I noticed the new BLR with a pistol grip stock was available in 358 WCF. Does anyone have one?

I am hoping to pick one up while I am home in Wyonming on vacation in October.

D99 - I own two older, straight grip, BLRs in .358, one of which has been my whitetail rifle for 24 years now. I particulartly like the way these rifles handle in the field - they just feel right to me. The .358 seems to have some devoted fans on this forum, but the factory Winchester load can be difficult to find and is only available with a 200 grain Silvertip bullet. It does give one a perfect excuse to take up reloading, however. I can only wonder what availabilty is like in Europe!

Browning seems to be swinging back and forth with the pistol grip design - the original BLR had a straight grip for roughly 20 years, than it went to a pistol grip (along with the aluminum receiver) for about 8 - 10 years, then last year they went back to the straight grip with the BLR Lighweight '81 and now they have decided to offer both versions. I have to wonder what short-term availability will be like for this newest pistol grip version - I get the impression that many rifle manufacturers announce new models several months before they are actually available. Savage introduced the Model 40 Varmint Hunter in January of 2004, yet they still haven't arrived at dealerships!

Hope you enjoy your return to Wyoming.

I don't know if any foreign companies are loading the .358, but over there it would be called the 8.8x51MM.
A few years back,when I was still gainfully employed instead of being happily retired a neighbor of his died. His widow, knowing my boss was a hunter and a shooter, gave him a whole bunch of stuff including ten sealed boxes of ammo labeled 8.8x51. he offered them to me for $10.00 for all ten boxes. He had no idea what they were, as anything other than .22LR, 30-06 or 12 gauge was foreign to him, literally. I wasn't sure what they were at the time, but figured I could peddle them off at the next gun show. I broke the seal on one box and the cases were headstamped .358 Win., and all were loaded with the 200 gr. bullet. Considering that corrently here in Tucson, .358 Ammo is selling for $25.00 a box when you include the tax, I can't gripe.
At least Browning uses the correct rifling twist in the BLR. For some silly reason Ruger went to a 1 in 16" twist rather than the standard 1 in 12" as designed by Winchester. I also have a Kodiak Mauser and they used a 1 in 16" twist. The 1 in 16" is OK for 200 gr. bullets, but I have had very poor results from that twist rate with 250 gr. bullets, which I prefer to use onder cetain circumstances.
Paul B.

Thanks guys,

My buddy who runs Rocky Mtn Sports in Casper, is looking for one for me with the pistol grip.

I hope to use it on black bear in the spring in Alberta and in Poland in July on wildboar and roe bucks.

The 8.8x51mm ammo isn't going to be found at any price. Only Mannlicher Schneoerer made rifles in this caliber, and they are long since defunct.

D99

I have a new BLR light-weight 81' in .358 WCF but it has the straight stock. I like the looks of the pistol grip version, especially without the barrel band, and its schnabel forearm.

My BLR is very accurate, shooting 200gr Hornady Spire points at around MOA. It will also shoot the 225gr Sierra BT to the same accuracy. This carbine is light, handles well, is accurate and doesnt kick any more than my 06 with 180gr high energy loads. I love it and cant wait to use it in the field, mine has a Burris compact scope 2-7X 26mm and it complements the small size of the rifle.

I have an old one and a new one. I like the pistol grip, but the old one with a steel reciever is much,much faster to operate. I get 2350 out of my old one with .250 speers and have killed a lot of game with it, especially bears. It's no slouch as a deer rifle with .200 grn hordany sp at 2650 all from a 20" bbl. The 200 grn factory load is excellent and redialy available.

Might be out of everyones area, but Gander Mountain in Paducah Kentucky has a Browning BLR in .358 in its store right now. I looked it over appeared to be very well made with fit and finish looking really nice.