? for owners of Browning BAR Safari in .30-'06

H

Harry Callahan

New member
All,
I am very interested in buying one of these. It is a beautiful rifle. What is everyone's experience with this model? Pros and Cons, please. I already have a Remington 700 LTR in .308 but want a semi-auto in .30-'06 with a deep walnut gloss finish. This one seemed to jump out at me but I want to do some research before I spend that kind of money.
 
I had a BAR, but not in 30-06. Mine was in 7mm Rem Mag. It was a beautiful rifle, a bit heavy but well balanced, absolutley reliable with any ammo I put through it. Accuracy was about 1-1/4" at 100 yds. The stock finish was durable, and I had no gouges in the stock. Things that would have dug in deep in the stock in other rifles just made a groove in the finish, did not get to the wood itself. All in all, a thumbs up for the BAR.
 
Mine's not a Safari.

This is a Belgian BAR, made in 1969, one of the guns completely made there vs. Belgian parts and Portuguese assembly. It's chambered in .30-06, and wears light French Walnut.

It shoots quite nicely, but has a tight chamber, forcing me to use small base .30-06 sizing dies. Factory ammo works well, but I'm a cheapskate and accuracy freak. (What hardcore handloader isn't?) Accuracy is on par with a nice sporter-weight Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 boltgun, but get the barrel too warm too soon and groups will open up. The magazine holds 4 rounds, which for my deer-hunting purposes is just fine. The gas system on the BAR is patterned after the White system in the M14 rifle, so it's pretty much self-regulating, and I have no problem running the gamut from 142gr to 180gr ammo. To keep things in the proper 1969 motif, I recently installed that Weaver VX-9 Auto-Comp rangefinding scope. It makes a nice companion to the rifle without dominating it like some of the big 44-50mm objective scopes these days.

barbenchweaverright2.jpg
 
We have one in .308, and have killed alot of deer with it. They are excellent rifles to hunt with, but dont expect great accuratcy. I have seen a brand new one shoot about a pie plate group @ 100yds off sand bags. Ours shoot some loads absolutly terribly, and does good with others. So you may have to experiment to get the thing to shoot.

If I was going to buy one I would probably get one used. I dont like the stocks on the newer ones as much as I do the old. Just make sure the one you get isnt shot out I guess.

good luck
 
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