Anyone have any experience with the BAR Mk III, or opinions on 30-06 for hunting?

GenghisJohn

GenghisJohn

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Just finished my RPAL and doing planning/saving for my first, and possibly only, rifle. I was thinking of the 30-06 being a good round for generally any game in Canada, and I really like the idea of the BAR Mk. III. From what I can see in reviews, if you're going semi-auto for a hunting rifle it's the one to beat. The DBM version seems like it would be cool too but the hidden mag on the base model makes it look real slick too. Any thoughts or experiences with this thing?

Also, I realize I just asked a forum full of enthusiasts whether or not they have an opinion on something... seems redundant.

The Mk. III comes in .308 as well which seems to be a very popular round for hunting also.

Basically, it opens the door to another question, 30-06, .308 win, .300 win, 7mm-08 Remington
 
BAR is a good quality semi-auto rifle. However, unless you must have that quick second shot ( which is rarely the case), bolt actions are better and safer to operate IMHO! Bolt actions also have greater accuracy potential and are cheaper. A bolt action can be loaded and unloaded in silence in a hunting situation, whereas a semi requires the bolt to be released and slammed Shut. Semis are more prone to Malfunctions, bolts less so! I have 7 hunting rifles. None is a semi and I do not miss it.
Further, the Liberals will likely try and ban all semi, at some point down the road.
As to 30-06, it is a good all around hunting cartridge for NA. So is .308!. In both cases, ammunition is widely available.

OTOH, if you are talking hunting shotguns, Semis are the way to go!
 
If you want an autoloader, by all means, the Browning has a good rep and they are generally accurate.
I see you're in Ottawa, which I'm guessing means you may hunt deer locally and travel for moose, in which case I'd go with the .30-06. It's always a good choice.
 
I own a BAR (Belgium made) in 30-06 and it is a great gun and accurate. But for a first rifle and possibly your only rifle, I would go with a bolt action or a pump action! As for 30-06, that is what I’ve been using for 24 years up here in the Yukon for moose caribou and sheep, there is nothing wrong with it! Lots of great factory ammo available and usually quite affordable too!
 
I quite enjoy using my two Browning Bar Safari's. I had 3 for a while. Sold the 243. Now have a 270 and a 300 win mag. They are capable of very small groups. If you do the load development. .20 and .24 inch 3 shot group.
Buy new and break it in properly and it will be good. All I wanted was a 1 minute of deer, bear, moose rifle and I have that.
Get good glass for it and have fun.
 
On the subject of autoloaders, many seasons back I had a Remington 74 in 30-06. The budget 742 with a birch stock and less polished finish. It was a good Eastern deer rifle, but on the Prairies I discovered at expected engagement ranges it strung the group in a vertical oval. Nothing I could do changed that problem, so I sold the gun and went for a bolt action.
 
Browning BAR's are very good rifles. Just as safe as any other action if used properly. The .30-06 is the quintessential perfect all around caliber for the North American continent. Get some quality 180 grain loads and hunt anything you want.
 
pacobillie said:
An excited newbie who just shot a game animal may forget that the rifle has chambered another round. Thus my safety concern.
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Ah I see where you would have some concern there however, being that I have no experience with any other rifle, I would not have experience with one that wouldn't be chambered. Therefore, my only experience would be with a rifle where it's always got another round chambered. Regardless, I'm well into my adult years now and would treat a Bolt action as if it were loaded after a shot either way. If nothing else it would train me in safer habits wouldn't it? I also appreciate your comment about the sound issue! That makes sense.

I always like getting advice from people who own things. Usually, the best info is "What do you dislike about it"
Tigrr: does load development refer to reloading or familiarity with the load you're running? Also, what do you dislike about your BAR if you had to say?


After some time thinking about it. If, after I pick up the sport, I turn out liking it, the Tikka T3 stainless is next on my list and likely something I would like to own as well. If only for the simplicity and reliability of a bolt action.

It seems 30-06 is a good plan too. I do plan on trips to Newfoundland with some family so the follow up may be useful lol

Also, as far as it possibly being the target of a future ban, if we lived and made decisions about stuff based on some group or another possibly trying to restrict our rights in the future, we might as well not have them to begin with.
 
GenghisJohn said:
Ah I see where you would have some concern there however, being that I have no experience with any other rifle, I would not have experience with one that wouldn't be chambered. Therefore, my only experience would be with a rifle where it's always got another round chambered. Regardless, I'm well into my adult years now and would treat a Bolt action as if it were loaded after a shot either way. If nothing else it would train me in safer habits wouldn't it? (...)
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FYI, I happen to be an RSO and an avid skeet shooter. I have seen my share of unsafe behaviour on the part of new shooters, and one frequent occurrence is forgetting that a semi has chambered another round after the trigger has been pulled. Experienced shooters think about those things instinctively; new shooters often do not. It takes time and practice for those things to become second nature.

This is obviously not a comment about you, as I do not know you. It is a general comment about beginners.

Seeing that you are about to get your first (and possibly only) rifle, I was attempting to steer you away from picking a semi. Not that the BAR is not a good rifle; it is. However, as an only rifle for a new shooter/hunter (or even an experienced one), I see much better choices, all of which would be bolt or lever action rifles. The only advantage of a semi for hunting (a quicker follow-up shot) is outweighed by the multiple disadvantages (noise from releasing the bolt, ease of loading, unloading, etc...).

You asked for advice; you got advice. You are free to ignore it.

And BTW, a bolt action gives more latitude with load development (which is a term used by reloaders for the process of finding a load (combination of case, primer, bullet and powder) that shoots best in their rifle). You can shoot reduced loads in a bolt action rifle, but not in a semi, unless you do not mind it becoming a single shot rifle. You may also stress a semi's bolt cycling mechanism by going to maximum loads that would nevertheless be safe in bolt actions. Semis are tuned for factory ammo, most of which are short of custom handloads, in terms of performance and intensity.

All this to say that I do not recall a single hunting occurrence where I thought to myself: Gee, I wish my hunting rifle was a semi!

And FYI, New Zealand has banned the BAR and Justin Trudeau wants nothing more than to out virtue signal the Prime Minister of NZ.
 
I've owned a few BAR's , all of which were Belgian made . They really are good rifles , but the fact that I don't own them anymore should say something . I found , over the years , that a semi auto didn't really provide any real advantage over a bolt gun , in fact , the opposite was true . A bolt action has far more reliable extraction than a semi , is usually more accurate and more reliable . I did have a few failure to feeds and extraction failures in all of my BAR's , nothing ridiculous , but they do happen . I wont say don't buy a BAR , but you should give some thought to what you really need in a hunting rifle . Since you're just getting into hunting , I assume you don't reload . I had to experiment a fair bit with handloads before I got good accuracy out of my Brownings , something to keep in mind .
As far as the 30/06 goes , it's one of the most flexible big game cartridges there is . I've never been without one in over 40 years and have taken everything but Grizzlies locally with it . That's one choice you won't regret . I currently have four of them , but I'm a big fan of quadruple redundancy lol . Good luck with what ever you do choose .
 
I hunt with a MarkIII

Tried every semi I could and like it the best. It's very accurate, I use winchester SXR magazines so they are fully dechable, I can also pull my bolt back and ease it forward if I need to load it with Maximum Skeaky-ness.

I'd like a bigger charging handle but haven't looked to find out what interchanges. For now I just put a few layers of heat shrink on it to make it bigger and smooth. The original one is pretty small and sharp.

Keep it sprayed with G96 and it always runs good, even in -30

It's nice to have a fast follow up shot when you need it. I only use my bolts when at the range or playing around now, when it's time to hunt for real, I always take a semi
 
pacobillie said:
FYI, I happen to be an RSO and an avid skeet shooter. I have seen my share of unsafe behaviour on the part of new shooters, and one frequent occurrence is forgetting that a semi has chambered another round after the trigger has been pulled. Experienced shooters think about those things instinctively; new shooters often do not. It takes time and practice for those things to become second nature.

This is obviously not a comment about you, as I do not know you. It is a general comment about beginners.

Seeing that you are about to get your first (and possibly only) rifle, I was attempting to steer you away from picking a semi. Not that the BAR is not a good rifle; it is. However, as an only rifle for a new shooter/hunter (or even an experienced one), I see much better choices, all of which would be bolt or lever action rifles. The only advantage of a semi for hunting (a quicker follow-up shot) is outweighed by the multiple disadvantages (noise from releasing the bolt, ease of loading, unloading, etc...).

You asked for advice; you got advice. You are free to ignore it.

And BTW, a bolt action gives more latitude with load development (which is a term used by reloaders for the process of finding a load (combination of case, primer, bullet and powder) that shoots best in their rifle). You can shoot reduced loads in a bolt action rifle, but not in a semi, unless you do not mind it becoming a single shot rifle. You may also stress a semi's bolt cycling mechanism by going to maximum loads that would nevertheless be safe in bolt actions. Semis are tuned for factory ammo, most of which are short of custom handloads, in terms of performance and intensity.

All this to say that I do not recall a single hunting occurrence where I thought to myself: Gee, I wish my hunting rifle was a semi!

And FYI, New Zealand has banned the BAR and Justin Trudeau wants nothing more than to out virtue signal the Prime Minister of NZ.
Click to expand...

Your own logic does not make any sense. Somehow he should avoid a semi auto big game rifle however you support the semi auto shotgun!?
Chamering the first round in each is equally noisy.

He should get what he wants.
 
Brutus said:
Your own logic does not make any sense. Somehow he should avoid a semi auto big game rifle however you support the semi auto shotgun!?
Chamering the first round in each is equally noisy.

He should get what he wants.
Click to expand...

With all due respect,there are key differences between the two. Bird hunting requires you to engage multiple targets in quick succesion,or to use follow up shots on a regular basis. A quick second shot is thus important.

Second, birds are not nearly as skittish as deer or moose. Thus, noise from bolt release is not as much of an issue.

If he were hunting driven boars, I would say "go ahead, get a semi"! But we do not have wild boars in this country.
 
pacobillie: I totally understand and appreciate your opinion, I did ask for it and thank you for it. don't think otherwise. I really do value input!

I know it sounds like I'm set on this. I flip flopped between a Tikka and the BAR a lot from these posts. One thing that you may find interesting, and that I think is a cool feature too, is that the Mk. III has an adjustable gas block now that can be tuned for hand loads. I think I may go for the BAR when the time comes. I also think it's not going to be the only rifle I own now.

Part of the reason is, I'm a big nerd. I love the action of a semi. The mechanics behind it are really something to behold and if I'm going to go for a semi hunting rifle, the browning is the one to own. I'm also now considering the safety aspect. I can honestly say that safety is my number one concern. It's a big responsibility to own a operate a firearm and the concern others may have for me to be safe only makes me more cognizant of it. I will take your concerns and transform them into training and discipline.

Drillbit: I'm friends with a fair few machinists and might be able to upsize the ol charging handle if I need to. It looks like a fairly simple part. I'll have to look into SXR magazines too. Thanks for the input!

anglia2: Thanks for the point of view! I'm figuring now that eventually I will be getting a bolt action as well. Considering what I need in a hunting rifle is a good point. I think for my first rifle, I'm not looking at the purely utilitarian value. I think I'm looking for a rifle that I think is interesting, but could also be used for hunting. I'm sure, if I find issues with it for hunting, I'd invest into something more hunting specific if I felt it was severely lacking. At the end of the day it could give me a good excuse to the wife to get another one anyway :p
 
^ I was going to suggest buying both , but you did state that you wanted one rifle . You could buy a decent used bolt gun or BAR for less than a new BAR and go from there .
Multiple firearms is always the best solution by the way lol .
 
GenghisJohn said:
pacobillie:

Drillbit: I'm friends with a fair few machinists and might be able to upsize the ol charging handle if I need to. It looks like a fairly simple part. I'll have to look into SXR magazines too. Thanks for the input!
Click to expand...

The SXR handle is bigger and nice, but plastic. The hogstalker and fnfar should have the same handle, I just haven't seen/handled one to know if I like it or not.
Machinist might be an option too, thanks, never thought of that option.
 
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