've been looking for a Stainless Laminate stocked BLR. Browning did a small run of these and they seem very hard to come by. The only one I have seen locally is in .270wsm. Does anyone here know for sure what calibers Browning made these limited runs in. The only other one I have heard of is a guy that got one in 300wsm. I'd love to find one in .308, but i'm affraid they may have only made them in the wsm's. Any help would be great.

They were only chambered for the WSM's as far as I know and were distributed through Davidsons (?). I see there are still a few on the auction sites but the prices seem high:

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976581141.htm

http://www.gunsamerica.com/guns/976585644.htm

Thats what I was afraid of, only in the WSMs. I have a BLR in .308 and absolutely love the gun. It fits me extremly well and is a joy to carry in the woods. I hunt mainly whitetail, hopeing to start hog hunting this summer. I also bought this rifle with plans on it doing the job for a future elk hunt. I really want one of those laminate stainless BLRs the only problem is I might have to sell mine to afford to buy one. This new gun would have to fill all of these needs. Out of those three calibers the .270wsm stands out to me as I have had great results with the .270win and consider it a fine hunting round. After the .270wsm the 300wsm catches my eye, how much more recoil are we talking about here as opposed to a 30-06 shooting 165s or 180s. I've shot a friends 270wsm but never shot a 300wsm. The only 30 caliblers I have shot are my 308 and a 30-06 I used to own. I just wonder about the big step up in recoil the .300wsm might produce in the light blr. I have a 444 marlin so I'm somewhat used to recoil, I've just found the big bores seem to be more of a big push where the hard recoil mid bores are more of a sharp kick. Any thoughts or recommendations given my hunting needs would be greatly appreciated. I don't really want the 7mmWSM, just because I don't want one.

One of my friends brought me his new Winchester model 70 in 300 winchester short magnum to sight in for him. He has a terrible flinch problem. I found with Federal 180 grain factory loads out of his 24 inch barrel the recoil felt not much different that a 300 Winchester magnum, but a little sharper. Velocity was just under 2900 fps which is a little more than a 30-06, but a hundred feet per second under the 300 Winchester mag. The gun out of the box printed about 1.5 inches with factoy ammo. I got to tell you I wasn't impressed by it.

He had replaced a 7mm Remington Mag with this gun. He works for Blount and has for almost 30 years. Every so often they buy him a new rifle of his choice with a scope of his choice because of his time at the plant. I have no doubt that he should be shooting something with far less recoil, or spend the money and get whatever he is shooting magna-ported.

He's hunted elk about the same amount of time I have and of the two he actually hit both went unrecovered. By the way magna-porting is a nifty way to get guns to recoil much less if your worried about recoil at all.

This was a nice gun in stainless with a camo stock and a pricy Leapold scope. I feel the gun will be as good as an 06 for elk and deer I don't see where it would be any better. That being said I have lived and hunted elk for the better part of 45 years and firmly believe the 06 is the smallest cartridge to consider for elk hunting. I know what jack O'Conner said and done and I know lots of elk have fallen to smaller bullets, but I have seen elk shot and not recovered with smaller calibres. I like the 30, 8mm and 33 magnums far better for elk.

Elk are tough animals and can take a lot of abuse before giving up the ghost. I've seen them dropped with a single shot from a 243 and I've seen them run 250 yards with their heart blown completly out with a 300 Weatherby magnum. I've gotten to the point where though I do damage some meat a front shoulder shot with a gun capable of breaking big bones seems to put them down consistantly with authority and they do not run away.

Ok now you can beat up on me.

Matt, keep your BLR .308 for your elk hunt. In Wyoming, where I prairie dog regularly and have thought about elk hunting, the locals tell you to leave the .300's at home and bring your .308. Seriously. It's lighter weight, and with the right bullets will kill elk nicely. Mine's fitted with a detachable Leupold scope mount, carrying a lightweight and compact scope, so that I can remove it in the rain and leave it up in the sun and for long range hunting. If you're a good shot with that BLR, you'll be a better hunter in high country with it, especially after hauling up and down the mountain all day, than a bigger gun that you're not as comfortable with.

Matt, keep your BLR .308 for your elk hunt. In Wyoming, where I prairie dog regularly and have thought about elk hunting, the locals tell you to leave the .300's at home and bring your .308. Seriously. It's lighter weight, and with the right bullets will kill elk nicely. Mine's fitted with a detachable Leupold scope mount, carrying a lightweight and compact scope, so that I can remove it in the rain and leave it up in the sun and for long range hunting. If you're a good shot with that BLR, you'll be a better hunter in high country with it, especially after hauling up and down the mountain all day, than a bigger gun that you're not as comfortable with.


Well thats the thing, this gun is the same size and same weight as my .308, maybee 4 oz difference in weight. I know the .308 is a fine all around caliber for my current hunting needs and future ones as well. I just really like the looks of the stainless laminted stocked better. If I could have my cake and eat it too, it'd be a .308 in the stainless setup, but browning seemed to only make them in 270,7mm, and 300 WSMs so these are the calibers I'm looking at.

Yeah, understand love/lust....and the stainless would be really nice in the deer woods in northern Wisconsin, too. But I think those cartridges are gonna create a lot of punch on the shoulder end in my opinion. 'Course you can always load 'em so that they don't have to hurt, and you'll be committed to reloading them with the cost and availability of factory ammo. So go for it. If you score the .300, you can use the same bullets as the .308 at least.

Matt - If you find a 7mm-WSM BLR in stainless and laminate I would scarf it up. That would be my first choice and I would take it in a heart beat over the BLR in .308. When I bought my .300WSM in BLR it was the only caliber in the store. Someone else had come in and bought the .270WSM. If stainless and laminate is what you are looking for you can't go wrong with any of the three WSM calibers -- and certainly the .300WSM would be a better choice for moose. But, if I was going to take any of the three for a basic deer/black bear and occassional elk gun, I would take the 7mm. My stainless/laminate BLR is beautiful. I have no regrets about buying it.
john

mattpair,

I stand corrected on my earlier post. I guess Browning is chambering them for other than the WSMs. Thanks to Glenn of Decatur, AL for bringing this to my attention.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=33719026

Good job, Glenn and Jayhawker. Poor Matt, he will now be lying awake with the sweats!

Good job, Glenn and Jayhawker. Poor Matt, he will now be lying awake with the sweats!


Well, now it looks like I can have my cake and eat it too!!! Only thing left is to decied if I should sell my BLR to finace the purchase. I'd be taking a loss money wise, but I'd have that purty gun. Anyone interested in a like new BLR in .308 with a VX III 2.5x8x36 with HVYDPLX put on it?

Allright, made up my mind, its for sale I'll be posting it in the trading post soon. :cool:

Looking at the picture , I would say that the reciever seems to painted silver and the mag and barrel band are still in the blue. The colour of the barrel does not match the reciever .
Would the stock have the high gloss fininsh?
Now if the whole gun was stainless steel, Mag .barrel ,and reciever , with a low gloss laminate stock,I would want one too

The barrel band, magazine and hammer are in fact blued. I've been told the stock finish is satin and not the normal high gloss that Browning normally uses. I'm fighting the urge to get one.

Biglmbass

So it is not stainless it is just what they call stainless finish

I gather the reciever is alloy painted silver.
I have a Marlin 17V that has such a finish , and now I think I would rather that it would have been in deep blue. The blue is easier to maintain.

It would be nice to just have the laminated stock in two tone brown and leave the rest in blue.

Some day I suppose, some one will make aftermarket laminated stocks for our levers.

To get an idea what your Browning really looks like and see what is really stainless, I would want to see one first.

Just my .02cts.
Happy

I have put my hands on a stainless blr in .270wsm. So I know what I'm getting into, I'll tell you guys this, the pictures on the net just don't do them justice.

I Fell in love with the blr when i got my current .308, this new stainless finish is true lust!

In person it is easy to see the finish isn't a normal "stainless" The closest thing I could compare the finish's relationship to true stainless is to is how a Parkerized gun compares to a normal blued gun. I've never let a blued gun rust, I don't plan to let this one either.

I can honestly say (for me) it is about as perfect as a general purpose rifle can get. Fits my length of pull to a T, light weight, shoots a calibler with min. recoil, that same calibler is able to take everything from vermin to just shy of the big bears(with the right bullet), that caliber is also very common and can be purchased pretty cheap, it has very useable iron sights, is easy to mount a scope, and takes the best of both worlds action wise from the bolt action and the lever action, it also has a non reflective finish (others put more weight into that than I do, Its normally me who spook the deer, not my shinney gun :rolleyes: ) I could go on and on, but I won't. This gun just plain hunts.

I have listed my BLR for sale, (allready sold the scope :cool: ), and thanks to biglmbass I have found a dealer in state that can get me a .308 Stainless for $769, quite a steal when the lowest price online I have seen is in the mid 800s I have also seen one bid starting at $1100!! too rich for my blood.

The biggest complaint I have with these from browning is
1: Why so few production numbers, I've been told they only made 380 .308s (thats gotta make mine worth a little more). I think they would sell plenty of them if they just cataloged them.
2: No swivel sling stud thingies. Why, Why, Why!!! Hello Browning, you have come to your senses and are putting these on the new pistol grip BLRs why not these?

Just wanted to add, I just got off the phone with browning, these were a very limited run for this year's SHOT show, in fact they only mad 380 in .308!!!! wow. I never thought I'd own a gun in that low of production numbers!!! The reciever is a satin nickel and the barrel is true stainless. Just FYI

When I have time I will post a photo of my three BLRs for comparison purposes (though someone will have to give me some help on the photo end.)

They are:

Stainless, laminate .300WSM (stainless Leupold scope)

Refinished stock on 7mm-08

Regular polyurethane stock on .358

john

Pics would be great, SundayCreek. BTW, how do you like the .358?

AND, is the satin nikel finished receiver of your WSM BLR easily scratched?

Please advise. Thanks in advance.

lucky dog i have a blr in .270 but would love to have one in stainless i saw a pic and they look awesome and i love stainless.

Bass - the .358 is a powerful cartridge. I would not hesitate to use it for anything in North America. But, kicks as much as my Guide Gun with a hot load. My WSM is pretty new. Haven't had any scratches yet.

I have the blued straight stocked BLR in 358 W.
I find that the recoil is mild withthe winchester factory ammo.In the standing position it woulllld compare to the 308 with the 165 /180 gr. bullet.
The Blr has a great recoil pad , so I would think the WSM would give a bit more of a push other wise , I doubt if the recoil would ever equal that of the 45/70 guide gun.
before I bought my 358 W I was toying with the 300WSM myself, but price and knowing I could handle all my needs with the 358w Having the short action along with the package I got my cake and was able to eat it too.
Some days I wonder if the I should have gone out with the 300 WSM or gone all the way with the 325WSM. Then you need a good bullet other wise you might blow up some meat at short ranges.
Then who needs all that horsepower when the 308 W is all one needs to drop a moose in these parts.
Now check out the scopes with a generous Eye relief
Wish you luck with the new toy.
The man with the most toys "WINS"

Harry - my handloads for the .358 were pretty warm as I was trying to extend my range. For some reason I handle the recoil of my Guide Gun better than I do the recoil from the BLR .358, though I would admit the Buffalo Bore offerings does rattle one's teeth more. I would agree with you on the milder loads for the .358 as they were not bad at all. I was doing some penetration tests on wet phone books on my BLR in .308 (which later blew up on me for reasons still unknown to me and Browning.) My .308 load at the time was not penetrating very far, so out of curiousity I shot the .358. That bullet blew a big hole through those phone books and kept on going. I don't have my data book with me so I don't recall which bullets I was using in the two rifles.
The .358 simply isn't going to compare to the .300WSM if one is looking to reach out and touch something in the 350-400 yard range. I feel that what it does well at 175-225 yards I can do with my .45-70 or .375. Yes, it may then extend one's range to 250 and perhaps a tad beyond.
Although I own about a dozen lever guns I could be quite content if I had just three:
BLR in 7-08
BLR in .300WSM
1895G

My Marlin .35Rem cut down to Guide Gun length is a favorite, as is my M375, as well as the .218Bee and my Winchesters in .25-20 and 25-35, but for all practical purposes the three listed above would do all I need to do. I took a lot of animals with the .308 before the mishap, animals ranging in size from coyotes and antelope to a moose and several elk. It served me well for over 20 years.

Sunday Creek

The 358 W has over the 1895 45/70 when it come to range with a lot less recoil.
That is why I went to the 358 W after having so much grief with the tolerances of the guide gun I had.It would not group or for that matter any one else.
Now with the 45/70 , if you can get the bullet home , what ever you shot is down , dead on it's feet.
But that rainbow affect ,and very poor grouping of the guide gun I had, After some research , I went with the 358 W in BLR.
This rifle 's task is to handle the big bears that can weigh in over 400 Lbs and moose , and maybe deer in mixed farms were shots might go in and a bit over two hundred yards .
Put me in the bush with shots about a hundred yards , and I will be with my trusty 336/ 35 Marlin RC

The BLR in 358 and my Ruger bolt in 3006 are tools for the hunt .
The 35 Rem --- Well it is special!

Harry & SCreek,

In regards to the .358 BLR and recoil, are your guns the new production ones w/ the alloy receivers or the older ones w/ the steel receivers?


Thanks in advance.

I thought my .358 recoil was similar to my .270 Win and that was shooting compressed loads and putting 200 grain bullets close to 2600 fps. As Harry said, the straight stock BLR has a great pad and I didn't think it was bad to shoot. As Sunday Creek said, the 358 is a powerful cartridge, I was looking at a reloading manual the other day and I'm pushing a 200 grain bullet close to 2600 fps which is only 3-400 fps less than a 338 Win Mag.

Harry & SCreek,

In regards to the .358 BLR and recoil, are your guns the new production ones w/ the alloy receivers or the older ones w/ the steel receivers?


Thanks in advance.

My BLR is the Alloy reciever new production type.

I find that the reciever is easy to scratch and the blacking agent used for alloy shot guns will not take.

I have had it back to Browning twice now . Last year , because the hammer started to rub on the pinion gear or bolt.
This year because the cartridges are sticking in the chamber just after firing a round. you need to wait a few seconds to extract the case. Have just about three box's of factory through it.
I hope to have it sorted out.

The hammer rubbing on the bolt gear seems to be a problem with ten shooters I have talked to. The hard extraction seemed to be an issue with the steel recievered Japanese models in 358 , but the problem was supposed to have been corrected with the alloy.
As far as the 358W round goes. It is an excellent round for the eastern woods / mixed farm land.
Big 35 Cal bullet from the parent 308 W case with the trajectory of the 300 Savage. So it more than the usual 150 yard type lever gun. Make that a 250 yard lever.
What really appealed to me about this round is that it was rated as an excellent Black bear round capable of putting down a big animal and also leaving a good exit wound.
All good things if in heavy cover at dusk
Hunting over bait at last light, you want somthing with some thump and the exit wound leaves a good blood trail in heavy cover .If ever you needed to track a wounded 400 LB plus bear with a bullet in him that stayed inside wounding the animal, seeing only a few drops of blood here and there.All the while the light is gone and it is getting dark. You soon get the hibbie /gebbies as the hair comes up on your neck feeling.
(I have tracked bears for other people) Your the hunter ,but also now the hunted. ( Pray oh Lord ! deliver us now from the mighty teeth, of the jaws we hear going chop chop hidden in the brush as we pass)

You can kill a average bear with a 243 , and the 30/30 with out trouble, but I have seen big animals just run high gear after taking a shot from a 270W.
I like the idea of a 35 to 45/70 class bullet for these animals that will exit without blasting a three inch hole going out.

Then the 358 W shines with reloads ,as well as taking kindly to cast bullets.
Many people on the forums rate the BLR with high regards and many state they have never had a problem with the rifles .
Most reports of repairs from Browning are rated favourable , at worst there may be a few QC issues.
In my case I am hopful my issues with the BLR can and will be worked out

Hope all will be well with your investments
Happy

I've heard/read many good things about the .358 and how efficient/effective/underated a cartridge it is. I'm enamored more with the cartridge than with the BLR that is currently chambered for it. Don't get me wrong, the standard blued .308 BLR I played with this week in a local shop was very, very nice. But, all things being equal I'd just as soon have a handy bolt gun in .358 w/out a premium price. Speaking of price, & never having owned a Browning, & never having paid this much for any single firearm, I'm simply having a hard time coming off my walet for one of these. Not to mention the high price of ammo... Yes, yes, I know I need to start reloading.

Bass - Steel? What's steel?

I am prejudiced, but I would not opt for a .358 in a bolt gun. The great fun of a bigger bore is in the brush and nothing points and recycles like a good, smooth lever gun.

If you want to keep things reasonably priced, by a good, used .35Rem, learn to handload, then with time, push it up to the Buffalo Bore level. It won't match the .358 but it will come close. You can buy a good used .35 (look for a 1950s model if you can find one) for about $200 and all the reloading supplies you will need (for now) for another $200.

Or, if you decide you must have a .358 I would entertain offers on mine, complete with Leupold scope, dies, brass and bullets.

Just in case anyone was interested. Today in Gander Mountain I saw a "used" BLR pistol grip in .270 win. for $500

The used above is in quotes because I could not detect any use what-so-ever. Although I could not work the action as it was zip-tied closed, the grease on the bolt and from underneath looking through the magazine slot appeared like I've seen on new guns.

Anyhow it had a price tag of $500 as I recall. If it had been a .358 I'd been really tempted to bring it home. But I already have a 270.

've been looking for a Stainless Laminate stocked BLR. Browning did a small run of these and they seem very hard to come by. The only one I have seen locally is in .270wsm. Does anyone here know for sure what calibers Browning made these limited runs in. The only other one I have heard of is a guy that got one in 300wsm. I'd love to find one in .308, but i'm affraid they may have only made them in the wsm's. Any help would be great.


I JUST BOUGHT THIS RIFLE IN HE 300 WSM AND AFTER LOOKING AROUND ON THE NET FOUND IT WAS AVAIABLE IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT CALIBERS. GO ON THE HUNT.... GUBROKER.COM HAS IT IN THE 308 PLUS OTHERS. BUT AS AN OWNER OF A 308 FOR SEVERAL YEARS. I WOULD SUGGEST LOOKING FOR THE 300 WSM. LAST YEAR A MOOSE IN ALASKA LAUGHED AND WALKED OFF AFTER I HIT IT WITH MY 308 THATS WHY I GOT THE 300 BEFORE THIS YEARS HUNT. THE BALISTICS ARE AWSOME AND IT WAS A SWEET DEAL. I PAYED 849. THE 325 WSM IS AROUND FOR 950.00 LOOKING AT A 7MM OR 243 FOR MY 14 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER. GREAT RIFLE GREAT FEEL. AND YOU CAN MAKE IT EVERYTHING YOU WANT. THE 270 WSM IS GREAT ALSO. IT SMOKES A 308 IN THE BALISTICS AREA.

Welcome to the forum.... note, it appears that your 'caps lock' key is stuck.