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G'Day Fellas,
I have a hankering for a Mauser based walnut/blued rifle to add to the stable of functional but not beautiful stainless/plastic/carbon rifles in the fleet. Must be an age thing.
Have seen a BRNO 600 based custom rifle that really looks the part, but I don't know a lot about BRNOs at all except that they are Mauser based. So, question is - how do they rate, what are the triggers like to use, how well made are the receivers, and anything else the experts can add?
Thanks in advance.
my first rifle was a brno 601 in 308 and they are great rifles
big fan of the action and the stocks basically mirror the sako 75
they are well made and many had very nice wood work - my only bitch was with the set trigger many came with - the trigger had an insert and one pushed the trigger foward which then
cocked and gave a hair trigger - well many were just way to light - and worse when one used the trigger as normal to heavy - some came with just a normal trigger and way better - but all fixable if one can get a normal trigger to fit - but very nice rifles
There was a husky 270 for cheap on trademe. 450 buy now I think.
There are two different factory triggers: single set trigger and standard trigger. Originally, each rifle was supplied with both triggers, one fitted and the other in a little bag with a fitting tool. I prefer the set type. I have measured a 308 rifle (model ZKK601) which has a single set trigger: unset trigger breaks at 3lb (very smooth), set at 10oz (breaking a glass rod). Both types of triggers are adjustable.
Earlier rifles came with a pop-up rear aperture sight. There seems to be a general desire to have this type of action due to this 'cute' feature. The BRNO actions will take Tikka rings but BRNO pattern rings are better because they fit the arrest cutout on the scope mount grooves. There are very good used Tasco brand Australian made steel rings readily available on the second hand market in NZ.
The actions are, of course, controlled round feed. The 600ZKK is designed for 270/30-06 type length cartridges. There is a longer magnum action (ZKK602) for 375H&H. There is also the tiny 465 action for the 22 Hornet/222/223 range of cartridges.
There is a lot of enthusiasm in the USA for the BRNO action, perhaps, partly due to rarity due to problems importing from a Soviet country. There is not the same level of enthusiam in NZ because there are quite a few BRNO actioned rifles around (and in Australia). The ZKK was discontinued and the action changed to the 550 type, also a controlled round feed. In the last few years the 550 appears to have been dropped for a push feed model in the NZ shops. Some people saw the 600 series as smoother than the 550 due to manufacturing shortcuts, and the earlier 600s are better than the later production, due to wars/fires/etc. damaging production.
I have a couple of zkks they are certainly a bit less finished than say a sako but average around $600 to buy. Nice stock in the hands and shoot ok . I like them.
I like brnos and huskies. I've got a brno601 but would be equally happy with a husky
they shoot well to normally
Nice rifles, wouldn't buy anything not in current production or well supported by the aftermarket for replacement parts
I actually liked my push forward trigger, but I do like very light triggers.
https://www.abebooks.com/book-search...de-haas-frank/
get this book if you want lots of good info on BRNOs etc from back in the day
The earlier blued 600 series were finished better than the latter parkerized run.Tooling marks not polished out in the actions meaning quite rough cycling til well used smoothing out the rough spots.If you want a small ring Mauser in a long action ,I,d lean to a 1600 Husky.Better off the shelf finishing,lighter in weight,although just an average military Mauser 2 stage trigger with the first bump swiped off.
Great advice in just a few hours, which I really appreciate. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience fellas.
Also look at prewar Husqvarna with C ring Mauser type actions made by FN.
I got a '67 built one I bought in '69 and that thing has been solid as a rock. The stock was plain as buggery, so I fell over a bank and broke it at the wrist - so I made a new one .......... which is plain as buggery.
Threw away the set trigger on mine when it went off when I wasn't looking - and that's the only experience I had with those.
The pop-up peep sight is nice to have as I'd tramp with my scope in the daypack which made it an 'easy carry' - yet I was still 'in the game' if something popped out - and I shot a lot of deer with 'irons'.
Husky's are nice, but I never had one.
At the end of the day - your gun is just a delivery system like a mailman or the wage clerk - you want it to be accurate and reliable and those BRNO's are exactly that.
They came in two stock style, a classic pattern and a Monte Carlo Californian inspired with rosewood tip on the forend. Look for the former. Lots of guides on the triggers to get them sweet.
601s were.222/.223 to .308 short action. Good ones bring 650-850 over here. Some want more….
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The one I'm looking at is far more than that but has been re-stocked with very nice walnut, has a new barrel and a Swarovski scope on top.
Thanks again for the excellent advice fellas.
Sounds like a really nice 'delivery system' :)
Theres a nice Brno 21(its before the 600,s) on trade me at the moument, with a bridge mount,youd have to make sure you can scope it thanks to the bolt handle design.also you would need a scope that has not got a big rear ocular to fowl the bolt.think its a 3006 made in 1955. if you didn't use the bridge mount you can use Warne detachable mounts for any 600,to 550 designs as the square bridges are the same, if you needed to mount a scope higher(because of the bolt clearance) sports match make a extra high mount for the brnos. heres a pic of my 21 in 7x57,to give you an idea
thats very classy
