Has anyone ever attempted this?

Could you twink a BAR in a similar fasion as a Ruger 10/22 and get better accuracy out of it?

Express,
I've got one in 308 that I bought new in the late 80's. It shot fairly well right out of the box with groups 1.75". A few years later Bell&Carlson brought out a synthetic stock and I bought one to try. A friend recommended that I glass bed the area where the forearm attaches. I tried this and the accuracy improvement was amazing. I also stripped the rifle completely and degresed it, seems Browning used some gunk on the insides.If you let the barrel cool between groups of 3 it will shoot honest 1" groups. This one of the early Bell & Carlson stocks and is heavier than wood seems to be mostly fiberglass

EXPRESS,

The BAR is a fine weapon for what it was designed to do, but outside of maybe cleaning up the crown and cleaning up the trigger pull a touch, there is little you can do to accurize these. The 2 piece stock design doesn't lend itself well for great accuracy. You will hear tells of BAR's which shoot exceptional groups like that of Ralphs, but these are exceptions, not the rule...

Malm

I have found that Bar's (Begium) all shot very well, never seen one that shot outside 1 3/4" groups. Most have averaged 1 1/4" in various calibers. The best of which was a 308, that sadly I let go, I shot 4 groups one day with 4 diff loads & bullets, one of which was factory PMC 150PSP. The results are 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", & 3/4" for the factorys. All shot with a 4X Wide angle. I to would like to hear of any accurizing tips as I now have a 300M for moose that just won't break 1 1/2".

I had a Grade IV in .308 that would put 2 shots into 1 hole @ 100 yards, then the next three would "jump up" two or three inches, and went into about 2". I did everything I could think of to get rid of this tendency, without success. But it was a fancy rifle with fancy wood, so I decided to just "admire" its' good looks, and forget about trying to shoot it!!

[ 03-20-2003, 19:53: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

I beg to differ with Mr. Malmborg. A BAR uses fundamentally the same kind of barrel to bolt lock up that the AR-15 uses. AR-15 rifles are routinely accurized to 1/2 MOA performance with match quality ammo.

My suggestion is to take the rifle to a gunsmith familiar with accurizing AR-15 type rifles, and not to one used to dealing with bolt action rifles. The two operating systems are different enough that the techniques used to accurize one will not necessarily work on the other.

I would contact some of the gunsmiths specializing in AR-15s for their knowledge of accurizing semi auto rifles with two piece stocks.

Zediker Publishing

[ 03-20-2003, 20:08: Message edited by: ksduckhunter ]

Malm, I stand corrected.

Randy, aren't the current BARs made in Japan by Miroku?

Ksduckhunter,

No problem...

Malm

Mine is 14 or so years old and was made in Japan.
It shoots so well that even though I seldom use it anymore I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
I won't knock a Jap gun until I shoot it. Have shot some very accurate Howa's(Vanguards).
An observation that backs up Malm's reasoning is shown by the type of rest that is used when sighting in. If you use a sand bag the rifle will have a different point of impact when shooting from the shoulder with no rest. You should try to sight the rifle the way you are planning on shooting it while hunting. My rifle will shoot almost a foot high at 80 yards if the forearm contacts a tree limb for a rest. I found this out the hard way a long time ago. I know any rifle will shoot to a different point of impact from a hard rest but it is nowhere as pronounced as with a BAR with all moving parts attached to the barrel.

[ 03-21-2003, 01:49: Message edited by: Ralph ]

I've had a number of BAR's most all say made in Beligum assembled in Portugal. One 1970 model was made and assembled in Beligum. I know Japan made some for awhile I have two BLR81's made in Japan. As to shooting, never had one that wouldn,t shoot 1 1/2 or less. Some of the 3 shot groups from my BAR and Blr are simple one hole or touching. Never tweaked one They shot just fine right out of the box. Cant say the same for the Rem. 7400

Just so you know on the dates:
July 1967 BAR Introduced in US-Made in Belgium
1974 - High grade guns started using some etching rather than all engraving
1976 - BAR's made in Belgium and Assembled in Portugal
Sometime in the 80's manufacture moved to Japan, can't find the exact date in my reference books right now.

I don't think BAR's have ever been made in Japan, they are all Belgium or Belgium/Portugal.

Some Browning's, like BLR's, the Browning repro's of 1886 & 71 lever guns, the A-5 were made in Japan for a time, But I have read numerous times that the BAR never was. The two BAR's I bought in '96 and '97 are both marked Belgium/Potugal.

I think Talking Head is correct, I finally found the Eastman book, he confirms the other dates but never mentions Japanese manufacture of the BAR.

I guess I stand corrected, just didn't realize JAPAN was in Belgum. Kidding aside, most Japan BAR's also shoot very well just takes a lot of work to make that horrible trigger work.