Browning BLR with Peep Sight?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Moose Country, Ontario
I find more and more nowadays that the country I hunt is getting more grown up and thick than it once was. As such, scoped rifles have lost their allure for me as it can be difficult to "find" the target and they can get hung up on brush and get banged around alot. This has seen myself putting peep sights on rifles or hunting with ones that already have them. Love them because they are quick, rugged and are great for getting sights on my quarry.

I just picked up a Browning BLR lightweight pistol grip rifle that is on it's way to me as I type. It does have open leaf/buckhorn sights, but would like to utilize the flat top and pre-drilled holes for a nice receiver mounted variation of a peep sight.

I'm curious if anybody has experience with this and whether or not the front post will need replacing as well. Any advice would be sure to save me time, ammo and aggravation finding out the hard way that the POI is way off and I have to wait another couple weeks for a new front sight to come in.

This is my first rodeo with the BLR and also welcome any comments on the rifles in general. I've heard good things about build quality and smoothness of the action, and varying reports of what kind of accuracy these rifles typically get.

Thanks all!
 
IMO, the open sights on a BLR quite nice and adjust really easy. I find them faster to pick-up a target then lining up with a peep sight. Others may think different.

However, I mounted an EGW rail on the receiver which allows to pick-up the stock irons when no optics are installed. I got quick detach Leupold rings for mounting a scope which can be attached/detached to the rail in a matter of seconds if I want to use the irons. Instead of a scope a small QD red dot is another option.

RR
 
BLR....awesome rifle. I have a .308 takedown and a .358 stainless Pistol Grip. I'm very happy with both. I agree and prefer peep sights - That being said the stock irons (with a fibre optic front sight which comes standard on the takedown) get me excellent results and I have a lot of confidence in using them inside 50m.

Something which is 'different' about the BLR > It is so darn simple. Only the 1/2 #### / folding hammer safety. Box Magazine. Very pointable. Great woods rifle and with an optic no reason it can't be a long range shooter. My buddy had his at a marksmanship course this past September, and with the right ammo it is more than a 100m rifle. He was smacking steel with accuracy at 200m. Getting great groups at 100m.

The main complaint about the BLR is the trigger....its stiff and heavy. I don't mind it, its not a bench rest rifle. And as its made for rooting around it the bush (or saddle) I kinda like that the trigger isn't ultra light.

Back to sights....Here is what ya want: http://www.skinnersights.com/browning_30.html

Enjoy that beauty! Cheers
 
Fibre optic front sights, in my experience, are more prone to breaking than metal blade/bead sights. If you want the extra visibility just put a tiny dab of Halloween fluoresent nail polish on the front bead and left/right of the rear notch. Shine your flashlight on it for a minute if need be to utilize last shooting/hunting light.

Triggers seem to be the main complaint on BLRs. I've only shot a few and again IMO they are not bad as others portait it. The trigger on mine breaks clean at 2274 grams and has a couple (maybe not even) mm of creep free take-up. To me it feels just right for a hunting rifle. It reminds me a bit of the Vanguard's 2 stage trigger. Although the Weatherby trigger can be adjusted finer for pull whereas the BLR trigger can only be adjusted for take-up.

BLRs are IMO the most modern and best lever action rifle design ever made.

RR
 
I have used a peep sight on my muzzleloader to deer hunt in the environment you described. I would suggest an alternative though - I have an Aimpoint Micro H1 on my BLR and it is the perfect sight for the rifle in my opinion for hunting thick "big woods" deer country. Target acquisition is almost instantaneous, the Micro is light, tough, and has incredible battery life. You can "reach out" too - on Saturday I dropped a mature buck with an offhand 135 meter shot across a logging cut. The Aimpont is expensive - but you will not regret it.
 
Buckchaser nailed it.

I tried both an XS and a Williams peep on my blr. Couldn't find a front site high enough...

The simple solution was a skinner lo-pro.

Mine has an 18" bbl, so I think the shorter sight radius may have compounded my problems here.

Got tired of bruising my cheek bone, and switched to a red dot for a higher sight axis.

Don't let this discourage you - I have a completely different rifle; straight stock, 18" bbl

I want to love the BLR - it's got an excellent feature set, but something about it just doesn't feel 'right'... Eventually I'd like to try a Leupold DeltaPoint pro - thinking a mini rds might synergize with me the best also. I find the BLR lacks the magic of a savage 99 or a win 94, but it is one of the few rifles I feel safe carrying around loaded.
 
I like peep sights. Currently own 4 such sighted rifles, but also realize that for a couple reasons a 1-4 power scope is a better choice overall.

- Works FAR better in low light
- Off more versatility than a receiver sight with the higher available magnification.
 
DTM5 said:
Back to sights....Here is what ya want: http://www.skinnersights.com/browning_30.html

Enjoy that beauty! Cheers
Click to expand...

I've been looking at this one closely, but once again, my main concern was that it would be too high off the receiver to use the existing front sight post. I'm thinking it should be pretty close to the same height as the leaf sight, but looking to confirm my suspicions that it is as simple as putting the Skinner on and zeroing adjustments to make this thing a shooter.

Thanks for the response!

And thanks everyone for the responses on the rifle in general as well as scoping options. I'm more traditionally geared, so the red dot sights don't do much for me. But as mentioned, perhaps a low powered 1 to something power scope may be the best bet, especially for gaining those last few moments of shootable light.
 
Try resting a straight edge on the front and rear sights - measure height of the straight edge off the receiver.

I know I have that measurement in my notes (taken with the factory sights zero'd at 50yd) - happy to provide it if it would be of help.

This is the one that ended up working for me; http://www.skinnersights.com/lo-pro_sight_7.html
 
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So I finally took action and bought a Skinner sight for the BLR. I went ahead and ordered up a few Marble Arms front sights of varying heights to test out once everything is mounted up.

Will report back with my results for any of those who are interested!
 
Potshot21 said:
So I finally took action and bought a Skinner sight for the BLR. I went ahead and ordered up a few Marble Arms front sights of varying heights to test out once everything is mounted up.

Will report back with my results for any of those who are interested!
Click to expand...

Interested. Thanks.
 
No reason not to do a peep, but the reason I like the BLR is for the Lever, Magazine and Scopability.
 
I'm another BLR fan; have only one now, a .358 takedown model. My go-to scope is a scout type mounted on the barrel, but I also have a set of Weaver-style bases on the receiver, a regular scope pre-sighted-in ready to put there, and one of the NECG aperture sights which can be mounted on the rear base as described above. The aperture sight is fast and effective, but is still the least desirable of the three sights for me. It doesn't take a whole lot of practice to get good enough with a scope that you will be just as fast as you would be with an aperture sight. The gun writers who wail about deer jumping up at 15 or 20 yards and all they could see in the scope was hair...probably spend too much time writing and not enough actually shooting.

I think that the front sight on my gun is a replacement, although the original owner swears he never changed it. It's plenty high enough to allow use with the NECG sight; the Skinner looks much lower and sleeker, and will probably work with the original front bead, but changing to a higher one if needed is a very simple process. The thing with the Skinner is that it will prevent the quick attachment of a receiver-mounted scope if you want to do that. The NECG is easy to toss into your pocket so you have a back-up sight available in the field if it's needed.

By the way, not all BLR's have lousy triggers. Mine is quite nice and crisp, better than many bolt guns. I also had a .308 BLR in years past that had a trigger which was the equal of any Accutrigger or similar gadget, and again, the original owner said that he had never had it touched or worked on.
 
The goal I have in mind is to try and keep this rifle as lightweight and sleek as possible. So this is why I'm going aperture sight right out of the gate, and later on I can always remove it and put on a scope if I feel the need.

Further to your comment on trigger, I have to say the trigger on mine is actually quite nice! Not the best I have in the fleet, but far from the worst in the bunch.
 
jjohnwm said:
............. but I also have a set of Weaver-style bases on the receiver, a regular scope pre-sighted-in ready to put there, and one of the NECG aperture sights which can be mounted on the rear base as described above. The aperture sight is fast and effective, .
Click to expand...
Which NECG site N106 or N106G ? The G looks lower but wondering.....

also could you measure your front sight please
heard a .500 works good but wondering .....
 
Didn't know they had more than one. I picked this one up at a gunshow, so no packaging and I can't see any designation on it other than NECG. It's about 13.5mm tall, measured from the bottom of the sight body (where it rests on top of the weaver base) to the top of the sight body right next to the elevating column. Screw-adjustable, quick-detach by means of a large thumbscrew, decent return-to-zero.

The front sight is the one that came on the gun, but again I bought used so can't guarantee it's original. It's about 18mm tall, measured from top of barrel to top of fibre-optic piece.
 
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Update!

I ordered a bunch of Marble Arms fibre optic front sight posts. Long story short, I spent a lot of time beating sights around with a brass punch and managed to break the dang fibre optic off irreparably. The one I had pounded on there and now not so pristine shape was one with a sight height of .530" (53-MR). The front part of the fibre holder was still intact, so I decided to take it to the range and fire off a few rounds to see is that sight height was even close or not.

I took 2 shots at 10 yard, bullet struck EXACTLY at my point of aim.

Backed out to 25 yards, bullet struck again exactly where I aimed it.

Feeling a surge of confidence, I stuck a target up at the 50 yard berm. Shot about an inch high! So I'm calling it that .530" is damn near bang on for correct sight height. I haven't played with the elevation or windage on the Skinner at all and it is shooting well within range of adjustment for that. I would have tried a group out at 100 yards, but the remains of the sight are harder to see and I was pressed for time.

Now I just need to find another 53-MR sight and do my best not to destroy it this time!
 
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