I took my buddy to the range so he could fire his Browning 30-06 semi auto. The gun failed to fully chamber several times and it couldn't keep a 5 shot group within a pie plate at 100 yards. The bore, however, looked great. Could the misfeading and the poor grouping be related (can a BAR fire without being in full battery) or does this guy have 2 seperate problems?

Does this sound like a problem that can be remedied by a complete cleaning, or is it a job for an experienced smith. I can do parts replacement as long as major fitting is not required.

I would first clean it very well make sure the foreend is tight along with the stock and try it again.

RJ,

The Browning BAR is reputed to be a bit more accurate than a pie plate at 100 yards. Check your ammo. If it's reloads you are using, they may not be sized correctly. Auto loaders like the Browning are finicky when it comes to feeding ammo.

Look carefully down the bore. Pay particular attention to the muzzle end. Sometimes a buldge will be present right at the crown which is hard to detect unless you study it under a good light for a minute. If you see a dark ring present, that will indicate the presence of a buldge and explain the pie size groups. If you are still not sure what you are looking at, look down the outside of the barrel to see if it appears to have expanded near the muzzle. Look at the crown itself. If there is the slightest sign of damage, this will also cause the group to spread.

Clean the gun, check the ammo and look at the crown. That should about do it.

Good luck,

Malm

Loose scope bases,loose scope base clamp screws, loose scope ring screws, bad scope. After that, switch shooters.

If those were reloads, maybe he needs to full-length resize, or get a small-base resizing die for semi-auto rifles. I'd measure that ammunition really carefully.

Buttstock screwed on tight?

Factory loads.

Forgot to mention, I checked the scope mounts.

Didn't check the stock screws, but man this rifle looks new. I wouldn't expect the stock to be loose. Could be though.

We were shooting off of bags. I grouped sub MOA with my rifle after shooting his. I'm confident the problem is in the gun.

I did not inspect for rings in the bore. I'll check that but I still suspect the action. I was really hoping to hear someone say "BARs are notorious for doing what you discribed if the action is not clean."

I should further mention that I hit the bulleye on my second shot with the BAR, only to miss the entire plate on the next shot. This rifle is not grouping!

With the misfeeding problem you are having I would first make sure the bolt is clean, you need to pull it partially back so that you can get a good solvent in there. Both of my BAR's like Breakfree CLP, but any good solvent followed up with a dash of oil will work.

This is a pretty notorious problem because many people think you can sclean witht he bolt fully retracted, unfortunately that doesn;t let you get to all the crud.

Obvipously a piece of junk ! send it to me, I will give yoiu 200.00 plus shipping. Now if that doesn't work,send it to Browning. I bought one last year used 1970 model and it would feed,shoot but wouldn't fully eject or chamber the next round. I took it to browning one morning and in less than an hour they had it working like new, they didn't tell me what they did, said they just made a few adjustments ! I slapped on an old scope and shot it that afternoon with Federal Classic 150"s and put 3 in about 1 1/4 and shot milk jugs at 300 yds. I've had a bunch of them and they wil shoot but damm they are heavy !

First get the ammo question taken care of. Proper reloads with a small base die. Or factory ammo.

Check the scope bases, and rings, the forearm.
If it still will not shoot then check the muzzle for dents or out of round crown.Also check to see if the barrel is not fouled.

If it still will not shoot, then this is what Browning will not tell you. Check the twist rate in the barrel.

Years ago when we were a Browning warrantry station a BAR in 7mm Rem Mag came in. It would pattern about 8- 10 " groups with 175 gr factory ammo at 100 yds. Using 150 gr dropped the group to 6-8". Reloading with 115 gr HP Speer bullets and the rifle would shoot 1 1/2 to 2 1/2" groups.

I checked the twist and it was 1 in 11 1/2" instead of 1 x 9". The barrels are button rifled and that one sliped thru. It took almost 9 months of argueing before Browning replaced the barrel for the customer.

Jim Wisner VP
Wisner's Inc

I've had some frustrating experiences withBrowning but also some very good ones. Once I bought one of the new Lighting Blr's in .308 when they first came out, it would not shoot. I took it to Browning and they didcovered the bore was oversize. A rep came out and said come with me and pick out another one which they let me shoot at their indoor range. It was fine and He simply gave me another rifle(after the paperwork) just was astounded ! I guess when you walk in with one they treat you differently.

bars, like the rem automajics, are known for good shooting...

if it wont chamber, ....

i BET the guy that owned it last, or the current owner, stored it with the bolt OPEN... weakening the springs....

if the bolt don't close the same, it wont shoot the same...

jeffe