Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

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Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

Was dusting off the guns in the "too nice to sell but seldom used" gun safe and came across a Browning 81 Lightweight Takedown in .308 Win with a 2-7x33m Leupold "Rifleman" scope mounted on it with Warne QD mounts. These guns all have one fatal flaw that keeps them off my favorite list and for this gun it is the horrible trigger. Never handled a BLR with a passable trigger yet.

I got rid of my Winchester 88 in the same caliber for the same reason .........chronically crappy, unfixable trigger.

My gun is a "gold trigger" Miroku Japanese model not a Belgium Browning.

Has any company come up with a kit or fix for the terrible, creepy Browning BLR trigger yet??
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

Never do get any definitive answers to that question no matter what forum I post it on.
The infamous BLR trigger has been an enigma for years.
An incongruous blemish on an otherwise superbly crafted firearm.
I don't believe for a minute that many owners are happy with those mediocre (being generous here) triggers Miroku is putting on all those new BLRs.
Maybe my trigger standard is too high....,I demand that a trigger be consistently crisp with little or no creep and no over travel.
The trigger on my BLR is gritty, creepy and has a noticeable over travel & what is worse it is never bad the same way twice in a row.
I can manage to attain less than 1.5 MOA but I'm sure that with a better trigger the gun could deliver groups 1/2 that size.
The one name that crops up more consistently than any in BLR trigger discussions is Neal Jones of Erie PA as the gunsmith who seems to have the BLR trigger problem licked.
Has anyone here used his services and to what result?
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

No takers on the BLR trigger fix...... didn't think there would be.
It was a rhetorical question I already knew the answer to.
For 99.99% of shooters (except Mr. Jones) there isn't an adequate doable answer to the question.
If you want to see your local gun smith turn colors and change the subject fast tell him you have a BLR and you need the trigger tuned up........bin there dun that.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by blackhawk44 »

Some of the more experienced gunsmiths can do a very decent job on the BLR triggers. I've had a couple reworked locally over the years and have been very satisfied. I also don't expect the disconnecting single action BLR trigger design to every rival a Remington 40XB. Any gunsmith should be able to install an overtravel screw in the BLR trigger. You may just have to ask around town.

My .257 and .308 will group under an inch and the .223 will stay under an inch and a quarter. I've just gotten used to their triggers. Best of luck.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

blackhawk44 wrote:Some of the more experienced gunsmiths can do a very decent job on the BLR triggers. I've had a couple reworked locally over the years and have been very satisfied. I also don't expect the disconnecting single action BLR trigger design to every rival a Remington 40XB. Any gunsmith should be able to install an overtravel screw in the BLR trigger. You may just have to ask around town.

My .257 and .308 will group under an inch and the .223 will stay under an inch and a quarter. I've just gotten used to their triggers. Best of luck.
My BLR Takedown model 81 in .308 Win is uncannily accurate with the Winchester Supreme 150 grain TSX factory ammo.
I'll be in PA this summer so I might as well take the gun in to Neil Jones shop. Jones is the reputed BLR trigger guru. The cost is $120 which isn't bad.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

Too bad Browning/Miroku doesn't make a BLR in .45-70 GVT.
It would be nice to take advantage of the BLRs 60K psi threshold chamber pressure to load up some potent loads.
The BLR is made in .450 Marlin which is fast fading into obscurity and the .450 Marlin brass has proprietary features that make it impossible to make from the brass of another caliber such as the .458 Winchester.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by MT Gianni »

For me the fix is to shoot it before hunting season and get used to it. I have to fix it between my ears and then hunt with it. I cannot shoot with the later mod blr cold without a range session though the pre 81 does well.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by pricedo »

MT Gianni wrote:For me the fix is to shoot it before hunting season and get used to it. I have to fix it between my ears and then hunt with it. I cannot shoot with the later mod blr cold without a range session though the pre 81 does well.
NOPE !

I got used to naggin women, income taxes & the aches & pains associated with aging.
Two things in life I could never get used to........... "rotgut" (cheap) whiskey & bad triggers.

I communicated with Neil Jones in Saegertown, PA who is THE MAN for BLR triggers & he's going to fix em up for me.
His shop isn't far from where I live.

Apparently he can get those things down to 3 pounds & crisp............$120 bucks a pop & worth ever penny of it.

I don't demand much from life.......smooth "sippin" whisky and good triggers I insist on.
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by dpe.ahoy »

Pricedo, ya get them triggers done yet? Just wondering how they turned out. Been so long since I shot either of my BLR's I can't remember if they were too bad or not, the 7mm08 has dropped a few deer for me so is usable, anyway. DP
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Re: Trigger fix for Browning BLR Takedown in .308 Win??

Post by larryp »

I must have lucked out. My BLR has a rather nice trigger and has been used to take several deer, coyotes and foxes.
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