"The BLR is essentially a "lever operated bolt action" because multiple locking lugs on the head of the bolt rotate into the breech end of the barrel to create a very strong action." - Jon. (apparently Chuck didn't write this one.)
I guess I will say it again... A rotating bolt does not make it a bolt action. Otherwise an AR is a bolt action, and a garand is a bolt action, and a Desert freakin' Eagle is a bolt action.
You are just showing me another example of some old timer who bought into some bullcrap non-nonsensical garbage that someone (probably the people marketing the BLR) said once upon a time, and somehow - contrary to simple logic - still gets repeated.
Do you use a lever? My 94' is effectively a modified falling block. The BLR has a rotating bolt driven by a lever. Totally different concepts. I'd call an AR a gas-actuated semi-auto bolt action if I was going to get technical, how about you?
I've heard the BLR (and the '88) referred to off-hand as "lever actuated bolt actions" many times in many places.
Bolts lock into the breech like a bolt turning in a nut, hence "bolt action". A gun with a bolt is a bolt gun. The difference is in how that bolt is moved. By a lever, by a handle attached directly to the bolt, or by gas.