Browning BLR

About the Browning BLR

The Browning BLR (Browning Lever Rifle) is a modern lever-action rifle introduced in 1969 that pioneered the use of a detachable box magazine in a lever-action sporting rifle. Designed by Karl R. Lewis in the 1960s, the BLR uses a rack-and-pinion gear mechanism to drive the bolt forward and back, and a multi-lug rotating bolt head similar to a bolt-action rifle that locks directly into the barrel extension. This combination allows the BLR to safely chamber high-pressure modern cartridges with pointed spitzer bullets, breaking the traditional limits of tubular-magazine lever guns which require flat or round-nose bullets to prevent magazine detonations. The BLR's chambering range is exceptional for a lever action, spanning from .22-250 Remington and .243 Winchester through .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum and .450 Marlin. Original 1969 production was carried out by FN in Herstal, Belgium until 1972, when production transferred to Miroku Firearms in Kochi, Japan where it has continued ever since. The Model 81 revision arrived in 1981 with a refined magazine and trigger group, and the Lightning variant introduced in 1995 brought an aircraft-grade aluminum alloy receiver that dropped weight under 7 pounds even in long-action chamberings. The trigger blade is hinged to the lever so it travels with the lever during cycling, eliminating the finger-pinch problem of traditional lever actions.

Karl R. Lewis designed the BLR specifically to break the cardinal limit of lever-action rifles: that they could only safely chamber flat or round-nose bullets because pointed spitzer bullets in a tubular magazine could detonate during recoil. By replacing the tube with a detachable box and adding a multi-lug rotating bolt that locks like a bolt-action, Lewis turned a 19th-century action concept into a 20th-century magnum rifle, and the BLR became the only lever gun ever offered in cartridges as ferocious as .300 Winchester Magnum and .450 Marlin.

Browning BLR specifications

Original 1966 prototypes (250 units) were built in the United States by TRW, with most shipped to FN Herstal so the factory could tool up for series production. FN Belgium produced the BLR from 1969 to 1972; Miroku Firearms in Japan has produced it from 1973 to the present. The Model 81 was introduced in 1981; the Lightning aluminum-alloy variant in 1995; the Lightweight '81 in 2003. Barrel lengths are 20 inches for short-action calibers and 22 inches for long-action and magnum chamberings.