Browning BLR LW .308 experience??

B

Big4Freedom

New member
I'm in the market to purchase a new deer rifle. I hunt in thick timber and rarely need to shoot more than 50 yds. My goal is to find a good quality rifle in .308 that is very light but decent to shoot. I'm cool with that caliber but the .308 I use now is close to 12lbs, making very hard to aim for very long while waiting for the buck to get clear of timber and take the shot.

With that said, I'm really close to the browing blr lightweight .308 lever action at 6.8lbs, w/o scope. My second choice was the bolt action Beretta Tikka lite at 6.2lbs w/o scope, but really think I'd like the lever action better.

Has anyone fired the BLR I'm talking about? I'm fairly recoil-insensitive but want to enjoy practicing with it too, outside of deer season. So, I wanted to see how jumpy it was at that caliber/weight.

Thanks for any input
 
Felt recoil is the product of 4 variables. First is the actual recoil of the ammunition itself - since all your choices are .308 that one doesn't change. The second is the weight of the rifle - the heavier the rifle the better it will absorb recoil. The third is the shape of the stock - some stocks will send more of the force straight back to your shoulder while others will deflect more towards the recoil arc (i.e. upward). The fourth variable is the padding to absorb the recoil (recoil pads, thickness of clothing, special recoil absorbing stocks, etc).

Regardless of the rifle, you can control that fourth variable by simply installing a better recoil pad.

That being said, unless you are really recoil sensitive I doubt you will really notice a difference in a real hunting situation.
 
I have an early BLR, so it's not the lightweight one you're describing. When I lived in Wisconsin it was all I used for deer. My shots were similar to what you've said, all around 50 yards or under. I had a scope on that gun for one season. Hated it, slapped me in the cheek every time I pulled the trigger. The stock is designed for iron sight use. Went back to irons, put a red fiber optic Williams sight up front and harvested venison.

Hope this helps you some. I really like my BLR.
 
Thanks, Guys.

Yes, Doyle- I forgot to mention I was gonna do the "pistol grip" version too. That should help a tiny bit with control and feel. I'm not super worried about recoil just wondering how they were and can't tell too much from limited firings on youtube.

@Ken- That does help. I've read great things about them. I do think I'll try to stick to iron sights and see if that works without any additional optics. I've always been pretty good with iron sights, although getting worse at farther ranges as my eyes get older:). Funny, I had zero issue at 300 meters, when I was 17yo, qualifying with M16 in the US Army...Now, anything past 100M would sink me without scope.
 
I've looked at two BLR308s this last week one had a smooth action and one not so much,I like the feel of them not to heavy at all the down side is the price of a extra mag but that goes with the territory I guess,I also looked at the 30-06 being I want to buy one to go with my other LAs,it had a smooth action too and liked how it shoulders and I like the open sights. The stiff action on the 1st one I looked at had to do with the action going over the hammer,figured it just had a bit more of a stiffer spring in it,the 30-06 with the longer action was real nice. Looks like a 06 will be going in my safe after my 308MX gets here.
 
BLR 308

I had BLR 308 back in 70s. I had Weaver K-3 on it. Sited for 100yds. This was
not LW rifle, I had no trouble with it at all. Shot several deer with it, same type
of conditions you describe. At time was shooting 150gr. loads, would do 1 1/2"
at 100yds. Kick was not bothersome nor was scope. This situation is probably
because of build of shooter. I would still have it if I hadn't traded it for a BAR
in 308.
 
Most online ballistics calculators will let you compare recoil for different weight rifles.
I think you'd find a bolt gun will have less perceived recoil due to the stock shape
 
I do know one thing about BLRs. I think that the normal model '81 (that is the one with the straight stock grip and the barrel band) is about the prettiest lever action ever made. I've heard that the barrel band makes it not as accurate as the other style but they sure are pretty.
 
I know this is going off on a tangent from the OP,
but have you looked at the 6.8spc spec II? It's
real a stunted .270. low recoil.Great performance.
Very light platform with scope in an Ar15 and knocks
deer down dead, near and far.
Ron
 
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