Henry Rifle Forums

I'm in the market for a Browning 308 BLR 4 round Pre 81 Magazine .... it is needed for a Belgium made 1970 BLR ... my understanding is they aren't easy to find .... so long as it works, an aftermarket magazine made by another company would be fine

JEBar wrote:I'm in the market for a Browning 308 BLR 4 round Pre 81 Magazine .... it is needed for a Belgium made 1970 BLR ... my understanding is they aren't easy to find .... so long as it works, an aftermarket magazine made by another company would be fine

Is this what you're looking for?


https://www.midwestgunworks.com/brownin ... 08$2520Win

your effort is appreciated but as can be seen at this link ===> https://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/b3475594 , that is to a page in the link you provided .... the magazine they (and everyone else) offer is for BLR's built in Japan in 1981 or later .... ours was made in 1970 in Belgium

Yep, if you click the link within the link and scroll down to the description copy, you encounter this (in big, bolded, red letters):

This component is not compatible with Browning BLR Pre '81 rifles/magazines.

Wow. Talk about scarce. Found this on GB. Spendy, but looks exactly right and brand new:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/787420774

expensive, yep .... I've never signed up for gun broker or I'd put in a bid .... to be sure, a much lower one than the asking price .... I've been told that, at times, they can be bought at gun shows .... here again, I haven't been to a gun show a couple of decades so I don't know that for sure

Here's another one from GB. Gives you an idea of where the "market" is, at least on the Web. It started out with an opening bid of $55 (set by the seller), and since then, it's had 29 bids and is now up to $305.
Such is good ol' Economics 101 Law of Supply and Demand.
Seems like gun shows would be a needle in a haystack exercise, but I've only been to a couple and it's been years for me, too. My most vivid memory is that there were more booths/tables selling stuff other than guns than there were selling guns. It was odd.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/793252184

If you see one on GB you want Jim or want to bid on I have an account there and would get it for you and ship it to you if you dont want to mess with it. Al

much appreciated .... based on your experience, in what ball park would you estimate that the one in ESquared link actually sell for

just went back to first link where I saw the starting bid is $289.95 .... guess that's representative of what one would sell for .... if I had no other choice and it wasn't so close to Christmas, I'd seriously consider it but right now it wouldn't pass muster in the war department ...

Making a call on what something will sell for on GB is a crap shoot. Most stick them in their watch list and wait till the final hour to bid. Ive seen auctions extended another hour in the last hour with 2 guys bidding back and forth. Ive seen some guns sell for prices I would not even think they would bring. I usually place a bid at the max I would pay and then if I get outbid I just think about how bad I want it. That saying I know you have my phone number if Im not on here and you are wanting to get in on something give me a call I can bid from my phone also.

I'd say that, based on the one listed with a starting bid of $289 and the other that's been bid up to $305, the market (at least in the GB world) is at about $300 for this part. Seems crazy, as it's about 10X what new rifle magazines cost, but it speaks to scarcity and demand. Not unlike some handgun magazines for out-of-production models.

I'd imagine the first one (listed at $289 opening bid) will still be there after the holidays.

$$$$$

BigAl52 wrote:Making a call on what something will sell for on GB is a crap shoot. Most stick them in their watch list and wait till the final hour to bid. Ive seen auctions extended another hour in the last hour with 2 guys bidding back and forth. Ive seen some guns sell for prices I would not even think they would bring. I usually place a bid at the max I would pay and then if I get outbid I just think about how bad I want it. That saying I know you have my phone number if Im not on here and you are wanting to get in on something give me a call I can bid from my phone also.

When I was doing eBay, I would right off figure out the very most I was willing to pay. If I got sniped with a second to go, it really didn't bother me cause in the end that person paid more than I was willing to pay. There will be another auction.

BigAl52 wrote:I usually place a bid at the max I would pay and then if I get outbid I just think about how bad I want it. That saying I know you have my phone number if Im not on here and you are wanting to get in on something give me a call I can bid from my phone also.

our BLR is one of my favorites .... I've spent more time carrying it hunting than all of our other rifles combined .... I do have a second magazine somewhere but haven't been able to find it .... since they aren't made any more, they won't get any cheaper ... that may well be a "when we get our tax refund" purchases

good news .... really good news .... after seeing the going prices of pre 81 BLR magazines I became seriously motivated to find our second one .... it took some serious looking but I found it .. .. because they don't make them any more, down the line I'd still seriously consider purchasing another or two but it would be a bargain basement prices

thanks for the responses .... they taught me something and motivated me to get serious about looking for our second magazine

JEBar wrote:good news .... really good news .... after seeing the going prices of pre 81 BLR magazines I became seriously motivated to find our second one .... it took some serious looking but I found it .. .. because they don't make them any more, down the line I'd still seriously consider purchasing another or two but it would be a bargain basement prices

thanks for the responses .... they taught me something and motivated me to get serious about looking for our second magazine

Sounds like one of my "I'm going to put this in a special place" situations. I'm going through that with some pure lanolin I bought to make some home-made case lube. Haven't really buckled down in my search, but the usual places have turned up empty.

Which means I put it in a "special place." This should be interesting...

We go to local guns shows on a regular basis. Will keep an eye open for you.

North Country Gal wrote:We go to local guns shows on a regular basis. Will keep an eye open for you.

that would be greatly appreciated

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How different are the pre and post 81? Could a post be modified to fit a pre?

North Country Gal wrote:We go to local guns shows on a regular basis. Will keep an eye open for you.