Browning BAR 30-06 Question

6

6gun

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I hope someone can help me because I am very frustrated right now.

My uncle gave me a Belgium Browning 30-06 grade 2 about 10 years ago in new unfired condition. It's a beautiful gun and i wouldn't take anything for it since it was my uncles and he has since passed away about 5 years ago.

Unfortunately I have been forced to sell most of my guns (Divorce :( after 23 years) and the ones I have kept have been in my family. I hadnt shot this BAR until about a month ago and since it was my only hunting rifle left i thought i needed to sight it in. Well at 150 yards and the first 2 shots I kept it on an 8" paper plate with iron sites so I was very happy.

However today I saw the biggest coyote by my pond I had ever seen. He was as big as my lab and at least 70lbs. I'm always clearing them out every chance i get because they get thick and come in and eat your dogs and bother the farmers livestock.

Anyway I saw him about 8am coming down to the pond about 100 yards away so I got my BAR out and slipped out on the upper deck of my house.
I chambered a round very carefully as to not make too much noise...sighted him in and click......wow...i thought i had a bad round. Mr Coyote was still unaware so i chambered another round very carefully and ....click...What??
Well i repeated this 2 more times and by then with the brass hitting the deck he was high tailing it.

Boy was i upset....not only did i not rid the area of a problem character but i educated him and he probably wont be back for a second feature. These dudes are pretty smart and they learn quick.

Finally to add fuel to the fire....How could i ever trust this gun if the chips were down or if i ever get to go on a hunt out west for elk?

I think I know my problem and I'm sure your going to say ....I didnt pull the lever back hard enough and let it snap forward enough to properly seat the round. Wow say it aint so Joe.....how can you do this and not scare half the country off before you make your shot?

I haven't went back out again to duplicate how I chambered the rounds this morning and try pushing the lever forward at the end of the stroke, I was thinking this may do the trick and still be more quite than racking the action like you would at the range.

I just hope its something Im missing because my confidence in this fine firearm just went out the window. I hope it doesnt just become a safe place holder as i was hoping it could be a "shooter" i could grab and depend on!

Any words of wisdom would be helpful!


Thanks in Advance,
6gun
 
Unfortunately, I think you have diagnosed the problem correctly. The semi-autos (including the Garand, M1-A, and AR platforms) don't do well getting the bolt lugs fully rotated without a run-up to get some speed. They have trouble getting the extractor over the rim, otherwise. They are supposed to slam home.

Bumping the op-rod handle with your hand can work as long as you don't get a slam fire. It is done all the time, but you are safer letting it slam home. If you live alone in the cabin, I would put on hearing protection (in case of slam fire), then point it carefully in a safe direction and load it in the house and put the safety on before opening the door to go out on the porch. That will keep it quieter. If there are other people in the house, it just isn't safe.
 
Exactly! Pull the charging handle to the rear and let it go home.

And don't worry too much about the coyote. Since nothing actually threatened him (that he knows of), he may be back.
 
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