Veldt Meets West

My rifles were an army Springfield, 30-calibre, stocked and sighted to suit myself; a Winchester 405; and a double-barreled 500-450 Holland...

So wrote Theodore Roosevelt in African Game Trails, a safari chronicle published in 1910. The bolt-action Springfield and classic Holland remain the archetypes in African batteries. You'll see newer bolt guns and less costly doubles now as well, but precious few lever-actions. T.R.'s beloved 95 Winchester no doubt seemed a natural choice for him. It not only "did admirably with lions, giraffes, elands and smaller game," this lever rifle carried with it the flavor of the American West, Roosevelt's adopted home.

Rancher, horseman, elk hunter--Roosevelt had a natural affinity for this biggest Winchester, the box-fed culmination of decades-long lever-action development. During Roosevelt's youth, Winchester had used John Browning's designs to catapult itself to the top of the firearms industry stateside. After Walter Hunt's Volitional Repeater, the Henry and the 1866, Winchester brought out the 1873 that "won the West" and the massive 1876. It then produced the 1886, 1892 and 1894.

These three were powerful rifles, smooth, reliable and slender in the hand. All three came from Browning's shop. The 1895 was notably different, a stout and heavy rifle built to handle stiff pressures and pointed bullets. Chambered in .30-30, .30-06, .303 British, 7.62mm Russian, .35 Winchester, .38-72, .40-72 and .405 Winchester, it was produced from 1897 to 1931 in various configurations with barrels of twenty-four, twenty-six and twenty-eight inches.

The tube-fed Winchesters of the late 1800s have many counterparts today, and Marlin has gained significant market share with its nicely fitted solid-top big-bores that handle ambitious .45-70 loads and the .450 Marlin--more than a match for the .405 ballistically.

The only box-fed lever action you'll find in gun racks is Browning's BLR. It came along in 1969, though prototypes were assembled in the U.S. as early as 1966. Production-line BLRs hailed from Browning's FN plant in Belgium. In 1974 manufacture shifted to Japan, where rifles were produced by Miroku. A model change followed in 1981; the new version bore the label "BLR Model '81." The company introduced a long action a decade later.

In 1995 the rifle got another overhaul and was renamed the BLR Lightning. Its alloy receiver kept heft to as little as 6 1/2pounds with the twenty-inch carbine barrel (twenty-two- and twenty-four-inch barrels were also installed). Like its forebears, it featured checkered walnut stocks and a detachable box magazine that held three or four rounds, depending on the cartridge. Rack-and-pinion design made the BLR, in all its forms, one of the smoothest of lever-actions. The trigger group stayed with the lever through the cycle, so it shucked fast. A massive, rotating, front-locking bolt gave it strength that no rear-locking levergun could claim.

The first BLRs came in .243, .308 and .358 Winchester. The .22-250 was added later. In 1991 Browning listed the .270, .30-06 and 7mm Rem. Mag. in its new long mechanism, then offered the .300 Winchester as well. Chamberings for 2007 also include the 7mm-08, .450 Marlin and the .270, 7mm, .300 and .325 WSMs.

During its evolution, the BLR evolved a pistol-grip buttstock and schnable fore-end as an alternative to the original straight-grip butt with barrel-band forestock. It also grew a pivoting hammer spur--a clever and unobtrusive safety device. At half-****, you push the spur forward and its face bears against the bolt below the striker. Cocking entails the same easy thumb movement as without this device.