BLR problems

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Rusty
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BLR problems

Post by Rusty »

I know some guys here have them and I just saw someone shoot one for the first time. I don't know anything about them so I wanted to ask those that have them. Hickok 45 just did a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRGaWMg ... ploademail where he tested one out. The one thing I noticed was a lot of failures on it. They seem like a failure to fire after everything else worked fine. Has anyone else seen these.
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Marlin32
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Marlin32 »

I have one in 308, slick, but the trigger was was looooonnngggg. I like a light trigger pull.
I did have my gunsmith work on it and he made it much better just a smidge over 3lbs now.
It does not like the heavier bullets in 308 but I do, so we don't get out much together. Never had any problems than my own preferences.
Can't speak for newly manufactured models.
JB
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Re: BLR problems

Post by JB »

Nice guns, but they're a bit over complex inside. A friend of mine had problems with one jamming and tore it apart for a complete cleaning. He almost never got everything back working again :)
BenT
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Re: BLR problems

Post by BenT »

I have had 3 of them in three different calibers and never had any problems with them. I still have my 308 and it is one of my favorite leverguns
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geobru
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Re: BLR problems

Post by geobru »

I've been hunting with a 308 since I bought the gun in 1976 or so. I never had any fail to fire until I started reloading for it. The chamber is very tight and you have to watch that the reloads are right on the specs or the action won't close enough to fire a round. Mine shoots sub moa at 100 yards. Great rifle!
M. M. Wright
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Re: BLR problems

Post by M. M. Wright »

The problem was Hickock! He "shortstroked" it. We as a family have 15 or so of them and the one real problem is a rough chamber in some of the Belgian and early Japanese specimens. I have devised a method of turning a case coated with polishing compound by a rod down the barrel. The barrels of the 308s have a 1 in 14" twist which is too slow for heavy bullets. Stick with 165 grain bullets or lighter. Fabulous rifles but the magazines are ridiculously expensive. I have an aftermarket 6 round mag but no makers mark.
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Rusty
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Rusty »

Thanks guys, I knew there were several people here that had them but I don't remember anyone saying anything about the problems he seemed to be having. I do remember someone that was reloading for a BAR and it required small base dies, but that's another mater.
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EdinCT
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Re: BLR problems

Post by EdinCT »

I had a Belgium rifle in 308 for 10 years and it was a good rifle. It shot 1 1/2 inch groups with Remington 150 gr pointed cor lokt's. It had a trigger that I could hear the take up on and while it wasn't overly heavy it was long.
Once while hunting I stripped the gear on the lever and had to have it replaced. The gunsmith fixed it and I got it back the last of the season. I took it out and shot it and found it still zeroed but when I hunted with it the hammer only went to half cock and it cost me a deer. I think a tooth from the original gear must of been inside it because I took it back to the gunsmith and he shot it into his tube around 4 times with no problems. It never malfunctioned again. My Dad had given me his 30-06 bolt with a Timey trigger and I just couldn't go back to the Browning's creepy trigger so sold it to a friend who still usit has it unless his son got it away from him.
Funny now I hunt with lever guns with less than stellar triggers with no problems!
Sevastopol
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Sevastopol »

JB wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:21 pm Nice guns, but they're a bit over complex inside. A friend of mine had problems with one jamming and tore it apart for a complete cleaning. He almost never got everything back working again :)
There's got to be someone who knows how to put these back together correctly after taking them apart. I imagine the rack and pinion is the same with the 81 and the plain old BLR. I haven't been able to find a video on it.
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Re: BLR problems

Post by M. M. Wright »

Hobie's web site has instructions or a link to them. Best info I've been able to find.
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Old No7
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Old No7 »

Sevastopol wrote: Fri Mar 20, 2020 6:05 am
JB wrote: Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:21 pm Nice guns, but they're a bit over complex inside. A friend of mine had problems with one jamming and tore it apart for a complete cleaning. He almost never got everything back working again :)
There's got to be someone who knows how to put these back together correctly after taking them apart. I imagine the rack and pinion is the same with the 81 and the plain old BLR. I haven't been able to find a video on it.
When I worked on mine years ago (maybe 10?? Later I sold it off though...), I recall getting 2 different Firearms Disassembly books that walked me through it, and I had no issues. Using a trick we used in the lockshop decades ago, before tearing it apart I put a small scratch on the bolt and gear, just so I'd be sure the gear teeth were perfectly aligned when I put back together. Sometimes you can find those books in a good library, I know I did.

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Sevastopol
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Sevastopol »

A couple years ago, I was able to find and download/print a BLR FIELD SERVICE MANUAL. It likely was put together correctly, but I've had such bad luck with instruction manuals in the last couple decades that I'm afraid to start and run into an omission. In glancing over it, there don't seem to be any language issues.
Lots of times when guys put these videos together, they'll include tips on getting around some difficulties, sometimes as simple as "a small scratch on the bolt and gear", like you said, Old No7.
M. M. Right, I may have found this manual through this site, but can't remember. I will try if I can find what you're referencing.

Thank you.
Lastmohecken
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Lastmohecken »

My experiences run a little different then many here. I bought a brand new Browning BLR model 81 in about 1989 or 90. It's still my favorite go to gun.
It's in .308 Win, and mine shoots 180 gr bullets, into about 2 to 3 inches at 200 yards, I have shot many 2-2.5 inch groups at that range. Mine is not the exception, really.
As My brother in law and a couple of my friends have similar vintage BLR's (87 to probably late 90's rifles) that shoot about the same. All in .308 cal.

Bullet weights seem to be on average 180 gr. 2 rifles in particular prefer 180 gr bullets. I have shot pretty much exclusively 180 Win Slivertips, which they don't make anymore, but I bought a couple of cases of them about 25 -27 years ago and have continued to shoot out of if them, because the have always preformed very well for me in that rifle, and always do very well on game for me.

All of these Blrs are the older steel frame models, so I can't really comment on the later lightweight models, personally. The older BLRs need a trigger job, and not just anyone should be trusted with the job. Mine has a pretty darned good trigger on it now, but not as good as a top notch bolt action, of course. My trigger has gotten better over time, because I have shot it so much.

The stocks are always too long IMHO, and need to be cut off about 3/4" or so for best handling. The lever needs to be worked briskly, for best results. When chambering a round, throw the lever all of the way down and pull it back up fairly hard and fast, but mine has been very reliable. Like most leveractions, it's best to not try to baby them when working the action, just don't get crazy with it. Just do it with meaning.

The deer and coyotes, etc I have taken with mine, many on the run, over the years, would more then fill up a and round off a full sized pickup bed. However, some people do manage to screw these guns up, by taking them apart for cleaning, etc and not getting them back to together right. My gunsmith has had mine apart once for a trigger job, way back when I first got it, and it's never been taken apart since, just like most of my Model 94's etc. Shoot them, spray then down, blow them out if needed, use a tooth brush, and cleaning rod, and don't let them rust. You don't have to tear all guns, all of the way down, to keep them running. The BLR is one of those guns that probably should not be taken apart by the home gunsmith and it's not needed anyway, usually.
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Old Savage
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Old Savage »

A friend had his jammed up by a buddy working it too hard. It is any easy smooth action. Mine has hundreds of rounds through it over 30 years, no problems.
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M. M. Wright
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Re: BLR problems

Post by M. M. Wright »

Guys there is an extensive article on the BLR by Bruce Hamlin on Hobie's web site. If you have a BLR or think you want one you'll get lots of info there. There is also a link to the BLR Field Service Manual that you can print a copy from. I got my first one in the early 70s and it was very worn from being carried in the floor of a cowboy's pickup. The stock had the imprint if the tongue of a high lift jack worn into it. Most of the blue was (still is) gone but it shoots really tight groups and I replaced the butt stock. It's a 308 and wears a Redfield 2 1/2X with a post. When I'm serious it's my go to. I had a Savage 99 that I liked almost as much but the BLR is my choice.
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Triggernosis
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Triggernosis »

What is this "Hobie's site" y'all are referring to here?
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CowboyTutt
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Re: BLR problems

Post by CowboyTutt »

I have one in 358 Winchester that was a SHOT Show special. I had it worked over by McPherson. Its one of the aluminum receiver "light weight" ones. Its difficult to do a good trigger job on them with the floating trigger assembly but it can be done by an experienced and talented gunsmith. McPherson has only done two of them in his career, and would do no more after that. The aluminum ones are very strong, just as strong as the steel framed ones. The rotating bolt head locks into a steel extension of the barrel. Very strong, but makes rebarreling one almost impossible because you have to re-cut the receiving lug recesses so precisely. As pointed out for re-assembly, if you don't mark the timing gears, it may never work right again. A couple of attributes that I'm pretty sure I'm correct on (those with manuals please correct me if so!), is that the BLR is one of the few leverguns that comes with a "through bolt" to mount the buttstock as rigidly as possible. This involves a vertical bolt between the upper and lower tang with a horizontal female piece in the center to tighten a horizontal bolt from the buttstock end. Makes for a very rigid mounting of the stock, more so than traditional designs. McPherson did "through-bolt conversions" for many years on his Marlin's and other custom guns. My McPherson Rossi Puma in 454 has such a system, it feels like a baseball bat, the whole thing is so rigid I feel like I could hit "line drives" with it all day. Back to the BLR. They do benefit from bedding the barrel in silicone. Reason is that the wood forearm hangs from a hanger off of the receiver. The barrel and hanger assembly together act like a musical "tuning fork" and can vibrate. Just floating the barrel helps, but doesn't make the problem go away. Silicone bedding works and maybe as in my case, stress relieving the front barrel band so it doesn't make contact with the barrel as it heats up.

All this being said, probably the strongest lever action design out there (it's a lever actuated bolt gun), and inherently one of the most rigid and accurate ones too. One in 308 Win or as in my case, 358 Win, can use match grade 308 brass, and a good dose of Varget for an extremely accurate rifle and cartridge. I have only one other rifle with this level of accuracy maybe. Meanwhile, I just hand over the BLR to others and they hit the soda can at one hundred yards, with iron sights, the first or second time and tell me it was easy. Truly fine guns, just not fun to work on. -Tutt
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Sevastopol »

Mine is a Belgian in .308 built the year after the supposed last year production, which I think was '68 (according to what I read somewhere). That would make it a '69 built model. The way things are going, I might just end up taking it apart and hoping I can put it back together. Probably doesn't need it, but...Then, who would do the trigger job? Risking that and to not be able to have a trigger job done, I don't know.

If I was to get one of the newer ones, I'd try to get what I think was called a Medallion. I believe (IIRC) it's SS with scrolling on the receiver. Whatever it was, I thought it was beautiful.
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Ray
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Ray »

Deleted.
Last edited by Ray on Sat Apr 16, 2022 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: BLR problems

Post by Triggernosis »

Thanks, Ray. 👍
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CowboyTutt
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Re: BLR problems

Post by CowboyTutt »

Enjoyed second article about BLR's in particular! Thank you! -Tutt
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