Both my brother and I both had a BLR go out of time during the hunt making them useless the rest of the season. Jason spencer fixed both of them , and told us it wasn't that uncommon for this to happen to the BLRs.I WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER!!!
Lever gun info please and thanks
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Go Marlin. Tough, reliable, accurate, easy to clean, easy to work on. And the best part, its a Marlin. I've got two, a 1895G 45/70 and a Cowboy 1894 45colt, never had an issue with either gun. The colt is used for cowboy action shooting and fun plinking and gets anywhere from 300-1000 rounds a month thru it without an problem. I'd say 90% of Cowboy action shooters out there use Marlins, why? Tough, reliable, accurate. Oh yeah, and you can put a scope on it to if you wish.
A pre-64 Winny is also good.
My buddy has a old belgum made browning in 308, its worked well for him but if I recall its had a couple niggles along the way.
Good luck.
A pre-64 Winny is also good.
My buddy has a old belgum made browning in 308, its worked well for him but if I recall its had a couple niggles along the way.
Good luck.
canadaman30
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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The first rifle I owned was a BLR 308. They are a quality made gun but I had fired shells that I could not open the action. I pretty much had to stand on the gun and pull like hell to open it. Yes I sold it. I have recently got a Marlin 1895mxlr in 450 marlin, great quality fast and easy to take apart and clean. No problems so far and it's a powerhouse.
If I had a hundred bucks for every lever gun I have owned I would be a very rich man. I think I have owned them all except for the Sako Finnwolf, which to me is an expensive version of the Winchester 88.
The best of the lot, for ME, is the BLR in the regular action chamberings. Long action chamberings make for a clunky rifle, as has been mentioned.
The BLR bolts lock up tight and give "almost" bolt gun accuracy, but are never going to match the bench rest shooters. NO LEVER GUN CAN. Respected gun writer Jim Carmichael used to say that he expected a lever gun to give him a four inch "group" at a hundred yards. No lever gun that I have had can match a BLR for accuracy.
Factory ammo will shoot in all of them reliably. I do load my own, and have used regular dies and small base dies. Before I go HUNTING, I take all of my ammo to the range and cycle each and every cartridge through the rifle. VERY occasionally, I have had a cartridge that I had to put a bit of extra pressure on the lever to lock the action closed.
BLRs that have timing problems (squeeze trigger/nothing happens) are due to mis-alignment of a gear which nobody but a trained smith should be fooling with in any event. I never had this happen to a gun that had not been fiddled with, but have seen it several times in several different BLRs that Bubba took apart.
I own quite a few rifles, and most days when I am going for a rifle hunt it is a BLR model 81 in .308 that calls my name. It is fast, light, and accurate, what's not to like?
But I drive a FORD, not a Chevy or a Dodge, and understand that guys prefer their (inferior) trucks to mine. It is the same thing with guns.........
Doug
PS) to the guy that had ammo not go off - I am guessing it was sub-zero and you had a modest amount of ice build up around the back of the (exposed) firing pin, so the hammer striking it would not force the FP to hit the primer. If you start a hunt with a warm gun (ie take it out of a heated truck or whatever) and get snow or rain/sleet/etc down the back of the action before the gun cools down, you can get that ice form.
The best of the lot, for ME, is the BLR in the regular action chamberings. Long action chamberings make for a clunky rifle, as has been mentioned.
The BLR bolts lock up tight and give "almost" bolt gun accuracy, but are never going to match the bench rest shooters. NO LEVER GUN CAN. Respected gun writer Jim Carmichael used to say that he expected a lever gun to give him a four inch "group" at a hundred yards. No lever gun that I have had can match a BLR for accuracy.
Factory ammo will shoot in all of them reliably. I do load my own, and have used regular dies and small base dies. Before I go HUNTING, I take all of my ammo to the range and cycle each and every cartridge through the rifle. VERY occasionally, I have had a cartridge that I had to put a bit of extra pressure on the lever to lock the action closed.
BLRs that have timing problems (squeeze trigger/nothing happens) are due to mis-alignment of a gear which nobody but a trained smith should be fooling with in any event. I never had this happen to a gun that had not been fiddled with, but have seen it several times in several different BLRs that Bubba took apart.
I own quite a few rifles, and most days when I am going for a rifle hunt it is a BLR model 81 in .308 that calls my name. It is fast, light, and accurate, what's not to like?
But I drive a FORD, not a Chevy or a Dodge, and understand that guys prefer their (inferior) trucks to mine. It is the same thing with guns.........
Doug
PS) to the guy that had ammo not go off - I am guessing it was sub-zero and you had a modest amount of ice build up around the back of the (exposed) firing pin, so the hammer striking it would not force the FP to hit the primer. If you start a hunt with a warm gun (ie take it out of a heated truck or whatever) and get snow or rain/sleet/etc down the back of the action before the gun cools down, you can get that ice form.
Or you could get a nice Savage 99c in 308. Plenty accurate and cycles everything well. Mine is from around '69 and is a delight to carry. I really like the lines too and leftie friendly-tang safety just like my new Browning BPS. Browning does nice work.
