Saw a Browning BAR Grade II at a show today. Really nice gun for a 1968 model. It has a Charles Daly scope in Redfield mounts on it. Probably in the 95% overall range condition-wise. 30-06 caliber. Priced at $695. I didn't buy it but thinking hard about calling the guy back to see if he still has it. Thanks!

That is a really good price for a Grade II Belgian gun. I sold one (no scope) like it, although better than 95%, for $800 earlier this year which actually sold for $900 as I had it out on consignment. If you like the Belgian BARs you should grab it, not likely to see one like it for that price again. The Grade I Belgian guns usually go in the $650-$800 range. Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I once aspired to own one, but Like a mint Isreali Mauser, a BAR in good shape at a fair price was a unicorn for me. Good luck!

Browning made a huge mistake back in that time frame. Some rocket surgeon thought it would be a good idea treat the beautiful wood with salt, like table salt, to prevent something evil. Their treatment tended to also eat the nice steel just like salt water. Not all rifles and shotguns had the bad wood, but some did. Before you buy one of the 60s-70s guns, you need to educate yourself on which did and which didn't.

If you're even in the market for one, make yourself a cheat sheet. Put it on your smart phone or carry it in your billfold until the urge to buy one has passed. It might save you an expensive mistake.

The guns are great. Great metal work and often the best wood ever. Just don't buy one without knowing the possible problem.

__________________
Dick Burg

Thank you rburg! Yes, I have read about the salt wood problem Browning had with some of their guns. Fortunately, the BAR was one that did not seem to be hit too hard by this according to the Browning book I have. I would have to look the rifle over really carefully if I was to buy it. I checked the edges around the forend, receiver, and buttplate screws and did not see any rust or corrosion. Thanks for the heads-up on that.

Roger had a few guns affected by salt wood also
The gun was made in 1968..... if it had salt wood it would be very obvious by now!

Never say never, but I bought my first BAR in 1968 and have had at least a dozen since then and none have had the salt problem. Now, if I were thinking about buying one of the Browning high power bolt rifles from the '60s (Safari,Medallion, Olympian grades) I would definitely check for salt; I've seen some really ugly ones. As Hairtrigger says, any '60s gun with the salt problem will likely look very bad by now. . .although you might want to pull the action from the stock just to be sure. Go buy the BAR.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I did phone the owner back and told him I would take the rifle. We settled on a price of $675. We live about 3 hours apart and he was good enough to say he would meet me at a location halfway between our homes to deliver the gun.

Congratulations on a nice rifle. As a side note, Browning used salt to speed up the drying of the wood. Don't know why they thought that was a good idea. Couple years ago, I found a beautiful Medallion grade Bolt action at an estate gun sale. Was going to bid on it until I had the chance to look closely. Yep, heavy pitting on the underside of the barrel, action, and around the tang.

Larry

The 1960s were good times for Browning.Salt reduced the drying time for blanks which sped up production.A few other brands used salt wood as well.

I used to have a BAR, grade II in 300 Winchester Magnum and still wish I would never had let it go. A 30/06 caliber would be a very versatile gun, hope you get it.

I had one back in the 70’s in 30-06. Bought it from a guy who had it in his mind that it would never shoot as accurate as a Remington 700. It came with a 4x12 Redfield scope and see through mounts. He had only tried one brand/weight bullet and gave up. I bought it cheap and IIRC tried some Federal 150gr which was my go to ammo when I hunted. What a great shooter. While it might not have been a bench rest target gun, 1.5” groups at 100 yds were common. Became my favorite deer gun and I killed a lot of deer with it. Where we hunted 99% of the shots were less than 150 yards. When I quit hunting I let my ex brother in law talk me out of it. One I wish I had never let go. I’d be hard pressed to pass on one you were offered.

Browning stood behind their bad decision for drying the wood. If you had a receipt - they replaced the wood at no cost other than your getting the gun back to them.
Generally, the most affected were the bolt centerfires and the T bolt 22's but I've heard of the Superposed as well.

An easy check for salt, if the rifle has the original butt plate. Pull one of the screws. If it is salty, the screw will be rusted. You can also unscrew the sling stud from the butt. I have seen screws and studs eaten up with rust. More on shotguns and bolt guns. My 70 Gd III BAR is rust free.

Jack

Another BAR story. Had enough of the office one day. Told one of my shooters (read sniper ) to take me to the range for a little R&R. He had a custom everything .308 and hand crafted ammo. My BAR was a 270 shooting factory ammo. Between shots, shooter was telling me all the reasons I needed a rifle like his. I scoped his target which wasn't bad, easily under an inch. After hearing this long enough, I asked him to retrieve the targets. My groups were also under an inch, one going a half inch. He was amazed. My favorite cousin's daughter still has that one.

Jack