Tag mho

I used to fax and e-mail them. Strange that their e-mail is not working?

mine will be a 7mm mag IFsrt I was thinking about a 270. 6,5. 6,8 and 7mm are very nice calibers for most hunting.

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Hi Johan, yeah I had seen in some old posts you were looking at the Ed Brown actions. Good of you to chime in! It is actually not me looking for one of these rifles, but a friend of mine. So I strictly don't know what he wants. I do know what I would like to recommend to him, though: a varmint model, preferably chambered in .222 Rem. (I was trying to contact Ed Brown to see if the .222 Rem chambering is possible - not listed on their website). The varmint model has about the right weight, a heavy barrel, single shot action and a Jewell trigger - all that you could want for a nice, "informal" target rifle.

You don't happen to have a working mail address for them, do you??
- mike

Dear All,

Has anybody got experience with the rifles Ed Brown offers?? I'm halfway expecting the answer to be "good quality, high price", does that match your experience??

Also, does anybody have a valid mail address for Ed Brown?? The one on their website "edbrown@edbrown.com" does not seem to work.

Thanks for all input in advance - mike

mho

I have one that is under construction. I bought an action that now is finally becomeing a rifle Ed Brown was very good to deal with. Ed is nice fellow who is very straight forward, service minded and doesn't bullshit you.

Used a 702 on my last trip to USA. I was a very accurate with the ammo I tired, accuracy was around 12-16mm five shoot groups.

Basicly, the Ed Brown action is a very good start for a custom rifle since is very tight and well made.
I went for Ed Brown 702 since I wanted a rifle with a custom action. My smith told me that options were to machineing, trueing and equip a rem 700/winchester or start with custom action. Second hand value is better with a custom action. I had two options, Ed Brown 702 or a McMillan MCRT. McMillan would been a bit more expensive since the basic action doesn't include trigger, floorplate etc.

Which caliber and model are you thinking about?

Cheers
/ JOHAN

Thanks for the feedback guys. I called them. For the rifles they build, they don't seem that flexible on what calibers they'll chamber for. It seems to be the calibers they list on their web-site, or nothing. Fine, if you are happy with the caliber, bad if you are not.

They did not provide an accuracy guarantee, but expected the rifle to hold 0.5-0.75" groups at 100 yds with factory in final testing before being shipped. It is good they do testing. I expect they should not have problems getting 0.5-0.75" groups in a semi-custom varmint rifle, so that is not too impressive. In their defense, on the website, they state they believe the rifle will hold up to any accuracy the ammo is capable of. I can understand that point of view, but it is not all that tangible.

The rifle prices they list on their site does include a Shilen barrel, but it is not a "Stainless Select Match" grade (Shilen's best), that would be $125 extra. Good that they are up front about that, bad that a $2900 rifle does not automatically get the highest grade barrel.

For me personally, the biggest problem would probably be the inflexibility on chambering - I was not looking for anything fancy, just a .222 Rem or a 6mm BR in a single shot rifle (no magazine problems). I was not so impressed either with the accuracy they would "guarantee" - not a real guarantee, but what they expect to see during testing.

On the positive side, their actions are supposedly good (but so are Halls or Nesikas), and they are supposedly fast with advertized delivery within 90 days - that is way better than a lot of other gunsmiths I have dealt with.

I think I would have no problem choosing Ed Brown for a big game rifle, I'm not sure it would be the way I would go for a varmint/target rig.

FWIW - mike

I've owned an Ed Brown 308 Marine Sniper for quite some time. It shoots Federal Gold Medal 168g Match King factory loads under .3MOA all day long. It's reliable, very well balanced and (incredibly) not very sensitive to bore fouling after too many shots between cleanings. I liked Ed's work so much that I ordered another in 300 Win Mag.

For what it's worth, these days they automatically use the Shilen Select Match in their rifles. I exchanged emails with them today confirming the same.

Johan:
I know you specified an Ed Brown rifle but if your friend can't get one in the caliber he wants, would he consider a Cooper? A friend of mine had several and all were very accurate. His .220 Swift would print 3 touching at 100 yds. I've kicked around getting myself a .22-250 Imp. from them but since we have no prarie dogs here in Ak., it's hard to justify. Prices on theirhome page went around $1700 or so as I recall. Just an idea for you. Later, Bear