Handled one of these chambered for .223, recently. Liked it. But the seller wanted too much for it. It started the old familiar cravings 'tho... So, please tell me if you have any experience with these rifles... Accuracy potential? Mounts, rings and scopes? Any peculiarities to these rifles? I have no experience with falling blocks, at all so any info would be welcome.
Thanks.
-- Doc

I had a pair of B-78's,in 25-06 and 243.

I favored them,over various No.1's I've had. Their triggers were excellent and they were extremely accurate. They don't suffer the forend woes,of the Ruger.

Sadly,both were stolen and I never replaced them. For a piece of functional Class,I'd say you'd be pressed hard,to do better...........

I have an 1885 Highwall in 22.250 which I really like. It shoots tiny groups, and the 28" barrel lets me use some slower buning powders as well. The adjustable trigger is set all the way down to "soft" if there was such a thing. What I am saying is the trigger is adjustable, but could be lighter. I like the feature of ejecting the brass. There is a small blade in the tang area which has 3 different settings. It will either eject completely over your shoulder to the right, or to the left or you can set the blade in the middle and the brass will retract from the chamber and just lie there and wait for you to pick it up. Neat stuff. The lever on the 1885 is a lot more comfortable to shoot than the Ruger #3. Although, I would not pass up a good deal on a #3, I like those almost as much. Overall, the 1885 is an easy gun to shoot and like.

Bigstick, too bad about the 78s being stolen.
I also have a pair of 78's one in 45/70 and the other in .243, and just found out yesteday that there were only 40,000 78s made, and ONLY 350 chambered for the .243, which makes them a pretty rare bird.

Tom

I have a Model 78 in 6mm Rem. Certainly only a handful of these were made. It's taken a number of deer for me and I've always enjoyed shooting the gun but I hardly ever do any more. I could be convinced to part with it just to make room in the safe.

Hello Tom,
Where did you get the stats on the number of B78's made by caliber? I have a couple B78's. I sold my M1885 in 45-70. I can't believe what Browning did to the model 1885's. Running (very hard press fit) a pin through the receiver to prevent removing the trigger housing. You and I know why.
Thanks, Larry

Hello ForrestB,
Is your B78 6mm have an octagon barrel or round? Thanks, Larry

[This message has been edited by Arizona Larry (edited 01-27-2002).]

Arizona , as I said , I just found out. The info was given to me over at Graybeard's on his single shot forum, which is dedicated to the single shot rifle,sorta.
I got those numbers from one of the posters who has a love for Browning stuff, including stats. He said he didn't realize any .243's were made until I mentioned that I had one, he then went into his cache of info and looked up the data. I really like mine, it has the 26" full octagon barrel, really nice tiger stipe wood and is topped with a straight 10X Leupold. Only thing I dislike is the plastic finish on the wood-my 45/70 has the straight grip,good solid straight grain wood, curved butt-plate and an oil finish, just the way it should be.

Larry-
Sorry for the delay in returning your mail. As I said it's an octagon bbl. I honestly have no idea what these rifles go for used. Maybe $675? It's in good shape and you can have the Leupold thats on it. I have no interest in hassling you for the last 50 bucks. Tell me what its worth and its yours.

Forrest,
That's a fair price.You have mail in your box from me,just in case Larry doesn't want it.

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I'm out to wrong rights,depress the opressed,and generaly make an ass of myself!

I've been working with a brand new 1885 in .260 -- it belongs to a friend. I mounted a 10X Redfield on it using Leupold rings; the bases came with the rifle.

My first results with the rifle were quite disappointing. I loaded 100 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips with as many different powders as I had available that seemed appropriate -- Benchmark, H 414, Varget, IMR 4064, H 4350, IMR 4320. I loaded all the rounds with the bullets seated to almost touch the lands; I have not yet experimented with varying the seating depth.

None of the results were very good -- the best group (with Varget) was in the range of 1.8 inches. Also, I don't like the trigger on the rifle; it's set way too heavy. I don't know whether or not it's adjustable as I haven't tried to do so. And I don't like the overall "feel" of the gun, possibly because it seems too light and unsubstantial.

But last Saturday I was out at the range again with my 9 year old daughter shooting .22 rimfires. (I say "again" because the range I use is 42 miles from my house, meaning that it's a substantial drive, and I don't get there as much as I'd like.) I took the .260 along, and, at the end of our shooting session with the .22s, I moved the target frame from 50 yards (we were using that for the .22s) down to the 100 yard mark. I then shot a single 4-shot group with the .260 at that distance, using a load with 120 gr. Sierra Matchkings and IMR 4320 powder. Three shots went into the same hole (you can barely make out that it's even 2 shots in that hole!) and the fourth enlarged the group to 1.1 inch.

So, I don't know. I have to try that load in this gun a lot more to determine whether that group was a fluke, or whether the rifle has now finally decided to behave right. If it continues to shoot groups under something like 0.6, then I'll decide that I like it after all, even though I still don't like the heavy trigger. If it doesn't shoot good groups, then I won't like it.

With a lower powered or variable scope, it would certainly be a perfectly good rifle for small to medium big game -- deer, antelope, etc., maybe even going as large as elk, if necessary -- but it wouldn't be my first choice. I'd rather take my Remington 700 Mountain Rifle in 270.

[This message has been edited by LE270 (edited 01-31-2002).]