Browning 308 BAR or BLR

Good afternoon everyone. I just love collecting rifles and yes I do use them for deer hunting. My main hunting cartridge is a 308. I cant decide between the browning blr or bar. I have yet to shoot either one but all of the reviews I have read say both are outstanding. Has anyone here had any experience with either one of these especially the newer models? Pros vs Cons Thanks

Hunted for years with an older BAR 30.06. I loved that gun and I am sorry I sold it. It carried nicely in the field and the accuracy was very good. Because of the gas action the recoil was quite low and reliability was 100%.

Doug

I have taken my 7mm BAR completely apart a few times. A bit time consuming but if u are a bit mechanicaly skilled its done easy enough.

I have enjoyed mine as well. Great guns

Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."

Always thought the takedown BLR looked a really handy idea...

Was sure I had a point when I started this post...

supertool73 wrote:

I know two people who owned the BLR. In those two samples they shot 4 to 5 inch groups at 100. Not that great. But for a closer range deer gun that would work okay.

Damn, that would be enough to cross the BLR off the list.

My grandfather used a BAR in 7mm mag when hunting out of state, like everyone has said, great shooter, tad heavy for me where we hunt.

Fish to Live, Live to Hunt

I've shot a couple of BLRs and both grouped quite well for a levergun. Just under 2MOA with factory ammo, I think.

I liked the handling of that rifle enough to put one in 300WSM on my wishlist. I am a sucker for leverguns, so I plan to get the takedown version.

ILya

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"...4 to 5 inch groups at 100"????

Our two BLR's shot 1 1/2" 3-shot groups with 150 grain Winchesters.

Brian Pearce wrote up the BLR .308 in the latest Rifle magazine (September 2018).

He reported 1 to 1 1/2 inch groups for eight out of nine factory loads and handloads. (The 9th was 1.65 inches.)

Stan Trzoniec reported groups of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.25 inches with .308 factory loads in the Winter 2009 Rifle magazine.

Ken Kempa reviewed this rifle (takedown version) in .30-06 in the February 2008 Guns & Ammo magazine. He listed 14 handloads hovering around 1". He also listed nine factory loads. Seven were less than 1 1/2 inches. The other two were 1.56 and 1.61 inches.

Greg Rodriguez reviewed the BLR takedown in .300 WSM in the October 2007 American Hunter. His groups before takedown were .98, 1.60, and 1.46 inches. Three shot accuracy was 2.1 inches if broken down after each shot.

The NRA requires 5-shot groups. They tested the takedown BLR .308 in the December 2010 American Rifleman. With 5 shots (unlikely in hunting) they reported groups of 2.62, 2.63, and 2.81 inches. "In addition, we found no appreciable change in point of impact when comparing groups fired before and after disassembly and reassembly of the gun."

Hope this gives you all a better perspective of BLR .308 accuracy as reported by a number of different reputable sources.

One last thought. The .308 is a shorter and handier rifle than the BLR in .30-06 and other longer cartridges. Your choice is a matter of personal preference, of course.

supertool73 wrote:

Can't change what I saw. Also note I said 2 samples, that in now way qualifies the entire range of those guns as inaccurate. Just those 2 samples. It simply means they are not all guaranteed as super accurate rifles.

Fish to Live, Live to Hunt