BLR fail to #### properly.

snomad

snomad

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I have a BLR with gold trigger that does not #### the hammer properly with the lever. It won't fire that way. However, if you re-#### that hammer manually even though it is cocked it will fire. As well, if you were to load this weapon, de-#### the hammer and then later #### it manually, it will fire. In short, if you #### it manually it will fire every time. If you #### it by operating the lever it may fire only if you really slam the lever home. I cannot say whether the rifle trigger/sear has been played with. Any info is appreciated before I decide what direction to take with it.
 
It does #### the hammer but does not seem to #### it properly somehow. It won't fire. If you then pull the hammer back fully it will then fire. There is no audible or felt click at all when the hammer is pulled back manually this way when it is already cocked by the lever. The bolt fully passes and clears the hammer so there is no way it can #### the hammer further. I have lubed this area but have not disassembled it as yet.
 
I would do a full strip, clean and inspect myself. Also I run any lever action with authority and sorta slam them home. Being gentle with any action never pays off IMHO.
 
Something similar came up in another thread concerning the BLR. Another member that knows the insides of them better than I posted something about an internal gear rack that might be out of place by one tooth.

If the hammer is fully back then look into how the trigger is set and if there's any sort of post shot lockout for the trigger. Something that might be set correctly when you over #### the hammer manually.

I have a few different lever guns and none of them need to be cycled with gusto. Yes they need to be cycled fully from end to end. And at least one of them needs to be cycled such that it doesn't stop or reverse at all during the stroke of the cycling or it WILL lock up. Just that they don't need to be cycled fast or with anything resembling excess force. So if that's what it takes then I'd suggest that something is wrong.
 
as madtrapper said ,take the stock off and look at the internals where hammer cocks on trigger. spay clean and lube if necessary with light oil . Do not do a tear down on this rifle unless u know what needs to be done on this model of rifle. The rack and pinion can be put out of timing on the teeth and u could be in worse shape. It takes someone who knows these rifles to fix it proper.
 
Sounds like it was short stroked but enough to chamber a round but not enough to completely catch at full #### and ended up in the hammer safe "half ####" position. Then manually operating the hammer to full #### reset the hammer for firing. Similar to full stroke cocking the hammer and then manually letting if move forward to safe, gun won't fire but manually cocking the hammer fully allows firing when trigger pulled.
 
If you do a full strip (Not recommended) it is quite tricky to get the gear indexed on the rack correctly. It will easily assemble with the gear out one tooth and operate... but it will misfire unless assembled correctly. (Brownell's Gunsmith Kinks III page 306). BLR's are not the easiest to learn how to be a gunsmith on.

I suggest removing the buttstock and washing the action out with varsol as best possible and blowing with air pressure a few times and trying it again.... make sure you get the chamber wiped clean and dry.
 
Good input everyone. I accumulated a bunch of info and the manual for a pre-81 before taking this further. Without a total disassembly yet, it appears that someone has worked on the trigger. It also appears that the timing was out a bit as I believe that the bolt should have gone 10 thou or so further in and that the lever itself should feel like it is "home" when closed. This no doubt occurred when it was reassembled after trigger "work". As for the trigger, it will also drop from the half #### position when the trigger is pulled which isn't right. In addition, the trigger pull is nice at between 3 and 4 pounds, which in addition to no locktite on the left side screw tells me someone was in there.
I fully understand why many gunsmiths do not want to work on these after removing the lever assembly myself. If you knew where that lever gear cage (for lack of the exact part name) was supposed to go the assembly and tweaking of it would be relatively simple in comparison to the 2.5 hours of trial and error to get it right when having no idea where it should be. The timing now appears to be correct with proper camming of the bolt face, the bolt being fully forward and the position of the lever at home, etc. The possibility of misfire is there but that will have to wait for the range. The trigger operation was not affected by this and I suspected it would not be. I think maybe over-filing of the sear link and the trigger screw being out of adjustment could be the culprits but I am not in a rush for another bout of frustration just yet. I will take your advice Guntech and rinse and blow out the trigger/sear area before trying anything else.
I would love to see how fast one of these is hand assembled in the factory when the worker knows how and where to index the gear cage. Less than five minutes is my guess. And why this wouldn't be available info is curious. The comment I have seen about John Browning turning in the grave if he could see this action is valid. It seems over-complex and prone to problems when fouled and misadjustment by many. In addition there is quite a difference from the pre-81 action to the newer one (thus my description of the gear cage which is a separate part not shown in the pre-81 parts breakdown). Additionally, shame on Browning for putting out a rifle with such pitiful triggers where you need a file to adjust it and a new trigger link if you don't get it right. The accuracy and fit and finish is there but that mess inside the action is a headshaker. It's all good when it works right, lol.
 
I cringe when I see hunting buddies carrying their BLR up my driveway frowning. HOURS later I have them up and running to which they respond" I don't get it, that is a Belgian made one".

Darryl
 
snomad said:
Good input everyone. I accumulated a bunch of info and the manual for a pre-81 before taking this further. Without a total disassembly yet, it appears that someone has worked on the trigger. It also appears that the timing was out a bit as I believe that the bolt should have gone 10 thou or so further in and that the lever itself should feel like it is "home" when closed. This no doubt occurred when it was reassembled after trigger "work". As for the trigger, it will also drop from the half #### position when the trigger is pulled which isn't right. In addition, the trigger pull is nice at between 3 and 4 pounds, which in addition to no locktite on the left side screw tells me someone was in there.
I fully understand why many gunsmiths do not want to work on these after removing the lever assembly myself. If you knew where that lever gear cage (for lack of the exact part name) was supposed to go the assembly and tweaking of it would be relatively simple in comparison to the 2.5 hours of trial and error to get it right when having no idea where it should be. The timing now appears to be correct with proper camming of the bolt face, the bolt being fully forward and the position of the lever at home, etc. The possibility of misfire is there but that will have to wait for the range. The trigger operation was not affected by this and I suspected it would not be. I think maybe over-filing of the sear link and the trigger screw being out of adjustment could be the culprits but I am not in a rush for another bout of frustration just yet. I will take your advice Guntech and rinse and blow out the trigger/sear area before trying anything else.
I would love to see how fast one of these is hand assembled in the factory when the worker knows how and where to index the gear cage. Less than five minutes is my guess. And why this wouldn't be available info is curious. The comment I have seen about John Browning turning in the grave if he could see this action is valid. It seems over-complex and prone to problems when fouled and misadjustment by many. In addition there is quite a difference from the pre-81 action to the newer one (thus my description of the gear cage which is a separate part not shown in the pre-81 parts breakdown). Additionally, shame on Browning for putting out a rifle with such pitiful triggers where you need a file to adjust it and a new trigger link if you don't get it right. The accuracy and fit and finish is there but that mess inside the action is a headshaker. It's all good when it works right, lol.
Click to expand...

When the action is fully closed there should be no gap between the bolt body and the rotating bolt head... I discovered how to index the gear and rack while experimenting on assembling a BLR that was misfiring after being stripped and cleaned. It took a while but once I was able to duplicate the procedure I sent the information to Brownell's and they published it in their Gunsmith Kink III book. It only takes a few minutes to do it...

I also had to replace a trigger sear once when I screwed it up trying to make a nice trigger...

BLR's don't respond well to hot loads... eventually the bolt head is damaged inside where the caming pins engage... forcing a dent into the camming surface and making it extremely hard to open... even with reduced loads, once the damage is done.
 
Dennis, the info and procedure you refer to in the Gunsmith Kink III procedure looks to be for a pre-81 action. The bolt is different on the newer ones and there is nothing you can access to measure. You can only disconnect the bolt to see how far forward it goes and how the bolt face cams so that when you install and time it you can be sure it is not out of battery. As I mentioned the lever and the "gear cage" are two separate pieces on the newer action. I have not seen the older action apart. I don't think the procedure mentioned would apply to the newer action. Have you worked on one of the newer ones? The "gear cage" I mention appears to have a spring loaded rod that acts as a lever latch (?) against the trigger/sear pin as well when the lever is at home (closed).
Hopefully I can find some time today to look at the trigger internals.
 
Lol, where is your sense of adventure? I know someone who has one you can practice on.....
If it comes apart again I will post some pictures of some of the parts.
 
It was my misfortune to work on one of the new ones, where the lever and gear quadrant are separate pieces. It was brought to me after the owner had disassembled it, and was unable to reassemble it in working order. I think that the best thing to do with one of these mousetraps is to pack it up and send it to Browning Canada's service center. John Moses would be mortified to see his name on one of these contraptions.
 
Well I found the time (all afternoon) to play with this rifle and can say that I have it working to my satisfaction. It seems with this one it was a matter of getting the timing right so that the lever home "latch" was engaged to hold the action closed. The bolt will be fully forward at that point with the bolt face cammed into battery. Then I adjusted the trigger screw which is on the lever. This adjustment can almost be done without taking the lever off. Fortunately it is very easy on these newer models to drop the lever pin just enough to get the lever off but not to disengage the gear cage. That way you can get the lever off without affecting the timing adjustment. This little trigger screw seems only to adjust the amount of play or take-up of the trigger but it plays a crucial role in ensuring that the sear works properly and that the hammer will not drop from the half-#### position when the trigger is pulled. Also the hammer when dropped from the full #### position should not catch at the half #### position. (Wouldn't that be a piss-off when hunting?) With the trigger parts having been worked on, the adjustment is pretty fine on this one. At one point just squeezing the lever to the stock a bit would make it operate fine but it would be intermittent if that pressure wasn't applied on the lever before pulling the trigger. You wind up with a trigger with some "creep" (nature of the beast with these) but at least this one seems to be about 4 pounds or about half the pull that most of them seem to be and is consistent. I can live with that and it should help anyone shoot it a little more accurately and yet be a safe hunting rifle.
Now I need to find a hammer extension and some lower Leupold rings and we'll see what it can do. Thanks for the input everyone.
 
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