BROWNING BAR PROBLEM

[ENCOREROOKIE]

ok heres my problem.my dad has a belgium browning BAR 30. 06 and he shot a deer last year but had the action on the wrong side of the tree when he shot.now the gun will load a cartridge but after the initial one(manual) is loaded then the second one will pick up and load...squeeze the trigger and click nothing.manually cock it then  it will fire. next time ...click.i took it to a gunsmith and he cleaned the carbon out of the back of the bolt. when it picks up the shell after the 1st shot,it will not fire but the bolt will not push any further forward and there also is no firing pin mark on the unfired brass but the fired brass has a normal firing pin mark.I have tried diferent clips and factory ammo.i don't know whether to take it to a gunsmith or send it to browning.I don't want anyone to mess it up becauseI know semi autos are harder to work on and its been around the family ( plus its my inheritance  HAHAHA)  thanks for your advice  ENCOREROOKIE

[Iowegan]

The BAR is a gas operated action. A common problem with these guns is the gas tube gets fouled with powder residue and it doesn't provide enough pressure to push the bolt back fully. The bolt may move back far enough to pick up a fresh round but the internal hammer won't be cocked. I believe thats what is wrong with yours. The gas tube extends from a small hole in the barrel to a "piston" in the action.

You can probably "fix" it without taking the gun apart. Place a spent cartridge in the chamber and release the bolt to hold it in. With the muzzle up, pour a liberal amount of powder solvent (Hoppies #9) down the barrel (a couple of ounces). Let the gun sit (muzzle up) for a half hour or so. The solvent will drain into the gas tube, piston and the action and make a good mess, so do it outside.  Add some more solvent then use an air compresser and blow into the muzzle with high pressure (very messy). This will blow out most of the powder residue from the piston and gas tube. Remove the spent case and blow out the action. Wipe the gun down and swab the bore. Lubricate the action with some spray Rem-oil.

Test fire the gun. If it still doesn't work, there might be internal damage caused by the last deer hunt.

[Dave in WV]

I'd say contact Browning for field stripping directions and give it a good cleaning with gunscrubber or carb & choke cleaner. It sounds like the gas system is fouled.

[gunnut69]

When he fired the rifle did the operating handle strike the tree?  Did the problem start then?  I'm not sure what damage could have been done but it will have to be taken down.  BAR's are pretty trouble free unless shot an awful lot or neglected.  The damage is slowing down the bolt assemblies forward motion and not allowing full lockup of the action.  That causes the hammer to be unable to corrrectly strike the firing pin.  It is possible the action supports have been deformed but would bet it has something to do with the inertia block...there are other possiblities!  Either send it to Browning(my suggestion) or a smith with a bent for the BAR.  A cautionary note-these are NOT the easiest autoloaders to take down...

[ENCOREROOKIE]

the gun operated fine before the deer episode.  i took it to a smith here in wv and he cleaned the carbon out.it worked for a few boxes then started doing it again..the gun hasn't been shot alot at all.its atleast 25 years old and still looks new.

[Dave in WV]

There could be several contributors to the problem. Over oiling, carbon, junk from the hunt or maybe storage (keeping the rifle in a rifle case that has lint), mixing of lubes (WD40 and oil don't mix well), or the wrong lube. A good cleaning is most likely a good place to start. When cleaning the bore always lay the rifle on it's side. It keeps solvent and oil out of the gas system. Hey, opening day is MONDAY ! Take the forearm off, open the action and hose it out with carb cleaner. Put a few drops of oil (very few) where the friction is and try it at the range. Dave

[gunnut69]

Just curious, did the operating handle strike the side of the tree when it was fired?  A small amount of firing should not produce enough residue to cause function problems, unless of course it is accentuating mechanical damage that already exists..Firing an autoloader with the wrong side next to a tree will have no effect on future functioning(may cause hearing problems) of the rifle, unless the operating handle struck the tree.  That can cause damage and future operating troubles..  Over lubrication is more of a problem than is under lubing.  Combined with using the wrong lubricants and a lot of problems get resolved..  Still, I am interested in how firing a rifle from the wrong side of a tree might alter it's future performance..