Browning BLR's - do you ever see any on the shelves anywhere

Triggernosis · Post by **Triggernosis** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:56 pm

I can't find any to look at, either new or used. What's up? Is the BLR such a "niche" item that noone wants to stock 'em on their shelves?
I could order one, but I'd really like to fondle one and maybe pick one with some good wood before I commit to a purchase.
I'm thinking a pistol grip version in 7mm-08 would be oh so sweet....

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:37 pm

They're pretty nice rifles. I have one in 243 my wife loves hers in 308.
Sportsmans Warehouse, and Cabela's usually have a couple on the shelf.
Used ones are scarcer than the new ones

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:23 pm

The Gander Mtn. nearby has two stainless and had a blued one in .243. All used but nice condition.

I would have bought the blue one if it had been anything but .243 ( no offense to the .243 fans)

jb

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:45 pm

I usually see two or three at most gun shows I attend - but those are "larger" shows, and not the smaller, club-run variety.

IMO, though, you're correct in concluding that not many dealers are willing to gamble the green to stock what's essentially both a high-dollar and low-demand item.

.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:21 pm

Very seldom see one around here, shops or shows.

Ben_Rumson · Post by **Ben_Rumson** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:48 pm

Watched a fair priced used beauty in 308 scoped w/sling languish for months at the same shop I got my 99 at (under priced)

that was there at the same time.. Saw a no safety 336 35 Rem IIRC, a 36 in 30-30 50%, all under priced.. Various over priced 1894 & 94s rifles and carbines...Last time I was there six weeks ago I heard the BLR went to a big gun show somewhere for disposal..

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 6:56 pm

[quote=
Used ones are scarcer than the new ones[/quote]

In the last several years, at the big shows like Tulsa, I have often only found a couple of the older all steel framed BLR's in the whole show, and at the local shops, around here, they are pretty rare, used. I know quite a few people who own them in my area, but none would consider selling them, because they know how good in general they are. I own three, myself. One I use as my main centerfire, another I purchased for a spare, just in case anything happen to the first one, and another I bought in 22/250 for coyotes, but I haven't shot it but just enough to check the iron sights, I have a scope for it, but havn't gotten around to putting it on.

If you really want a hard find, just go looking for a 358win or a 22/250, i the old steel frame. .308Wins are the easiest to find, with 243's sometimes available, also.

I havn't looked lately, but the new BLR's were pretty common on gunbroker.com

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:30 pm

The aluminum framed rifles are just as strong and I believe stronger because the bolt locking lugs lock into the barrel itself. VERY strong! The lighter weight makes them handle much better too! I love mine in 358 Win. This is an older pic and its got a few very small surface scratches now, but is a fine working gun and the most "packable" of all my rifles (thus the scratches). Mic McPherson tinkered the snot out of it, and it works very well. -Tutt

scarville · Post by **scarville** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:56 pm

Don't know why but I rarely see one on display. I bought my first one used around 1990 at a local gun shop that had it on consignment. When I bought the takedown last year I had to order it. The wholesaler has it in stock so it only took a couple of days to deliver. Odd thing is I see quite a few of them at the range or when I go hunting so I know people buy them. Everyone who has tried one of mine loves it.

I recently noticed that magazine have gone way up. I used to buy them for $20 at gun shows but now even the discounted ones are $50 or more.

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:02 pm

Half the gunshops have one new or used around here. The bigger shop has aleast 4 new and 2 used ones. But the prices are getting insane on them.

Stan in SC · Post by **Stan in SC** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:03 am

My local gun shop here in upstate South Carolina has a blue one in .270 for sale.Nice looking rifle.

Stan in SC

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:04 am

I have owned all the major brands of lever rifles and liked them all. My collection now contains only Browning BLR's in different configurations. Regular, takedown, stainless and blued. I highly recommend them. My local shop keeps two or three new ones in stock, but I have only seen one used one for sale in this area.

jimincolo · Post by **jimincolo** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:16 am

You might try a store that specializes in Browning goods; not just firearms, but clothing, etc. BLR's have become pretty pricey. You've probably noticed that many dealers are stocking lower end rifles; such as Howa, Vanguard, Savage, Tikka, etc.

Our local Browning dealer has 7 or 8 on the rack right now. Most are straight stock walnut with blue metal. The most common chamberings seem to be .243, 7-08, & .308.

I don't blame you for wanting one. My .358 is a fabulous rifle. Good luck in locating your 7-08 at a fair price.

Post by **Hobie** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:40 am

I think we have 3 used guns in our shop right now.

It seems to me that those that buy them like them and don't let them go. They are a "non-traditional" lever and that has been a tough row to hoe as every maker not a Winchester has found out. Some folks won't buy a Savage because of how it looks! So, dealers are often reluctant to stock them (but ColoNative's shop does) and some folks are slow to buy but then slow to let go, too.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:42 am

Only ones I am seeing are at Kittery Trading Post in 22-250 and .243 around $500

edwardyoung · Post by **edwardyoung** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:28 am

Here's the one I PM'ed you about. Poor pictures, but you can at least tell what it is.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:50 am

jimincolo · Post by **jimincolo** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:35 pm

Hobie has a very good point. BLR's do take a bit of getting used to. People who have them seem to like them.

Back in the 1980"s, while living in greater Atlanta, I was told by a dealer that Brownings top BLR market was the South. I never saw one while hunting in Georgia.

Since moving to Colorado, I see BLR's in the field every year. It may be the proximitry of Morgan, Utah; but I rather think that it's more the rifle itself & available cartridges that make it popular.

Post by **Hobie** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:39 pm

The BLR is sort of a lever bolt action. It can handle and is chambered for some cartridges that are very popular in the wide open spaces. Around here it seems that the most popular are the 7-08, .308, .30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, and such.

JDL · Post by **JDL** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:32 pm

I've had my .358 BLR since 1981 and about a year after I bought it, I sold my Savage 99 in .358. Never regreted keeping the BLR, but wished I'd held off selling the 99 until now!

Some say they are ugly but, to me, look just a little better than a 336 or 94 and if you ever cycle the action, you'll know why I think so highly of them. I've never felt another lever action as smooth and the accuracy gives me total confidence. I've used jacketed bullets weighing from 180 to 250 grains but, have come to use it almost exclusively for a cast 225 grain pushed along with 40.5 grains of 4895. Trim package with plenty of power and good looking to boot!
JDL

Goat · Post by **Goat** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:42 pm

I seldom see them on the shelf at a shop but know a guy that is every local gunshow that always has a few on the tables. I found mine at the local show about ten years ago on "accident." I knew this guy always had BLR-81s but never expected to find a 358. He had TWO. I picked the cleanest one up and asked what he would take (he had $600 on it) he replied $500. Since then he has had everything from the original BLRs to BLR-81s in nearly ever short action caliber. I have even seen a couple of .284s . If I should ever decide to get another I will look this guy up.I have been favorably impressed with the accuracy and handling of these Brownings. Find one and I think you will keep it!
Goat

Rexster · Post by **Rexster** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:03 pm

Collector's Firearms in Houston often has one or two used ones, and they move fairly quickly, if they price them right. I have learned to do a QUICK layaway on anything they have, if I don't want it to disappear; this applying to anything, not just BLRs. Dealers seem reluctant to stock new ones in quantity; Collector's seems to have no more than one or two new ones at a time, and only in the chamberings that will move reliably quickly. As for where all the the BLRs are going, well, I seem to be accumulating quite a few. I bought my first, a .308 Lightning model, in 1997, and that is what got me started in levergunning. When a run of them were made in .308 with stainless barrels, clear-anodized receivers, and laminated stocks, I grabbed two of them. I recently paid out the lay-away on a Takedown, also in .308.

I have wanted to get one in .22-250, but availability has yet to coincide with money in pocket.

With new ones, keep in mind that dealers who advertise themselves as Browning dealers are far more likely to have a range of Browning stuff in stock.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:42 am

how are they on carrying all day? I checked them out on the Browning site and it says they're around 8 lbs.

I'm thinking about getting a 270 and a lever is a nice choice (I'm left-handed).

They look ugly to me but sometimes the ungainly design is just the ticket ergonomically (the 336 comes to mind).

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:27 am

I have to say those Browning BLRs when you pick one up(now I am going back a ways) are really nice and shiny.About 16 years ago I ordered one for my buddy at work(our Military Comp Shooting Team Leader has a small Gun Shop in Pa and got me it for him.It was a Straight Stock Browning BLR 7mm Rem Mag. That was one of the prettiest guns I have ever seen.Almost too nice to even take out in the woods! I told him, "Dude you have a 500 yard levergun".He put a Silver Leupold 4-12X on it and I told him he ruined its looks!

and I need to buy that gun from him and remove that scope!

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:15 am

The short action BLR's carry just like a 30-30 Win . I had one in 7-mm mag in the long action. It had a 24 in barrel and was very accurate. It did not balance worth a hoot. So I traded it in on one in 300WSM that was a pound lighter because of the alloy receiver.That was too light of a gun for that cartridge it was not fun to shoot so I traded that off. But I carried my 308 BLR for years and will never sell it. It is just a nice carrying package with right amount of power.

By the way my brother in law has all 14 different calibers of the BLR 81's before the alloy receivers, non of the short mags. The only other one I would want is the 257 roberts.

Leverdude · Post by **Leverdude** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 10:57 am

Theyre pretty common around here.

Post by **Hobie** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:24 am

El Chivo wrote:how are they on carrying all day? I checked them out on the Browning site and it says they're around 8 lbs.

I'm thinking about getting a 270 and a lever is a nice choice (I'm left-handed).

They look ugly to me but sometimes the ungainly design is just the ticket ergonomically (the 336 comes to mind).

The 336 is "ungainly"?

holahead · Post by **holahead** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:04 pm

I have saw three BLR in my life. I saw one a few years back at a pawn shop that looked like it was dragged behind s truck. I was at a Bass Pro shop back in June and they had two on the shelf. They are some fine rifles for sure. There is a BLR on my short list of guns to get.

MrMurphy · Post by **MrMurphy** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:49 pm

They're all over in Texas.

Every major "brand" store (Cabelas, etc) has them. Most of the larger private shops have 1 or 2 hiding somewhere.

The shop I used to work at was big, had over 2,000 guns on display and another 4,000 in back, we had at least 3-4 BLRs out and about in the new/used area.

i've never shot one (never ran into someone who actually owned one), but for something in that size range in the caliber i'd be interested in ('06) I'd probably get a bolt myself out of familiarity.

Now if Savage had kept making the '99......... <sigh>

Rexster · Post by **Rexster** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 7:13 pm

El Chivo wrote:how are they on carrying all day? I checked them out on the Browning site and it says they're around 8 lbs.

I'm thinking about getting a 270 and a lever is a nice choice (I'm left-handed).

They look ugly to me but sometimes the ungainly design is just the ticket ergonomically (the 336 comes to mind).

I find a short-action BLR Lightning and currently-made BLRs quite handy, balancing well at the magazine floorplate, with the contoured floorplate helping the rifle nestle right into the grip of the fingers.

BEWARE of long-action BLRs! Several have mentioned they do not handle as well as the short-actions. I can only answer with the experience of handling a few long-actions at gun dealers; I prefer short-actions.

BTW, I am a lefty, too, which is what drew me to lever rifles in the first place. I did not grow up shooting, and started rifle shooting with other actions, not acquiring my first lever rifles until 1997, in my mid-30's. The BLR's handling qualities are what drew me to lever rifles, though I actually bought a new-old-stock pre-safety Winchester '94 Trapper first, and bought the BLR a month or two later. As for ungainliness, well, call it sacrilege, but I preferred the BLR's handling qualities, and never even fired that Trapper before eventually trading it for something deemed more important. I did fire my then-future father-in-law's '94, in 1997, and decided I liked the BLR's handling and accuracy a lot more than that of the '94. I used to say the BLR had radar-assisted aiming, as it made me look like I was a much better rifle shot than I really was.

BTW, yes, I did watch Westerns as a kid, but the "cowboy" weapons that interested me were sixguns and single-shot rifles, with a mild side interest in side-by-side shotguns. Therefore, I guess, I did not develop an early opinion of how a lever rifle "should" look, so I had no prejudice regarding the BLR's appearance, and really LIKED the BLR Lightning when I started lever shopping. (I wish I could still get that style of stock.) To this day, I do not favor tube magazines that run the length of the barrel, nor side loading gates.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 7:53 pm

my peddler has several on the shelf

wm · Post by wm » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:46 pm

Dick Williams gunsmithy in Saginaw, MI (you can goggle their website but keep in mind that Williams Gunsight in Davidson, MI is not the same place) has 2 or 3 used ones and one or two new ones on their shelves.

I know one was a 270......I thought about buying it and making it into a 35 Whelen until I realized I had misread the price tag. Strange how a couple hundred dollars difference in price cooled my ardor for a new project.

Wm

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:01 pm

Hobie wrote:
El Chivo wrote:...They look ugly to me but sometimes the ungainly design is just the ticket ergonomically (the 336 comes to mind).
The 336 is "ungainly"?

visually speaking, yes, but just about perfect to carry and shoot.

Hobie, I need to start a new thread on aesthetics...

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:02 pm

I see them now and then in Wyoming gun shops.

I have a .358 with the aluminum action. It is very nice and hits hard (milk jugs, anyway!) but it sits in the safe because I won't put a scope on a gun like that; but my eyes need a scope! With all you guys talking about good accuracy, maybe I ought to try it again to see if I can shoot with it.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 11:04 pm

BEWARE of long-action BLRs! Several have mentioned they do not handle as well as the short-actions. I can only answer with the experience of handling a few long-actions at gun dealers; I prefer short-actions.

Which are the long actions? 30-06, 7mm mag, 270?

I noticed some come in WSM calibers, are these the short actions?

Rexster · Post by **Rexster** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:08 am

El Chivo wrote:
BEWARE of long-action BLRs! Several have mentioned they do not handle as well as the short-actions. I can only answer with the experience of handling a few long-actions at gun dealers; I prefer short-actions.
Which are the long actions? 30-06, 7mm mag, 270?

I noticed some come in WSM calibers, are these the short actions?

On Browning's site, click on the model configuration of BLR which interests you, and the short action models with start with the SA designation, the long action with LA.

Here is one, the BLR Lightweight With Pistol Grip:

http://www.browning.com/products/catalo ... ype_id=009

The overall BLR page:

http://www.browning.com/products/catalo ... catalog_=B

Triggernosis · Post by **Triggernosis** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 8:58 am

Funny that people mention how "ungainly" the BLR's look....as, personally, I think the Savage 99 is about as homely-looking as a gun can get. Heck, I like the looks of my AR15 better than the 99....

marlin shooter · Post by **marlin shooter** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 3:04 pm

I have a BLR 81 (steel receiver) in .358. I like the rifle alot. It's a little butt heavy, light enough to tote all day and is a great shooter. I put a williams WGRS receiver sight on mine and it's perfect for the deer woods. I don't think there that untraditional looking, certainly no more then a Win 88 or Sav 99. Exposed hammer and no safety is nice. The magazine is nice for loading and unloading if your moving from place to place alot while hunting. People complain about the triggers but mine doesn't seem that bad, certainly fine for hunting. The finish is a little shiny, but I can't bring mysely to strip the wood and refinish. I would like to buy the same rifle in .257 roberts or .284 winchester.
Karl

Fiddler · Post by **Fiddler** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:39 pm

I just had my 7mm-08 BLR out shooting this morning, and was reminded of why I so seldom shoot it.
I detest the trigger on this rifle!!!
I've had trigger jobs on every rifle I've owned for the last 35 years, and when my local gunsmith told me there was nothing he could do to lighten this BLR's trigger, it broke my heart. There's a lot to like about this rifle, except for the heavy trigger.

tman · Post by **tman** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:02 pm

my pre-81 .308wcf. handles and hits my shoulder almost as well and fast as a model 94. the .308 can do most anything you need in a hunting cartridge. i like mine.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:33 am

what's wrong with the long action models, anyway?

Pathfinder09 · Post by **Pathfinder09** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:03 am

I lucked out. Yesterday I picked up an older BLR81 in .308, with a 3x9 Redfield scope. Whoever had it, took care of it because it is a beauty. I've wanted a .308 in a lever gun for a while and was looking for a Savage 99, but this came along and I could not pass it up.

Rexster · Post by **Rexster** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:35 am

El Chivo wrote:what's wrong with the long action models, anyway?

Nothing is "wrong" with the long actions. Most folks who have posted about the difference have indicated they prefer the way the short actions handle, both carrying them and working the lever. I am one of those who definitely prefers the balance and handling of the short actions. To be clear, I have never handled a LOADED long action, just ones that were unloaded.

scarville · Post by **scarville** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 7:42 pm

El Chivo wrote:what's wrong with the long action models, anyway?

Nothing wrong but the long actions do feel a little different.

I've shot a BLR in 308 (short action) and 270 (long action) and the short action just feels a little smoother to me. Really though, arguing about which is "better" is like comparing .995 to .999 gold.

Bigahh · Post by **Bigahh** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 8:41 pm

How is the kick on these rifles in a long action like a .270 ? Never heard anyone complain anyway.