Travel & Places Hunting/Shooting

How to Change the Recoil Buffer in a Browning BAR Sporting Rifle

Tuesday, April/02/2024
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Introduction to BAR and Getting Started

The firearm used for this project is a Belgian Browning BAR sporting rifle in 30-06. This rifle was built in 1967, which makes it a couple of years older than the author. Put in those terms, it's no wonder the recoil buffer was in need of replacement.

Years ago, a friend of our family inherited this rifle from his father-in-law. Dad loved the gun and made no secret of it, and when Jim decided to sell the rifle, Dad dug deep and ponied up $500 for it.

He used it on a few hunts, but was never able to fully wean himself off of hunting with his Ruger 44 carbine, which he used to carry even when he was hunting wide-open country. After Dad passed on, the BAR become mine.

When I got this rifle, I didn't even know it had a recoil buffer - and when I took the gun apart to give it a good cleaning, I found that the buffer had been pretty much pounded into dust. I ordered a new buffer from MidwayUSA, and when it came time to install it I thought it would be nice to share that process with you.

After removing the magazine and making sure the gun was not loaded, I began by removing the forearm swivel eyelet using a small 9mm wrench. Turn the wrench counter-clockwise, fully unscrew the part, and lay it aside.

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Remove the Forearm

Next, you'll need to remove the forearm. Do yourself a favor and remember that the bolt needs to be back (open), or else you won't be able to remove the forearm.

With the bolt back, pull the forearm away from the barrel until it will clear the gas cylinder, then slide the forearm forward and off of the rifle.

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Remove the Support Rails

If you locked the bolt back (open) in the previous step, allow it to gently close before you proceed.

This next step is about as easy as it gets. Take a look at the photo, and at your rifle. you will see the action bars coming out of the receiver and going forward to the inertia piece. Just below those will be the support rails.

The support rails are simple flat rectangular pieces with holes punched in them.

Just slide each support rail forward and out of the receiver, and you're done with this step.

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Remove the Action Bars

Remember the action bars I mentioned in the previous step? Now's the time for those to come out.

Examine your gun and note that the front end of each action bar has a hole, which engages with a stud on the side of the inertia piece. Grab an action bar and pull the front end of it sideways, off of that stud. Then swing the front end of the bar downward (that's downward in relation to the gun - in the photo the gun is upside down, so I swung it upward) and pull it forward and out of the receiver.

Repeat this on the other side, and you're done with this step.

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Remove the Gas Regulator

Next, you need to remove the gas regulator.

I have a copy of a BAR owner's manual, and it refers to two different styles of gas regulators, but in either case, the regulator is removed from the front of the gas cylinder (the gas cylinder is permanently attached to the bottom of the barrel) by unscrewing it counter clockwise.

Some regulators are hexagonal and can be removed using a 5/8" wrench. Mine is round with a wide slot in it, so I dug into my Wheeler gunsmith screwdriver set and found a wide screwdriver bit that fit the slot perfectly.

I then headed for my toolbox and came back with a 1/4" ratchet and a 1/4" socket, and put the bit into the socket. Now I could exert the requisite effort in order to loosen the stubborn regulator - it was in there very tightly, as it should be.

I placed some heavy paper between the ratchet and the rifle barrel to ensure that I didn't mess up the gun. Then I loosened the regulator (counter clockwise) and unscrewed it by hand to completely remove it.

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Remove the Gas Piston

Now that we've removed the gas regulator, we can remove the gas piston by moving it forward out of the gas cylinder.

Grasp the inertia piece and pull it rearward against the spring tension, so you can access the rear of the gas cylinder. The exposed end of the spring guide rod goes into the piston that you need to remove.

Then take something like a small pin punch (see photo) and simply push the piston forward far enough so you can grasp it and pull it on out of the gas cylinder.

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Proper Gas Piston Orientation

There is a right and a wrong way to install the gas piston - remember which is which when you put things back together. Note the slot in the rear end of the piston (to the right in the photo) - that slot must engage with a guide pin at the rear of the gas cylinder when you push the piston into the cylinder.

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You're almost there!

Now, get hold of the recoil buffer plates (in the photo, the buffer has already been replaced and the new one is between the two plates) and compress the action spring by moving the buffer assembly and the rear end of the guide rod away from the receiver (forward). When it's clear, move the rear end of the rod so it clears the receiver and carefully allow the spring to decompress as you slide it out of the gas cylinder.

Now you can pull the inertia piece off of the rest of what you've just removed, and slide the action spring off of the guide rod. After that, you should be able to slide the steel buffer plates off of the guide rod.

After cleaning things up, reinstall one buffer plate, then a buffer, then another plate - creating a buffer sandwich, as illustrated in the photo on the next page.

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Reassemble your rifle by reversing the order of the instructions in this article. When you get the buffer, action spring, guide rod, and inertia piece back in place, the buffer should look like the photo above.

Here are some tips to help during reassembly:
  • When reinserting the gas piston, make sure the slot in its rear is properly oriented. When you're pushing it into the gas cylinder, you may have to wiggle the front end of the guide rod to get things lined up. When it's right, you will have very little trouble sliding the piston into the cylinder.


  • Securely tighten the gas regulator when you put it back on - it needs to be tight.
  • When you put the action bars in, make sure the protrusions engage in their slots on either side of the bottom of the bolt. That is easily done if you move the bolt forward and open the floor plate to look into the receiver while you put each bar in place.
  • After the action bars and support rails are installed, you can lock the action open in order to get the forearm back on. Don't force the forearm - you can break it.
  • When tightening the forearm swivel eyelet, be sure the hole for the swivel stud is turned the correct way (perpendicular to the gun's bore) before tightening it up.

Congrats! You've now performed a necessary service to a fine rifle, which is now ready to provide several more years (or even decades) of service to its owner. Nice job, my friend.

- Russ Chastain

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