How's the crown looking?

Might also be worth taking a look at the loading cradle so make sure the bullet heads aren't getting chewed up during chambering.

 

Thanks for the reply but the crown seems ok and ejected rounds are in good shape.
Could it be a shabby lockup?

 

Hi Joris these beautiful little lever guns have a reputation for mediocre accuracy and horribly heavy trigger pull. There are many older threads here and on other sites discussing this subject. Reading through them the consensus seems to be inconsistent. Some owners say <1" groups at 50 yards no problem, others like you say 4" at 50 yards is the best they can get.

Living in Belgium I realize your access to ammunition and knowledgeable gunsmiths is limited but here are a few thoughts. First, try some high velocity ammo. That 24" barrel may not like expensive sub-sonic match rounds you're currently using. Second, consider having a gunsmith inspect the crown under magnification to ensure there is no damage. It doesn't take much of a nick to yaw the projectile on exit and screw up accuracy. Also ask about a trigger job. Simple polishing of parts and lightening springs can help a lot.

Don't give up, with some thought and a little effort I bet you can cut those groups in half. I love my little Grade I but use it as an offhand plinker and have no idea how it prints on paper. I do know it will knock shotgun shells off the top of fence posts at 20 yards more often than not.

Good luck!

Frank

 

Your experience mirrors my own experience with that gun. A couple of years ago, I was in a small local gun show when I ran into an older gentleman carrying one. It was used but in beautiful condition. He wanted a very reasonable price, so I took it home. First thing I did was give it a good cleaning, mount a little 2X7 Leupold and shoot it off my bench with CCI SV. First five shot group after getting on target was a very good group.....I was pickled tink so to speak. But that was it.......subsequent groups.....no matter the ammo, and I tried many varieties from my supply from high speed to match grade, produced very poor groups....so bad I wouldn't trust the gun on a squirrel hunt.

Since acceptable accuracy is a big deal for me, no matter how pretty the gun, I parted ways with it.....probably for the same reasons as the previous owner.

 

I once bought a Ruger 77/22RSH .22 hornet. Same frustrating story. I shot every brand and type of factory ammo through it. At least, the gun was very consistant: it shot bad with any ammo. It grouped 3.5 to 4" at 110 yds (100m). According to Ruger it was" acceptable accuracy" within specifications.

The odd thing is that I have another Browning-Miroku .22lr, an ATD semi auto, bought new in 1985. This gun will shoot between 1" and 1.5" at 100 meter, but only with RWS R50. At 50 m it will shoot on par with my Anschuetz 1416 ST and it seems to outshoot the Annie at 100 m.

The BL22 really puzzles me. Could it be the lockup?

Kind regards,
Joris

 

In my experience, the two most likely causes of grotesquely poor shooting barrels are:
1. a very "dirty" bore. By dirty, I mean a bore with a buildup of carbon/lead residue at the origin of rifling. Unless you have borescoped the bore and KNOW that it's clean, you can't eliminate "dirty" as a likely cause. If you don't have access to a borescope, and choose not to purchase one, the best that you will be able to do is clean the bore VERY thoroughly. That means many passes with a wet bronze brush. Because you purchased the rifle used with an unknown number of rounds through it, this is a very likely cause.
2. a "bad" bore. Factory bores (from most manufacturers) vary widely in quality from one barrel to the next. Without borescoping (and slugging) it's not really possible to tell the quality of the bore. But if thorough cleaning doesn't improve accuracy, I'd assume it's a bad bore and dispose of the rifle.

Hawkeye Wizard

 

My experience with Miroku made .22 rifles is that barrel quality can be very inconsistent.....from very good to pretty lousy. The BL22 Field Octagon I mentioned had lousy accuracy....and a dirty barrel wasn't the issue. On the other hand, I have a regular BL22 that is acceptably accurate.....enough for hunting, etc. I have owned two Win 52 repros and two of the Browning 52 guns. Accuracy has been ho hum most of the time...with top shelf ammo.

But then some folks report great accuracy with the Miroku made guns. The most accurate Japanese made gun I've owned - and it was very accurate - was a Browning A-Bolt Composite stalker in .280 Remington.

 

pump .22s,
I concur completely with your assessment.
Hawkeye Wizard

 

But it remains strange that some are good while others ain't. Browning should look into their QC.

The stupid thing is that I traded in an Erma EG712 (=Henry H001) because at 2" at 50m "it wasn't accurate enough". Stupid me. Besides I really liked the construction of that Erma EG712 (=Henry H001): simple, cheap (zamak and aluminum alloy)but it worked extremely smooth and reliable with any ammo.

 

I traded a Marlin TDS in on a BL22, because the TDS was my biggest disappointment in rim fire rifles. I had been told and read for years what a tack driver Marlin Lever 22s are. My standard 10-22 with open sights would shoot far better groups at 50 yards that the Marlin did with a 12X40 Leupold scope could shoot. I'm happy with the BL22 as shoots good enough to keep.

 

Have you thought about sending it back to browning for service? In my dealings with them through the years their service is top notch and I have never been billed, even on guns for which I was not the original owner.

In terms of the FLD II octagon, I've been very happy with mine, shoots as well as I can hold with a bead sight, it's reliable with everything I've fed it, and it's gorgeous to look at.

 

Basic open sights with lots of subtension?

I'd put a rimfire scope on it,for a better idea of what going on.
If you then can't shoot a one inch group,I'd inquire about sending it back.

 

Joris lives in Antwerp where there don't appear to be any Browning Service Centers and he has tried a scope on it with similar crummy groupings.

He's asked about lockup twice but it's really hard for me to imagine that being the problem.

Frank

 

Could the trigger pull weight be throwing you off? As I understand it, the BL22 has a notoriously bad trigger from the factory. You may want to have it looked at by a gunsmith that is capable of smoothing it out and lower the pull weight. Here is a link that may prove instructive:

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30188

I would also try to get some CCI SV ammo if it is available in Belgium as that is the ammo of choice for my friend's BL22.

 

How is it feeding?
As in, is the bullet getting nicked while loading. That would screw up your accuracy.

 

I agree with this totally.

Look at the feeding into the chamber, while cycling the lever SLOWLY. Make sure the angle of the bullet, isn't hitting the bore at a bad angle, which will shave off lead of the nose. The BL-22 if it has any issues with feeding, can either kick the nose of the bullet up too much, or at a steep angle. If you can't see it yourself, have a friend watch the bullet nose while you cycle the action. There shouldn't be any shaving of lead. My Bl-22 usually does about 3/4" inch groups at 50 yards, using CCI Standard Velocity, RWS Rifle Target, or Eley Yellow box (Can't recall the name right now).

If it appears that the angle isn't shaving lead, I'd seriously look for lead buildup in the throat area, and use a cotton swab to check the crown for a dinged muzzle.

 

I've got one of these, and other than the trigger pull weight, it shoots fantastic! Mine shots about 1.5 inch at 50 yards with mini mags. Before I got rid of it , I would sure make sure the barrel isn't fouled. 4 inches? That almost sounds lead fouled to me. One thing I did do to mine was get rid of those buck horns! I cut then off, leveled them up with a file, and cut the notch deeper and wider for my eyes. I tried a scope on mine, but found I shot just as well at close hunting range with out one.

 

Exactly.
Few days ago I went shooting again at 50m and we brought some other .22 leverguns to compare: Marlin 39, Winchester 150 and a Winchester 9422.
Other shooters also remarked that the sights on this FLD II are a horror: the wide buckhorn and the flimsy front sight. The sight I liked best were those on the older Winchester 150: square outcut rear and square front post. That old zamak Winchester gun shot very decent groups.

- So I will change the sights
- Install a new spring kit as to lighten the trigger pull

Btw: the gun feeds, ejects, chambers really well, best of the guns listed above (marlin was the worst) and as a result the cartridges do not get deformed.

Kind regards,

Joris

 

Cleaning the barrel from the rear

I clean the barrel regularly. I disassemble the BL22 as shown on Youtube... and honestly, I do not find it difficult. It seems to be important:
- to align the extractor well into it's groove in the bolt
- it really helps to have small hands and fingers. It is a small gun and I can understand it is a real pita for someone with large hands to work on.

Keep well,
Joris

 

I clean the barrel regularly. I disassemble the BL22 as shown on Youtube... and honestly, I do not find it difficult. It seems to be important:
- to align the extractor well into it's groove in the bolt
- it really helps to have small hands and fingers. It is a small gun and I can understand it is a real pita for someone with large hands to work on.

Keep well,
Joris

Get some "laboratory" tweezers in the 4" to 6" range to help place small parts inside receivers. I've got a couple of different sizes (e.g., small and pointy enough to hold a #2 screw used to fill a vacant scope mount hole) and I don't know how I managed handling the small bits without 'em. Here's a source: https://www.mcmaster.com/#tweezers/=154x1vq

 

I made a small notched tool from a bamboo skewer to hold the ejector in place through the ejector port during reassembly. I don't have small fingers!

 

Try a different scope. The one you tried could have parallax issues or just be bad. I have found bad scopes to be the trouble many times. Try different ammo with a known good scope.- Locoman