Gunsmith needed

B

Bryan27407

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
25
Location
Greensboro North Carolina
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Anyone know of a good gunsmith in the Greensboro area. I have a Browning BLR made in Belgium . It was taken apart and cleaned by a “gunsmith” and taken home placed in safe. I inherited the rifle this year and wanted to take it hunting but when you work the lever the hammer comes back as it is supposed to but it does not stay it comes right back down with the action.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
BigWaylon said:
Anything @Joshua Needham could help with? Not too far away.
Click to expand...
The BLR are good quality, but an absolute nightmare to assemble properly due to the gear drive system needing to be timed correctly among other issues.
Not really surprised someone had issues with it because no one likes taking those apart.
My students want to kill me when I make them disassembly a BLR.
It takes them hours struggle reassembling our cutaway, and it is far easier as a cutaway than not due to the additional perspective and points of access.
Then after they get it together something is off about the reassembly and they have to start all over.

They are probably in my top 3 last gun I want to see on the bench list.
It can be done, but I would specifically ask if a smith has experience with the BLR before leaving it because smiths are not omnipotent and don't have experience on every design.
My guess is most with experience on the BLR are going to charge accordingly.
Wouldn't surprise me if some didn't want to touch it.
Not because it is impossible, but they have plenty of work that won't lead them to drinking.
For example it wouldn't surprise me if Ryan with Aquila Gunworks told you he wasn't interested.
Not because he can't, but he is in no shortage of customers so he can choose his work.

These guns are a pain, and tracking down another mans screw up is never fun.
Additionally I do not think Browning will even touch it but I am not sure on that.

I live near the NC Zoo and work near W-S and Troy.
 
Joshua Needham said:
The BLR are good quality, but an absolute nightmare to assemble properly due to the gear drive system needing to be timed correctly among other issues.
Not really surprised someone had issues with it because no one likes taking those apart.
My students want to kill me when I make them disassembly a BLR.
It takes them hours struggle reassembling our cutaway, and it is far easier as a cutaway than not due to the additional perspective and points of access.
Then after they get it together something is off about the reassembly and they have to start all over.

They are probably in my top 3 last gun I want to see on the bench list.
It can be done, but I would specifically ask if a smith has experience with the BLR before leaving it because smiths are not omnipotent and don't have experience on every design.
My guess is most with experience on the BLR are going to charge accordingly.
Wouldn't surprise me if some didn't want to touch it.
Not because it is impossible, but they have plenty of work that won't lead them to drinking.
For example it wouldn't surprise me if Ryan with Aquila Gunworks told you he wasn't interested.
Not because he can't, but he is in no shortage of customers so he can choose his work.

These guns are a pain, and tracking down another mans screw up is never fun.
Additionally I do not think Browning will even touch it but I am not sure on that.

I live near the NC Zoo and work near W-S and Troy.
Click to expand...

How would you feel about a trigger job on a new, unmolested BL22?

Asking for a friend. Close friend. 🤣
 
CZfool68 said:
How would you feel about a trigger job on a new, unmolested BL22?

Asking for a friend. Close friend. 🤣
Click to expand...
I would discourage that for the following reasons.

1. Lever actions don't generally have super light triggers because many users would be apt to have an ND while running the lever.

2. Putting in a weaker hammer spring will increase probability of light strikes.

3. Putting in a weaker sear spring can make the gun unsafe.

4. I am unaware of anyone making any aftermarket sears, triggers, etc. (Probably due to the ND issue)

5. The BL22 generally already have pretty good triggers, so you likely won't be able to improve on it very much without safety/reliability issues.
Simply stoning a few surfaces isn't going to make a huge difference.

The factory trigger should be sufficient to hit anything within 22lr range with relative ease, so I would probably evoke the wisdom of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
 
Last edited:
Joshua Needham said:
I would discourage that for the following reasons.

1. Lever actions don't generally have super light triggers because many users would be apt to have an ND while running the lever.

2. Putting in a weaker hammer spring will increase probability of light strikes.

3. Putting in a weaker sear spring can make the gun unsafe.

4. I am unaware of anyone making any aftermarket sears, triggers, etc. (Probably due to the ND issue)

5. The BL22 generally already have pretty good triggers, so you likely won't be able to improve on it very much without safety/reliability issues.
Simply stoning a few surfaces isn't going to make a huge difference.

The factory trigger should be sufficient to hit anything within 22lr range with relative ease, so I would probably evoke the wisdom of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
Click to expand...

But you are greatly underestimating my trigger snobbish tendencies. :oops:

Using my Lyman digital gauge it is currently about 6.5 lbs. i don’t need a target trigger, but 4 lbs would have been nice. It will probably get a little better with use, but not enough to get me to 4ish.
 
If it was mine, and it bothered me I would try honing the friction surfaces and replace the trigger return spring.
That might get it around your desired weight and maintain most of the reliability/safety.
Just make sure whoever does it knows what they are doing, because if you mess up sear engagement/geometry you will have an unsafe gun in need of replacement parts.

That being said the post is not about trigger work, so lets not clutter up his thread with off topic Q&A.
Such things are better ask in a DM.
 
I just came across this thread, having recently obtained a BLR in 243 Win. @Joshua Needham - you interested in doing some trigger work on my BLR? 😊
Actually, I would be interested in hiring you to teach me how to do it myself.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom