Browning BLR Accuracy??

[MS 9x56]

My 358 win shoots minute of deer and that’s all I need.

 

[Cornbread]

Hi there,
I bought a .308win TD Stainless baby recently and groupings are leaving something to be desired. I tried 7 different boxes of factory ammo:
150, 168, 178 and 180 grains at 100 yds. The best ones were
- Federal Power-Shok 308 Win 150Gr JSP
- Sako Gamehead 308 Win 180 Gr SP
-- these two delivered barely 1.25 MOA 3x shot groups. I installed Vortex Venom 1-6x24 on the receiver. It seems to fit and work well for me. I like the concept of this rifle. It is stainless, has an excellent safety system and only 20" each piece when taken down. I stalk hunting a lot. And I really want it to work better as much as possible. Because my Sauer s100 XT in 6.5 Creed delivers holes touching each other at 250 yds. It is to say that I'm a bit spoiled and disappointed in the same time with the BLR test shooting results.
Some people say that one of ways to improve groups for BLR is to remove the barrel band.
I.e. you can check this vid for reference

- but the guy in that vid says nothing if it helped to improve accuracy or not.
Yesterday I removed the forend, also done a very light sanding inside. I can see that the laminate forearm has some generous tolerances out of factory which remedied by adding some epoxy putty pads here and there. I've removed two little spots in the front of it, just trying to make it "floating barrel". Then added some plumbing putty right in front of the anchor point, as I imagine that the forend can be stressed in this area while not having those front putty pads touching the barrel - once again, I removed those two as already said above... Inserted couple of ~0.3mm flex plastic strips in between the forend bed and barrell to make sure the barrel doesn't touch the walls, then get it seated and assembled back. Tomorrow when the putty get cured I will pull the strips out which will leave the barrelt "floating" then tighten the bolt up to +1/4 ... 1/2 turn more.
The rifle is brand new. The trigger is around 4...4.5LB and is OK for me. My trigger discipline is not bad.
Ok, to put it short, please share your experience making BLR shooting better groups besides doing trigger work?
I'm kinda itchy to find time to go to the range this week.
Hopefully these my efforts won't be like wasted time.

The guy in the video has a model 81 (I believe) BLR. I have now 3 BLR's and all 3 are the Pistol Grip model. The front barrel band is like the old time Win '94, and precision was poor. I just bought a stainless in .270 that I have yet to shoot. My one in 7mm RM shoots 13/16" groups. The one in .300 WM shoots 1 1/4" groups but I desperately need to get the trigger lightened. I have a Weaver digital trigger guage and after 7 times the ave was 8.25lbs. So I think, once I get the trigger lightened, it may shoot much better groups. You have takedowns, right? Maybe the precision isn't great with those. Too many moving parts to potentially loosen. I try to shoot premium hunting ammo with TSX, CX, or Terminal Ascent bullets. The 7mag loves Federal Premium with the 160gr TSX. The .300WM loves Federal Premium 180gr Trophy Copper. Call Browning before you make any adjustments. And make sure you send it to a top gunsmith.

 

[borealStalker]

The guy in the video has a model 81 (I believe) BLR. I have now 3 BLR's and all 3 are the Pistol Grip model. The front barrel band is like the old time Win '94, and precision was poor. I just bought a stainless in .270 that I have yet to shoot. My one in 7mm RM shoots 13/16" groups. The one in .300 WM shoots 1 1/4" groups but I desperately need to get the trigger lightened. I have a Weaver digital trigger guage and after 7 times the ave was 8.25lbs. So I think, once I get the trigger lightened, it may shoot much better groups. You have takedowns, right? Maybe the precision isn't great with those. Too many moving parts to potentially loosen. I try to shoot premium hunting ammo with TSX, CX, or Terminal Ascent bullets. The 7mag loves Federal Premium with the 160gr TSX. The .300WM loves Federal Premium 180gr Trophy Copper. Call Browning before you make any adjustments. And make sure you send it to a top gunsmith.

hi,
like already said here Aug 24, 2024 -- I've already achieved 1moa. Recently I found another good ammo which delivers about same results: Norma Whitetail 150gn .308
While it looks reasonable and logical to use Browning support and pay gunsmith services, etc,
it can be also time and $$$ consuming. I like to fix and improve things myself. My recent tests show that I've achieved my goal.
Thanks

 

[Keep'er Movin]

Had a 308 that would print 1.5-2" groups but the trigger was so stiff on it, I can't say that it was a real joy to shoot. Sold it long ago and really never looked back.

 

[Cornbread]

Well, I thought I'd post the groups on my new Stainless BLR in .270. The 2 groups at 100 yards measure 1" exactly, the exact size of the black bullseye. The third group is at 300 yards and measures 2.5" at the narrowest and 5" at the widest.

 

[borealStalker]

Well, I thought I'd post the groups on my new Stainless BLR in .270. The 2 groups at 100 yards measure 1" exactly, the exact size of the black bullseye. The third group is at 300 yards and measures 2.5" at the narrowest and 5" at the widest.

your BLR delivers 1", so I wouldn't mess with it. Stick with that ammo.
And congrats on new rifle.

 

[Deleted member 56631]

Well, I thought I'd post the groups on my new Stainless BLR in .270. The 2 groups at 100 yards measure 1" exactly, the exact size of the black bullseye. The third group is at 300 yards and measures 2.5" at the narrowest and 5" at the widest.

Tha’ll do that’ll do

 

[Cornbread]

your BLR delivers 1", so I wouldn't mess with it. Stick with that ammo.
And congrats on new rifle.

That's exactly what I'm going to do. Thanks.

 

[TONSofDALT]

You should drop his name and contact info on the browning forum. Not many smiths will tackle a BLR trigger. I guess they are very touchy. When I bought mine you could literally hang the rifle from the trigger and it wouldn’t release. Measured 9lbs pull. Took it to Neal Jones in Erie Pa and he got it down to 3lbs. The man is a wizard. It now breaks like glass.

I know this was from several years ago, but I was thinking of getting a BLR eventually (I find them to be beautiful, and the fact that they're chambered in modern cartridges is a huge plus). I was discouraged after hearing about the trigger pull, but then I heard Neal Jones' name tossed around a few times, and finding out now that he's in my hometown of Erie is fantastic. I'll definitely keep that in mind - thanks for the info!

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

I just bought 2 fairly new/new Browning BLR's. The new one is in .300 win mag, and the used one is a 2020 in 7mm Rem Mag. Anybody have experience with the accuracy of the BLR? I have plenty of factory ammo to try out in them with different brands and different bullet weights. I put a Leupold VX5 HD 3-15 on the new one and the used one came with a Swarovski 5-25 (not my choice for scope). I might sell the Swarovski and put on the same Leupold as I have on the .300 win mag. Would use both of these for elk. Any insight would be appreciated. Am not looking for accuracy of older BLR's.

I had one for a while in 7mm-08. It was a "someday" gun (as in, someday I will own one of those). And I eventually did. I had heard all about their "bolt like accuracy." Well, maybe some bolt guns, but not the ones I'm used to. Best I could do with factory or hand loads was 1.5" and usually 2". I really have no use for a rifle that shoots like that, especially in 7mm-08. So I sold it. The person who got it was thrilled beyond belief. Go figure.

 

[T.R.]

Approx. 30,000 BLR rifles were built by Fabrique National but production switched to Miruko, Japan because of rising labor costs in Europe. All BLRs are built to tight tolerances and that is why they're great hunting rifles. TR

 

[BrentD]

If the BLR trips your trigger, then you gotta get one. But don't be surprised if it leads to more lever guns and a great diversity of them. I started with a BLR and killed an Arizona muley with it.

The BLR is long gone, but at least 4 levers replaced it.

Good luck.

 

[Cornbread]

I had one for a while in 7mm-08. It was a "someday" gun (as in, someday I will own one of those). And I eventually did. I had heard all about their "bolt like accuracy." Well, maybe some bolt guns, but not the ones I'm used to. Best I could do with factory or hand loads was 1.5" and usually 2". I really have no use for a rifle that shoots like that, especially in 7mm-08. So I sold it. The person who got it was thrilled beyond belief. Go figure.

Was yours the model 81 with the strap on the forearm holding the forearm to the barrel? I see that as a major accuracy problem. All 3 of mine are the pistol grip BLR, denoted as PG. My stainless BLR in .270 win shoots 0.75" groups with Hornady Precision Hunter 145gr ammo. Which one did you have. I agree with you on 1.5-2" groups.

 

[Cornbread]

I know this was from several years ago, but I was thinking of getting a BLR eventually (I find them to be beautiful, and the fact that they're chambered in modern cartridges is a huge plus). I was discouraged after hearing about the trigger pull, but then I heard Neal Jones' name tossed around a few times, and finding out now that he's in my hometown of Erie is fantastic. I'll definitely keep that in mind - thanks for the info!

The Browning triggers are indeed a pain in the ass to work on. I heard they were engineered by liability attorneys!!

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

The Browning triggers are indeed a pain in the ass to work on. I heard they were engineered by liability attorneys!!

This was the other reason I sold mine. Absolutely terrible triggers. The trigger on my 1959 Win 94 blew away that BLR. Very disappointing really.

 

[MS 9x56]

If the BLR trips your trigger, then you gotta get one. But don't be surprised if it leads to more lever guns and a great diversity of them. I started with a BLR and killed an Arizona muley with it.

The BLR is long gone, but at least 4 levers replaced it.

Good luck.

My lever affliction started with a savage 99 in308. Next came my take down BLR in 358 winchester, next came a Marlin 336 in 35 remington. Still have and use them all. None are MOA shooters but all will shoot 1.5-2” at 100 yards.

 

[Cornbread]

This was the other reason I sold mine. Absolutely terrible triggers. The trigger on my 1959 Win 94 blew away that BLR. Very disappointing really.

I agree. You shell out good money for a rifle and the one key to its accuracy is the trigger pull, and your new expsnsive ass rifle needs a trigger job. And then they make it so you cant even quite simply replace the trigger yourself with say a trigger tech diamond trigger. It pisses me off. Most, correction all, of these manufacturers are a bunch of snakes run by the bean counters.

 

[Cornbread]

My lever affliction started with a savage 99 in308. Next came my take down BLR in 358 winchester, next came a Marlin 336 in 35 remington. Still have and use them all. None are MOA shooters but all will shoot 1.5-2” at 100 yards.

Id love to get a hold of that marlin in stainless witb the black laminated stock in .45-70.

 

[MS 9x56]

I agree. You shell out good money for a rifle and the one key to its accuracy is the trigger pull, and your new expsnsive ass rifle needs a trigger job. And then they make it so you cant even quite simply replace the trigger yourself with say a trigger tech diamond trigger. It pisses me off. Most, correction all, of these manufacturers are a bunch of snakes run by the bean counters.

The other thing I don’t understand about these BLR’s, my son bought a stainless BLR in 7mm-08 after shooting my 358 and the trigger on that was 3.5lbs right out of the box. His shoots very close to MOA. He has taken several deer between 300-350 yards with Hornady SST 150 grain bullets.

 

[MS 9x56]

Id love to get a hold of that marlin in stainless witb the black laminated stock in .45-70.

So your quest continues.