Early BLR 81 in 223?

[Canuck Bob]

How do these rifles perform for accuracy. I owned one years ago in 243 and was satisfied with the handling and reliability. Just don't know much about thier shooting performance with a 22 bullet. Spotted a used one that might work for me.

[M. M. Wright]

Don't know about the .223 version but I have had 10 or 11 of them in .308, .243, 30-06 and all were very accurate. Better than most out of the box bolt guns. My very old, worn out, no blue .308 still shoots around MOA. Buy it, you'll like it.


M. M.

[PaperPatch]

I have one in .222, that is an excellent shooter.

[blackhawk44]

My early .223 has performed well for me since I think of it as a walking varminter rather than a bench gun. With factory ammo, this one has always been good for about an inch or so with factory ammo. Handloads will shade that a bit. It absolutely hates the longer tipped bullets, preferring the blunter soft points. I have a safe full, but this is one of the two or three that I grab first on the way out the door.

[Lawyer Daggit]

Used to have an BLR in 308, now have a MLR in the same calibre. Better than 2 inches at 100 yards. I can get it down to a smidge over an inch if I play with loads.

[gundownunder]

Like Paperpatch I find my .222 excellent. At 50 yds I can put 5 shots through a ragged .4" hole and with a better scope than my el-cheapo I'm sure a better shooter could do better.
I must admit though that mine is not standard, as the original .223 Browning was re-chambered to .222 with a Remington barrel. Mine is very fussy about sizing and primer seating. If it's not perfect she will probably fail to fire. I don't know if this is common to all BLRs or just mine in particular.

[damienph]

My brother in law has one in 22-250. Typically his guns are made of gold while mine are made of...well, anyway. In this case he wasn't too far off; with his BLR he consistantly outshot me with my Ruger #1V that I USED to have.

In .223, I think that that it would be a great gun.