Why so many BL22's in the EE?

IanC

IanC

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First off I will admit that I owned a BL22 and sold it on here but why are there so many? Other than me why all the hate? My reason for selling I have a touch of carpal Tunnel and I own an 1894 so it changes my swing. other than that it is a very good quality lever action on par and better in some ways then the 39 and 9422 and cycles by simply opening and closing the hand.

Edit: I see psoriasis is another reason somebody posted today in an earlier thread.
 
I have owned a lot of different lever action .22's and my favourite by far is my BL22. And in particular, the short lever throw. As you point out, I can cycle the lever by just moving my fingers. Plus they are very well mad and nicely finished. Top notch all the way.

My guess is that because they have been more available in rent times than they have been in the past, more people have been buying them which mans more people own them and more people selling them than before.
 
Hi, I'm the psoriasis guy!! I thought it was the nicest .22lr I've ever owned. Fit and finish was A1, and the wood was actually beautiful. It wasn't THE most accurate .22 I owned, but it was near bolt-gun accurate. It was not very finicky either with loads or loading. As long as I cycled it like I meant it, it never jammed. I loved that the trigger travelled with the lever, since I must have pinched my finger at least a dozen times HARD on those old 336 and 94 stationary triggers. I think I traded the Browning off for a full wood Enfield. So I definitely just suffered from too many rimfires at the time, and not enough milsurp.
My Dad (who never owned a gun in his life, and never shot one) thought it was beautiful, and actually asked me to take him somewhere that he could try to take a shot. He was happy as a clam after. (He was a big western fan and own every Louis Lamour book and had every cowboy flick I could imagine on VHS) He has never , ever, expressed any interest in shooting ANY of my guns EVER , before or since. I sent him a deactivated Model 94 (chamber welded shut) so he could have something "gunny" to have with a western flavor. He loves it. As soon as my daughter grows out of her Savage Rascal , I'm gonna get her one of these. I just picked her up a Mossberg 500 in .410 to tide her over and try out some clays this spring.
 
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They aren't as rare and hard to find as some of the others so easier to give up on.
One can still buy them new when and if the urge is strong.
 
I guess I didn't realize the production numbers of them seems like they are the 1022 Lever action's. Probably a lot of people's first guns. Like I said I loved mine but due to stupid health issues I moved it beautiful guns though.
 
My son has the BL22 youth version, it is a beautiful little gun, he got it for Xmas from his grandpa.
He is 11. He is a great little athlete, excels in pretty much every sport, has great hand/eye coordination and can shoot the lights out with his CZ Scout and 700 LVSF that I shortened the stock on.
The trigger on the BL22 is TERRIBLE, so bad in fact that it very rarely leaves the safe and only if we just want to make noise because any sort of accuracy is negated by heaviest, grittiest trigger in the safe.
Whether or not that's the reason for the abundance in the EE I don't know but if it wasn't a Xmas present it would have been out the door a long time ago.
Supposedly the triggers get better with use but we're a brick and a half through it and I can't tell the difference.
 
The first gun I bought was an early bl-22. I find it great for off hand shooting. PERFECTly reliable with any and all ammo. It's great to carry around, nice and compact. It's not a bench rifle, it's not supposed to be.
dan
 
If you're used to traditional lever-action throw you will probably not like the BL22. The trigger on mine broke crisp but was very heavy.
Good luck with detailed stripping & re-assembly if you have only average Smithing skills….sold mine after a couple hundred rounds.
 
I had one and sold it. I liked the fit and finish and the short throw lever, but it was not was not very accurate. I've since moved over to a Henry Golden Boy which is much more accurate.
 
krausb said:
Really? What's not to love about the short lever throw?? That's the best feature of the BL22!
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I don't think so...

Levers were meant to be "worked" not "flicked."

The Browning short throw lever destroys any real lever action feel and rhythm. I own two and they are my least favourite lever rimfire rifles... they have also proven to be less accurate than my Win 94/22's, Marlins and Henry's.
 
One of the US rimfire boards has a potential solution (see below) for a BL22s NASTY trigger. Do any of you gentlemen know of anyong who's tried it?

TRIGGER JOB – BROWNING BL-22

The BL-22 is a hammer-fired gun. A reduction of the hammer spring will reduce the trigger pull but you then risk misfires. Some reduction is possible by cutting off one or two coils of the mainspring (as Browning calls it). But don't get carried away.... anything close to 3 pounds pull is doing good.

Here's how you do it. First buy a new spring (less than $5 from Browning or Brownells). Remove the original spring and set it aside (in case you have to go back to stock condition, like for warrantee repairs, or if you shorten the replacement spring too much). Remove one coil and install the new spring. Measure the trigger pull with a trigger pull gage. If it is close to 3 pounds you are done. If not, then remove another coil and test again but under no circumstance should the spring ever have no preload on the hammer, when the spring is relaxed. Then take the gun to the range and verify you NEVER get misfires from too light of a hit to the case rim.

For your information when a gunsmith does a trigger job he is firstly after reducing the creep in the pull (the motion of the trigger without the hammer releasing). That is obtained by reducing the engagement of the sear and the hammer (sometimes the sear is just part of the trigger). With this reduction in engagement it makes the gun less safe (here come the lawyers). If you get the hammer spring too light the sear surface can bounce out of engagement with the hammer from a sharp blow to the gun (you drop it, for instance, or bump the gun).

When you tinker with a gun's fire control system it has to be safety first. A light pull that creates an "accident" is not good!
 
hoytcanon said:
I don't think so...

Levers were meant to be "worked" not "flicked."

The Browning short throw lever destroys any real lever action feel and rhythm. I own two and they are my least favourite lever rimfire rifles... they have also proven to be less accurate than my Win 94/22's, Marlins and Henry's.
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I agree. After being used to my 9422 and Henry, the lever on these just feels funny and unnatural.
 
Well, to each his own I guess. Just goes to show that we all have different tastes. I love the quick follow up shots that I get with my BL22 in the gopher patch thanks to the very short throw lever. Interesting comments about the accuracy from you guys though. I found my BL22 to be more accurate than my either of my Henrys ever were. But only slightly so. Maybe it was just the sights. I always thought about painting the front sight on the Henrys bright Orange or white. I alway had trouble picking it up quickly.
 
I never knew they made the BL22 with a plastic stock till this summer. I would like one just to have one. The ones in the EE sell for way more then they are worth is the big problem.
 
Raton57 said:
I never knew they made the BL22 with a plastic stock till this summer. I would like one just to have one. The ones in the EE sell for way more then they are worth is the big problem.
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That's the problem. I bought mine a month or two ago, and looked in the exchange first. Between store/browning promotion and no shipping, a brand new one is only $50 or so more than used, which do you think people would go with?
 
I agree with some here about the short throw.
You either love it or hate it.
After having owned 2 before...I don't miss it.
The lever is stiffer and unnatural or could say untraditional. But for the fit/finish and accuracy I give it an "A"
I much prefer my Henrys and Marlin.
 
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