Bolt action VS BLR?

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rob350

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From what I had heard, the new BLR designs make them virtually as strong and accurate as a bolt action.

Is this true?

What would be the pro's or cons of each?



Im pretty green at all this, but from the experience I have I would rather put my money towards a Lever rifle that i drool every time i use, but my dad is pushing realy hard to look at only bolt action rifles for hunting.
 
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At the moment I only have bolt guns in the safe, but levers will always be my favorite. Pick the gun you like and find comfortable to shoot. Choosing a gun you don't even like in the first place will do nothing for your confidence down the road. Sounds like you're looking to purchase new so you should'nt have trouble finding what you want in a caliber suited to the type of hunting you do.
 
I have only used a friends BLR in .308 once, but I was most impressed with it. As an alternative to a bolt for lefthanders, it is a superb rifle. If you like the action, I would have no hesitation choosing it, over a good bolt action for hunting.
 
Thanks for the info guys.

Just to throw a curve ball, im left handed.
How important is it to have a left handed rifle, and is it possible to get a left handed BLR?
 
rob350 said:
Thanks for the info guys.

Just to throw a curve ball, im left handed.
How important is it to have a left handed rifle, and is it possible to get a left handed BLR?
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If you go with a bolt for sure get a lefty.As for the BLR I'm lefthanded and had no problems at all shooting mine.The BLR is about as ambi. as you'll find.
My BLR is a pre 81 in 308 win.It is a little heavy, not as fast IMHO as a more traditional leaver(336,94 etc) but it is very accurate and well made.
 
BLR
Pro:It's handy a neat design ,fun and well made
Con:the trigger,and it's is not the sort of gun easily modify or tinker with.

Bolt Action
Pro:simple design, available in many cofigurations ,easier to modify, easier to fix, better trigger.
Con:Many are crap,slower rate of fire.
 
blasted_saber said:
The downside to a BLR? Besides being butt freak'n ugly, I cant think of any.
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Maybe its an aquired taste but I dont think theres anything ugly about this:

My 1981 (steel) BLR in .308
IMG_1272.jpg
 
in a reasonable hunting scenario, I think you would be hard pressed to find a measurable difference in accuracy between most rifle. Especially those that lock up tight..ie Bolt, Lever, Pump. By design, the only one I could see presenting an accuracy issue could be an autoloading rifle. And more often than not, I think it would simply be operator error before and mechanical reasoning.

Point being, unless you are shooting long range, ~most~ hunting class rifle are better shooters than there shooter. Pick which ever gun feels most comfortable to you, and practice, practice, practice!
 
Max-4 said:
Maybe its an aquired taste but I dont think theres anything ugly about this:

My 1981 (steel) BLR in .308
IMG_1272.jpg
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....;)

One of my Hunting partners has a little 81 carbine in .308.....its very handy.....and the Deer he bang flopped with it last year didnt' complain either.

I favor the Bolt action myself as a reloader and I like the fact that I can quickly remove the bolt for cleaning from the breach.
 
Will never buy one. Reasoning?

If I wanted a lever, I'd buy a marlin or winchester for ease of maintenance. BLRs are difficult to disassemble/reassemble by comparison.

The rotating bolt head looks good on paper, but adds little to action strength. It does add to the cost of the rifle though. A similar quality bolt action will cost less.

Box magazines are nice for pointy bullets, but I like my levers to slide into a saddle holster, not poke me in the back on a sling and lay flat on the ground. The hornady FTX bullets also make this a non-issue.

The BLRs I've shot didn't impress me with balance. They were both rear heavy with scopes.

The lever seems really stiff even empty. Maybe I'm pampered by my Marlins.
 
Yeah, ummm, regarding the comment about the hot handloads making the action hard to open;
I've shot an old school BLR more then most people (1,000+ handloads, as well as hundreds of factory and surplus FMJ) and worken on several others. If your loads make the action hard to open they are TOO HOT!
But a few hints: keep the chamber CLEAN! By clean I mean no dirt, and no OIL. Oil in the chamber besides being dumb can make the action tough to close and really increases back thrust on the bolt upon firing, making the action stiff to open.
If anyone suggests spraying WD-40 in the action take the can from them and hit them with it, hard.
My all time favorite hunting rifle was a pre '81 BLR 308 with deck coating on the stock and all metal parkerized. Besides the 1,000+ rounds I put through it the guy I sold it to is still killing LOTS of game with it.
 
sahara said:
Yeah, ummm, regarding the comment about the hot handloads making the action hard to open;
I've shot an old school BLR more then most people (1,000+ handloads, as well as hundreds of factory and surplus FMJ) and worken on several others. If your loads make the action hard to open they are TOO HOT!
But a few hints: keep the chamber CLEAN! By clean I mean no dirt, and no OIL. Oil in the chamber besides being dumb can make the action tough to close and really increases back thrust on the bolt upon firing, making the action stiff to open.
If anyone suggests spraying WD-40 in the action take the can from them and hit them with it, hard.
My all time favorite hunting rifle was a pre '81 BLR 308 with deck coating on the stock and all metal parkerized. Besides the 1,000+ rounds I put through it the guy I sold it to is still killing LOTS of game with it.
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+1 keeping things clean and dry .

in my case the "hot hand loads "
where nothing more than some federal cases getting mixed up in a batch of rounds being made up to working a load up .

the federal cases had had a water capacity smaller than the remington cases i was using . the loads where just starting to show signs of pressure with the rem cases .
 
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