Help with BLR PLEASE

[JDJHNTR]

I just purchased a new to me BLR 81 with the folding trigger in 7mm-08. The gun appears to be in excellent condition (97-98%) and looks to have never been disassembled. Here's the problem....
I went to the range this morning to sight it in with factory ammo and with a round chambered the trigger does not work. It works perfectly on an empty chamber. What I did notice is that if you sneeze the lever ever so slightly towards the stock it will fire every time. Is there and adjustment for this?
The gun appears to be very clean on the inside and as mentioned I do not believe it has ever been disassembled. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[gamekeeper]

I'm sure advice will soon appear, until then welcome to the fire...

[Chuck 100 yd]

I know very little about the BLR rifle having never owned one ,But most lever action guns made since 1873 have a trigger interlock device that will not allow the rifle to fire if the lever is not COMPLETELY closed. Does your lever completely close on a loaded round? If not you may have an ammo issue and the guns workings are functioning properly. Have you cleaned the bore and chamber well? A tiny piece of debris will prevent a round from fully clambering in tight chambered guns. Good luck!

Welcome to the forum BTW !!!

[JDJHNTR]

It does close completely with a loaded round. Thanks

[.45colt]

Welcome JDJ...fifteen years ago I had problems with a junk tang safety Winchester and came here looking for answers. Help is on the way. .

[Tycer]

Try pushing the bolt further forward with the round chambered. Push firmly forward on the rear of the bolt. Use common sense so you don't accidentally shoot something. If that fixes it, clean the lugs and grooves where the front of the bolt locks into the barrel. If the bolt is back the gun won't fire. You might find you have to cycle it with gusto to get the bolt to fully seat at first, tolerances are often tight on these.

Keep us posted.

[JDJHNTR]

Ok. Just blew some parts scrubber in it and swabed it out then oiled. Still with a fired case in it it will only fire if I gently and again I mean gently squeeze the lever and stock together. In other words grip the rifle a little tighter. It will fire every time if I do this. With an empty chamber it will fire even without holding the grip at all? This gun is really clean inside and out. Supposed to have and from what I can see a very low round count.

[BenT]

The cartridge is keeping your bolt from going into complete lockup. Brownings can have tight chambers , so it does not take much crud at the shoulder to keep it from going completely into battery.

If you bough it from a gun shop take it back and have them fix it. They should test fire their used guns.

If it was taken apart then the timing could be off. But if it is as clean as you say I don't see any reason why it would have been taken apart.

Keep with it , my BLR is one of my favorites.

[JDJHNTR]

Ok, I just scrubbed the chamber and oiled it up good.....same problem. Here's an observation I noticed. When chambering a round and it does not fire, looking from the side when I squeeze the lever the bolt moves forward a fraction of a hair. Really only just enough you can see it move then it will fire. It moves so slight I can't measure it. Any more suggestions?

[Hairtrigger]

Are you shooting factory ammo?
Gently squeezing......... Sounds normal
Try rapidly moving the lever when chamfering a round
I have two BLR. actually four if you count 22lr. Anyway a Belgium made BLR in 308 and a BLR81 in 223. Both are pleasantly accurate and great rifles

You do not have to baby the lever... Shut it with authority

[Tycer]

I think Hairtrigger has it. Operate with gusto. My 358 Win has a tight chamber and needs a firm hand.

[JDJHNTR]

I can slam it shut or ease it shut same results.

[JDJHNTR]

Are you shooting factory ammo?
Gently squeezing......... Sounds normal

Factory ammo. Also with no round in chamber it fires every time even if you don't grip the lever at all.
With a round chambered you have to sneeze the lever to get it to fire. Never owned a BLR and didn't know if this was normal? I don't think it's normal but not sure.

[Pete44ru]

.

Welcome !

The gear drive bolt was re-installed "out-of-time" - I suggest that you call Browning Customer Service for advice on re-timing the bolt properly.



.

[Les Staley]

JDJHNTR, you are not in completely uncharted waters, as I have sailed the same shoals before. I can almost always solve rifle related problems on my own. Have "built" (rebarrelled) several Mauser and Springfield 03s into decent sporters, installed triggers, safetys, scope mounts (shimmed to elevation). The only gun I will never again own or ever recommend is the early Belgium BLR! I experienced the exact same problem that you are going thru. I was going to remove the barrel and lightly ream the chamber(WAY TOO TIGHT) with a finish reamer, but had the chance to sell it. Life is too short to deal with over engineered JUNQUE!!! Just my humble opinion..do what you want.

[Tycer]

OK. So when you say it does not fire, do you mean that the hammer will not drop or the hammer drops in the primer does not ignite?

[Tycer]

If it's dropping the hammer but not igniting the primer, try this: close the lever most of the way and then finish seating the bolt with your thumb. This should leave the lever hanging down still. Try pressing the trigger.

[JDJHNTR]

The trigger does not release the hammer.

[Tycer]

OK. I don't know how the trigger and sear release works on my BLR but I can pull the trigger with the lever pretty far open, maybe a quarter inch or so.

I would email Tim Ward at http://www.gunsmithsinc.com and see if he'll take a look at it. He did a sweet trigger job for me a couple of years ago. I don't remember the cost, but it's now my go to rifle because of the trigger.

[M. M. Wright]

I have been through this one before. I like the BLR so well that I'm trying to give all my Grandchildren one in their choice of caliber. So far I'm at 14 and a couple of them have been stinkers. I bought one from a fellow forum member here that had a rough, sticky chamber (that he had warned me about) and disassembled it to polish the chamber. Let me tell you, it's no easy task to re-time the action but I found the instructions, I believe on Hobie's site. It can be done but Browning service in MO would probably be cheaper when you consider the cost of whiskey these days. This rifle can raise your stress level. I got another rough chamber and devised a hone for it that can be inserted into the chamber and threaded on a rod out the muzzle to turn with a drill motor. No tear down or re-timing necessary and it works nicely now. Both these rough chambers were in early Belgian rifles and I believe they just hadn't trained their people well enough on how to finish a chamber or when to change reamers.

I didn't ask but they would probably have fixed them under warranty. BLR chambers can be VERY tight. Probably just at or under SAAMI specs. If you reload, try bumping a case pretty hard against the sizing die and see if that .001 or .002 inch makes a difference. I know, it should work with anyone's factory ammo but why fight it? If it were me, I would even slightly shorten a sizing die to make it work.

Most of the guys here are accustomed to squeezing the lever a little to push off the trigger lock on old Winchesters and clones. It's just how they were designed.

Welcome to the frustrating world of BLRs.

[BenT]

Ok I went and played with my BLR. Lets do some checks on yours. With nothing in the chamber and cocking the hammer , dry firing I have these measurement with a feeler guage. Lets see what your lever measures when all the way closed.

The measure between the stock and the end of the lever farthest from the trigger where it starts to curve away.

.027

I can pull the lever away from the stock and still have the trigger release the hammer up to this measurement.

.115

The bolt has a rotating head. When in battery the bolt body comes forward and touches the rotating head. I can cock the hammer and back off the lever till the gap between the bolt body and head is up to ,043 and made the hammer release.

Check your measurements and it will tell us if the lever and the bolt are timed correctly.

[JDJHNTR]

Ok BenT, if I understand you correctly........with the chamber empty, hammer cocked and no pressure being applied to the lever (rifle just laying static as shown in picture) I have 0.11 gap at the rear of the lever. The rifle fires here every time.
I can't back of the bolt any and it still fire.
I don't think we can go by the lever gap measurement? Did a Google search and most all of them including the picture on Brownings page has a larger gap at the rear of the lever than the front and appears to be the same as mine. It I'm certainly no expert on these things?

[JDJHNTR]

I know this might be asking too much but would someone chamber an "Empty" round in theirs (either once fired or new) and tell me if you can can pull trigger without holding the lever or if you have to grip the stock and lever together slightly? This would let me know if I have a problem with mine and need to send off for repair? Thanks to everyone that has been trying to help me with this issue. I Really appreciate it.

[BenT]

JD I have been using a snap cap. With that in the chamber my lever is paralllel with the stock.
I tried a piece of once fired brass and I could not make the hammer go. My lever was held away from the stock like in your picture.

I reload for a few 308's . I tried one of my reloads with the same results. I had my thumb on the hammer standing out my back door.This is what mean that they have tight chambers. With Factory Remington shells the lever was paralell with the stock and the hammer would release.

Your bolt has a rotating head. When the chamber is empty after the head is done rotating , does the bolt body come up and touch it.
Now chamber a empty case and see how big that gap is between the bolt body and rotating head.
Then chamber a factory round and see how big the gap is.

This is important because the bolt has to be all the way forward otherwise the hammer is blocked from releasing. it will not let the hammer go unless the bolt is all the way into battery.

Usually carbon gets built up where the bullet leaves in the chamber and this doesn't let the neck of the cartridge go as far forward as it is suppose to. Let a patch with Hoppes soak over night in that part of the chamber and then hit with a wire brush on your cleaning rod. I will hook the cleaning rod to an cordless drill and let the brush sit and spin there for 30 seconds to scrub it good.

Let me know what you find on the bolt body to rotating head gap.

[Tycer]

OK, I checked again, this time with a caliper. My BLR will drop the hammer with the lever open 0.205" measured just before the rear curve of the lever. You can feel something being depressed just before that measurement and closing it just a few thou more allows the hammer to drop.

[JDJHNTR]

Ok, just checked and all 3 scenarios the bolt is up against the head.
On a side note....... I took it to the range this afternoon so as could test it better. I only had Remington 140 PSP Cor-loks available. I did get the scope dialed in but it still has the problem.
I have to grip the lever and stock to make it fire.

[BenT]

Ok then it sounds like your bolt is all the way forward.

To me it sounds like the timing needs to be adjusted. What is keeping it from firing is that your trigger is not close enough to release the hammer sear.

If you turn the gun upside down and open the lever. You will see a big gear that mates to the bolt and a smaller one that is attached to the lever. That small gear is probably off by one tooth. It needs to be adjusted so that the lever is closer to the stock, because as you say ,when you squeeze it closer it works.

[Lastmohecken]

I have been shooting BLR's for many years, and you really shouldn't have to grip the lever very tight at all to make it fire. it's either out of time, one notch or the trigger disconnect is not adjusted right from the factory, probably. I would send it to the factory for repair or a good gunsmith that is competent when it comes to working on Blr's.

You do need to work the lever briskly to make sure that you have seated the round in the chamber and the bolt is all of the way closed, but really if you have jacked the round into the chamber rather smartly, then you really shouldn't have to think about it beyond that to make it fire. once you get it fixed you will probably love the gun. Not everyone likes the BLr, but those that do quite often make it their go to gun for just about any kind of serious hunting requiring a centerfire rifle unless they want to experience the nostalgia associated with hunting with an ironsighted Winchester or something.

[M. M. Wright]

JDHUNTER,
You really should go to Hobie's profile here where there is a link to his blog. Hobie's web site has a moderately long harangue on the BLR and instructions for timing it. There is also a link there that will take you to a service manual for BLRS. I believe there is also the address and phone no. for Browning Service Dept.
Despite all this trouble with them I am still a huge fan and just yesterday heard from a Grandson that his 243 had stuck a round in the chamber. I'm sure it needs some polishing but I will try to avoid tearing it down.

[JDJHNTR]

Well, here's the plan.
I am going to hunt with it a time or two this season. After our season closes I'm going to take it to my gunsmith to have the timing checked and adjusted if need be. I do believe like many have said that the gear on the lever is a tooth off.
I want everyone to know that I truly appreciate your help with this issue.
Now that I am a "leveraholic" (just baught my fifth one yesterday) I am certainly glad to have such a great group of guys to converse with. Thank you all again..........