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Old June 6, 2018, 09:07 PM   #26
std7mag
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I'm finding a Kimber in 280AI.
Don't know of anyone ever chambering factory 7mm-08AI.
Of course Ackley never improved the 7mm-08 cartridge. Layne Simpson did.
Technically it's called the 7mm SGLC ( Simpsons Good Little Cartridge).
Pacific Tool lists their reamer as 7mm-08 40 degree.

Ever think about a red dot?
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Old June 6, 2018, 10:02 PM   #27
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My bad--the 280 AI is what I meant. sorry bout that. I did try a red dot once on a lever gun--can't remember off the top of my head why I didn't like it or keep it on. I just put a 3 x 9 loopy with talley rings on--boosted the weight up by a lb.--I'll see if it works out--I figure worse case scenario I'll use it to develop some good loads and then switch to a set of "geezer irons" once I find a good set-up. Too bad I just can't use the BLR's--they are very nicely made and simple to adjust (hard to find in irons)--but I just can't see them--they are too fine. If the front beed were tritium dayglo and the rear had a couple of dots to frame it (I think williams makes a rear site like that) tehn I bet I could use them
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Old June 7, 2018, 11:20 AM   #28
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After putting the scope on went out this morning and shot, results were terrible with the Winchester ammo! To be fair the ammo itself looks pretty bad--the case mouths looked like they went through some kind of hydraulic ram and put a really big crimp--the brass looks like it has incipient cracks and there's no telling what it's doing to the bullets (unless I pull one I guess). I have some bullets on order and hopefully handholds will yield better results.
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Old June 7, 2018, 03:21 PM   #29
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Quote:
Gilligan's.

Nah--Mt Desert--on the coast of Maine.
Ha! Thats funny. We may start calling you Gilligan. Hows that sound little buddy?

I only bought one box of factory ammo for my 7-08. Remington 140gr bullets in the green box express line. They shot OK. But never as good as any of the handloads I have loaded. I have used remington, hornady, speer and sierra bullets to load with. I really can't pick a favorite. They have all shot very well. More than good enough for deer hunting and killing one coyote.

I think reloading for this round is the only way to go. But I think the same thing for every round I own. And there is no need for an AI modification. It works just fine the way it is.

I looked up Mt Desert island on my old map program. Wow! i had no idea Maine had so many islands up and down its coast. Maybe some day I will make it up that far. Nice looking area. I bet it gets cold though.

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Old June 7, 2018, 03:22 PM   #30
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Stag,

I picked up 100 PPU casings from Grafs for fifty couple dollars. Worked well for me.
Just a thought.
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Old June 7, 2018, 04:12 PM   #31
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Stag,

I picked up 100 PPU casings from Grafs for fifty couple dollars. Worked well for me.
Just a thought.
Appreciate that--I already have a couple hundred from starline--and as a back-up countless spent 308 and 7.62 x 51 cases.

All I need from you guys is a pointer or two on a very sweet load recipe--and I'll give it a go.

It's a bit odd--the power points in 1n 3030 from winnie shoot great out of my marlin 336--but the 7 08's are terrible--and they cost about $30 a box at wally world to boot.
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Old June 7, 2018, 05:50 PM   #32
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I used 40grs of IMR 4895 with the 120gr Sierra bullet for a light kicking load for the 15 year old girl on the youth hunt. I used 42grs of IMR 4895 with a speer 130gr bullet for a lighter kicking load for me. Thats what I killed one coyote with. I also have Hornady 139gr loads with 48grs of IMR 4350. Killed one deer with that load. Last 47grs of IMR 4350 with a remington 150gr bullet. I haven't shot that load at anything but paper. All of these are interchangable at 100 yards without adjusting the sights.

If I thought I would be shooting at longer range I would tweak the scope to be 1" high at 100 yards for the bullet weight I wanted to use. I like heavier bullets and if the 150gr bullet groups well at 200 yards that would be my choice for an Elk hunt if I ever make it back to Colorado. But that may just be a pipe dream now.

The 139-140gr bullets may be the best choice in that round. And so far good old IMR 4350 has been excellent. There may be a powder that gives a little more speed or shaves a fraction of an inch off the group but I am happy with 1-1.25" groups I am getting. And my model 7 has the skinniest barrel you ever saw on a rifle.

My Marlin 30-30 hated power points but loves Remington 170gr green box ammo. You just don't know what a gun is going to like until you try it. It gets expensive don't it?
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Old June 7, 2018, 07:31 PM   #33
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Thanks for that ratshooter--I have most of those powders--though the last time I ran out of IMR 4350 I couldn't find it anywhere so I bought a bunch of H4350 instead. As for thin barrel--you should see this BLR lightweight--thinnest barrel of anything I have including an .17 hmr. LOL
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Old June 7, 2018, 08:19 PM   #34
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Yeah, IMR4895 for 120gr. IMR4350, H414, RL17, Biggame. All work well for 130-145gr.

I did a load test with 160gr. Sierra HPBT GameKings and RL19. One of my most accurate. Target is staples over my reloading bench.

Alliant PP2000 gave good velocities and had lowest ES(7) and DS(2).
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Old June 7, 2018, 08:32 PM   #35
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Stag I have around 3 pounds of H4350 and it works just as well. I also have 4+ pounds of IMR 4350 and a couple of pounds of AA 4350. That has always been just a really good powder in everything except 30-30 loads. It in my test doesn't seem to burn completely in that cartridge.

I haven't tried some of the powders std7mag listed. I have so much powder on hand now that I will never have time to shoot what I have. I have around 50 pounds of powder (rifle and pistol) and don't need anymore. What a sorry state to be in.

I bought an 8 pound jug of AA 2495 (4895 equivalent) trying to find a universal powder for all the rifle rounds I load for. I also have IMR and Hogdon 4895 and while not the very best if its all I had on hand it would work. Its not that good for 243 but would still be OK. I don't shoot my 243 all that much and really prefer bigger anyway.
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Old June 7, 2018, 08:36 PM   #36
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When talking about thin barrels I also have a Remington Mountain rifle made in the early 1990s as far as I can tell. And it has the same thin barrel as the model 7. And even with a 22" barrel as oppossed to the 18.5" barrel it just barely weighs more than the model 7. The mountain rifle weighs 6.25 pounds without a scope. And its chambered in 7x57. I have killed over half of all the deer I have killed with a 7x57.
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Old June 7, 2018, 08:45 PM   #37
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got some 30 herretts to test tomorrow--right after that I'll whip up some 7 08 loads. I was just looking at the winnie 7 08 spent brass--pathetic.
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Old June 7, 2018, 09:54 PM   #38
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Hey Stag. I also thought the BLR didn't handle as fast as other lever actions., I then cut the stock and put on a new pad so the LOP was 13-3/8" BINGO. That made all the difference in the world. Now it's as handy and fast as any other rifle I own. Might try it and see what you think.
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Old June 7, 2018, 10:04 PM   #39
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Quote:
Quote:
Hey Stag. I also thought the BLR didn't handle as fast as other lever actions., I then cut the stock and put on a new pad so the LOP was 13-3/8" BINGO. That made all the difference in the world. Now it's as handy and fast as any other rifle I own. Might try it and see what you think.
I've cut down other rifle's buttstocks before--but I'd have to think long and hard about cutting a BLR--seems like sacrilege. Did that actually shave any significant weight?
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Old June 8, 2018, 02:10 AM   #40
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If you need to cut the BLR stock, do the right thing. pony up the money for a replacement stock, and cut that one.

My Dad's last deer rifle was a BLR in .308. I inherited it in 03. Beautiful gun, essentially a gear driven bolt action. Kicks me worse than other .308s of the same weight, due to the stock fit.

Trigger is the worst thing about it. Don't know about the new ones.

Do be aware that spare magazines are almost unobtanium and priced accordingly.
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Old June 9, 2018, 11:00 PM   #41
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No the weight was not altered enough to tell, but the shorter length of pull made the rifle handle MUCH faster. BLRs come fairly long. A stock that's too long, in either a rifle of a shotgun is always slower to get on target with.
In making custom stocks I have learned that a slightly short stock is never bad unless scope cuts are a problem, but a long stock is always a bit un-handy.

If you look at the LOP on the old US Krag, the M-1 Garand and the M14 you may be a bit surprised at what they measure. But even tall men had no problem with any of them.
Long LOPs are what factories do today to keep scopes away from your head. But even then it's not needed in most cases until the recoil gets to the 300 mag level or greater.
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Old June 10, 2018, 12:36 AM   #42
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nice

I've always had an itch regards the BLR's, but never scratched it. The straight carbine style grip looks far better than the pistol gripped models, and the long action/magnum versions look clunky too.

Congrats on buying yours.
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Old June 10, 2018, 01:41 AM   #43
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Thanks Wyo and bama. I'm obsessing over a few AR projects at the moment--but I'll get back on working up some handloads for this new gun this week--all the reload stuff just came in for it. As pretty as it looks--I can live without the high-gloss stock (which you also have to be careful not to get any cleaning solvents on)--I may just look into getting a replacement stock and then cutting down the LOP. I wonder if browning would be willing to sell unfinished stock and foreend components? The recoil pad is nice--but IMO not necessary for the retively mild recoil of this cartridge IMO.

The advertising for the BLR on their website claims a triggerpull of around 4.5 lbs and smooth pull. My trigger is anything but that--gritty travel to a stiff 6 to 7 lb break. I don't know if all BLR's are like that--but that advertising is clearly at odds with the reality of the gun I was sent.
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Old June 10, 2018, 09:30 AM   #44
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Wyo--I just measured the LOP on the BLR and compared it to both my Rossi and marlin 336--it does appear to be about an inch longer. I'm thinking about buying a replacement stock and machining it down. I'm also wondering if there is any way I can improve the trigger--to tell the truth I'm a bit peeved about it and don't feel browning's advertising comes close to the reality of it's performance.
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Old June 11, 2018, 11:37 AM   #45
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Stag, if you can buy a new stock you may be just as well off to cut the one you have. If the wood of the for-end and the butt match and you buy a new stock you can save the old one (for collectors 40 years from now I guess) but the rifle will have different looking wood front and rear. And once you make it fit right, you'll never go back anyway.

The chipping of the finish can be eliminated by cutting a line with a fine tooth saw around the perimeter of the stock through the gloss finish. A new 24 TPI hack saw blade is good. Cut the line about 1/32" away from where you want the final surface to be, and then use a disk sander to bring the surface to that line. Doing it that way results in a perfect cut and an unmarred finish. You may need a new pad however. I find the Browning Pads often will not allow for grinding down to the new level. Try it if you want, and if you cut through to the washers you can buy a pad to replace it. When I cut mine down I was not able to re-use the Browning pad, but sometimes you get away with it.
I cut my BLR to a length of Pull of 13-1/2". The shorter you cut, the more you have to take off the pad.

The trigger in my BLR 30-06 is not too bad. But having pull weight over 5 pounds and rough is a problem with them many times. I got lucky with mine. Many times they seem to defy the efforts of gunsmiths to make them nice. I have improved some of them, but I do not believe the design will allow for what many would call a "good trigger pull". But I have shot enough original Military rifles over the years that having a heavy and somewhat gritty pull is not a huge problem for me. Others can't live with them. That's just something you need to deal with, and if you can't make the trigger work for you, it may be worth your time to take it all apart and polish everything to improve it. But no matter what, it's not going to feel like a Timney in a M700. That's one of the few down-sides to the BLR.
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Old June 11, 2018, 12:12 PM   #46
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Great advice Wyo--thanks much for that. My LOP on my Rossi is only 12 5/8--the BLR is something like 13 3/4.

I can learn to live with the trigger--but I wonder how many purchasers have been sucked into Browning's advertising of "smooth around 4.5 lb pull" and then had the nasty surprise I did.

I think you're right the stock--midwest gun works has them. I've been messing with my ARs too much lately and next week I'm turning my attention back to this "problem child."
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Old June 11, 2018, 12:29 PM   #47
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If/when you cut the stock, it won't hurt anything to use tape, as well. Cut the way Wyosmith described, but cut through the tape to reduce/eliminate tiny splinters which can happen despite our best intentions.

If the gun is new, and you don't have the 4.5lb trigger advertised, you could send it back. If they advertise X, they should deliver X.

My gun is older, comes from the days before Browning advertised anything about the trigger (other than it was gold).

The design of the BLR's trigger system makes it about impossible to get a "match grade" trigger pull, but they can be made into decent hunting triggers, with careful work (if they don't come that way).

Good luck with yours!
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Old June 11, 2018, 06:58 PM   #48
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Stag;

Still practically drooling over the pics of your BLR. With the trigger, I would try a few thousand trigger pulls and see if it smooths out. Shouldn't be too big a deal while watching some boobtube (I mean, who can resist running a lever while watching some John Wayne). Just don't try the spinning part while sitting on the couch.

If it doesn't (or you're too impatient to deal with that), you might try one of these guys, both of whom are considered the best smiths anywhere for doing trigger work on BLRs:

Neil Jones in Saegertown PA

Bill Springfield in Colorado

Sorry I don't have their contact data, but I think you can figure it out from there.
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Old June 11, 2018, 07:24 PM   #49
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LOL--thanks rangerrich--that brought a smile to my face on an especially bad day.

It is a sweet rifle--I've only fired it once and already put a dent in it's showroom Ferrari finish stock. I tend to be rough on things. I did call browning and they said they would be glad to take a look at the trigger--but by the same token made no firm statement to the effect 6.5 lbs "was outside the norm" for the pull on the BLR 81. Legal semantics I guess, but they did offer to see what they can do.

In the meantime each day that goes by I'm getting less and less thrilled about the scope being on a lever--I should know better--every time I've put scopes on other levers I eventually took them off--it offends my lever Feng-shui. Finding replacement alternatives is proving to be very difficult for the stock irons--which are great--but I can't see them.
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Old June 11, 2018, 07:36 PM   #50
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Hahaha. Glad I could help in some way, even if it's just comic relief. I agree with you; scopes/red dots or whatever just look weird on a levergun. Maybe go on something like "browningowners.com" or similar forum and see what others have done (you can't be the first/only one that's ever had an issue with the stock sights).
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