Browning BL-22, knuckle rapper

[AkRay]

I have a nice condition BL-22 whose lever has an annoying habit of vibrating or moving when I fire a round. I've never fired a different make of rimfire lever action that's done this. Is this something that's common with these rifles? This one is about 40 years old.

[Blaine]

Does it move as if trying to go out of battery? Or just back and forth sideways? Clean the carbon (if any) off end of bolt/in chamber, and tighten the screw on lever..... Who knows?

[AkRay]

The lever has a small amount of side to side play and there is no screw on the lever. It's a light weight and accurate 22 but I don't think my daughter will like shooting it with the lever the way it is.

[bdhold]

Henry H001 is probably the best buy in firearms today - good shopping will get one for under $300. My daughter loves hers, and it's a shooter.
these are the pairs from dialing in a new peep sight at 50 yds

last 3 pairs are connected shots

[Blaine]

Henry H001 is probably the best buy in firearms today - good shopping will get one for under $300. My daughter loves hers, and it's a shooter.
these are the pairs from dialing in a new peep sight at 50 yds

last 3 pairs are connected shots

I have several good .22s, but if I needed another, I'd do the Henry in a heartbeat. Prolly the best value out there, unless you can find a real beater 39 Mountie for cheap.

[1894c]

I own a Henry too...carbine model with their version of the big-loop...it shoots good, real good. I consider it the Ruger 10-22 of leverguns, but a nicer build... :)

[williamranks]

I was looking for something else and noticed this on the search results.
Dunno if it will help.
http://www.sealnet.com/bl22fieldservice ... Manual.pdf

[Chuck 100 yd]

Those .22 Leverguns are known to be hard kickers. I never had one rap my knuckles though. Are you sure there aren't just some sharp corners that are causing the hurt? Maybe a little debuting or if there is room maybe a Cowboy Wrap is in order.

[AkRay]

Thanks Bill Ranks. The manual is usual to have. I might just take it to a gunsmith and ask him about it. I've never had shooting access to a BL 22 before so I don't know anything about them.

[williamranks]

Might be a "never mind" but easy to check. As a teenager I had a Winchester 53 25-20 that kicked more than I thought it should and would set primers back. If I put an empty in it the bolt was a little hard to close and the primer would reseat so I knew it wasn't headspace.
Finally took it to the local gunsmith and the problem was a heavily leaded barrel increasing the pressure. It was bad enough Hoppes #9 wouldn't clear it out. After he got the lead out it shot fine and no more popped primers.
Now I use Blue Wonder on anything I shoot with lead and watch the black goop run out of the barrel.

[geobru]

Here is a link on tearing down a BL-22.
A BL-22 shouldn't vibrate the lever when fired in my experience.

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... 2+assembly

[williamranks]

Nice, got that puppy bookmarked!

[AkRay]

Thank you for your post, geobru, it's very helpful. I might just take mine to my gunsmith when I get a chance to see what he thinks about it.

[geobru]

Ray,
I'd take it apart to see if there are parts that aren't working properly. Someone mentioned leading in the chamber that might keep the action from closing all the way. I don't know, but if you get the gun torn down, you will be able to check out the chamber.
Good luck!

[JB]

I'm not a huge Henry fan. I know one local shop that sells a ton of Henrys, but says he has quite a few returned for returns to the factory. I had a centerfire Henry that had very poor metal to wood fitting. It didn't last long.

I'm with the others, give that Browning a good detailed cleaning. The BL22 is my favorite of the 22 levers, with the short lever throw and fantastic wood finish.