What's a fair price to pay for 1971 Browning BLR 81. Made in Belgium in 1971. One mag, not box .condition is about 98%+

I saw one recently, similar to the one you describe, for 500. It was a .243 Winchester. Had it been a .308 (or .358!), I'd have bought it on the spot.

I'd go as high as 6 bills for a nice one in .308, and 8 for a .358.

That's just me, though!

Oh yeah, check out gunbroker to see what people are actually bidding.

Browning BLR's are great guns. I have 2 of them, both in 358win. one is an old style one w/the extended magazine it is the first year they offered it in 358, the other one is a BLR81 w/the flush magazine. Both great guns in a terrific caliber. If it was made in 1971 its either a 308 or a 243, they didnt add any other calibers until after they switched production to japan. Id guess to value the gun if truly 98% at $750+. heres a couple pics of my 358win BLRs

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As said great rifle, just keep in mind an extra magazine will cost you about $250

Is there a chance its a salt wood gun? For a period in that time frame, they were curing walnut using salt. It resulted in some ruined guns due to rust. Often a well cared for gun that didn't get out much would look perfect until the action was removed from the stock. Then it was a ball of rust.

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Dick Burg

Is there an easy way to tell? The is no rust visible

I've seen nice Belgium BLRs go for up toward $800, the Japan made ones not quite so much (though they are fine rifles, too). As noted, Belgium BLRs were only offered in .243 and .308. I have one in .308, it's my hog-hunting rifle. I think I paid $600 for it about 4 years ago, but it was in absolutely mint condition. It's not mint anymore but it's not for sale anyway. Yeah spare mags are scarce and expensive. I quit bidding on one on GunBroker at $155 a few weeks ago but probably should have gone a little higher. I saw two at a gunshow last year that were patinaed, to put it kindly, and we're priced at $250 each.

I have never heard of a salt wood BLR
TBolt s and shotguns yes.
If the gun has sold would the damage would be very evident by now above the wood line

as stated above, an old style BLR magazine will cost you upwards of $250, if you can find any. they are not common commodity's anymore, the flush fitting newer model mags will run about $75 if i remember correctly.

The thing about the BLR is that many have really hard trigger pulls and it is almost impossible to find a gunsmith to work on them. If the gun in question has a sweet trigger than I would definitely pay a lot more for it. I had the hots to buy a BLR for a while but they really didn't fit me very well.

I've got a Belgium .308. Picked up two spare mags about 20 years ago for about $25 each back then. Trigger is no worse than other lever guns I've shot. Love that rotary bolt lockup.

I sure wish that I had a time machine so I could go back 20-25 years and pick up some cheap mags, lol.