Browning b78

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bsmitty27

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East of the big smoke, Alberta
Looking for advice. I'm picking up a b78 26" octagon barrel, in 30-06.
Anyone have advice for accurizing them does the forearm hanger need any work?
And it has a raised cheek piece, I am thinking of taking it down in to kind of a hogs back, with a cheek piece similar to the old brons. I did this same change to a mannlicher stocked parker hale. It turned out great. Let me know what you think.
Also looking for field .annual for the b78. Thanks
Brad
 
bsmitty27 said:
Looking for advice. I'm picking up a b78 26" octagon barrel, in 30-06.
Anyone have advice for accurizing them does the forearm hanger need any work?
And it has a raised cheek piece, I am thinking of taking it down in to kind of a hogs back, with a cheek piece similar to the old brons. I did this same change to a mannlicher stocked parker hale. It turned out great. Let me know what you think.
Also looking for field .annual for the b78. Thanks
Brad
Click to expand...
I have owned 7 Browning single shots- 3 of them B78’s.
I never had to mess with them much as far as making them accurate , all were very accurate .
Cat
 
Would suggest you shoot this rifle before screwing around with it. These rifles are typically
very accurate right out of the box.
 
Good to hear. Ya, I Wont mess with it until I see how it shoots, I pick it up tomorrow, look forward to getting my hands on it, and seeing what it likes to eat. Anyone have the field service manual for the B78, I found copies from ASSRA (American Single Shot Rifle Assoc) in WI, they are only 10.00 so I think Ill be getting one right away. I hear they are a tough one to adjust trigger, or take down to do a good cleaning without it.
I was advised, for cleaning, to blow it out and or spray it, out rather than take it apart!? any suggestions?
Thanks
Brad
 
Well I picked her up today. Beautiful dark walnut with nice oil finish. Action locks up tight feels great.
There is a issue with the 1/2 #### not catching, I can feel where it should catch then it slips. It does have a crisp light ish 2-3 lb trigger, at the expense of a 1/2 #### i suppose. Wont be a field rifle till I get that figured out. Should get that field guide in a couple of weeks.
But I am very happy with my new single shot.
 
bsmitty27 said:
There is a issue with the 1/2 #### not catching, I can feel where it should catch then it slips.
Click to expand...


Your rifle has a rebounding hammer. Unlike a lever action rifle the "Half-####" on these rifles is just barely off the hammer down position and it just appears to be not working.
 
bsmitty27 said:
Well I picked her up today. Beautiful dark walnut with nice oil finish. Action locks up tight feels great.
There is a issue with the 1/2 #### not catching, I can feel where it should catch then it slips. It does have a crisp light ish 2-3 lb trigger, at the expense of a 1/2 #### i suppose. Wont be a field rifle till I get that figured out. Should get that field guide in a couple of weeks.
But I am very happy with my new single shot.
Click to expand...

I had a B78 in 45/70 with the same issue . It turned out that the weight of pull was adjusted to low . I adjusted the weight of pull to be slightly heavier and got the half #### back . They are very nice , and accurate rifles , but are a little over complicated . It'll probably become a favorite , I really liked mine .
 
Take your rifle with an EMPTY chamber. Point it in a safe direction, fully #### the hammer, and pull the trigger. Note the position of the fallen hammer. which should be fully down

Now repeat as above but after fully cocking the rifle manually hold back the hammer while pulling the trigger and then let the hammer down to the "half ####" position. If everything is working properly it should be just slightly back from the full down position.
 
'Boo said:
Take your rifle with an EMPTY chamber. Point it in a safe direction, fully #### the hammer, and pull the trigger. Note the position of the fallen hammer. which should be fully down

Now repeat as above but after fully cocking the rifle manually hold back the hammer while pulling the trigger and then let the hammer down to the "half ####" position. If everything is working properly it should be just slightly back from the full down position.
Click to expand...
Ya the 1/2 #### is not engaging, I can definatly feel it ketch and slip 3/4 of the way down. Just need to get the trigger adjusted properly once I get the field guide I guess.
 
The trigger is set to light .
Also be aware that the trigger group slides into groves in the action and also is threaded for the bolt to hold the buttstock .Because of this I have seen more than one that will fire if you lean on the stock in the sand bags at the bench.I had one that would not stay in half #### if you over tightened the stock screw,as it pulls the trigger group away from the hammer.Bit of a design flaw . Never trust the half #### for safety if you trip or drop it it can go off with that trigger design.
 
Yay! Finally a discussion on the B78. Mine is a round barrel in 30.06 and, based on the serial number,it was the 53rd rifle built.

I discovered that my barrel wasn’t free floating resulting in my accuracy suffering. A quick and easy fix was to insert two small washers between the hanger arm and the fore-end. It’s a tack driver now. As far as the half-#### problem, one of the adjustment screws by the trigger may be too tight. If you do a google-search, you will find some advice. Get your hands on a field manual it you don’t already have one.

Stripping the action down is not for the faint of heart. I gone as far as taking the hammer out. Getting the main springs back in was puzzling and time consuming as I don’t own compression pliers. Good luck with your rifle
 
Yes, advise not taking the action apart unless experienced in doing so...even my gunsmith hated working my b-78 in 270Wby (rechambered). Getting those springs to align properly when reassembling is a tedious task with a trick to it...sorry, I do not know the trick myself.
Mine was a tackdriver too, with bullet weights from 90 gr to 140 gr
 
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