doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Browning O/U Questions

I am helping a friend to pick out a gun and he likes the new Browning Citori 525 Feather and perhaps a Superposed or B-27. But, we both have some questions as we try and sort out the Browning O/U pedigree.

First, the new 12 ga. Browning 525 Citori Feather has to be one of the lightest 12 ga. O/Us I have held. The catalog and Browning website says it weighs 6 lbs. 14oz - 7 lbs., but I'd swear it felt closer to 6 lbs. today when I shouldered. I have found the gun on other websites that confirm my suspicion and put the gun at 6 lbs. - 6 lbs. 4 oz. (for example: highgradeshooters.com, ableammo.com, and others).

Does any know how much this gun actually weighs? Are there two 525 Feathers?

Second, we also found a very nice 12 ga. Browning B-27 Special Game Gun 12 ga. w/28" barrels, nice engraving, and decent wood. I know that the B-27 was imported in 1984 and is a modified B-26 (Liege Model). I have read that the B-26 was a cheap redesign of the Superposed in an attempt to save money.

How bad is the B-27? Is this a decent gun for around $1700 in pristine condition Special Game Gun model?

Finally, what other 12 ga. "lightweight" (say around 7lbs.) Browning Superposed or Citori models should we be looking for? Our budget (or his rather) seems to top out around $2500.

Thanks in advance,

David

Hi David,
The only way to know exactly what a particular gun weighs is to weigh it. The density of the wood, especially highly figured wood can make quite a difference. A more important question might be why does your friend want a very lightweight gun? If he wants to carry it a lot and shoot it a little, light is OK. If he wants to shoot it a lot such as several rounds of skeet at a session or 200 sporting clays in one day, he'll quickly learn to hate the gun. There is a high price to pay, in terms of recoil, for choosing a very lightweight 12 ga.