I have always wanted one of these and considering this rifle in a 25/06. No experience myself with this model, much experience with the 25/06- have one in a model 700.
Do any of you own and use the B78? Any difficulties with it? Thanks for all feedback

Not sure if this is the same as the Winchester high wall 1885 but appears quite similar.....

I have a 1885 low wall in .17 HMR.....not thrilled with it at all.

Maybe they are unrelated guns as I'm not at all sure about this.

What is your chief complaint?

My only experience with a B78 was through a friend....
A close friend had a B78 in 30-06 and loved it. It was a great rifle and very accurate, usually putting three rounds well under 3/4" (sometimes 5 shots under) at 100 yards.
He got into a money crunch and was forced to sell it and has regretted it ever since. I wish I would have in a position to have bought it from him. It was a GREAT rifle.

Bob Sears (formerly of the NRA Technical staff) did quite a bit of design work on the B-78. He told me once that Browning made him re-design the original 1885 Win. trigger and that the result was a trigger that left a lot to be desired. Canjar advertised a trigger for the rifle back in the early 80's but I have never seen one. The B-78 was a very handsome and well finished rifle.

I used mine for deer hunting for about 30 years. As a lefty, I appreciated the ambidextrous quality of it,( and the octagonal barrel is way cool). Mine was, and still is, supremely accurate with handloads. I've never had an issue with it.
That said, there are a few points which have been revealed over the years. The trigger is kind of creepy, not crisp. I've never had the action apart to clean it out. Takedown and reassembly is more than I'm willing to try. Lastly the exposed hammer makes scope selection critical. You have to get your thumb between the the hammer and the scope bell to cock it. Since the hammer is drawn into the action when opened, a hammer extension is not an option. To me, none of those issues were a deal breaker. I took loads of deer with that rifle.

Have one in .22-250 with octagon barrel. It is VERY accurate. Trigger has some slop but not a deal breaker. Hammer is tough to manipulate with the 6-18x redfield I have on it, my only real complaint. Not sure the fix for that. Only matters if you're lowering it back down on a hot chamber.

I ran the hell out of one in .30-06, back in another lifetime. Superbly accurate, lousy trigger that I got used to and then didn't mind it. I detail stripped it exactly once, whereupon it took me three evenings of trial and error (and much cussing) to get it back together- and I swore on all that was holy that I would never do that again, and I didn't.

One of a half dozen rifles I sold over the last 30 years that I wish I had back.

Worked on scores of them during my tenure in the Browning gunsmithing shop, the trigger was a piece of crap hard to re-assemble and hard to keep in adjustment. Usually when an owner attempted to adjust the trigger he wound up with a non-functioning trigger. The rifle came into the shop and we adjusted it to factory specs, and no sooner did the owner get it back they repeated the same exercise. Got to the point that on rifles with that kind of history we applied a red sealant to the trigger adjustment screws. When a rifle with red sealant came into the shop no matter how the owner pleaded to get it repaired at N/C they were always charged. Some never learned, if there were adjustment screws there they were darn sure going to adjust them.

I have a b-78 in 22-250, bull barrel.Have not shot it too much yet, tried a few loads ,and finally got one to about a 3/4 " 3 shot group at 100. Trigger has some creep, but not a bad pull at all. As another poster mentioned, it can be kind of tricky letting the hammer down because of scope clearance. Had another I got rid of a few years ago, it was the 1885 with octagon barrel in 7mag.I think the difference between the two is the 1885 missing the pistol grip.
Single shots have a real 'coolness factor' in my opinion!!

texasmac posted this the other day. He knows a thing or two about these.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...n-low-walls-22bpcra-options#Post15046251

I've owned one 1878, a .45/70, and currently have two 1885 Low Walls, a .22 Hornet and a .44 Magnum Traditional Hunter. The 1885s and current Browning B78s are the same rifle, with a safer trigger than the B78 of yore. Both depart significantly internally from the original Browning and Winchester, but are wonderful rifles regardless. The Brownings, B78 and 1885, from the 70's(?) on through until the branding was changed often (usually) have very nice to stunning wood. Winchester-branded ones have been plainer from the pics I've seen. Mine are both pretty nice. There was one for sale here just days ago, a rare .260 Low Wall, that's simply gorgerous. Those command serious money, but if there was any room here, I would've picked it off.

Buy this, and let me stop dreaming....
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/15042114/1

I bought a 1994 Browning B78 26-06 from SWFA in 2016 for $800 + shipping and FFL.

I made a video on how I converted the sling swivel in the rear to Uncle Mike's studs.

The bipod was too close.
I made a Walnut forend so I could mount a bipod further forward.



I had so many rifles to test in 2016 that my 25-06 handloading mistakes, set this rifle back, and other rifles shot the deer and antelope in 2016. In the safe I see now some other rifle stole the bipod.

Nice gun though.

Thanks for all the feedback. Good information.
The triggers issues are not a real concern to me, like the external hammer, I have a few leverguns including BLR's .
I tried and traded a Ruger #1 that didn't have the outside hammer, a break action doesn't work for me.
I spend my falls hunting sheep thought that the lighter version might be a good addition to the armory. It will bang it up but am not a collector type..

actually two.....
1. almost complete inability to mount a scope.
2. very poor accuracy IMO.....and yes, somewhat related to inability to mount a scope.

I went in search recently for a replacement for the long ago .30-06 B78. I got sidetracked by an unfired 20 year old Browning/Miroku Low Wall in .223, and snagged it. (Pappy348- it's the one you saw in the trunk of my car a few months ago.) Godalmighty is it accurate, with a pretty decent trigger. I stuck a Plain Jane Leupold 3-9 on it. With 55 Hornaday's + CFE-223 (the load I have stockpiled for the AR) it'll put 5 well under an inch. With 40 grain Berger FB Varmint + CFE223 it'll slop 3 into 3/8MOA and 5 into 5/8MOA. Only limiter is its slow-ish twist, but I could care less as longrange/heavy bullet shooting isn't in my wheelhouse anymore.

My B78 has an octagon barrel, but came with bases.
My Browning 1885 has an octagon barrel, and I made shims of paper to measure how thick to make a metal shim to make Weaver bases to fit on the tapered octagon barrel and keep the scope tube parallel with the bore.


With metal shim.


Shot animal with shim.

What about a rail mount option? Not that difficult to have made.

I have a fairly complete machine shop to do that. I'll give it consideration. Thank you.

It's not drilled and tapped? Thought Talley had mounts for those.

The triggers ain't great, but are perfectly usable. Never touched the ones on my Hornet or .44. The B78 .45/70, for which I traded a perfectly good Garcia Sako. 223 with Lyman 8x (😱), had been futzed with by the original owner and it took a while to get it adjusted back to a usable state. That same guy showed me his M70 Swift, and he had adjusted that one so light that if you pulled the trigger with the safety on, then released the safety with your finger off the trigger, it snapped. He thought it was great. I thought he was nuts.

My Hornet, which I've talked about here until many are no doubt fed up, is a great shooter. If forced to choose only one rifle from my little pile, it's the one.

Yes, The receiver ring has two holes (assumedly) for 6-48 threads about 5/8" apart.....I do have some aluminum here and can make a rail for it....

Thanks for the feedback

comerade;
Good evening to you sir, I hope the day out east in your part of the world was as nice and sunny as it was here and this finds you well.

Back in the day, I worked with two different B78 rifles, one for a longer time in .25-06 and briefly with a .30-06.

As others have mentioned, one absolutely wants to make sure that the trigger has not been messed with or they're quite vexing to get back in working order. The .30-06 was brought to my shop not working and I must say it wasn't a quick job for me having never done one previously to get it functioning properly again.

The .25-06 was the 26" octagon barrel and I've never seen them in any other configuration, though some of them were a round barrel for sure.

It shot best with the fore end not touching the front of the receiver or the barrel, so what we ended up doing was that I made another slightly beefier fore end up that was bedded onto the tang which runs forward of the receiver.

We also installed a trigger shoe on it to mitigate the pull feel somewhat and the owner and I felt it was an improvement.

His had the factory two piece Redfield type mounts and while they get some poor reviews, we had no issues with them as far as I can recall.

It shot everything from 75gr HP to 117gr Spires extremely well.

Hopefully that was somewhat useful information for you or someone out there tonight.

All the best to you all whichever way you decide.

Dwayne

I looked at it, nice, but no way worth $2500 to me. No temptation for me, none.

Tom

Thanks Dwayne, lots of useful info, I added trigger shoes to my Browning BLR's with success. I also found shooting these off the reciever beneficial.
Warm and dry here today , we are hoping to get going on our haying this week. Earlier ,we were in your country to see a Kelowna Doc and saw a bit of black hay around- poor guys, hope our luck is better. Doing a bit of tire kicking on 70 ish hp tractors to pass the time, also
Hey Dwayne , I have never seen so many tattoos anywhere. I think Kelowna might lead the pack in this category. Cheers

My father-in-law had one. His son has it now. Got to play around with it about 25yrs ago. 100gr NBT, 52gr IMR4350, F210 match primer yielded back-to-back-to-back 3/4" groups. Not much you can't do with that.

comerade;
Thanks for the reply sir, I appreciate it.

Indeed tattoos seem to be the place to spend money for many of the younger set.

While I can appreciate the art involved, when my kids asked me if I'd ever considered one and I replied, "No because if you ever have to disappear it's one more thing to worry about" is something they still bring up! As you can well imagine, having me as a father was "interesting" for our girls on many days I'm certain!

If you end up with a B78, I have a box full of parts for one, including an action actually, but the falling block part is damaged as I recall. Long story from another time and place with more parts that I inherited. Anyways should you need parts, give me a shout as I might have it?

My buddy and hunting partner who owned the .25-06 still talks about regretting selling it back then and it was really not a bad arm at all.

The only thing I didn't like about it as opposed to a No. 1 is that the falling block is narrower, so when one is reloading it, one can "thumb" the round in with a No. 1, but with the B78 one has to push the round home with a thinner digit, say your index finger as the thumb sorta doesn't fit well.

We both liked the fact it could be safely carried loaded with the hammer down, which made it a better horse hunting rifle in many ways than the No. 1 that I used for years.

Again I hope that made some sense and was useful sir.

Dwayne

He came down. Also, he's local to me, so that would simplify things. But, I'm full up right now, and my efforts to thin things out haven't gone anywhere. Guess everyone is busy buying anti-riot stuff.

Here is the answer to the trigger issue - I have had him do a couple for me. He is inexpensive, quicak turn around and it only requires removing the butt stock and trigger and mailing it to him. -about a 10 minute job.

http://stores.leeshavergunsmithing.com/

http://www.bpcr1885.net/trigger-work/

Both mine came back right at a consistent 2 lbs.

drover

I bought a used B78 in 270 Win several years ago.I bought it on GB.The trigger had been worked on by someone that knew what they were doing as it broke at 2 1/2 pounds.The wood had been stripped and refinished in a satin oil finish.It had super wood.A Vias muzzle brake was also installed.I sold it to someone here.I forget who.That is one I regret having sold.

The trigger on the B78 is absolutely the WORST trigger design I have ever seen. The Colt Sauer was awful but worlds better than the B78. With the B78, you can adjust it to be three ways. It can be light and mushy, heavy and mushy, or non-functional. A real good B78 trigger, if it was on a model 70 Winchester would be called crap. The Canjar trigger, which eliminated half of the parts in the factory effort, could be an excellent trigger but it was the only trigger canjar produced which included instructions for honing to achieve a decent pull. Because the trigger is located in a housing which is stressed and distorted when the stock through bolt is tightened, one could set the trigger with the stock removed and then, when the stock was replaced, the trigger would not function or would exhibit creep. Still, if one can find one of the Canjar triggers, he should snap it up; it is the only way to achieve a real good trigger. I installed a half-dozen of them and felt they were a great option. When it comes to trigger design, less is more and fewer parts equals a better design.
Apart from the trigger, the B78 was a nicely made rifle. metal finish was pretty good for a mass produced rifle; at least as good as the Ruger of the same vintage. I didn't think the stock was as good in design or execution as the Ruger. GD

I have the B-78 round barrel in 30-06. Accuracy is more than acceptably, .75" with Winchester 180 gr. Power points. The trigger is OK at best once you get used to it and me being ham fisted as hell decided I'l leave it be and not mess with it.
I have two complaints. One is clearance between the hammer and a scope. No way you can safely lower that hammer in cold weather with gloves on. It's difficult enough in hot weather. The second is that shiny finish. I've had three Browning with that finish, a T bolt years ago that I regret like hell ever selling and currently the B-78 and BLR in .358 Win. Look closely at the stock and over time the finish cracks along the grain lines. The fancier the wood the more noticeable the cracks. I've also seem those cracks on other brownings that I considered buying. I don't know what they use for that finish but it's one hell of a job getting it off to redo the the stock. I learned that on the T bolt.
These days I just use the B-78 as a cast bullet shooter. It does real well running 220 gr. cast for fun and games..
Paul B.

I never felt handicapped by the hammer on mine. I suppose it has more to do with the size of the ocular bell itself than with the design. I bought mine back before Hubble telescopes became all the rage with riflemen- the old Weaver 3-9 certainly wasn't in the way of my manipulating the hammer (and it served me well the whole time I campaigned the gun).

The Europeans have sold American riflemen on the ocular lens/power adjustment mechanism that is the size of a 12oz beer can. Even with the 70mm objective bell that beer can is in the way, bigly.

I bought a .45/70 the Monday before Thanksgiving in 1976 and hunted with it until about 3 years ago when I sold it. The Friday after Thanksgiving I killed a little buck with it and that was the last time I used factory ammo for game. I set up to shoot only cast bullet loads in it then progressed to paper patch bullets and killed more pounds of meat with it than any other rifle I had. Deer and elk just taste better when killed with a home made bullet. The trigger on mine was mushy but, I learned to live with it and I mounted a Burris 2 3/4 power scope on it so there wasn't much interference with the hammer.

My son shoots a 6MM B78, left to him by his grandpa. It has a full bull barrel and it is a shooter. He won the Prairie Dog shoot with factory ammo a couple of years ago at the Armijo Springs Campfire get together. For a single shot, its heavy, but not any heavier than other rifles. The only complaint is setting the trigger..... its a pain in the wahoo. Also if you take it down, be sure to not lose or break the pin behind the trigger mechanism. They are almost impossible to find and putting the thing back together, without the tools made by the gentlemen in Ca., is almost impossible.

Beautiful rifles!!

Coming home from the service in 1977 (after all my guns had been stolen), I bought a B78 .25-06 octagon barrel as the very first rifle toward a new collection. Caliber choice was toward "Mice to Moose", and the gun has served well in that range ever since. I considered a Ruger #1 (Dad hunted with one), but I liked the smaller action and trimmer lines of the Browning.

Deadly accurate, and with the 26" barrel (there was a Wyoming edition with a 28!), handload velocities nip at the heels of factory .257 Weatherby.

My only regret is not investing in a Canjar trigger when they were available. The trigger is "learnable", but not crisp. I put mine in a very reputable shop for that and got little improvement.

Such was not enough of a "turn-off" to keep me away from buying a fat-barreled .22-250, then a .45-70 (new in the box and I sold it to a friend still new in the box 15 years later with the agreement that I got to shoot it first). Quality of wood in each gun is phenomenal. Original scope I bought for the .25 was a Leupold 3x-9x. More recently a 6.5-20x was installed and the gun can use it.

There are a number of methods for these guns (and the Ruger #1) to increase accuracy by hanging the forearm in a different fashion. I have reprints of an article that outlines these methods, and picked a simpler method out of those offered with noticeable improvement in the .25-06 and the .22-250.

Thanks everyone for the feedback..
Meanwhile the arrangement I had on this particular rifle fell through. I will keep looking.Cheers

That's unfortunate, but if you keep looking you will run across another one. The .25-06 seems to be the most common. If you run into an 1885, you might be happy with it. The stock is different and the trigger is generally better. A little safer too since you can't lower the hammer past the half cock.


Jerry

My friend has a B-78 in 45/70. It's pretty accurate for such a hard kicking SOB.

Ugly lever

Can’t get excited about an exposed hammer and lousy trigger (and no fixes for this) on a scoped hunting rifle. Fit and finish are beyond reproach.

I had the later (but very similar) Browning 1885 in .243 for a while. Same deal as many have already mentioned: Very accurate and pretty wood, but the trigger sucked. Took it to the only gunsmith I knew who I'd trust with such a project. Among other things he could reregulate double rifles, and rebarrel double shotguns--with barrels he made himself, partly due to having apprenticed for a couple years with Krieghoff when he started out. He did as much as he dared to the trigger, and improved the pull maybe 10%.

Lee Shaver did my .300 H&H and got the trigger down to 2 lbs, but it took him several months and many phone calls to get my trigger back. Most guys report two week turn a round.

Last year there was a nice looking B78 in 25-06 at a local sporting goods store consigned there by an employee. Expressing interest in it, I asked the seller about it. He stated forthrightly that both he and his grandfather had a frustrating time finding any load the gun would shoot accurately, and they had tried several factory and handloads. Not needing a project, I lost interest in the gun. It sold a few weeks later. From this string it is obvious that others have had better experiences with the B78.

I have a 22-250 LNIB, bought it about 20 years ago to shoot woodchucks in New Jersey, the coyotes just about wiped them out. I have a Leupold 6.5-20 scope on it, I can put 5 Winchester 40 grainers from Wally World on a bottle cap. Trigger is "spongy", still shoots great, a little heavy, would make a great box blind gun if it were 6mm or 25-06. It sits in the safe. Someday I will stumble on woodchuck central.

I located another in a .270 WCF, bad trigger and all. Bad triggers are on all of my leverguns ,so I am used to it.
Now if the stars align - and I get delivery of it .
Do these rifles have long throat like the Ruger #1?

I don't think so. The one I have is a 30-06 and it has a standard throat, at least as far as I can tell. Decently accurate too.
Paul B.

Well , the rifle has been shipped to me. I am looking forward to trying it, and the inevitable alterations.
The first problem is , the thing is immaculate, this will have to change. A new truck needs a few scratches and dents to feel like a real truck....ditto for a using rifle.
I have owned and used a Ruger #1, and feel out of favor with it, p.o.i. walked around to much, I found it needed an external hammer for safety sakes ( did not like the tang safety even for a few moments)and the final insult- the tiny coil spring on the lever fell out when the tiny set screw backed out - this held the action closed.
This happened just before a northern sheep hunt, and why you take a backup rifle. I would of applied Teflon or lock tight had I known.
Perhaps the Browning will disappoint, but either way I should learn something.
Open to all suggestions and thanks.
Question- has anyone tried a long eye relief scope on a rifle like this? Cheers

I don't know whether the scope mount location would accommodate a LER scope.

I have the rifle now, the trigger is crisp, fairly light and no travel. I took it to a roping practice, and after ,over a beer or five I showed it to my neighbor...he really liked the trigger.A Weatherby man..
Others can chime in any time but this trigger is very good and not what I was expecting

I'm guessing that must be an 1885 because I don't think they ever chambered the B78 in 270. You have a better chance of getting a decent trigger with one of those.


Jerry

According to Wikipedia :

Browning B-78. First built in 1973 and discontinued in 1983, this single shot rifle was initially offered in .22-250, 6 mm Remington, .25-06, and .30-06. .243 and 7mm Rem Mag was added to the standard rifle line and a .45-70 version was added on a heavier frame.

According to this it never came in .270. Funny thing is i thought it did. Silly me.
Paul B.

I tried to put Talley mounts and rings on a B 78 octagon barrel in .25-06. There is a difference in ring heights of .13 inch in order to have a level scope. I sent the Tally's back and got Leupold rings but had to buy a set of low and a set of medium to get the proper alignment. I was quite disappointed about this (as I like Tally products) but the customer support person at Tally did not have a clue as to the ring height difference.

Set up now with a scope with a 1" tube the rifle will shoot an inch group at a 100 yards easily. I have no trigger issues with this one but have read all the horror stories so I just stay away from it. It shoots 117 gr. SST's very well.

I am doing a little research on this new rifle of mine...it is a Miroku B78,
It has talley mounts , I will remove these for a P rail, ( our little machine shop/ gunsmith will come up with this. I will then put on a long eye relief rifle scope
The Zeiss Conquest scope will be sold
It needs no trigger work at all, it is quite nice.
I have wanted one of these rifles for a long period of time and just might use it for Bighorns this fall.

I have two 78 Brownings, both have the Browning bases and rings.
Yesterday, I tried changing the scope from the mid-70's Redfield to a late model scope and noticed Leupold rings wont fit the bases.
With the new scope, there is no room for my thumb to lower the hammer to half cock.
Going to order Weaver bases and use different rings.

Quote "We also installed a trigger shoe on it to mitigate the pull feel somewhat and the owner and I felt it was an improvement."
More info about the trigger shoe, please
thanks

I have shot my B78 25-06.
As I have my Browning 1885, Uberti 1885, and Ruger #1. They are all good to me.

I have not shot my Win 1885 45/60, as it has issues.

Can anyone help me find bases and rings for a B78

bg7m;
Good morning to you sir, I hope that the day's looking to be a nice one in your part of the world and all else is as it should be for you and yours.

While I can't recall much regarding the specifics of the exact trigger shoe we used, I'll do my best to outline the standard procedure of rifles we equipped with them.

For the longest time in the late '80's and '90's, I would buy each and every trigger shoe I was able to lay hands on, the thought being that the supply would eventually dry up.

As far as brands, foggy semi-old guy memory recalls seeing Tyler, Ace and Flaigs on some of them, but surely there may have been others as well.

Since I had a parts drawer well stocked with them, I'd find one that was close to fitting or would actually fit, then would hot glue it in place as well as using the factory twin installation screws.

We'd discovered - the hard way of course as most things of lasting value are - that if the arms were subjected to horses, quads or mountain hikes there was a better than good chance of the shoe falling off somewhere, sometime.

The hot glue solved that little issue then and there and I do not believe any of our arms or those of folks I've worked on lost a shoe with that adhesive used. Of course a wee bit of heat with a heat gun will have it fall off and in an emergency up the mountain, after the screws are loosened, it can be knocked off with a bit of a hit with a punch, but I would say that some triggers and housings are less robust than others and on an old Parker Hale trigger for instance I would not recommend hitting it with anything ever. As in never, ever, never....

The supply of triggers shoes has, as expected, completely dried up or at least become inflated to a point where I'm not finding them for under $50 CDN when the shipping and exchange gets factored in.

Anyways sir, sorry I can't be more help than that, but hopefully it was at least somewhat useful for you or someone out there in the ether space.

All the best to you this fall.

Dwayne

I plan to exchange my Browning bases and rings to Weaver bases and Burris rings.
If they work, I will have mine available

I have an 1885 in 45-90 that seems to be a very fine rifle.
There is a trick to getting the trigger "right". My brother had one he used to shoot at the Quigley. I'm not sure if that is where he got the method of getting that trigger so nice, but he did the magic on mine.

S&K has them; their gloss rings look great on my B-78; 257 Wby mag

The DA has a crap load of them and 1885 in most calibers.

He has a 25-06 that i really like to shoot because it does a darn good job of being mostly a one hole rifle.

I have 2- 22-250,7mm,270 and and another 25-06 that has a really long barrel.

A Wyoming commemorative that has has some use.

Just shot it today and it too shows promise.

Some of them seem to be a tad heavier than what i thought they should.

They can shoot with the right load and the wood is fantastic.

I do have a Winchester 1885 in 17M2 that shoots nice.

They are made by the same company in Japan.

Just to add my $.02 on these rifles:

I bought an 1885 High Wall Hunter from Cabelas on sale around the 2009 time frame. .325WSM, 28" octagon barrel, straight grip, good looking wood. It's a looker, but certainly no light weight. Though, the market place has not been kind to it, the .325WSM is still a dandy elk round.

I had a heckofa time mounting a scope to it. After trying a few options, I finally settled on Burris Pos-Align rings on Weaver bases, with the front base shimmed up to get it close to level with the rear base. I then used the offset plastic inserts in the Burris rings to bring the scope into final alignment with no stress on the tube. What a kludge, and it looks like hell. But it works.

Despite the scope mounting difficulties, the gun is a shooter. I didn't hand load back then, so I was limited to factory rounds. It's been a long time since I shot it, but I remember it putting 5 shots into less than 3/4" with 200gn factory loads. That ugly abortion of a scope mount made me lose interest in it. And, except to cannibalize it for its scope, it has sat in the back of the safe untouched ever since.

It is my understanding that there are specific scope mounts now available for these guns. Mounting the scope properly, and some handloads with this rifle could be a lot of fun . . . .

Conetrol Mounts in Texas has them in Matte or gloss. I have bought two sets, one for a 25-06 & a 7mm mag. Both have octagon barrels, but I am pretty sure they have them for round barrel. You will be very pleased. Know what scope you will use when you order as they will need to know what ring height.

I tried Talley and they finally decided they didn't have an answer, now that may have changed in the last 2 years. I spoke to Leupold technical support and they don't have them.

I’ve had one in 25-06 for 30 years. Shoots great does flow brass bad. Un/tunable trigger

Send the trigger Lee Shaver Gunsmithing. He will furnish you with instructions on removal so you don't have to send the gun.

Good shootin' -Al

Interesting thread. Never had a B78 from all the trigger problems associated with them I never will own one. They don't make them anymore gee I wonder why.. carry on..mb

I have a Talley 1 piece base on my B78 and my Low Wall 22 hornet. I like them a lot.

Granted they had weird triggers with lots of creep but a fairly light let-off. Seriously, like a lot of things in life it's not something you can't get used to. I bounce around between a lot of rifles with wildly varying triggers, from double-set's and single-set's on vintage single shot target rifles to standard two-stage pulls on U.S. milsurps, and everything in between both light and hard. Not a one of them can't be managed, and I certainly wouldn't condemn any of them for their triggers not meeting a strict criteria.

The closest I’ve got to a Browning 78 is my 1885 45-90. I had a 280 in a Ruger #1 but sold it here on the Fire. Not sure why I did that.
I’m hoping for a Bison tag someday. I’d take that 45-90.

I always like the B-78. A friend brought one pronghorn hunting with us one year in 6mm Rem. If he would have mentioned that it was for sale, I would have come up with the money somehow!

All;
Good afternoon to all the folks interested in B78's out there, I hope that you're getting the weather you need this summer and that you and all who matter in your world are well.

Since this thread got resurrected I thought I'd add a couple of photos and the story behind "the box full of parts" that I mentioned to comerade.

Way back in the day a shooting mentor of mine - now gone as well - ended up with all the firearms when a neighbor of his who was somewhat of a gunsmith/gunmaker passed on. Part of what he got was a box full of B78 parts which included a cracked butt stock, the 26" octagon factory barrel in .22-250 with slightly buggered threads and most of the rest of the action and contents.

Here's one view of the action.



And another.



Missing from the box of parts was the hammer which apparently was never found, but otherwise I believe most of it's there, though the lever/trigger guard is broken and someone tried to weld it up unsuccessfully.

I should have taken a better photo of the front of the action because the threads aren't minty fresh on it. For the life of me I can't recall if the barrel was only loose or if it was blown off the front.

The fore end wood was too many pieces to salvage apparently.

Of course I suspect inquiring minds would be curious as to how this all took place and when buddy had asked the gunsmith about it, he said that his "best guess" was that he'd loaded a .250 round into it instead of a .22-250.

That's all I know, but other than being a mystery it's been a topic of conversation in my shop from time to time. Especially when someone comes in and proclaims that "you can't blow up a drop block single shot".

Honestly I wish I had photos of the blown up Husky that a buddy showed me, but he wasn't even keen on showing me, much less having photos taken. It held up better in some ways than the B78, but all we could salvage was the rear action screw and the safety as I recall. It was pretty much toast as well.

Thanks for looking and all the best.

Dwayne

My 78’ 6mm is one of my favorite rifles, looks, feels, shoots amazing. 👊🏻

I have a 78 in .243, it has a Canjar set trigger and has a Talley one piece scope base
I'm not smart enough to figure out how to post a photo of it here