Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Combination Guns and Drillings BRNO ZH104 7 x 57R over 12ga

Just arrived, complete with factory scope mounts.




Just loaded some ammo. Going out to try it tomorrow.

Ted

Nice. I had a 304 for a good while, and it was a really good solid gun, which accounted for numerous rabbits, foxes and other small stuff, birds, pigs and deer.

You may know this, but when you shoot for groups you should leave a good break between shots. It will probably put the first two close together from a cold barrel, but after that the shots will tend to walk as the rifle barrel heats up, so it is a good idea to take another gun or two to the range so you can put this one by for a while between shots.

Not an issue in the field though, where usually you take one shot and then go pick up your game.

FWIW I found a 1.5-6 scope near ideal on this gun, and I have one on my drilling too. At 1.5x I was fine for running and flying game, while 6x lets you reach out with the rifle barrel.

Hope you enjoy this gun!

That's really nice Ted!

These are really solid guns, a bit heavy but great shooters. Having the original scope mount is nice. Mine is in 5.6x52R(22 Sav. HP)/12ga and is my go to travel rig as I have a set of shotgun barrels for it also. I have a 1.5-4.5x20 Nikon Monarch on mine. I use a number of Leupold VX series 1-4x20mm on combo guns also. PPV 7x57R 139 gr SP's have proven to be very accurate in my drilling.

Hi Erich

My ZH304 also liked the PPU 139 gn.

How is that skeet barrel set?

Here, for comparison, is my ZH300 setup:

Unless I am mistaken, the rear trigger is single selective, able to fire both barrels. Is there a way to change the order of firing?

Thanks,
Ted

I don't believe mine is, rear trigger is the rifle, front the shotgun. You can change the firing order by pulling the front trigger first, that's why the put it there if your rear acts as a single non-selective trigger. I wondered about that when I saw a o/u shotgun with what appears to have the front trigger removed. Maybe just the double shotguns are set up that way, it would seem to be pretty useless on a rifle/shotgun combo.

Okay, put an old Leupold 2-7X28 on the BRNO, and headed to the range. Just got back a few minutes ago. One of the advantages of living North of 60!



Sighted in dead-on centre at 25 yards with three Hornady 139 gr Interlock Spitzers ahead of 40 gr of IMR 3031 and CCI 200s

Took one shot with a 175 gr Interlock RN ahead of 34 gr of same, and it touched the centred hole.

Let the rifle get cold while checking a 270, and the next 175 gr whacked the six-inch round clanger at 200 meters on our silhouette range. All this at 2 power. Not too bad for the first five shots. It surely won't need much load development.

Tried one thrown clay bird with a skeet load, and managed to break it when I finally found it in the scope. Obviously need to find something of lower magnification. Have an old Weaver V4.5, 1.5-4.5X20, here on a 300 Savage. Going to form some more brass, and will give that a try the next outing.

Oh, and the rear trigger is single selective. It fires the shotgun barrel first, and then the rifle barrel, and does so without needing any recoil to reset. Pulling the front trigger fires the rifle barrel.

Safety is automatic. Resets every time the gun is opened.

Ted

I have the same rifle in 22High Power. It shoots 70 grain bullets into 4" groups. I think the 1-12" twist doesn't fully stabalize the really long bullets Shorter 63 Sierra Spitzers, even though only .223 diameter shoot into 1.5 MOA with 4064. The 7mm would be very versatile. Great find!

North61, you might want to try some Buffalo arms .228 bullets, I believe they come in 45, 55 and 60 gr. I shoot the 55's for coyotes.




Link to Buffalo Arms .228 bullets, 45gr are on page one.

https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloading-supplies-accessories/jacketed-lead-copper-coated-bullets?p=2

I have five boxes of S&B 70gr SP but haven't fired them for a group yet.

Hi Eric,

The rear trigger fires the shotgun barrel on the first pull, and the rifle barrel on the second. I tried changing the firing order by firing the rifle barrel with the front trigger, and then reloading trying the rear trigger. It still fired the shot barrel first and then the rifle barrel.

Ted

Erich,

I've shot quite a few S&B 22HP softs in my Valmet, and they do OK. I figure the 22HP is at most a 200yd deer round (pushing it), and the S&B shoot a nice minute of mulie. Never measured, but I'm guessing 1.5-2 MOA in my gun. I need to clock the twist sometime, but why would Valmet make a gun for decades with too slow a rate for the HP?

It's interesting that the BRNOs have a single non-selective rear trigger. I can't quite figure out why??? Maybe it's for shooting with O/U shotgun tubes.

Yukoner,

IMO the 7X57R is one of the great combination gun rounds, and in the very strong BRNO you can heat them up a bit. That makes your gun just that much better.

A mate of mine gets very good accuracy with 70 gn bullets in his ZH305 - cloverleafs at 100m. I don't remember what variety they are - Hornady I think.

I think that the trigger arrangement makes a good deal of sense given that you can swap your combo set for a shotgun set. The shotgun barrels have the same chokes, but firing the bottom barrel first (using the rear trigger) gives less muzzle jump, so you can get the second barrel away quicker, especially since you don't need to move your finger to the other trigger.

Of course you still have the option of firing the top barrel first if you want to. Best of both worlds really.

Makes sense

Wow..that is darn good shooting!

Thanks for the heads-up on the barrel heating, Dan. I haven't noticed any serious walking yet, but have only been shooting a few rounds at a a time at the range.

My hunting with this outfit will be for grouse and ptarmigan, and moose, bear and our big mountain caribou bulls which are the size of mature elk. Planning to use plain vanilla 175gr soft points at around 2400 fps on the big stuff and light target loads for the birds.

So far, it has been very satisfactory. Looking forward to this Fall.

Ted

Happy Birthday, Ted !

Tried several ways to get Buffalo Arms bullets up to Canada but struck out. 63 Sierras will have to do.

You might try this bullet.

Nosler 22 Caliber 64 Grain Bonded Solid Base Bullets w/ Cannelure

http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosl...-solid-based-w-cannelure-blem-100ct.html