Because the BC is so high it retains velocity.

[Tycer]

Welcome sir!
Just buy yourself some new brass for the 358.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/articles/ ... allistics/

[BeeKay]

Welcome sir!
Just buy yourself some new brass for the 358.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/articles/ ... allistics/

Good Idea - I will do that