Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Browning B78 rings

Does anyone have experience changing the rings on their B78? I went to the range today with an almost new Burris mounted in the rings (super low) that came with the rifle. They’re purpling up so they’re getting a few years on them and I thought they might be original. The bases are original Browning and standard Leupold or Burris twist-ins will fit them. There was not enough elevation adjustment to get it shooting lower than 4 or 5 inches high at 100. So what rings do I need? I tried bore sighting it with matched mediums and it was waaaay too high so I switched back to the very low rings and thought I had it. Not. Need a voice of experience. It seems I need a lower front ring. Will that kink the scope tube with a medium rear? BTW it’s the tapered octagonal barrel.

OldRooster,

My B78 had the original rings and bases. They were made by Burris. The proper match up of rings is higher in the front, lower in the rear.
With mine that was low rear and medium front. It was scoped with a Leupold M8 6x and worked perfectly.

Aboltfan, thank you. I’m going to measure mine & I’m going to look through my collection again to see what height rings I have. I’d like to have a medium in back and high in front so I get better hammer clearance.

Another thing to be aware of is the orientation of the front base. Sometimes people put it on backwards to try to move a short scope back to get the eye relief correct. It is designed to be mounted with the rounded end forward.

Someone advised that Talley makes a set of mounts that work well. I have not seen them.


Jerry

Jerryv, the base is correctly mounted and the rings appear to be the right heights. It has me scratching my head. I guess it’s possible there is a problem with the scope elevation adjustment. When I set up my 1885 it was smooth and easy. As I understand it the Talley base is for the heavy round barrel rifles and mine has the tapered octagon.

With just the bottom halves of the rings mounted to the bases, try holding a steel straight edge in the bottom of the rings. If the height is off or one of the bases is at the wrong angle, it will only touch at the edges of the rings.

If the rings appear to be correct, try setting the scope in v-blocks and rotate it while looking through it. If the tube is bent, the image will move around as you rotate.

Jerry

Jerryv, trying it this evening.

When I purchased my 1885 in 7 mag I ordered a ring set from Conetrol. They look awesome.

DubThomas, I checked with Conetrol. They’re still making bases for the B78 octagonal barrel. Pretty pricey but I’m guessing they’re made as ordered so they’re basically a one-off product.