BLR Problem

[Dorian Gray]

A friend and I were out enjoying the nice weather and doing a bit of shooting yesterday. Said friend owns a BLR in 270wsm. After firing it half a dozen times or so, when picking up the brass, we noticed that one of the primers had blown out of its pocket. We looked at the rest of the brass and noticed that the indentation that the firing pin makes on the primer was blown back out on almost all of the rounds he fired. We tried another 2 types of ammo to see if it was just the first type and it was doing it to all of them. I dont have any pictures of the primers but does anyone have any idea what would be causing this? Broken firing pin maybe? And also, does anyone know of any good gunsmiths in Ontario who work on BLR's? Thanks for any help you folks can give me on all this.

 

[Slamfire]

Being factory loads not likely to be the ammo so sounds like the rifle has excessive head space. Prudent to stop firing it until remedied.

 

[tjsudbury]

has anyone had this apart previously? They are notoriously difficult to get back together with correct timing, and this could be the source of the problem

 

[Dorian Gray]

has anyone had this apart previously? They are notoriously difficult to get back together with correct timing, and this could be the source of the problem

It's been apart once before. He had a problem with the hammer a few years ago and it was sent away for warranty work. The thing ran like a top afterwards and there was no sign of the previous issue. If it's a headspace issue, as Slamfire posted above, I'd imagine it could be that the timing is off and the rifle was improperly put back together at the warranty center.

I remember a thread, years ago now, that discussed an issue pretty similar to this one and there were a few recommendations given to the gentleman who posted it about particular gunsmiths who specialize in these guns in Ontario. Does anyone here remember who those smith's might be and where they are located? The rifle in question is no longer on warranty. So my friend and I are not only looking for information on diagnosing the problem, but also looking for information on where best to get it remedied would be. Any help in either regard is greatly appreciated.

 

[woodlotowner]

Keith Long in Bewdley, ON is the best Browning BLR gunsmith in Ontario IMO. He has corrected a few issues in used BLRs I have purchased over the years. Hope he's still in business as it has been probably a decade since I was there.