What calibers were the B-78’s made in ?

I know 6mm rem, 25-06, 30-06 & 7mm rem mag. + a few others.
Supposedly 243 win. I guess it's like shelf space in the store idea as I see no reason for a short case cartridge in a bbl longer than 20".
I have a b78 in 25-06 and 243 in the short handy #1rsi. Enjoy em both.

I owned a 6mmRem...sadly sold it...

I had a .45/70 and sold it with glee. That buttplate from Hell about killed me. Lovely rifle othewise, but I traded a nice Sako .223 for it and wish I had THAT back.

I've seen .22/250s for sale.

What is the difference between the B-78 and the Winchester 1885 Highwall and Low wall ?

Mainly the triggers from a mechanical standpoint.

Browning brought out the 1885 after the B78. Those still had awesome wood in many or most cases. Later, after Winchester was acquired, the line was moved to that entity, and the nice wood went away. Browning revived the B78 name, but mechanically they are/were 1885s.

The 1885 trigger is nearly impossible to have a whoopsie with while lowering the hammer. They are great guns, pretty wood or not. Someday I'd like to pickup one of the rimfires, though with the Hornet in hand, it'd be an excess.

The B78 was the original design and first patent of JM Browning. Made from 1878 to 1883.

Recent calibers manufactured include 22-250, 243 Winchester, 6mm Remington, 25-06 Remington, 7mm Mag, 30-06 & 45-70.

Only 671 243 Winchesters were made.

This may be helpful:

http://texas-mac.com/Comparing_Brownings_Model_1885_and_B-78_Rifles.html

Both versions are different from the original sold to Winchester. Ther have been some actual reproductions offered by various custom makers with parts that interchange with the old ones, but those things seem to come and go like the wind, and all I've seen were well out of my price range.

They are fine rifles and I hope to get one in the not too distant future.

There's a bunch out there, including new ones in 6 & 6.5 Creedmoor, sans the pretty wood. The old Browning LWs in .243 and especially .260 top out the price range, excluding the BPCRs.

In a pinch, I could make it with just my Hornet and the .44, especially if I scoped that .44, a minor sin I suppose.

I wouldn't turn my nose up at some of the Italian versions either. Pretty sure they're all for low-pressure rounds, but Pedersoli at least makes some fine barrels. One day I need to drive down to Taylors & Co. and scope out all the neat stuff they have.

My son has a B-78 in 6mm Rem. His grandfather left it to him and it's a fine rifle.

Sounds like a sweet rifle. I would love to have one in 6mm.

No offence but are you sure those years are correct? We are talking about the model 1885.
The B78 also has a different trigger mechanism than the original 1885.

Here is one in 300 H&H





and a better view of the wood!




ya!


GWB

I took that information from the Blue Book of Gun Values and feel pretty confident in the dates but it could be wrong, I suppose. I was talking about the 1878 as a background to the B-78 of recent manufacture.

Wow, what a beautiful rifle, geedubya.

You can say that again. Those are almost too pretty to shoot.

I thought the ones actually made by JMB were 1879s, but no matter.

Winchester made some changes to the original when they started making them, then the Browning/Miroku B78/1885s had some more. No matter to me; love them all. Curious folks can find exploded drawings online if they want to see the differences.

It was called the 1878, named I presume for the year of introduction. I'm not sure when JMB sold his patent to Winchester but I'm pretty confident it was after 1885.

Saw a 1885 in 6.5 X 55 yesterday Palmer AK Gunshow

Was that a Winchester?

Think it was theres a pic of it I posted in Savage collector. Looked like one of the ones CDNN had recently. At 2K I passed!

I wish Winchester and Browning would bring back some classic models. Like the B-78, 1895...

I don't blame you.

Seems like the .22-250 is the most common. I’ve seen a lot of them for sale lately .

Do you know who was selling that rifle and for how much? I've been searching for one in that caliber for years. I've seen one at a local gun show and they wanted 5K for it.

I've got an 1885 in 7 mag topped with a Leupold 3.5-10 in Conetrol mounts. It's a real shooter with 145 grain Speer Grand Slams and a max load of IMR 4831. I'm not a fan of the trigger though and am planning on sending it to my GS for a little work after Christmas.

Winchester has 1885s and 1895s listed right now, as well as '73s and others. Browning offered new B78s (really 1885s) recently, might again. Lots of past-production examples are for sale on and off on GB and other sites, at what I consider fair or sometimes really good prices, even NIB.

Some models have tang safeties, at the insistence of the parent company apparently, not Miroku the manufacturer. Older specimens often don't, so if that is a problem for you, shop carefully. None of the single-shots or '66-'73s have them even now.

I have this same one in 300 H&H. I am a sucker for highly figured wood.

Dub

Look at my post under Savage Collector there is a contact and a pic talk to Hugh about it. PM me if you need help. Kurt

I sent you a PM.

Did they correct the mushy trigger as found on the early 78's? I had a couple back in the day (.30-06 and .22-250) that sported the what were possibly the worst triggers I ever dealt with. The main reason I've avoided them for a loooong time. (That and the Rube Goldberg double mainsprings that were an unholy terror to re-assemble if one were crazy enough to detail strip the gun.)

When my son got the rifle from his granddad, the first thing he did was tear it down and give it a good cleaning. The rifle had started giving his granddad some type of trouble, but he didn't remember what (he hadn't shot the gun in 15 years). Anyway, putting that thing back together was a pain in the wazoo, but I did it. Turned out there is a small pin that had broken and the ejector would not work, with the rifle in the upright horizontal position. Turn it upside down and the ejector worked.

After a month of hunting this small pin, I was directed to a gentleman in Ca. that shot BPCR and worked on the 1885's for his friends. He had some pins and makes a tool to make reassembly of the B78 easy. I bought a pin and the tool. Took maybe 5 minutes to put the rifle back together. Did I mention the tool makes it easy.

Adjusting the trigger is a pain, but with the patience of Job and a little luck, you can get the trigger to break crisp and we set this one at about 2.5 lbs.

Good to know! I spent three solid evenings getting one back together the first time. It started me down the road to nicotine addiction and alcohol abuse. (Or maybe that's why it took me three evenings to do it!) I figured the nimble-fingered Japanese girls who assembled them at the factory were my superiors!

Beautiful Rifle !!!!

I had a B78 in 25/06 about 20 (?) years ago. One range trip: 1/2” 3 shot group w/ factory Winchester 90 gr Power Point ammo out of it’s long 28” (?) octagon barrel. Don’t remember why it was sold off. Anyway the itch was not scratched well enough and I’m picking up a Browning/Miroku 1885 in 30/30 today. I like ‘neat stuff’ and although I have a Ruger No.1A in 30/30 already, I’m anxious to play with this 28” octagon barrel 30/30. It must be an uncommon chambering so anyone else out there with knowledge or experience with a 30/30 1885 please offer up anything you know! Thanks!
I hope to find a good cast load for it. Unertl 12X coming on it, my first Unertl to own.
NFS

Lets here it for nimble fingered Japanese girls

I have a B78 in .30-06 from 1978, and recently saw one in a local shop in .22-250....if it had been 6mm, I would have bought it. My B78 has never been fired, and I can't bring myself to actually mount a scope, much less hunt with it!