Hi, it's my first post, and a question. I recently purchased an unfired BLR 81L in 270 Win. I wanted to find out the year of manufacture, so I looked up the serial#. NZ in the serial tells me that it's a 1991. After reading a few articles, I'm confused about a few things with this particular rifle. It's a straight stock model with a steel receiver, and a pivoting hammer. Maybe I'm interpreting the info incorrectly, but from what I've read, the steel receiver and pivoting hammer shouldn't be on a '91. What am I missing?.....
No, I think the gun is as it should be. '91 was the first year for the std. (30-06) action length, and also the year they introduced the folding hammer. Aluminum alloy receivers started in the mid-'90s. See: http://shootingwithhobie.blogspot.com/2010/10/browning-lever-action-rifle-blr-by.html