Tried to help a friend, came out looking like an idiot.

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lazysod

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Hey everyone, let's just say hypothetically a friend of yours wanted a gun cleaned and you liked doing it not only because he's your buddy, but you like taking a look at different rifles than just your own. Well I did just that. I browning BLR. Now, I personally do NOT like lever actions, but I thought a nice cleaning of the bore and lube the internals WHAT COULD GO WRONG! Well, apparently everything! What the heck! So I'm a super fan of frog lube, it's on ALL my guns. So I clean the bore, get it nice and shiny, and took me a while too because it's a lever action. Then gently heated it and applied frog lube. I also had a look (notice I said look and did not monkey with all that crap inside) at the internal mechanisms and decided, well, they like lube too so I gave them what I thought would be beneficial. Turns out, after returning the gun, after the first shot, the bloody thing had a very difficult time reloading. It was then taken to a gunsmith and they were told the internal mechanisms need to be dry lubed. I never realized a gun could actually get that screwed up LUBING IT! Is this true? I even read the manual! http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/blr_02_262_om_s.pdf Man, feel like total crap. I love to clean guns, make em look good and more importantly RUN good. Anyone else had this problem with a gun?


Lazysod
 
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Ok, to me it sounds like an assembly issue. I can't see any possibly way that one shot would gum a gun up so badly that it would cease to function. I could easily see mis-applied wet lube gunking up after, say, 25, 50, or 100 shots, but not after 1. There is something else at play.
 
I have oiled everything under the moon. The only thing that I pay special attention to are semi auto rifles, where some of them have different lube.

I can't see lube being the culprit here, mind you I've never touched a BLR.
 
Yeh, but the smith said because wet lube was applied to the gears in the rifle, the rifle didn't work properly. Like you've mentioned I can see gumming up, but not right after. , lastattack;8988731]Ok, to me it sounds like an assembly issue. I can't see any possibly way that one shot would gum a gun up so badly that it would cease to function. I could easily see mis-applied wet lube gunking up after, say, 25, 50, or 100 shots, but not after 1. There is something else at play.[/QUOTE]
 
If the rifle had been disassembled, then I would say that it could have been a re-assembly problem. The mechanism of the BLR uses a gear system to operate the bolt, not like a direct linkage of most lever actions. If these parts in the BLR are taken apart, it is possible to reassemble the mechanism with one tooth of the gear either advanced or retarded, so the bolt will not close properly. However, since a shot was fired normally, (we assume it was from your description,) then something else is the problem.

It is possible in applying lube to the internals, the shot fired loosened some crap, twig, or dirt that was inside them, If this ended up on the gear system, it could jam or be difficult to operate the mechanism due to this crap being caught in the teeth of the gears and causing difficulty. In other words S**T happens.

It is also possible that in "gently heating" the mechanism before applying the Frog Lube, the heat melted some grease or other lubricant that held a foreign object in place and allowed this foreign object, ( crap ) to go free and jam up the action.

I would assume, like most people would do, you did operate the action several times after applying the lube. If the rifle operated normally then you would have thought that the lubricant was working as it should.

The BLR also operates on the rotating bolt system, with the bolt head turning and locking into the barrel\ receiver. I would check for "crap" in the locking lug recesses too. I was a bit curious on what the Manual says, so I read it. Nowhere in the Manual does it say that the action internals should be kept "dry" or "dry lubed" and of course, Browning Gun Oil is recommended.

It does mention "powder fouling" in the chamber. This is also possible, or that a loosened piece of " crap " was picked up from operation or from the magazine, stuck to the cartridge, and was carried into the chamber, causing either hard working, or failure to chamber a cartridge. Since the rifle apparently worked with the first shot, this is a possibility because you mentioned the problem was caused by the reloading of a cartridge into the chamber.

You did not mention if the ammunition used was factory ammo or a reload. Depending upon the care of reloading a cartridge, problems can occur if the cartridge is not resized properly. SMALL BASED DIES are recommended for semi-automatic and lever actions (such as the BLR) because the closing force and camming action of the bolt is not as great as other types of action.
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Used standard gun oil in the mechanism when I had one and there was never an issue. I'd look more to there being some crud build up in the locking lug recesses. I don't think there's a lot of force applied to the rotary bolt head in that design, could be sticking there.
 
Sounds like the frog gave the Browning a wart.
G96 works for me.
I just can't imagine having to heat something up in a lube
fashion to make it work.
Spray, wipe and sniff...........awwww so so nice.
 
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It is amazing just how small an object can render a firearm unoperable. Many, many years ago I was duck hunting at Long Point, on Lake Erie. The Ontario Lands and Forests rented blinds out, and I was by myself that day, so I invited another single hunter to share a blind with me. About half way through the day, his Remington 870 quit working. I used an 870 myself, and I had made up a punch from a taper pin silver soldered into a hole drilled in a nut, that was attached to my key ring. It easily punched out the pins on the Remingtons so that you could take the trigger mechanism out.

I gave him my 870 and proceeded to take his apart. The trouble was easily found, the hammer would not fall when the trigger was pulled. It took a few minutes to find out why. I then asked him where on the Prairies he had been hunting. He was surprised, and it turned out he worked for Air Canada, and had been shooting ducks in Saskatchewan a couple of weeks before that.

The CAUSE of the malfunction? There was ONE MUSTARD SEED that was found in the trigger/hammer of the action that prevented the hammer from falling when the trigger was pulled. Mustard seeds are very small.

It does not take a large piece of "crud" to disable a firearm.

I have found on actions that are not easily accessable, a spray can of automobile carburetor or brake cleaner will blast almost all the "crud" out of the action. Go outside, use the tube that comes with the cleaner, wear protective clothing including a mask, and use a pail or container to catch the stuff coming out of the action. Do not spray on wood. Put the action of the firearm over the pail, and apply spray cleaner until is comes out reasonably clear. Then, lightly lubricate the moving parts.
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lazysod said:
Hey everyone, let's just say hypothetically a friend of yours wanted a gun cleaned and you liked doing it not only because he's your buddy, but you like taking a look at different rifles than just your own. Well I did just that. I browning BLR. Now, I personally do NOT like lever actions, but I thought a nice cleaning of the bore and lube the internals WHAT COULD GO WRONG! Well, apparently everything! What the heck! So I'm a super fan of frog lube, it's on ALL my guns. So I clean the bore, get it nice and shiny, and took me a while too because it's a lever action. Then gently heated it and applied frog lube. I also had a look (notice I said look and did not monkey with all that crap inside) at the internal mechanisms and decided, well, they like lube too so I gave them what I thought would be beneficial. Turns out, after returning the gun, after the first shot, the bloody thing had a very difficult time reloading. It was then taken to a gunsmith and they were told the internal mechanisms need to be dry lubed. I never realized a gun could actually get that screwed up LUBING IT! Is this true? I even read the manual! http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/blr_02_262_om_s.pdf Man, feel like total crap. I love to clean guns, make em look good and more importantly RUN good. Anyone else had this problem with a gun?


Lazysod
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the number of gears in a BLR is the problem. a little sticky on one, a little more on another can make it EXTREMELY hard to open and reload. light oil in the lever mechenisem of a BLR. be glad you didn't take it apart you could have been up #### creek without a paddle.

ive had to clean some BLR's that i could not open because the customer dropped it while hunting, and they got sand in the gears. not easy taking it apart when you cant open it. lots of wiggling and flushing with degreaser.
 
Buffdog's story reminded me of a similar experience I had 30 yrs ago.

An aquaintance of mine had bought a brand new Browning A5. The first day hunting with the gun didn't go well, the gun jammed up constantly, he could only get one shot off at each flock of ducks.
He was a very fussy type of guy and at the coffe shop the next morning offered to sell the gun to the first guy that would give him $100. I told him to wait there, I'd be right back with his 100 bucks.
When I got home with the gun it didn't take long to find the problem. While laying in the barley swath a couple of kernels got behind the bolt, not allowing the recoil action to move enough. The kernels had been hammered into flour and caked onto the rear of the reciever frame.
The next time I saw him I offered to sell him back the gun but he had already replaced it with an 870.
I used that gun a lot over the next 25 yrs with not one jam.
 
Years ago, my neighbour and I went up to Eston and met with his son and another fellow, to go goose hunting. Next morning it was really windy, with dirt blowing everywhere. We went to the hotel at noon for grub.

Everybody carried their shotguns into the hotel in those days. I was sitting in the lobby with my old Tobin double. An American hunter skidded to a halt, looked at my Tobin, and asked if I wanted to sell it. His fancy auto loader had jammed up, and he was not happy.
 
kjohn said:
Years ago, my neighbour and I went up to Eston and met with his son and another fellow, to go goose hunting. Next morning it was really windy, with dirt blowing everywhere. We went to the hotel at noon for grub.

Everybody carried their shotguns into the hotel in those days. I was sitting in the lobby with my old Tobin double. An American hunter skidded to a halt, looked at my Tobin, and asked if I wanted to sell it. His fancy auto loader had jammed up, and he was not happy.
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Hookay hookay hookay.............and then????????????????
 
Thanks for the reply! Makes me feel a little less like a tool. My buddy uses only factory ammo. I'm going to stick with my theory that keeping parts lubed is good!
 
Yeh, I love g96 as well, and the smell is amazing! Only problem is that it seems pretty toxic and I like that frog lube is pretty much edible. As far as lever actions go, and especially blr's, I'll stick with my bolt action war proven milsurps! Go enfield!
 
My father has a Win 94. It's 50yrs old. Gun oil the whole time, never dry.

Tues a buddy (a know-nothing-about-guns guy) went to a new gun store in town. Bought a 10/22 for Gopher hunting. The store "Gunsmith" installed a scope, bore sighted it to "put it on paper" (barely, even at 25 yds), provided a "10rd magazine, but in Canada it is pinned to 5". Took it out last night for some gophers. Fed the first round fine. Stove piped that case, failed to feed the next round. Manually cocked it, fired that round. Failed to feed the next round. Gave me the rifle for a look. Magazine had 7 rounds left in it, but when you shook it, the rounds rattled (in a Ruger Rotary magazine?). Set it aside and used one of my magazines. All 10 as fast as I could fire, not a problem. Finished the night with my mag.
End of the evening, we tried to remove the rounds to empty the mag. Rounds were not being pushed up to the feed ramp by the spring to feed the ammo. Took a good look at the magazine then and noticed metal filings in the socket where you put the allen key to disassemble (and tension the spring) the magazine. SOMEONE, at the store messed with this and then sold it as new.

Was that someone the "gunsmith" who "made sure the mag was pinned at 5 rounds?" or what? Soemtimes "professionals" aren't. Unfortunately, they are in business.

OP, don't worry about it. NOT a LUBE problem.
 
There may have been a chemical reaction between the existing lube and the lube that was added.
 
rookie wildcat said:
My father has a Win 94. It's 50yrs old. Gun oil the whole time, never dry.

Tues a buddy (a know-nothing-about-guns guy) went to a new gun store in town. Bought a 10/22 for Gopher hunting. The store "Gunsmith" installed a scope, bore sighted it to "put it on paper" (barely, even at 25 yds), provided a "10rd magazine, but in Canada it is pinned to 5". Took it out last night for some gophers. Fed the first round fine. Stove piped that case, failed to feed the next round. Manually cocked it, fired that round. Failed to feed the next round. Gave me the rifle for a look. Magazine had 7 rounds left in it, but when you shook it, the rounds rattled (in a Ruger Rotary magazine?). Set it aside and used one of my magazines. All 10 as fast as I could fire, not a problem. Finished the night with my mag.
End of the evening, we tried to remove the rounds to empty the mag. Rounds were not being pushed up to the feed ramp by the spring to feed the ammo. Took a good look at the magazine then and noticed metal filings in the socket where you put the allen key to disassemble (and tension the spring) the magazine. SOMEONE, at the store messed with this and then sold it as new.

Was that someone the "gunsmith" who "made sure the mag was pinned at 5 rounds?" or what? Soemtimes "professionals" aren't. Unfortunately, they are in business.

OP, don't worry about it. NOT a LUBE problem.
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Just curious why they would pin the 10-22 mag in the first place, rimfire mags are not limited to 5 rd's
 
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