One gun that I DO regret selling . . .

Noah Zark · Post by **Noah Zark** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:34 am

. . . is a Grade 1 Browning BL-22.

I bought it in the mid 80s after having fired one and handling several at shops. I was fast smitten by the short throw and light, swift handling of the little carbine that I did get to fire, but the engraving and all was a bit off-putting. So I set out on an eight or ten month search to find a Grade 1 or whatever they called the entry-level model.

Of course, all that could be found were the fancy engraved models for around $80 to $100 more. But one did turn up at a PGCA show in Monroeville, PA, back when they had 1200-table shows in both sides of the facility.

The BL-22 was unfired in the box, with a few handling dings in the ultra-glossy finish, and lots of dust on the surfaces that would be horizontal if the little carbine was in a vertical rack. Lots of dust in the first inch of barrel at the muzzle, too. No sign of brass tracking in the action or on the breechface. So I forked over the $189 (this is ~1986, mind you; that's like $475-$500 today) and took it home. After a thorough cleaning I found some time several days later to take it to the range. It handled and shot just like my friend's fancy BL-22. Really sweet, ultra-fast, with no pinching of the trigger finger thanks to the closed design of the trigger loop in the lever. I fired the BL-22 on and off for several years after that. It was a favorite plinker that seldom got left home during a range trip.

During one shooting session during a summer, a late-afternoon storm blew up and doused things before I could get packed up. When I went to pick up the BL-22 to case it, it slipped from my hands as if buttered. The raindrops on the acrylic or urethane finish lubricated it such that my fingerprints couldn't get a grip on the gun. I dropped it three or four times before getting it in the car.

That experience put me off Browning's ultra-glossy finishes and the poor BL-22 was "guilty by association." I considered stripping the finish, but other priorities (birth of my daughter) forced gun-related activities to the back burner, or the back corner of the closet as was the case here. I didn't shoot the BL-22 for maybe more than a year, and when I did take it out, it was to teach a co-worker's wife how to shoot. She was previously fairly anti-gun, then after busting some claybirds on edge and sending empty soda cans flying she was hooked. Later that week, my co-worker flat PLEADED for me to sell the BL-22 because it was the first gun his wife fired, and she was smitten. I thought about it overnight, and talked with my wife about it. We needed some $$$ for something as it was, so I took the little Browning lever to work the next day all boxed up with the manual and told my co-worker it would be $250. He wrote a check on the spot and his wife had a new gun of her own.

My co-worker immediately had the Browning finish stripped off and he refinished it with someting that was a satin or flat finish, maybe even oil. I don't know. I wouldn't think that oil would "take" on wood that was effectvely "sealed" by that glossy polymer.

I saw the BL-22 only once after that, and held it during a good-bye visit to our friends right before our move from there. Fast forward to last week, and we were speaking to our friends on the phone. My former co-worker's wife mentioned that she still had the Browning, and still fired it from time to time. Both of their children learned to shoot with the BL-22, because SHE taught them how to shoot it before their Dad showed them how to shoot centerfire rifles and handguns.

That telephone visit rekindled memory of the BL-22, sort of a feeling of "unfinished business" regarding the finish on the Browning furniture. But with hindsight, it was meant to be mine for a few years and then a source of needed funds, and then our friends' gun for a lot longer. Ultmately I was just the intermediate who made the little Browning available to them at the right time and place, and I'm pleased to have done so because they have put it to good use.

Anyone have a spare BL-22 they aren't using?

Noah

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:08 am

I feel your pain..........There are several nice Fox/Stevens doubles and a 39 Mountie that I could kick myself for letting go....

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:43 am

Funny you should post this Noah. Monday, I just sold a Browning BL22 with less than a box of .22LR through it that I bought new in I think just this past August. It was a beautiful rifle with excellent fit and finish. BUT I didn't like the "tube feed" method of loading it.

I have several Ruger 10/22s (.22LR) and a Ruger 96/22 (.22LR). I have gotten so use to just filing a magazine and slipping it into one of those rifles and then if unloading is needed just pressing a button and having the magazine fall into my hand that I found loading and unloading the BL22 via the tube was a pain -- Unlatch and pull the follower out, load the tube one round at a time and when it is time to unload -- pull the follower out of the tube, turn the muzzle down, and dump the rounds into your hand.

I know, I know, -- picky but I still like the 10/22 & 96/22 loading/unloading via a magazine much better than the BL22 "tube feed" method + I can carry several 10/22 or 96/22 loaded magazines with me when hunting/plinking.

Cherokee · Post by **Cherokee** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:56 am

I remember those Monroeville shows when I lived in Pgh, they were great. I only regret selling my Ruger 10" Flat Top back then.

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:10 pm

Modoc ED wrote:... BUT I didn't like the "tube feed" method of loading it. ...I know, I know, -- picky but I still like the 10/22 & 96/22 loading/unloading via a magazine much better than the BL22 "tube feed" method + I can carry several 10/22 or 96/22 loaded magazines with me when hunting/plinking.

+1.

I've never quite understood the tube loading bit from .22s. Why not have a loding gate?

I like my 96/22.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:21 pm

Old Ironsights wrote:I've never quite understood the tube loading bit from .22s. Why not have a loding gate?

I don't really know the answer to that but I think it may have to do with the fact that the bullet in a .22LR is not crimped tightly. Therefore, if loaded via a loading gate, by the time you loaded 16 .22LR rounds the strength/resistance of the follower against the spring might push the bullets back into the .22LR cases.

That's just a guess on my part.

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:39 pm

Twelve guage British Woodward over and under, cased with an extra set of barrels. I bought it for $500.00 and sold it for $1,500.00 and thought I was pretty smart. Today it would be worth $75,0000 to $100,000.

The year was about 1962.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:48 pm

I bet she'd let you shoot it. Why not ask her?

Noah Zark · Post by **Noah Zark** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:10 pm

sobenk wrote:I bet she'd let you shoot it. Why not ask her?

She lives about 500 miles away.

Noah

brucew44guns · Post by **brucew44guns** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 1:27 pm

Never paid much attention to a BL 22, nice looking little guns for sure. I saw a fair number of them on Gun Broker, many various prices and some NIB.

runfiverun · Post by **runfiverun** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:24 pm

the 22 is a heeled bullet no way it would push in a case

BC in TN · Post by **BC in TN** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:04 pm

I have had one of those little Brownings for a few years; I've shot it less than 50 times.

I have been wanting to shoot the rifle more and thought I'd add a scope. I just got this put on a week ago. I did go out this weekend and get it shooting on paper (within 6") it was cold and windy.

This is my first attempt at posting photos.

Can any of you guys tell me if some type of peep was available for this rifle?

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:30 pm

I regret selling my first lever a 99F in 300 sav. Shot my first deer with it. After a few years of TLC it wouldn't fire every time. Blamed it on age and traded it on a Rem pump in 308. I now thimk it was too much TLC (over oiled and only missed in cold weather. Maybe someday I'll find another.

rangerider7 · Post by **rangerider7** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:42 pm

I don't, I returned later and traded back for it with a different trade. Old 45 colt SAA

Swampman · Post by **Swampman** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:58 am

I like the tube feed and wish all leverguns used it. It allows you to unload without wearing out the rifle. I owned a BL-22 years ago. It was a great little rifle. I like my 39A better.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:23 am

What only one?

Rusty <><

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:27 am

Noah, you are not alone. I remember the 70% Colt Bisley in 38 WCF I sold for $400 (late seventies) The many '86's, 92's, 71's etc that have slipped through my hands in order to buy others. I should have suffered and kept 'em.

----Sixgun

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:35 am

Pistol that got away. Colt 70 Series.

Rifle that I am selling now. My 307 Winchester.

Johnny

Noah Zark · Post by **Noah Zark** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:46 am

Rusty wrote:What, only one?

Yeah, pretty much only one. Maybe only one other gun, an electroless nickel Series 70 1911 Govt Model. The rest of them that I've sold or traded off I don't much recall, let alone miss.

Noah