Barrel swap BLR take down

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wallz

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Prince George
Looking for a smith in Canada that can re-barrel a browning BLR take down, stainless. Looking to go to 45 raptor.

They are the same case head as 308, so I would supply either a 308 or 6.5 CM rifle with a bullet diameter of .452". Basically off a 460 S&W round.

Would ultimately like to keep the stock barrel, and add a second, possibly a third as a quick switch barrel set up.

Yes I know the barrels come with a sleeve similar to AR type, and from what I can track down they are removable.

Anyone have any recommendations, besides find another project? I know there are other platforms, and looking at those as well, but at this point the BLR I would like to pursue for now.
 
Good luck.
This is one of the situations more money than brains I think lol.

Why don’t you just buy a 460 S&W lever action and call it a day? Will the deer know a difference ? Because you obviously aren’t target shooting or anything else with a lever gun lol

But at the end of the day, to each their own.
 
RyoTHC said:
Good luck.
This is one of the situations more money than brains I think lol.

Why don’t you just buy a 460 S&W lever action and call it a day? Will the deer know a difference ? Because you obviously aren’t target shooting or anything else with a lever gun lol

But at the end of the day, to each their own.
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I guess you missed the part: "Anyone have any recommendations, besides find another project?"
 
There's no doubt that there are individuals who will tackle this project. The first name I thought of was Barry Jensen's.

Bits of Pieces
#5B Tilbury Center,
7621 Vantage Way,
Delta BC,
Canada V4G 1A6
 
Hand Skills said:
Following, I know a guy in the states who has done it.

He said once tooled up for it, there's really not much to it.

Honestly, I'm surprised switch barrel BLR's not more of a 'thing'.

Re-boring is another idea, but .45 is a pretty big hole.
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I'm quite surprised myself seeing how long the BLR has been around.

Was able to find some info on a smith in Alaska and Australia of all places that have done them, but nothing remotely in Canada.

I really can't see the issue with the AR type sleeves as there are millions of AR's getting barrel swaps all the time, granted mostly in the US but still it should be easier to dig up info on them.
 
Was able to get some feed back from one of the smiths I have contacted, and that sounded promising. More on this as it becomes reality, but I might get some of the TD barrel sleeves so a quick caliber swap might still be in the works. Fingers crossed. They have built a 223, 300 AAC swap blr rifle that I happened across that got me going on this goose chase to begin with.

I'll write things up as they become reality because I'm sure others might find this info helpful and embark on adventures of their own with the BLR.

Plan will eventually buy a few fore ends and have them bedded on the front barrel so I can get rid of the barrel clamp, and have an ultimate switch barrel lever action rifle.

45 Raptor is the priority, and I'm looking into if the 44 mag will work on the .473 bolt face. One blurb I read is it will work on the short action bolt face, but more digging is still warranted for that outcome. Maybe a 44 variant, or an altered case base to get the 44 to work, but I really don't see why it couldn't.

Could you imagine barrel swaps faster than the TC encore and in a lever action. NOT for the faint of heart!




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Just a quick update for anyone wanting to know.

I now have two barrel extension mailed to me and on the way. These screw onto the barrel, just like the stock BLR ones do. Had a great conversation with the smith about this. They make 4 different sizes of these to fit the different cartridges.
Not so much different bolt head configs as more of a length and feeding ramp type difference. The 30-06 being the longest, 300 WSM, 308 family and the smaller 223 family of cartridges. They would provide these with their barrels if it were not for the difficulty of getting barrels into Canada lately, so have no problems providing the extensions as they are with no barrel.

This they ran into when they tried to use them on the different cartridges and ran into issues so ended up getting all four rifles and could build to suite. I guess there are a few guys out there with the same thought of, its a great take down rifle, but why is it sooo difficult to get other calibers to make it a true take down switch barrel.

Seems like finding a smith to actually make a barrel in the cartridges I want is the hardest part of this project. Go figure.
Wanting a heavier than stock barrel, and I realize that the fore end wood will need to be opened up a bit, and have a new one to work with still turns smiths away and not really wanting to work projects like this. I understand that most only want to work on fast money makers, but when I guy is willing to pay it should be no problems. Should be!

I'm sure I'll be able to track down a smith eventually and get er done!
 
Well the barrel nuts have landed.

Was able to purchase a 450 marlin magazine that will work perfect for my needs. Tracked down some 45 raptor brass as well.

Was able to push some of my 290 gr barnes TEZ tips into the brass for a comparison with the 450 bushmaster I shoot currently. I lucked out and the longer of them just happens to be magazine max and I can load out uptown there if required. Worst case I might need to fiddle with the feed ramp to get it to run smooth.

Now I just need a rifle and 45 raptor barrel.

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