Browning BAR, 1969 Vintage

[Lastmohecken]

Well, I bought a Browning BAR in 30-06 today at Tulsa. It's pretty clean for a 50 year old gun. I hope it shoots ok. I am not really worried about accuracy. If it shoots 2" at a 100yds or even slightly bigger groups, I will be happy. I hope it's 100% reliable. It has great bluing and wood on it, and the trigger pull is very nice.[/attachment]

Browning BAR, 1969, 06.jpg

[Old Savage]

A friend had one in 270, very accurate..

[Nath]

I would be very surprised if it can't do 1"!
Nice find

[GunnyMack]

The BAR accuracy spec from the factory was about 3" if I remember right- have seen many that will shoot an inch though!

[Sarge]

It's been a long time but the last BAR I shot was a 338 and it would stay on a railroad tie plate at 250 yards... made that puppy dance, too.

[Thunder50]

Friend of mine had one in 308. As long as he was consistent in how he held it, from shot to shot, it would hold 1" and oft time, a bit less. Sloppy in his hold, it would spray them.

[piller]

Nice looking rifle.

[Nath]

Friend of mine had one in 308. As long as he was consistent in how he held it, from shot to shot, it would hold 1" and oft time, a bit less. Sloppy in his hold, it would spray them.

Yeah, the 308's do that

[M. M. Wright]

Nice find John, bet you could kill every deer in the county with that rifle.

[Lastmohecken]

Friend of mine had one in 308. As long as he was consistent in how he held it, from shot to shot, it would hold 1" and oft time, a bit less. Sloppy in his hold, it would spray them.

Yeah, the 308's do that

I am a fan of the .308, and there might be something to that, I don't know. But my experiences before this with the BAR, was mostly limited to sighting in a later vintage BLR in .308 win for my cousin. The gun was 100% reliable, and I sighted it in for him at 200 yards. I only had one choice in loads, he provided, (Remington 180gr Core Locks). And I sighted the pattern in for him at the stated range. Typical groups were about 6 to 8" at that range, so I would call it a 3 to maybe 4" rifle at a hundred. But the lackluster accuracy, never seemed to keep him from bagging bunch of deer with it. I think he changed to some other kind of ammo later on. And perhaps that is the key; finding ammo the gun likes.

Being consistent on the hold is pretty important, I think, on lots of hunting rifles, and I always sight in off of bench with the same hold, that I will likely use under field conditions.

[Nath]

I was being silly really but BAR's are capable of better than the one you helped your cousin with.

N.

[Lastmohecken]

I was being silly really but BAR's are capable of better than the one you helped your cousin with.

N.

I know, I have read that lots of BAR's are capable of shooting 1-1/2" groups or close, maybe even better.

[gfg]

It will probably do much better then what you are talking....I purchased a 1968 06 Last year....Foamed out the bore and cleaned real well. Aimed at bottom one inch circle trying to hit two inches high into top one inch circle.
First two shots are in same hole.
Moved up four clicks shot two more a dime will cover.
Moved right and onto bullseye....Fired more shots,,,,,,,,two are in about the same hole and another cuts group into a ragged hole...
Those old type one belgium guns can be quit spectacular,,,Will admit I have not shot it quit that well on bench since but it did happen one fine day.


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[Lastmohecken]

Very good accuracy and shooting.

[6pt-sika]

I’ve shot quite a few Belgian BAR’s and a good many shot great with factory and or handloads . And I’ve shot a handful of them that grouped the spent brass on the ground better then they did the holes in the target . THE BEST BAR of any type I ever fired was a BAR LongTrac blued and walnut in 300 Win Mag . A customer brought it in the shop and wanted it sighted in said he couldn’t get it . So I took it out with plain old Winchester 150 grain Power Points . Got it n paper at 25 , on at 50 and on at 100 . Adjusted at 100 let it cool then fired 3 shots . Those three shots were 1 1/2” high at 100 yards and measured right at 1/2 MOA . I tried my best to buy that rifle but after showing him the target he didn’t want to sell ! I think he was scared of the recoil though .

[Lastmohecken]

Well, I took the old Weaver scope off of it and robbed a Leupold 1-3/4 x 6 vari x III off of another gun I hadn't used much in a long time, this last weekend.
I messed around with several different factory rounds, some pretty old, but I didn't have a lot of any one brand and bullet weight. I got a couple of about 1-1/2" groups at 100yds and a few 3" groups with other rounds. Then I shot it a little bit at 200yds. I need to get some new ammo and spend more time with it, but I feel confident with it out to 200yds. It's minute of deer, anyway. Even though my groups varied about every round fired would have been in the kill zone off a deer, after the first couple of scope adjustments.

One thing I really did feel good about was the reliability. It never missed a lick, being totally reliable with everything from 150gr, 180gr and even 220 gr silvertips.

It's quickly becoming a favorite. I took it hunting 3 or 4 times. I could have limited out for the year on does and another small buck, but so far I have let everything walk, except for that little 9pt I killed on the first day, hoping a bigger one would show up.

[Nath]

How does it carry and come to the shoulder?
I consider that a very important aspect to a rifle and is personal to every one.

[6pt-sika]

How does it carry and come to the shoulder?
I consider that a very important aspect to a rifle and is personal to every one.

Within reason I don’t worry about that as much with a rifle as I do with a shotgun . But the majority of my deer shooting is from a stand and not under duress . If I were walking/stalking deer, rifle fit would be a bigger issue .

[Booger Bill]

My uncle bought this one new back in the late fifty's or whenever they first came out. Has a very low serial # and is 30-06. Belgium Browning. I eventually inherited it. I think my dad once had to take it to a gun smith as it froze up deer hunting in extreme cold weather. Was too heavily oiled or greased I suppose. I haven't shot it much but it gave a good group.
https://i.postimg.cc/59wf9wSD/browning-M-7-2069.jpg

[DocRock]

Classy and classic. Minute of deer will be good!

We often forget how spoiled we are these days with $350 Tupperware rifles that will deliver 1 MOA groups with shocking regularity. Eve 20 years ago, fine sporting rifles were considered quite accurate if they were 2 MOA. Companies like Timney thrived because they could deliver the kind of triggers that we now expect as a matter of course in cheap rifles.

That's a looker and, no doubt, will be a slayer of deer, elk, bear, and hogs!