Beretta BRX1 - Anyone Own One?

[WI-2021]

As a lefty who recently got back from his first plains game hunt in South Africa, I've been bitten rather hard by the Africa bug. Truth be told, I'm also starting to look at other hunting destinations too. While I own quite a few lefty bolt-action rifles, I chose to rent a rifle for my first trip. I'd much prefer to take my own rifle on any subsequent trips, so the idea of a travel rifle that can easily be taken apart and stuffed into a Pelican 1700 or similar case has some appeal.

I don't want to spend Blaser money on this project, which brings us to the Beretta BRX1. By all appearances, this is essentially a poor man's R8. Of course it's missing some features, a bunch of chambering options, and I'm sure fit and finish doesn't match the Blaser. On the positive side, it's convertible to LH without any extra parts to buy, available chamberings are suitable for pretty much any plains game, and it's very affordable. Beretta currently has a $100 rebate on the BRX1 and I got a great deal ($600) on a Nightforce SHV 3-10 and I need a rifle to put under it. A BRX1 in .300WM topped with the SHV seems like it could be a good path to a do it (almost) all travel rifle on a budget. All of this adds up to a rather high likelihood of me spending money.

Of course I've been completely unsuccessful in finding a BRX1 to fondle, nor have I ever handled an R8, so my experience with straight pulls has been limited to the Savage contraption, which I found atrocious. I realize that both the Beretta and Blaser are completely different designs than the Savage. Many here are fans of the R8, but does anyone own a BRX1? If so, what do you think of it? I've read pretty much everything I found online, but a lot of it was various gun rags and they tend to like everything. Some real-world feedback would be great if anyone has experience with these rifles. Thanks in advance!

 

[Olivier]

I have been hunting with the BRX1 308 Win with a 20-inch barrel for three years now. It is a very reliable and accurate rifle.

The optics on the Picatinny rail are a Holosun 510C for short-range shooting and a Leupold VX5 1-5x24 for longer-range shooting.

I appreciate how quickly I can get it into position, as well as the smoothness and speed of the feed, which allows me to always hit my target when charging wild boars!

The BRX1 is a nice rugged rifle designed for driven hunts in Europe, but I would definitely use it for hunting small to medium PG game in Africa.

I just ordered a Blaser R8 in 375 H&H for DG. If the BRX1 existed in this caliber, I wouldn't have hesitated to order it!

 

[Philip Glass]

It looks like a very cool option for you. I've seen them at SCI and it is intriguing. Beretta is a major SCI sponsor and has a huge booth there. Maybe you can join us in Nashville and fondle guns till your hearts content!

 

[WI-2021]

Thank you for the detailed response, Olivier! Is there anything about the rifle that you would change or improve upon if you could?

My rental rifle on the trip was a .308 Sako cut back to about 18" and suppressed. Ammunition was Hornady with a red tip, but I didn't press for details. It certainly did the job, but I was a little nervous about it when we went after my Blue Wildebeest and Waterbuck. I could see adding a .308 barrel later for smaller animals and cheaper practice.

I wonder if anyone will make custom barrels for these eventually. A .375 H&H would require a new magazine and maybe longer bolt travel, but 9.3x62, .338WM, and .458WM could probably use existing magazines and only require a rebarrel.

 

[WI-2021]

It looks like a very cool option for you. I've seen them at SCI and it is intriguing. Beretta is a major SCI sponsor and has a huge booth there. Maybe you can join us in Nashville and fondle guns till your hearts content!

I look forward to someday attending SCI or DSC and meeting many of you in real life. Of course, the most likely outcome is that I come to look at a BRX1 and leave with a Blaser with extra barrels on order and a hunt booked. Not a bad outcome, just a little hard to explain to the other half!

I guess it could be "worse," I could order a double and book an elephant hunt.

 

[Olivier]

Thank you for the detailed response, Olivier! Is there anything about the rifle that you would change or improve upon if you could?

My rental rifle on the trip was a .308 Sako cut back to about 18" and suppressed. Ammunition was Hornady with a red tip, but I didn't press for details. It certainly did the job, but I was a little nervous about it when we went after my Blue Wildebeest and Waterbuck. I could see adding a .308 barrel later for smaller animals and cheaper practice.

I wonder if anyone will make custom barrels for these eventually. A .375 H&H would require a new magazine and maybe longer bolt travel, but 9.3x62, .338WM, and .458WM could probably use existing magazines and only require a rebarrel.

From a functional point of view, I can't find any faults: 3-stage trigger weight, can be converted from right-handed to left-handed in 1 minute in the field, threaded barrel, ultra-resistant polymer stock and magazine, orange magazine color which is very useful for finding it. Shooting grouping << MoA at 100m with all bullets tested: Norma Tipstrike 170gr, Hornady ELD-X 178gr, and Barnes TTSX 168gr. The weapon is easy to handle, neither too heavy nor too light. The only drawbacks that come to mind, if I had to criticize anything, would be: the mounting height of the optics is higher than average for hunting weapons given the profile of the receiver, and the appearance of the synthetic stock—we've seen prettier, but at this price...

 

[AZDAVE]

I look forward to someday attending SCI or DSC and meeting many of you in real life. Of course, the most likely outcome is that I come to look at a BRX1 and leave with a Blaser with extra barrels on order and a hunt booked. Not a bad outcome, just a little hard to explain to the other half!

I guess it could be "worse," I could order a double and book an elephant hunt.

Now you are talking a nice double and a elephant hunt

 

[WI-2021]

Thanks again for the input. Mounting height of the optic was a bit of a concern since I'd seen some comments about that on other websites. My scope has a larger objective lens than your Leupold, which may complicate the situation a bit for me. Do you find the height objectionable, or just different than other rifles? It does appear that you may be able to lower your scope a bit with different rings, though it may start to get too close to the safety at that point. Regardless, it sounds like your setup is working well for you.

 

[WI-2021]

Now you are talking a nice double and a elephant hunt

Maybe I should begin negotiations with the other half there and "compromise" on a BRX1, Buffalo, and another plains game hunt.

 

[Olivier]

Thanks again for the input. Mounting height of the optic was a bit of a concern since I'd seen some comments about that on other websites. My scope has a larger objective lens than your Leupold, which may complicate the situation a bit for me. Do you find the height objectionable, or just different than other rifles? It does appear that you may be able to lower your scope a bit with different rings, though it may start to get too close to the safety at that point. Regardless, it sounds like your setup is working well for you.

No objectionable, just higher and it even seems to be an advantage for quick acquisition. You will have no pb with 50mm scope - safety is accessible by a push from the behind so no difficulty there.

 

[SRvet]

I have handled one and it was ok, with some nice features but don’t forget it is a budget rifle and compared to an R8 it shows.
Just a thought but if you want to take a short gun case have you considered taking the stock off a Mauser action rifle for travel and bolting the floor plate back on. This would then be much more compact and you are going to zero it anyway when you get there…..

 

[WI-2021]

I have handled one and it was ok, with some nice features but don’t forget it is a budget rifle and compared to an R8 it shows.
Just a thought but if you want to take a short gun case have you considered taking the stock off a Mauser action rifle for travel and bolting the floor plate back on. This would then be much more compact and you are going to zero it anyway when you get there…..

That's also a consideration, disassembly is pretty much the same and either way there would be a torque wrench in the case. I'd have to measure from rear of scope to muzzle to see if my current rifles would fit in a smaller case. Of course, the scope can always come off too, I'd just have to change mounts since I tend to use Talley ring bases on my smaller caliber rifles. No big deal to change mounts though.

Currently pretty much every bolt-action I own is a semi-custom build on a Remclone action, so the Beretta may be a step down. It would gain me the ability to swap barrels rather than swapping rifles though and it wouldn't be a replacement for any of the current rifles. It would basically serve as a backup or loaner most of the time and be my go-to for trips where flying is involved. Realistically at this point I'd probably be money ahead if I'd bought a Blaser and a bunch of barrels before going down the custom build rabbit hole, but I've enjoyed the custom build rabbit hole immensely.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I've looked at the Beretta BRX1, they seem to be good value, but have never actually used one. I have become a Blaser fan over time, they fit great in a Pelican 1700 and reassemble quickly. There are a lot of hunters who seem to own an Blaser R8 setup with something like a .375 H&H and .300 Win Mag barrels for their Africa hunting, myself included.

Blaser can certainly lead you down another rabbit hole!

In the longer term the Blaser may be a better buy as you can always sell them quickly and they hold their value. Good luck in making a selection.