Bought an old (1969) GRADE II BAR in 30-06 at what I think is a decent price but what are they really worth ? Is a rifle this old safe to shoot ? the bore is sharp but the stock has seen some wear. A fellow told me the reason they stopped making brownings in Beligum was their machenery was getting poor and thus the old ones were not as accurate as the new models, any truth to this ? What would be a good load to use with 150 grn bullet in this rifle one manual says 59 grns of 4350 for 2950, I think that would be smoking fast in this old bar with a 22" bbl.

Should be safe to shoot if it hasn't been abused, normal precautions like checking headspace should prevail. I shoot a gr. III in '06 and mine really likes the 180 gr. bullets, but each is a little different. Be very careful about handloads, you need to keep peak pressure and pressure curves close to factory, that's what the gas system is designed for and it's easy to damage it with improper loads.

The reason they first went to assembly in Portugal is cost, Belgian labor is expensive.

Hard to say about value, '06 is one of the most common calibers and it sounds like yours has a bit of wear. Probably at the shows around Houston it would be in the $400-600 range depending on how it looks.