First day on the range with my ‘78 BLR and things got weird after 50 rounds

Discussion in 'Browning BLR Rifle' started by Asimauve, Mar 12, 2023.

  1. Asimauve

    Asimauve Copper BB

    So to get straight to the point, and this was repeating itself.

    basically first 2 rounds would load in perfectly and eject no problemo, the moment the second round was shot and it was time to eject the spent round, the lever got extremely difficult to pull open for the round to eject.

    the first 50 round went by easy and it’s just when the gun got hot that this started happening.

    I’m thinking the issue is with the magazine but was curious if others experienced similar issues? Thinking of bringing it to the gunsmith to let him have a look, would love if anyone here could also give me some maintenance tips.
  2. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    Welcome to the forum sir. Did all this happen with the same ammo? If so I would try some others before it went to a smith.
  3. Asimauve

    Asimauve Copper BB

    Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for piping in, i used two types of 308 PMC and some Hornady, i noticed I was doing fine with the cheaper PMC, i didn’t really think the ammo might be a problem, this is a good point.
  4. Asimauve

    Asimauve Copper BB

    [​IMG]

    I took a few pictures, noticed the play in the magazine, would love some feedback on this, saw a faire bit of gunk inside as well
    [​IMG]

    Gunk and overall pics

    [​IMG]

    May seemed decent but I’ll wait for feedback here to decide what to do

    [​IMG]
  5. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    Looks like that feed lip is bent? Hard to tell in the picture. What happens if you shoot it without the magazine? Do you know total round count? Missed it if you posted if the rifle was new or used?
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2023
  6. Asimauve

    Asimauve Copper BB

    the rifle is from 1978, good point about the feed lip, worth digging into it a bit. Total rounds I did that day was about 50, the lever still worked but I had to put in some effort nearing round 55, it was like first two rounds flawless, last 2 miserable
  7. Blakers

    Blakers .22LR

    Tight chambers seem to be a problem with BLRs. I’ve heard of several — some brand new. I bought a used BLR-81 in .308. Never shot good and was always hard to eject rounds. Got worse as time went on, so I took it over to Neil Jones and had him look at it. He said the rifling was shot in the barrel and the chamber was shot. He had a 300 WSM barrel he could rechamber to a 308. I said go ahead, so I get it back after 6 months. He also did a trigger job. This time it shoots good, but chamber is tight again. Gets worse with each shot, then I ended up breaking the bolt trying to eject one. Took it back to Neil. He blamed factory ammo for being too tight. Anyway, he opened the chamber more and now it does shoot really good and I’ve had no problems. I would have been money ahead to buy a new one.

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