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BROWNELL RECEIVER

44K views 160 replies 57 participants last post by  outdoorbum 
#1 ·
Just ordered a Brownell's railed receiver. The one without a rail was backordered. They said they were expecting those April 1st! Didn't happen so I thought I better get one while they at least had the railed version. Tech support guaranteed me that it was 0 moa. That was about all the info he had, no specific measurements on any thing else and who makes it is the BIG secret. I guess we will see. Anybody got one yet or any additional info?
 
#82 ·
Cerakote means it is going to get ugly eventually. Why don't you have it nickle plated at MAHOVSKY? He does alum and so does APWCOGAN.

http://www.mahovskysmetalife.com/index.htm

MAHOVSKY is much cheaper though.

I have been wanting to have my stainless TI receiver plated but I have not separated it from the barrel yet. I am still waiting for my airgun parts because I want them to be plated too, hence the delay.

Frankly, I cannot stand the sight of scuffs/scratches even if it is just "inside" where you "cannot" see them.

When I install a part, I tape/mummify the part where it is going to.
 
#83 ·
I tried to leave a review at Brownells. Would not process. I'll leave it here instead:

I bought one of these thinking it would be a nice bargain. The cleaning hole is nice as is the integration of the rail, however these features don't outweigh the downsides...

Upon transfer, the first thing I noticed was the finish of the receiver. Not smooth matte black type II anodizing as advertised, nope. What you get is a rough, a very rough, nearly phosphate like grey finish. In attempting to oil it, the rag breaks down and covers the rough finish in a covering of fibers and leaves me frustrated.

Installed parts went together smoothly, aside from the last 1/4" of the barrel that had to be whacked repeatedly with a mallet to seat fully.

Beware that the supplied Vblock and bolts may cause damage to the barrel depending on manufacturer. With a new green mtn sporter profile barrel, the bolt heads scratched and marred the barrel as they screwed in. The bolt heads have vertical grooves, unlike the smooth Ruger OEM bolts. These grooves scratch and mar the barrel as you tighten them down.

Overall I think the BRN22 receiver has promise, but it's poorly executed at the current time. I would NOT recommend this receiver. Buyer beware.
 
#88 ·
Beware that the supplied Vblock and bolts may cause damage to the barrel depending on manufacturer. With a new green mtn sporter profile barrel, the bolt heads scratched and marred the barrel as they screwed in. The bolt heads have vertical grooves, unlike the smooth Ruger OEM bolts. These grooves scratch and mar the barrel as you tighten them down..
I kept this in mind when installing mine. I took the time to slowly and carefully screw in the v-block screws all the way with my fingers and snugged them up with an allen wrench to seat v-block. No issues with clearance to barrel. Just can't imagine they scratched and marred a sporter barrel. As long as they go in straight there's plenty of clearance, are ya saying the holes are tapped crooked?
 
#86 · (Edited)
Just got mine today!!!

Picked up my railed receiver & heavy barrel combo today from the FFL.:)

Mine too looks like a rough parkerized finish, dull grey. After cleaning it up and a dose of CLP it looks better, but not smooth like any of my AR receivers. No blems, but on both the cleaning rod hole & barrel shank hole were shiny marks at 6 & 9 o'clock positions. Dunno how they got there.

Bull barrel looks to have a nitride finish. Shiny and deep black. If it's not nitride it's the best bluing job I've ever seen. Finish looks close to the nitride AR barrels that I own that Brownells sell, which are made by Satern (from what I've read online). Curious to know who makes these bull barrels. Absolutely smooth, no machining marks. Very snug fit into receiver, no excessive force needed, but no slop either when fully inserted.

Inserted stock Ruger charging handle & bolt, no issues, dropped right in. Bolt stop pin was snug, won't just drop out like a stock Ruger receiver. Same with trigger pack pins, good and snug.

Dropped into Houge overmold stock with no issues, again, snug fit. Cleaning rod hole completely covered by stock. Tightened down to 20 in. lbs.

I did take a few pics, I'll try to post them later. Overall I hafta say I'm happy so far. Finish looks decent, altho it doesn't quite match the barrel, unless ya just dosed it with CLP. As long as the barrel is a good one I'll be quite happy. I couldn't buy a gun this nice, set up like this (similar to the Ruger Tactical Bull Barrel model) for the money I have spent so far.

Gonna get a scope for it and take it to the range soon.!! :gun4:
 
#87 · (Edited)
Picked up my railed receiver & heavy barrel combo today from the FFL.:)

Mine too looks like a rough parkerized finish, dull grey. After cleaning it up and a dose of CLP it looks better, but not smooth like any of my AR receivers. No blems, but on both the cleaning rod hole & barrel shank hole were shiny marks at 6 & 9 o'clock positions. Dunno how they got there.

Bull barrel looks to have a nitride finish. Shiny and deep black. If it's not nitride it's the best bluing job I've ever seen. Finish looks close to the nitride AR barrels that I own that Brownells sell, which are made by Satern (from what I've read online). Curious to know who makes these bull barrels. Absolutely smooth, no machining marks. Very snug fit into receiver, no excessive force needed, but no slop either when fully inserted.

Inserted stock Ruger charging handle & bolt, no issues, dropped right in. Bolt stop pin was snug, won't just drop out like a stock Ruger receiver. Same with trigger pack pins, good and snug.

Dropped into Houge overmold stock with no issues, again, snug fit. Cleaning rod hole completely covered by stock. Tightened down to 20 in. lbs.

I did take a few pics, I'll try to post them later. Overall I hafta say I'm happy so far. Finish looks decent, altho it doesn't quite match the barrel, unless ya just dosed it with CLP. As long as the barrel is a good one I'll be quite happy. I couldn't buy a gun this nice, set up like this (similar to the Ruger Tactical Bull Barrel model) for the money I have spent so far.

Gonna get a scope for it and take it to the range soon.!! :gun4:
This is what and answers the question I have/had. Now to see if this is more the norm than the exception.

Thank you for more of a non expectation, non comparison report on the brownells receiver.

Everything goes together snuggly with no extra slop or tension. Can't wait to see the finished rifle.

Perhaps some mild polishing with some polish or 2000 grit paper.

I can strip and paint easily as well.

"The biggest communication problem is we don't listen to understand, we listen to reply"
 
#93 ·
Couldn't tell ya yet. To be honest I just passed it off on my girlfriend so she didn't have to share with her son anymore. When that barrel was in the stock reciever it was a tack driver though. I did notice the Ruger reciever was super tight. Even when I put his sporter Barrel in it I had to put it in a barrel vise and tap the reciever with a leather mallet to motivate it, and it was stubborn. See, I had originally bought this reciever to upgrade my target tactical. In the process I wound up building a sporter off that reciever and bolt, this off the barrel and stock and I'm building a totally new rifle for myself to shoot. I might have a problem.... Love those .22s
 
#97 ·
From a Brownells rep on ar15.com

Posted: 7/11/2018 1:14:00 PM EDT

"The finish specified and used is indeed a Type 2 anodizing. We will investigate to determine if there was a change in the prep done to the parts that resulted in the altered finish.
The current inventory we have has a finish almost identical to any AR15 receiver or handguard you might purchase.

As for the side cuts, we went away from those as, they were originally contoured to match a factory Ruger stock. Not all stocks have that contour, such as a Magpul, so the cut was removed. We only have one vendor for these parts. "
 
#101 ·
Got mine last week on one of the 10% off days. Very nice machining except for the sharp edges on the top. Like others in this thread, I hate the finish.

I'm going to strip it, break the sharp edges, and cerakote it. I plan to use it as the core of a youth-sized Appleseed rifle with a shortened carbine stock from my stash of OEM stocks.
 
#102 ·
I picked up my receiver today, and made a new thread about it. Should have just posted here.

After thinking about it, I’m going to ask for a replacement. Mine had burrs, would not accept a Ruger bolt without some filing, and the reason I want a replacement, my Green Mountain barrel is a sloppy fit.

I’ll let you all know what Brownells says tomorrow.
 
#103 ·
As much as I respect Brownell's, after reading through this thread and the other thread in this forum on the same topic, it seems that they are not even close to having their quality control down. I'm disappointed -- though not as much as you guys who have had problems with their receivers. I think I'll stay with KIDD.

Doug
 
#105 ·
I ordered my receiver through a local FFL, not a transfer, I had him order it for me.

Because of this, Brownells doesn't want to talk to me about it, the return has to come through the dealer. And apparently they are giving him a hard time, asking for measurements, etc.

If they give him any more #$% about it, I'm going to go pick it up and throw it in the river.
 
#106 ·
Brownells BRN-22 bolt stuck in reciever

I was pretty happy to pick up my barreled receiver from my FFL yesterday and commence my build. This has all turned into deep disappointment. As I installed the Ruger bolt yesterday (exactly as the Brownells video said to) the bolt has gotten stuck and will only move about 1/4 inch. I will be calling technical support today. Has anyone else experienced this with a BRN-22 receiver?
 
#107 ·
I was pretty happy to pick up my barreled receiver from my FFL yesterday and commence my build. This has all turned into deep disappointment. As I installed the Ruger bolt yesterday (exactly as the Brownells video said to) the bolt has gotten stuck and will only move about 1/4 inch. I will be calling technical support today. Has anyone else experienced this with a BRN-22 receiver?
You may want to read this entire thread. Very common problem with the Brownells receiver. There are lots of other topics on RFC about them also. Just use the "search" feature.
 
#109 ·
I almost drove over and picked one up but after a few of the posts here and it appears they have Brownells name on the side I decided not to. Last night I ordered a black Tactical lInovation from sap. It was a toss up between the Elite 22 and a Kidd but for what I'm doing with this one the it will be good enough. Next one will be a Kidd.
 
#110 ·
I wish I had read this thread before buying the barreled receiver. Talked to Brownells and sent back the receiver with the stuck bolt for them to "repair". The barrel worries me as well as it slipped in and out of the receiver easily. I will keep everyone updated. In the meantime, I just bought a couple of Ruger receivers so I can get on with my build.
 
#111 · (Edited)
RFC is a great resource but folks have to search the topic before the purchase. I wish you the best. Brownell's has always been good to deal with for me, but I've never bought their receivers because of their reviews on this forum. Some reviews have been decent but the percentage of disappointments is too high for me.
 
#112 ·
I bought a few. Had to work on the little lip so the bolt would drop in and out. It is anodized. I had mine CeraKoted. It is a really great receiver. They are indeed made by Azimuth Technologies. I have seen a few Kidd parts that made it past inspection that weren't up to par. Just like all companies. I will post a few pics later. I have a 24" GM barrel on her with a Harrel's tuner. Sitting in a Victor stock. Kidd 2 stage trigger with a bolt worked on by Randy at CPC. Sightron scope in 20 power with Seekins rings. So far it looks like shes going to be a shooter. She weighs in at 11 lb 6 oz. I don't think i'll be lugging this Ol' gal, very far.
 
#113 ·
New to custom 10/22's and not likely building more than the current one so no expert, just lots of experience building things all my life, fly tying, model cars, slot car motors.....full race cars including cages....this was fun and I used the Brownells receiver and had fitment issues with the Volq bolt. Just very very tight and of course the charging handle was actually impossible.

I modded the receiver just a bit to get the bolt to tip in, it fits with barely any movement and sides very smooth.

To get the charging handle in, like I did on the stock Ruger receiver, I very carefully measured and drilled a hole in the back of the receiver so I can use a punch to push the rod forward after slipping the bolt into place. I use a flat 1/4" wide very stiff, rounded edge tool I have for laptop computer cases to hold the rod while sliding into place. When near the hole, pull out the tool, put the punch in the hole, slide the bolt down, push the rod forward, slide the bolt forward, use my finger to place the rod into the spot for it.

Far simpler than it sounds, quite easy actually:)

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To remove the bolt I block the back of the receiver, use the flat tool, pop the rod out and guide it to the hole and let it out that way careful to not let it fly away.

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It takes about a minute to install the bolt/rod and much less to take it out now.

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Sorry no pics yet, having some issues with that right now.

Rick
 
#114 ·
One more mod I had to make, the Brownells receiver is a bit taller at the top corners than the Ruger and the Volq barrel with their rail would not clear to assemble the barrel to the receiver, I simply filed off the corner just a little, rounded it off, smoothed it out, works fine now though shows the raw aluminum I need to cover with something, not sure what I will do yet.

---------------

The finish on the Brownells is more like a flat black paint than I expected but very well done, all machine work was very good, fit into the Magpul takedown stock not so great but works, Volq takedown barrel fits very well, adjusted the mech and it locks in very solid.

----------------

I just got the scope and mounts I decided to use so will do some test firing soon.

AND I will work on my photo setup so I can take proper pics.

Rick
 
#115 ·
I just picked up the Brownells BRN-22 Receiver and am a bit disappointed with it.
I had the common issue of not being able to fit the bolt in because of the lip, so that had to be filed down a little bit, overall not a big issue to deal with and is fairly easy to file. This was with the stock Ruger bolt and a Kidd bolt. I was able to fit both bolts in after making this adjustment. But the main issue is on the fore end inside lip by the ejection port. It seems the machining on this lip follows the same curve of the ejection port and does not allow for the bolt to slide forward all the way. Causing the bolt to get stuck in the forward position.

Here you can see the mark made from sliding the bolt forward and getting stuck. This is my main issue, as it renders the receiver inoperable. And there is no easy way to get a tool or bit in there to file it back and flatten the curve out to allow the bolt to slide forward and not get stuck.


Here I filed the lip the holds the bolt in, which seems to be the more common issue that I've read here.


And I noticed some other points at the rear inside of the receiver from the bolt hitting. Granted these won't hit when the rear bolt stop pin is installed.


Had it not been for the bolt getting stuck in forward position, I think I would stick with this receiver. Cause it otherwise seems good and the bolt slides nicely in it up unto that forward point and seems to have little wiggle room.
Another thing that seems to be a mistake is having the rear barrel cleaning hole in the back of the receiver on the Takedown version. Possibly from copying the CAD file from the non Takedown version and making adjustments for the TD but forgetting to remove that hole. Unless I am missing some reason for that hole being there?

I plan to contact Brownells to see what can be done.
 
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