I got a look at the new catalog. It has an aluminum receiver, and they have gone back to the straight stock and barrel band. Damn! If they had gone back to the steel straight receiver and used the lightning forend then they would have had a sale to me. I saw the winchester 2003 catalog also. They will have a supergrade 300 win mag in stainless with a wood stock. About $1200.

I actually like everything about the Lightning, lighter receiver, free floated barrel, decent pistol grip. I bought one about a month ago in 300 Win Mag and shot it extensively, I let a new hunter I'm teaching use it last weekend to take an Axis on our hunt. I agree fully on the barrel band, I just don't understand why they would go back to that.

I heard somewhere that they are offering it in .358 again and also in .450 Marlin. I wonder if we will see a WSM? TTS

if they do offer this in a 450 marlin then i will assume that a wsm based cartridge will also work
with a rebarrel? that would be nice. a lever with a clip that will house anything on a short case.
woofer

Well guys I've had several of both models. The lighting forearm is nice but it comes loose and if you put a sling on it it pulls a lot on the bbl and it won't shoot worth a darn. I'm still not sure about the alloy reciever. I have a BAR in 06 wiith an alloy reciever and it has worked fine. But I have 3 Blr81's and they all shoot good, plus I've handloaded to the top with no problems. the 81 model is much faster to operate than the lighting model ! If I could just find a .284 my life would be complete. The .358 is my favorite cal. in the blr. and it isn't a short range round as some believe. It's a real thumper near and far (300 yds)

.358,

What have you done to get your BLR's to shoot? Any favorite loads in .308? Favorite glass?

Thanks,
QD

[ 12-30-2002, 04:03: Message edited by: quickdraw ]

I like the current BLR. I like the way the pistol grip handles. It's like using a marlin 336 and then going back to a winchester 94. I just wish they would bring the current BLR out in .284 & .358.

Browning has gone back to the "81" style for this year. All the same calibers PLUS .358 and .450. TTS

Quickdraw--for what its worth I won a .308 blr lightning this fall. I put a 1-3x weaver on it and it's a real sweet combo for our brushy wisconsin whitetail hunting. I tried lots of bullets with varget and re15 cause those are super popular powders with the accuracy guys. Then one day I was in the gunshop and saw some re12 sitting on the shelf and recalled that was nosler's pick for accuracy. I loaded 45.5 under a good old hornady 150 spire point and immediately shot a 5 shot 1.2" group. That 150 spire point is a great bullet at .308 velocity and the re 12 was super clean burning. I have to say I tried lots of boattails (hornady sst, nosler ball tips, sierra 165 hpbt) and none of them shot like the plain jane spire point. Don't you just hate it when you try all the good looking bullets and the plain jane treats you best---kinda like real life eh??

ps--I noticed you mentioned "glass" in your post. That 1-3 weaver cost $135 and it outdoes my leupold 1.5-5 varixIII scopes at dusk. Plus it weighs like 8 oz's. Sweet--real sweet. I'm thinking of topping off my 30-06 bar with the same scope and putting my leo on e-bay where the idiots pay within $20 of new for a used scope!!

I have a Weaver V3 on my Ruger No1 416 Rem Mag.

Great scope, holds up to the recoil of full house 400 gr. loads,(70 round so far). Very clear and compact.

Browning is now showing a 270WSM, 7MMWSM, and 300WSM. TTS

Sadly and regretably, I passed on a beautiful BLR M81 in .257 Roberts a year ago... have seen once since! Loved my .308 though.