just found one made in Belgium.. what a handy little rifle! shoots well, too.. seems to need a small base die set to reload for it.. tight chamber,, factory ammo OK, but I'll figure it out for hand loads.. Les

You found a real one , great ! When they went to the long cartridges it was too heavy so they made them with aluminum. Yours is just right , enjoy it !

Excellent find! I found one like that a few years ago in Ron Peterson's Guns and didn't let it get away from me. It has been my favorite hunting rifle since. I've found that small base dies work best for all my BLRs. My .308 rifle likes the Hornady 165 Intebond Light Magnum factory ammo. Chrono's at 2750, sub-MOA and really performs on game.

I only have one BLR, an early hanging down magazine Jap made rifle in .358 Win. I got it cheap cuz the guy that had it said it was inaccurate as hell. Did some minor tinkering and now it outshoots my three bolt action rifles in .358 Win. I haven't had to use small base dies for that rifle, FWIW.
Paul B.

I've got a lightweight in .308 and couldn't be happier with it! It shoots much better than I expected. I do almost all my deer hunting with it and 165gr Hornady light magnums

My first centerfire rifle is a steel 81, made in Japan, in 243. That rifle groups just about anything at about an inch, and is probably the last rifle I would get rid of.

I have a bunch(for me) of .358". Blr Win.88 Savage 99 A a custom Ruger and just bought a new Ruger Hawkeye. These are "USING" rifles. The smoothest and best shooting is the BLR steel model made in Japan.Small base dies work with them all. .250 grn speers can safely be driven 2400 the .225" 2500 + They are fine up to 300 yds. But, I seldom shoot anthing that far.