I bought a BLR, and foolishly ignored the warning to not disassemble the lever and gear. I plan on taking it to a gunsmith. To check it over. My questions for anyone reading this is, magazine out, hammer cocked: Can you push the bolt forward slightly with your thumb? Holding it upside down, can you see a slight gap between the bolt carrier and the back of the bolt? Thank you
Hey welcome to the browning owners community. Sorry , don't own a BLR but hopefully someone else with one can chime in. BTK
I have the 81. I can push the bolt foreward maybe .020-.030. It will spring back when released. I can't see any gap between the bolt and carrier because the bolt carrier is enclosed into the receiver making the bolt not visible. Hope this helps.
Thank you. It is helpful. Is your bolt like an AR with the lugs parallel to the bore or are they perpendicular to the bore? I've seen both. Mine is like an AR-15.
Roughly measuring it I get between .031-.027" I tried moving it up 1 on the small gear and the lever doesn't close in line with the stock.
Update: I tried another way and the bolt carrier is tight. The lever closes better decent enough. My problem is I don't remember if the bolt carrier had play before I screwed up and took it apart. I also can't tell if the lever always sat slightly off of parallel with the stock. I have approximately .160" gap at the rear of the lever. This is a picture of the gun from gunbroker when I bought it. It doesn't blow up very well, but I think the gap looks slightly off of perfect. Thoughts?
Yes, slightly. The view of the carrier-bolt interface is obstructed by the barrel extension in that position/condition, on my rifle. Mine is a Lightning BLR (aluminum receiver, pistol grip stock).