The Elusive Browning Bar Carbine

[SportsmanNH]

When I made my introduction post on June 14th , I mentioned how I found this site by doing a search on a certain firearm. That firearm was the Browning Bar 30-06 Carbine. The search had a link to a 2017 thread started by Billdogge selling a Browning Bar Carbine which he sold to Moog5050. Here is the story why this interested me.

https://huntingny.com/forums/topic/39515-browning-bar-30-06-carbine/#comments

In 1997 while hunting in Maine with trucks parked on an old logging road , at lunchtime sitting on the tailgate having coffee , another hunter had parked up the trail from us and was walking back to his truck. He came over to us for a quick chat . As soon as he walked over I couldn't believe what he was carrying for a firearm. A new Browning Bar Carbine with an 18 inch barrel. I had my standard Browning with 22 inch barrel. I knew Browning didn't make a carbine and always wished they would . But there it was. He said he bought it from a gun shop in either NY or NJ . I cant remember. He said it was a special Shot Show firearm made by Browning for that event and thought there were only 50 or 100 made. Well ever since that day most of you know that feeling of " I HAVE TO HAVE ONE !  "   So the search was on for that rifle for 14 years , but never to be found.

In 2015 during a search, I came up with a Browning Bar Carbine in 308 that was advertised by Performance Shooting in NY . Synthetic stock , 18 inch fluted barrel with no sights. I didn't bother calling them then because I really wasn't interest in a 308 . It said they were special addition only 150 were made. Then in 2016 a big gun shop and Browning dealer in northern NH , LL Cote , advertised a Browning Carbine 308 that was all camo including the fluted barrel also with no sights. Now my interest was up and figured SOMEBODY must of had a 30-06 carbine made somewhere. Then I found this article that put the frothing at the mouth chase into high speed. They Do Make A 30-06 Carbine , but not for the USA. Browning International only made them for the EU . Here is the article I found . After finding this article , the phone calls start

https://www.all4shooters.com/en/hunting/rifles/browning-bar-lt-tracker-hc-30-06-test/

I contacted at least 4 Browning distributors asking if I can get one of these. All said no. So I called Browning myself and spoke to the guy in charge of imports. And even he said no. It was too complicated because the Browning International firearms are built for European standards plus a whole bunch of import laws would not allow for that . Back in the dumps I go. As a last resort I called Performance Shooting and LL Cote again . I emailed them that same article plus the Browning International site that showed 3 different Bar Carbines in 30-06 . I asked both of them , since they have leverage as Browning dealers , and have had some carbines special ordered, why cant they get a USA carbine version in a 30-06 made. I told them I would prefer a wood stock but a synthetic like the one in the article would be nice too , and have the standard fiber optic sights put on the gun , then I would buy 2 or them . Performance Shooting told me they would look into it and would be in touch if they  got any info. This is February of 2016 . Of course I never heard from them.

One night In late July of 2017 sitting around doing nothing , I do a search and THERE THEY ARE ! Performance Shooting has the exact gun I talked to them about. The next morning I called them and find out they had 50 carbines with wooden stocks and the fiber optic sights made , 100 308 carbines made with no sights , and 25 308 carbines made with the carbon stock and no sights . They only had 28 left of the 30-06 . So I had the girl send me pics of 15 guns so I can pic the gun with the stocks I liked. I did buy 2 of them.  When they arrived at the gun shop ( FFL ) and I went to do the paperwork , there was 12-15 guys in the shop. All of them had to look at these guns. Nobody had ever seen a gun like this. Especially the front site that periscopes up and down and left and right with an allen wrench for adjustment.  I called Browning a couple months later to ask if I could buy a set of front and rear sites like mine . I gave him my serial number and he came back with that was a restricted firearm . I figured that was because they were special ordered  , but that wasn't the case.  He said he would dig in to how he could get me those sites , but it would take some time, but never got back to me. 

These fifty carbines were made from parts from 3 different Browning Bars that were all interchangeable . They used the wood stock with satin finish from Long Track , The matt finish receiver from the synthetic version of the Long track , and the fluted 18 inch barrel with sites and matte from the European Long Track . All are interchangeable parts. But those 3 guns are now discontinued . Browning has now moved on to the Mark 3 design change .  The mark 3 carbines you see on GunBroker are different. Im sure they are also excellent firearms , but the style changed.  These guns also have a special serial number.

2017 was the 100 year anniversary of the Browning Bar . Browning made 100 Bar rifles to celebrate it . The serial number for those rifles is 100BAR17001 to 100BAR17100. Right after those guns , the Performance Shooting special order went through. The 100 308 carbines I believe went next with serial numbers 100A170101 to 100A170200. Im not sure if the 25 carbines with the carbon stock went next. I would think the 30-06 carbines went next from  100A170201 to 100A170250 . My serial numbers are  100A170227 and 100A170231.

Besides being a 1 of 50 and never to be made again exactly like these , is the performance of this gun. I"ve never fired a gun that is as perfectly balanced as this gun, and with hardly any recoil because of the double Inflex Technology recoil pad butt plate. This gun is deadly accurate. With a good rest I can put 4 shots touching at dead center of a bulls eye at 100 yards. They look like one big bullet hole in the center shooting 180 grain PSP Core Lokts . I have a Leupold VX6 1x6 Firedot Duplex Reticle scope on mine . It feels like Im carrying a featherweight compared to my standard Browning Bar. 

Bill , if I saw that stock before you bought that gun , I would of bought it first.  Moog , what a beautiful rifle Bill sold you. You were smart to buy it.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by SportsmanNH

[SpacemanSpiff]

Great story and beautiful guns. I have been searching for a remington 700 model made back in the early 90’s with no luck myself. I guess the search is half the fun! How is your cheek weld with those see thru rings? I could never get them to work well for me. 

[SportsmanNH]

4 hours ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Great story and beautiful guns. I have been searching for a remington 700 model made back in the early 90’s with no luck myself. I guess the search is half the fun! How is your cheek weld with those see thru rings? I could never get them to work well for me. 

Good luck in your search ! I hope you eventually find the 700 you are looking for .

Everybody is different in how they hold their firearm to shoot. Myself ,  from the moment I put these high rise rings on my hunting rifle back in 1985 , I have not used anything else. The ones I use are the Ironsighter and the Kwik-Site There are people that love these and some that hate these rings. Im in the camp of I wont use anything else . There are good ones and there are bad ones . I wouldn't give you a dime for the weaver high rise rings . If you put a scope on with a front bell with those rings , you are looking through a small slit under the scope to see the iron sites . The weaver rings are too low. With my rings I have full view of the target like the scope doesn't exist .There has been at least 1/2 a dozen times that I would not have gotten that deer if I didn't have this setup. for various reasons. Fogged up scope from rain or snow , deer running too fast to keep in the scope. And other times you just cant beat having a scope to thread the needle to slide the shot between branches on a walking deer or hidden deer.

It all depends on the shooter and what they are comfortable with and their shooting form. Some and probably most shooters have a set anchor point and adjust their sites or scopes to that one anchor point.  When I shoulder my rifle I am locked in on the crosshair . But it only takes me a fraction of a second to change view to shoot with the iron sites if need be. For example in 2017 , the 1st year using this rifle , a nice buck busted out of an old cutting heading for the thick spruce at 40 yards. I fired the 1st shot with the scope just as he got to the tree line out of the whips. The next 3 shot were with the iron sites . I knew I hit him at least once , maybe twice with the iron sites. I could see him struggling but still running . When he got to 70 yards I picked him up in the scope going through a small opening and hit him again and he went down. All this in under 10 seconds. Turned out I missed him on the 1st shot with the scope. I hit a one inch diameter charlie brown xmas tree. He was moving too fast through the spruce to get him in the scope until the last shot.

Everyone has their own way. This is the best one for me , but not for many others. And nobody is wrong. Its just their way of doing things.

[SpacemanSpiff]

Im glad that set up works well for you. I have had scope issues while hunting in the rain or snow myself. Thats when my .357 mag come out of the shoulder holster. Hope to seen pics this November of your success with it.