Having been mostly around handguns I haven't heard much about Briley, although I saw a Ruger MkII Briley that was pretty neat.

What does Briley do, just improve factory guns from other makers, mainly Ruger?

What makes a Briley a Briley?

I'm looking for a nice hunter class silo rifle and the Briley Hunter for $895 caught my eye. Wondering what makes it different from the Ruger it's based on and if anybody on this board has had the pleasure of firing one.

Do Brileys tend to be accurate and nicely done? Anything else? Thanks!

Briley makes a hell of a gun. Very accurate too. But if you are just starting in silhouette and you are willing to spend that amount of money then buy an Anschutz 1712 and learn to shoot and follow through the right way. I own a Briley and I like it a lot. A 10-22 is not the gun to learn with though especially if you are willing to spend the money. You will never regret buying a 1712 FWT Anschutz. Bill Robinson

Keep in mind that Briley also makes a 77/22 based bolt rifle Bill. I would recomend talking with Bobby Pitchford as he was the main gunsmith at Briley that was making their rimfire rifles for them. I know he re-designed a number of the ways that they did things at their shop. He has left the company and as I understand it is almost ready to open his doors for business after building his own shop. If you are intrested in more information, e-mail him direct @

bobbypitchford AT sbcgobal DOT net

If this does reach him, please let me know and I can get him in touch with you. I will see him at the SHOT show next week.

GeoNLR wrote:Keep in mind that Briley also makes a 77/22 based bolt rifle Bill. I would recomend talking with Bobby Pitchford as he was the main gunsmith at Briley that was making their rimfire rifles for them.

That's the one I'm interested in, not the 10/22.

If you go to briley.com and click on firearms, then rifles, it lists a couple 77/22's for $895, add $100 for fluting or bull barrel. I was thinking it may be worth a look for a good starter silo rifle.

Thanks for the info.

LH2,
just make sure you are being honest with yourself when you decide on your rifle. if you want a Briley just because you want a Briley then make yourself happy and get one. If you want a Briley because it might be a good Silhouette rifle then get one because it probably will... if you are asking which is the best silhouette rifle then look at the top 50 or so Silhouette shooters across the country and see what they choose to shoot. You will certainly find a mix but a predominate percentage of them will be Anschutz. If you want the rifle that is winning everything, it is an Anschutz.

There are a few other rifles that win but those are in the hands of shooters that could win with a sling shot. And this isn't to mean you can't do well with Sako or CZ or Ruger, or Remington or any of many others... You can. I've shot 58/60 with a Cooper, Sako, Remington, and Anschutz. Folks get themselves in to AA and AAA or Master with many different rifles. You will see lots of opinions on here about how they do it and what they do it with but when you finally measure performance by what is winning there is really only one answer and it comes from Germany. Especially if you are looking for an out of the box rifle.

Buy what makes you happy but don't fool yourself in the process. This is coming from someone that spent many years and thousands of dollars fooling himself.
dave

Dave,

Very well put, I could only add " You are winning with an anschutz are your getting beat by one."

Now that's how the cow ate the cabbage

Thanks Dave. Sounds kinda like you're saying the Briley is nice, but if I'm going to spend nearly $1k on a Briley, think about a 1712, which is a better rifle for Silo.

So I guess sooner or later most guys into this game end up with a 1700 Annie?

1700 or 1800 series. biggest fucntional difference is the trigger. both trigger, when adjusted correctly, get the job done extremely well. The 1700 series is the 54 match action. the 1800 series uses the 54 super match action. you won't find the 1800 in a factory hunter class silhouette rifle but it is used often as the foundation for custom rifles in both hunter and standard class. Is also the action for factory Anschutz standard class rifles.
if you want to buy the rifle and shoot it in both classes right now, a 1700 series Anschutz is the easiest and best way to go. If you decide to add a stock or barrel to it later you have a great action as your foundation.

FWIW, the cost of a new 1712 seems to be averaging around $1400.

There is an alternative -- for those who have some time.

Neal Stepp at ISS in Ft Worth, TX 817-595-2090 is selling bbld actions for under $900.

Mark Pharr's composite stock blank is $275. Plus a trigger guard. Then you need to either put it together (bedding a rifle isn't rocket science) or have it done. AFAIK Mark's lead time is around 3-4 months and I think Marvin Pearson is around the same.

That makes a complete, state-of-the-art rifle for not much more than a factory 1712; depending on the 'smith's charge.

A new shooter here (and we're talking about someone who hasn't yet shot a match) is doing just that. A local smith will do the fitting and the rifle will probably be on the line before March. Mark can also supply beautiful wood blanks. I picked one up and expect to put one of my Kricos into it within the next couple of weeks, using a bbl block bedding system that I want to experiment with.

Just an alternative suggestion...

There's a guy on Rimfirecentral who has a 1710 for sale right now - asking price has been dropped to $950. It probably won't last long, so if someone is interested, you better act quickly.

I wish I had an extra $1K burning a hole in my pocket, but all I have is pocket lint right now.

SteveM

Jetmugg wrote:There's a guy on Rimfirecentral who has a 1710 for sale right now - asking price has been dropped to $950.

I thought used 1700's held their value very well?

I'm not sure if linking is allowed here, but I'll try.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... p?t=123385

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... ?t=123385

Steve.

How big a deal is the 1710 vs 1712 difference for silo? If I'm going to spend that kind of money I want to get it right.

You are right George. Briley does make both guns. But If I'm spending that kind of money I sure wouldn't buy a rebuilt 77/22 it would be an Anschutz 1712. Now the 10-22 is a whole different story as that gun is in deffinite need of work out of the factory and Briley ...Bob Pritchford has it down right. That gun with a Kidd trigger is the best 10-22 I have ever had, and I have had a couple.
LH2, I have had both the 1712 and the 1710 both will shoot under 1/2 moa with quality ammo from the bench. The main difference is prefernce is the 1712 is what is in production now and runs a bit lighter and has a slightly shorter and fatter barrel on it. I preferred it but some like the 1710 better. You won't go wrong with the 1712 fwt Anschutz. I had mine put into Mark Pharrs stock and it was the best of all worlds then. Mark Does excellent work. His stock design is a pleasure to shoot, it is an aide to the shooter. Bill R

Jetmugg wrote:I'm not sure if linking is allowed here, but I'll try.

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... p?t=123385

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/sh ... ?t=123385

Steve.

That rifle is a 1710D "D" means heavy barrel, meaning almost 8 pounds with out a scope... Will not make weight in hunter...