I have been having trouble getting this rifle to shoot well. I'm not expecting MOA out of this little 358Win lever with a 20" barrel, but i think it should be able to keep them in 2" @ 100yds. I found one of my problems in the scope mounts..weaver style, the rear screw had stripped out and was unable to hold tight. fixed that
(I hope) with some Burris signature Zee rings. Took the bases off degreased all and lock tight the whole mess. Now for my real question...the front screw holding on the forend, how tight is it supposed to be? I've read just tight..to torque in down good? Which is correct? Also I am new to weaver style bases and rings..are they strong enough for the kind of recoil this little number generates. I am trying to develop an all around Deer/Elk load for here in Colorado dark timber and have settled in the Nosler 225 Partition. All help from you Guru's will be greatly appreciated.

Okay,,, you have the right person for 358 winchesters!!

1: go to brownells and look up "oversized screw" or you can decide to go 8x32/38/40 threads and rework the bases..

this will give you some relief

2: nosler's are great bullets, however 225 gamekings have given me, hands down, the best accuracy

3: have the stock bedded.. i know this sounds weird... have the rear skim bedded at the junction and the forearm TIGHTLY bedded to the barrel (not free floated) .. this should bring you to ~1.25-1.5"

4: don't bother having the trigger done,,, it will still be hard

5: blr's are VERY sensitive to how you hold them... if you are shooting from the bench, and change the pressure of your right palm on the pistol grip, your POI will move

6: limbsaver pad

jeffe

That's exactly what my BLR does with 200's. 2" with loads it likes. 4 to 5" with ones it doesn't. I actually have two of them; one of them is being redone, and will become a 35/284. One of these days....

I just spent some time with Quickload and Chris Long's "Shockwave" model, and it's not that easy to hit a sweet spot at decent pressures. With 225's, I4895 at 2450 fps looks promising, but pressure may be a little high (haven't tried it yet, myself; have been vainly trying to get the 200's to work). FWIW, Dutch.

On my BLR 81 .308 I bedded the buttstock and I free floated the barrel by glassing the forend through bolt sleeve into the forend with release agent so it can be removed. I then relieved the barrel band. I get about 3/4" @ 100yds.

It's a great gun but I still have a problem with it, occasionaly the hammer won't drop, I think it has to do with the safety feature of the gun not firing until the lever is completely closed. If I cycle it hard I'm OK, but gently and sometimes it wont drop. Any advice jeffe?

Rob

Are you using small-base dies for your reloads? The BLR design doesn't shove cartridges into the chamber very hard at all so when reloading it's recommended you use small-base dies--a problem with the .358 as I haven't found anyone who makes them. When reloading for my .358 I generally run the cases through the sizing die several times to make sure they'll chamber. I also test-chamber (at the range) all my reloads before I hunt with them.

I don't reload for it, just factory ammo.

Thanks for the input. I'm not sure what you mean by "rear Skim"Jeffe?, the buttstock on this rifle is very secure no movement whatsoever. This rifle is a steel receiver model, the year of manufacture I do not know I have shot the sierra 225's and agree they shoot the best hands down no question. But I have had many (almost all)bullet failures with the sierra line and while they are accurate i want something that will stay together and punch right through an Elk. Sierra's may be fine for the biggest deer in the woods, but for elk I want two holes in him. I'm more of the free float kind of guy, I've already taken barrel band tension away and will try the free float first. If no luck there then I'll try the bed the barrel route. Recoil Rob how did you go about bedding the guide rod? I like that idea.

I coated the rod with release agent. I then completely relieved all the wood in the guide rod channel and replaced it with Devcon while on the gun. The guide rod is tapered so when the epoxy dried I just had to tap it forward a bit to loosen it up. It snugs down very nicely. I've done it on both my BLR 81's and the .308 shoots under an inch. I haven't put enough rounds through my .35Whelen to break in the barrel yet or found what ammo it likes so it's still around 1-1/2". Cliff Labounty did the rebore.

On the BLR closing.. harder is better ? Since the trigger is part of the lever, it makes sense.

While I haven't taken an elk with the sierra GK, I have shot clean through 200# pigs, end to end. I have never, ever, not had a pass-through or recovered a sierra gameking, not matter what size

Free floating is a taste issue... if your taste for free floating exceeds your taste for an accurate blr, that's your call. If you want an accurate blr, you bed it down.

The blr actually is a very powerful closing action... if you have hands as big as mine, you grab the OUTSIDE of the lever... Ive never used small bases on a blr, never needed to.

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

Free floating is a taste issue... if your taste for free floating exceeds your taste for an accurate blr, that's your call. If you want an accurate blr, you bed it down.

jeffe

jeffe,

Just curious, is it because the barrel just hangs off the receiver? Too much vibration?



Thanks, Rob

Rob,
the dang blrs (and savage 99s) tend to be pissy about "how" they are held, more than a 1 piece stock design. Try it yourself... vary right hand and cheek pressure, and you should see much more than expected movement in groups.. then find how to hold that fairly constant...

then experiement with your left hand on the forearm... a little stronger grip, a LITTLE twist in your left wrist, sitting on the bags, or, what happens to me, fingers wrapped around the forearm and all over the barrel...

then stack a couple folded up business cards and put then under the forearms, wedging it in... and repeat...


remember, 1" at 100 yards is like .0005" on the nose of the bullet.

jeffe

Is it possible to get a better trigger release on the BLR?I am used to 3lb pull with no creep on other guns,this shoots well but with a better trigger it could shoot really well.Kinda feels like raking a file when pulling the trigger.Any suggestions?Drop-Shot

I want to thank you all for your advice..Jeff can you tell me what the REAR SKIM MEANS? is this the buttstock of the rifle? Also I would like to know if I should be using dovetail bases and rings on this rifle or are the weaver's good enough? All of my other rifles have dovetails and I shoot a 300winnie a 336-06 plus the usual 30-06,270,308 and never had a mount shoot loose?

I can't help with the bedding issue as I may have gotten luckly with my older BLR. I use 200 gr. RN Hornady's .002 off the lands and this rifle will shoot MOA at 100 yards. That said, I didn't buy it for bench shooting, but for carrying around in the woods and shooting from field positions, for which it excels in my opinion. Mount a red dot and it is a sweet, powerful package.
I have found that the skinny forend does make it a challenge to shoot off bags.

kadg358
Skim bedding is there you are only looking for 100% contact with a very thin layer of bedding, vs the normal which is a fill in approach. You would "paint" the wood were it goes into the receiver, with the intention that when the epoxy dries, your stock will have near 100% mating on the rec... which WILL help with the BLR's trait of being sensitive to grip pressure.

I only mentioned scope mounts as you said you striped a screw and I offered a solution to repair, using your same mounts... as the 358 is NOT a particularly hard kicking gun, the mounts are fine

jeffe