Can certain Ammo affect lever action

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Killswitch.

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I went shooting with my father in law and we staryed with silvertip winchester ammo and the rifle was shooting very smooth. After half a box we switched to hollowpoint winchester and the lever was a lot stiffer to lock in place. Does ammo affect the rifle that much. I know they say test a bunch as your rifle will find one that is smooth but i didn't think ot would be that different.


Sorry new shooter.
 
What model gun, caliber, grains, bullet type, commercial or handloads?...

And you're testing ammo for grouping and sometimes action operation (semi autos) not smoothness. In a lever the action is operated by you cycling the rifle manually. All ammo should load more or less 'smoothly' unless there is a problem. (ie fouling, dirty ammo, incorrect caliber, obstruction etc.)
 
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The gun is a pre 81 Browning BLR made in belgium in 308

The smoothe rounds were winchester 180 grain silvertip

The not so smooth ones that made the lever hard to pull was winchester 180 hollow points. All factory load.
 
We were handloading them as we had to order a new magazine. It was stiff to pull the last quarter inch when loading the rifle
 
Not enough info, we're these all cases from same firearm, small base dies, same batch loading ie: dies set the same, what is coal due to different bullets, what profile/ogive, did bullets have rifling marks when you pulled them out.......etc......
 
Killswitch. said:
We were handloading them as we had to order a new magazine. It was stiff to pull the last quarter inch when loading the rifle
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This is common, often caused by the bullet not being seated quite deep enough.
I've never seen it with factory loads.
With hand loads it can also be caused by the neck plug coming out of the case too hard in sizing, resulting in the shoulder being stretched forward just enough to hit before the cartridge is fully in the chamber.
To prevent this from happening the inside of the necks should be brushed clean/dry lubed, so the inside sizing plug comes out of the case with almost no pressure.
 
teenahlake said:
Not enough info, we're these all cases from same firearm, small base dies, same batch loading ie: dies set the same, what is coal due to different bullets, what profile/ogive, did bullets have rifling marks when you pulled them out.......etc......
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He didn't mean "handloaded ammo", he states it is all factory. He meant that they had to put each one in the action by hand as they didn't have a magazine for the gun.

To the OP, did you make sure the rounds were under the extractor as you chambered them. I remember my BLR would not load ammo except from a mag. The extractor does not want to go over the base after it is in the chamber.
 
Not to be the non-technical solution guy but is it possible it just got to the stage it may need a cleaning and this was the time, between two different ammo's that it started showing signs?
 
fugawi said:
Is this the BLR '81 that you were having mag removal problems with? If so maybe you need to find out whats going on there before shooting your BLR.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...ning-BLR-81-magazine-not-unlocking-from-rifle
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I think he doesn't have a magazine. BLR mags are prone to being dropped in deep snow where you can never find them again and have to shell out eighty bucks at Cabelas for a new one so you can go hunting again next weekend. Somewhere in there I discovered my love of hinged floor plates and bolt actions.....
KS- get a mag, try feeding from it instead of inserting single rounds into the action. It just might go better for you. My BLR was slicker than goose s##t, including the magazine release.....
 
Maybe or maybe not. If you follow the link the OP had problems with the magazine being jammed in his BLR. Sounds like he's loading single round into the chamber thru the ejection port. If the mag is still jammed in there this could be why its not loading properly.

But I'd be concerned with possibly damaging the mag lips etc cycling the action not to mention firing possibly improperly seated rounds.

It's the OP's rifle to do as he pleases, but I stop shooting my firearms if they don't operate the way they're supposed to.
 
fugawi said:
Maybe or maybe not. If you follow the link the OP had problems with the magazine being jammed in his BLR. Sounds like he's loading single round into the chamber thru the ejection port. If the mag is still jammed in there this could be why its not loading properly.

But I'd be concerned with possibly damaging the mag lips etc cycling the action not to mention firing possibly improperly seated rounds.

It's the OP's rifle to do as he pleases, but I stop shooting my firearms if they don't operate the way they're supposed to.
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Right you are, missed the significance of the link, lol. I forget about those older BLR mags too, mine was the modern incarnation with the newer style drop out mag.
 
No problem. imho if its still jammed, the OP should fix the magazine situation before shooting his BLR. Don't want to compound any problems.

If the OP got the magazine unstuck then I think elimsprint may be on the right track...

elimsprint said:
...To the OP, did you make sure the rounds were under the extractor as you chambered them. I remember my BLR would not load ammo except from a mag. The extractor does not want to go over the base after it is in the chamber.
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Thanks for all the input everyone. I did stop firing the rifle and it is currently at the gun Smith. The mag latch in the rifle it self was completley worn down so they found a part and will be replacing it.
 
Killswitch. said:
I went shooting with my father in law and we staryed with silvertip winchester ammo and the rifle was shooting very smooth. After half a box we switched to hollowpoint winchester and the lever was a lot stiffer to lock in place.


Sorry new shooter.
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Lever action rifles do not have much camming power compared to a bolt action rifle and the stiff closing on factory ammo is due to the ammo slightly out of specs (the case head clearance too tight [long]) and possibly the rifle's headspace a bit tight [chamber slightly short]. I have seen it more than a few times. It is usually that batch of ammo.
 
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