Last month, I shared my “Mild Makeover” for the Browning Buck Mark. The plan was to add a few items that improve reliability and usability, nothing more. This pistol wasn’t purchased with the intention of going all out, so I avoided that temptation. Well, for about four months anyway. I was perfectly content to have a mostly factory pistol with a few aftermarket parts – the ones I consider necessary upgrades for a Buck Mark. One upgrade I eventually added was the Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite barrel for the Browning Buck Mark.
And then I ran into someone selling a Tactical Solutions (often called TacSol) 7.25″ Trail-Lite barrel for the Browning Buck Mark. The Trail-Lite is one of the most popular lightweight Buck Mark barrel upgrades because it dramatically reduces weight while maintaining excellent accuracy. This particular version was produced in limited runs for certain retailers, which means they’re not especially common today. Heck, it wasn’t even threaded, and I still bought it. The asking price was less than what I can get a barrel from TacSol for using my dealer account. It was a deal I could not pass up. Even better, the guy delivered it to the Mexican restaurant where I was having lunch with coworkers. I can’t make this stuff up. Tacos and cheap gun parts. Living the dream.
While this specific Trail-Lite model was a limited run, similar Browning Buck Mark barrels are often available through retailers like Brownells and MidwayUSA, in addition to the Tactical Solutions website.
About the TacSol Trail-Lite Barrel for the Browning Buck Mark
The packaging is pretty thin on details, beyond the obvious. It’s anodized red with fluting and an overall length of 7.25″. This particular Buck Mark barrel is not threaded and measures .900″ in diameter. Tactical Solutions describes the Trail-Lite as an “Ultra Light Weight” barrel.
That description is accurate. The TacSol Trail-Lite removed nearly half a pound from the weight of the pistol – roughly seven ounces compared to the factory stainless Buck Mark barrel. Either way, the difference in balance is noticeable immediately.
Beyond the weight reduction, the barrel is simply well-machined and visually distinctive. Red, light, and shiny pretty much sums it up. The front sight isn’t fiber optic, which normally might matter. But since I planned to run a red dot on this Buck Mark, the factory sight configuration wasn’t a concern.
About to install the 7.25″ Tactical Solutions (TacSol) Trail-Lite barrel on my Browning Buck Mark.
Installing the Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite Barrel
By design, the Browning Buck Mark makes barrel swaps fairly simple. Verify the pistol is unloaded first. Lock the bolt in the open position. Remove the front and rear sight base screws and lift the sight base off.
Under the barrel, you’ll find a screw at the front of the frame, ahead of the trigger. Remove that screw, and the Buck Mark barrel can be carefully tilted downward and lifted out.
After a little cleaning, install the TacSol Trail-Lite barrel in reverse order. Make sure it is fully seated and tightened down. Reinstall the sight base and tighten those screws. Perform a full function check and confirm that there is no gap between the bolt and the barrel. If there is, the barrel likely isn’t seated properly.
7.25″ Tactical Solutions (TacSol) Trail-Lite barrel installed on a Browning Buck Mark.
Obviously, I got a little sidetracked when it came to reinstalling the sight base, because I threw an Outer Impact optic mount on there instead. But that was only a temporary setup, so try not to look too closely at it.
That mount later appeared in its own article, but for a short time, it lived on this pistol along with a Vortex red dot. I dialed the optic in before calling the setup ready for the range.
My completed (in its temporary state) Browning Buck Mark with the 7.25″ Tactical Solutions (TacSol) Trail-Lite barrel installed.
Range Time
For this range trip, I had several pistols to shoot, mostly 9mm. Some needed a quick function check while others were being reviewed. But since this was rimfire, it ended up getting shot a lot.
With the TacSol Trail-Lite barrel installed, the Browning Buck Mark feels noticeably better balanced. After some time on the dueling tree, it became obvious that this setup was light, fast, and extremely accurate.
I started picking off empty shotgun hulls as far as I could see, and that quickly became boringly easy. While I do enjoy a challenge, I also appreciate when a pistol is simply easy to shoot well. That’s exactly what the Trail-Lite delivered.
The Buck Mark was already a great shooter before the upgrade, but it became even more fun with the lighter barrel installed.
Did I bench it and shoot groups on paper? Nope. Can it still be called a tack driver if I didn’t? Probably. I’m not much of a paper puncher and prefer the ring of lead on steel instead. We have gongs, spinners, a KYL rack, and a dueling tree for that reason.
If you’re like me and simply want a very accurate and very fun rimfire pistol, the Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite barrel will not disappoint. It ran flawlessly with bulk Federal ammo and everything else we fed it.
Popular Browning Buck Mark Upgrades
The Browning Buck Mark is an excellent rimfire pistol right out of the box, but a few upgrades can make it even better. A lightweight barrel like the Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite is one of the most noticeable improvements because it changes the balance of the pistol while maintaining excellent accuracy.
Other popular Browning Buck Mark upgrades include improved sights, optic mounts, and trigger components. For example, I’ve also tested the TandemKross Marksman Sight System, which allows many red dot optics to co-witness with fiber optic sights, and the Outer Impact Browning Buck Mark Red Dot Mount, which supports a wide variety of optic footprints.
Combined with reliability upgrades and a good trigger, these modifications can turn the already capable Buck Mark into a very refined rimfire pistol.
Conclusion
An article about a limited-run barrel obviously won’t apply to everyone. But Tactical Solutions produces several other Trail-Lite barrels for the Browning Buck Mark. So this serves as a good introduction to their lightweight Buck Mark barrel lineup.
The longer sight radius of the 7.25″ barrel is admittedly wasted when running a red dot on that Outer Impact mount. And that black Halo looks slightly out of place next to the red barrel. Now that I think about it, the gold trigger doesn’t exactly match either.
Surely there must be some solution to those problems.
If you read my first Buck Mark article, you’ll remember I mentioned buying a second one. Yeah, I’m dropping hints here. Check back soon to see how this one and the other end up.