BLR

[a357lever]

i picked up a blr lightwieght in 308win how much velocity loss does is there in the 20" bbl, what loads would be good for deer and how will be the range on this gun?
i am thinking a 2-7X32 scope , rifle is in vg cond. paid 450$ i think i paid high but the action and handiness sold me

[RKrodle]

I think you did good on the price, I have one in 358. I don't think you'll have much velocity loss in the 20 inch barrel. If I remember most 308 bolt guns are no more then 22 inches.

[86er]

Good purchase! Here's a few interesting facts for you - I had a good hunting client that used a BLR in 308 exclusively. He was a big guy at 6'3" and 270 lbs or muscle. It was a running joke that he shot everything twice. The gun had so little recoil to him and was so smooth that he would just shoot, shuck and shoot just about everything. He has a 2X7X33 Leupold scope on it. On a moose hunt, he had loaded some 240 grain bullets at 2050 fps. He shot a moose that dropped like it was pole-axed. Another guy shot a moose with, well something else, and it ran into the water, but died within a hundred yards of where it was shot. The 3rd client had the same cartridge as the 2nd. He ended up borrowing the BLR 308 and shot his moose DRT also. I do recall some factory ammo that said it was 2760 fps was actually doing 2565 out of the BLR. I can't say whether it was the 20" barrel of the factory was extremely optimistic in their velocity statement.

I have done extensive testing with the 308 to pick the right bullet for my uses. I have a Sav 99 in 308. With the 165 grain Nosler Partion if you are doing most of your shooting between 100 and 200 yards a 2550 fps muzzle velocity will provide the best bullet performance on medium game. Much faster and you do not get pass through shots or the frontal section opens and smears off very quickly. Slower does not gain much penetration but the frontal section stayed intact moreso. I tried Federal Fusion 165 grain and they perform great at that MV and have the same point of impact as the Nosler Partitions. So, even if you are getting a little slower muzzle velocity it may be a good thing, especially if you are interested in using those 165 gr bullets.

[Tycer]

Range?
20" 308?
Probably farther than you should be shooting. A 165 grainer is carrying enough energy to drop a deer at 600 yards.

If you practice properly you should be able to put all your shots on a paper plate. Every time. From your field shooting position, not a bench. And after running in place long enough to elevate your heart rate. Whatever range you can do that perfectly is the range you should stay under.

[Don McDowell]

The 308 blr my wife shoots chronographs a 165 with 45.2 grs of 748 in remington brass and cci lr primers at 2750.
Using 40 grs h414 with 100 gr bullet in my blr 243 it clocks 2950.
There's basically little to no velocity loss on the 308 and its offspring from the 20 inch barrel.
Ditto on the affective range being as far as you can reliably put the bullet where it needs to be.

[a357lever]

thanks i feel good about the purchase, i was going to buy a 30-06 22" savage but i saw this thing and well... anyway i will not shoot over 250y anyway so i just thought the lever wouldn't be as accurate but it should be ok at that range. my friend has a ruger with a 16" 308 bolt action and he loves it he has taken a lot of game with it he likes 165gr ammo. i don't reload but we are going to the range next week i will see how close i can come to his thanks guys i feel a lot better about this buy i have a browning scope (bushnell) 2-7 32 should be mounted it today sweeeeet

[Don McDowell]

Both the BLRs here and a handful of others I'm aquainted with will shoot 3 shot clover leafs at 100 when fed their favorite loads. The barrel heats up quickly so 5 shot groups open up quite a bit.

[Rusty]

Congratulations

Shoot well,

[Idiot]

I grew up shooting deer with a 308 Winchester. Go down to Wal-Mart and pick up a green and yellow box of 150 grain Core-Lokts, or silver box Winchester Power-Points or Silver Tips, or a blue box of Federal Hi-Shok soft points, or any other major brand using basic soft point bullets and go kill a deer. Deer are easy to kill.

If you insist on reloading, go get yourself a can of IMR4350 or Winchester 760 and a box of 150 grain simple copper jacket lead core bullets (Hornady Inter-locks and Speer Hot-Cors are the least expensive) and pick-up a cheap simple reloading manual (or download one from Winchester.com for free) and whip up a box or two of ammo and kill a deer.

You can also get good bulk Winchester and Remington soft point bullets from Graf and Sons or Midway USA if you want to pay shipping. And here's my last two cents worth of advice, don't waste your money on bonded this and bonded that and partitioned this and partioned that bullets, or fused this and ballistic that bodies and tipped bullets. They will not kill a deer any deader or any quicker than the cheap factory stuff mentioned at the top - deer are easy to kill.

Oh, with any of the factory loads mentioned above, the velocity will be high enough (around 2600 fps) to hit and kill deer clear out to 400 yards. Remember, a 308 Winchester is nothing more than a flatter shooting 30-30 Winchester, and the 30-30 has killed a lot of deer.

[scarville]

$450 is not bad price. I got my first BLR used, with a 3-9X40 scope, for $350 but that was ca 1987. I paid street price for a new takedown about six months ago. If I saw a BLR in good condition for $450 I'd probably snap it up.

I put a 2-7X33 Leupold on mine and I never felt it was too weak. In truth I usually left it at 2X for hunting. My new takedown has a Leupold Prismatic (1X) but the jury is still out on it. I also have a Williams peep sight and front blade as a backup. My only advice on optics is spend the money to get good quality.

I've shot soft point 150 gr PMC from my BLR for years. I bought up about 2000 rounds shortly before PMC stopped making it so I'd still be using it if almost all the hunting in California wasn't in the condor zone. I never had a problem with deer and only once did I have to hit a pig twice.

[tman]

I grew up shooting deer with a 308 Winchester. Go down to Wal-Mart and pick up a green and yellow box of 150 grain Core-Lokts, or silver box Winchester Power-Points or Silver Tips, or a blue box of Federal Hi-Shok soft points, or any other major brand using basic soft point bullets and go kill a deer. Deer are easy to kill.

If you insist on reloading, go get yourself a can of IMR4350 or Winchester 760 and a box of 150 grain simple copper jacket lead core bullets (Hornady Inter-locks and Speer Hot-Cors are the least expensive) and pick-up a cheap simple reloading manual (or download one from Winchester.com for free) and whip up a box or two of ammo and kill a deer.

You can also get good bulk Winchester and Remington soft point bullets from Graf and Sons or Midway USA if you want to pay shipping. And here's my last two cents worth of advice, don't waste your money on bonded this and bonded that and partitioned this and partioned that bullets, or fused this and ballistic that bodies and tipped bullets. They will not kill a deer any deader or any quicker than the cheap factory stuff mentioned at the top - deer are easy to kill.

Oh, with any of the factory loads mentioned above, the velocity will be high enough (around 2600 fps) to hit and kill deer clear out to 400 yards. Remember, a 308 Winchester is nothing more than a flatter shooting 30-30 Winchester, and the 30-30 has killed a lot of deer.

idiot nailed it. the blr in .308 should take big north american game out to 400 yards,[if u feel it's necessary to shoot that far], using bargain basement ammo. compare the drop of the 300wsm and .308 at 400 yards, hardly worth the expense, noise, weight, and recoil.

[blackhawk44]

One other thing, don't let friends (?) tease you about the .308 being a warmed up .30-30. Those of us that have a chronograph found out long ago that very few factory .30-06 loads clock any faster than most good .308 loads, with the same weight bullet. A good fixed 4X scope will do everything you need out to 300 yards. I know it works because that's what I did for my .308 BLR 35 years ago and its still wearing that little Leupold.