Ed Brown Rifles

irondude

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Sep 9, 2009
    341
    8
    Colorado
    I have not seen or heard much about the Ed brown rifles on this forum anywhere...does anyone have any experience with their heavy barrel or sniper rifles?

    Apparently they are using Shilen triggers & barrels with McMillan stocks, very nice looking actions, is the price to high or other issues?
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    There have been a few for sale here in the past year or two. My impression is that they are well built, but for the price you can order a custom rifle from GAP, KMW, Patriot and so on. "Custom" means that you can choose some components and make decisions about caliber, barrel length and twist, chambering, magazine, trigger, color, stock type, color and features. The Ed Brown is a good rifle for what it is, but is it the good rifle that you want?
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    I'd have to agree, I have no doubt they are a good rifle, but I'd put them in the same rifle arena as HS precision, Nosler, Wilson, Nighthawk, etc. They probably build a good, maybe even a great gun, but it's not their bread and butter and you are not going to get as many options to choose what you want than other custom shop options.

    Their tactical rifle lists at $4500, you can have almost anyone hands down build you whatever you want with almost any components in a tactical rifle for that amount of $ and built exactly like you want, from someone who makes their living on the performance of the rifles they build. Not just as a sideline to expand their handgun business. All they are using is a Shilen barrel, A5 stock, and what appears to be badger BM and Jewel triger along with their own action. By my math they are about $1000 overpriced at least compared to some of the best tactical rifle builders out there.

    I contacted them about a year ago with some questions on their hunting rifles specifically about their accuracy and was told they average .75-1.25" with tuned hand loads. Going on to say that even factory match ammo cannot hold such accuracy (funny because my LTR does it all the time with FGMM) Frankly that's pathetic for $4000. In their FAQ section they say their tactical rifles often shoot 1/2" but they have a whole paragraph going way out of their way to say while they will offer no accuracy guarantee their rifles are as accurate as anyone's in the world and then go on to talk about all the variables outside of their control that can reduce accuracy. When I talked to them I got the distinct feeling that if you got one that didn't shoot well, you were going to get a lot of resistance dealing with them on it.
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    I had looked at their rifles at SHOT and did like them. Like the other guys have said, if that is what you want, then it should be a nice rifle.

    One thing about the rifles is if they don't have dozens of options and just stick with a consistent short list of rifles then you can order one with little to no wait since they appear to have them in stock most times.

    Cut
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    The reason I'm asking is that I have an opportunity to pick up a used one for about $1800.00...don't have all of the spec's yet only know it is a heavy barrel .308 with a McM stock, I do agree with the comments on the custom options but wasn't aware they built them using a Jewel trigger...thought they were shipped with a Shilen which I have on a few of my rifles and haven't got any complaints.
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    I would think that $1,800 for any good rifle with those options should be a good deal due to it's components. A plane jane Remington with a McMillan stock and a custom barrel and a good trigger will be pretty close to that price in my opinion. The Edd Brown name can't hurt at resale time either. Hopefully it's in great shape on the barrel, condition,asthetics and accuracy. Good luck on your choices...SmokeRolls
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    The Jewell triggers are sweet.. I own one that breaks as sharp and crisp as one would hope... Everyone who has fired that particular rifle has gone "Wow" reffering to the trigger pull.
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    One thing to keep in mind if you don't know the guy selling it is that I'm pretty weary of someone that has a $4500 rifle and is selling it for $1800. It falls into the arena of too good to be true, and more times than not I think these rifles are guns that someone bought and can't get to shoot well or had problems with and are trying to dump.
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    Well said ToddM.....Good advice...Check the guy out thoroughly..That is aweful cheap for an Edd Brown unless it's been thrashed or stolen.....SmokeRolls
     
    Re: Ed Brown Rifles

    ToddM...the owner has commented that the groups are not what he had anticipated or wanted and that the rifle was sent back and had the trigger adjusted to reduce creep and weight of pull. I like to try different manufactures or custom builds and hear feedback from other users or owners for there opinions on the rifles they either own or have experienced.

    I own seceral custom builds but love trying others as well...only one I haven't tried is the Savage target rifles probably missing out but my budget for firearms allows to me to expierment from time to time.