doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pre War Browning Superposed - info needed

All three of mine are double triggers. One is the is regular double the others are the double/single type. I had one other which started out as a double/single but had been returned to Browning and they converted it to a single. To my regret it gave it to a family member who sold it or traded it on some stupid black or camo deer gun. It had been his fathers and I thought he wanted it for family reasons. My late uncle, his father, went ballistic they say when he got it back and never used it again. I understand Browning reached a point that they would convert them when ever they had to work on one. Funny thing is that mine work perfectly to this day.

Thank you all for the information on your guns. It appears the gold "S" and the "P" suffix are out there on other guns. I am still looking for other examples with "FN" engraved on the tang. My theory on the O and U stamped on the trigger plate is that it was for the early single trigger with the selector on the trigger plate(see pictures).

The "P" is a mystery to me and I was curious if it was always on guns with "FN" on the tang. That theory is dead now. Here are some pictures of one of my guns with these items that I am trying gather data on. Please keep looking at your pre-war guns and if you have "FN" on the tang let me know.

IdahoBob may be corect in that the P may have to do with the choke boring. ""Live pigeon gun""???

Thank you
David

My theory on the gold inlaid safety is that it was used on an early series of guns, then abandoned because of cost. Browning clearly had problems with sales, and made a series of changes about 1935 to save costs. These included the really ugly treatment of the foreend retaining screw on the lighning series in 1936, and the guns with no or almost no engraving. Perhaps the gold was dropped earlier for this reason. I have only seen it on early guns. Another feature you did not mention is the checkering, particularly on the foreend of the standard weight guns. On the early guns it was more extensive and wrapped completely around the foreend. It also seems to be finer than checkering on later guns.

On the "P" , I had a first year (1932) Superposed that had a "p" after the serial number, when I was collecting pre-war Superposes about 15 years ago. I had about a dozen of them and only one had the "P". I did a lot of research on this, and never could find the answer. A lot of guessing, but nothing concrete!
If you find a creditable answer, I am sure a lot of people would be interested. A gold "S" uner the safety is a yes.
Good luck, Herb

I have a 1932 "Light Weight" model with slimmed forearm and no horseshoe. 26-1/2 in barrels, Mod and IC, no rib (striped matting down the barrel), normal double triggers, with the O and U marked on the tang, however, at customer's request, the firing order was reversed, so the front trigger fires the upper barrel.
#3281C has a "C" in the number, but Mr Jensen does not know why. The opening lever has a very nice script and intertwined FN on it. It has the Gold S and is 24k gold according to Mr Jensen. It does have modest engraving, unusual for pre-war grade 1s.
Here is my gun's serial number in the original FN record book at the Browning Custom Shop in Liege, Belgium. I toured it last yr.

Here is the C, the FN, and the gold S:

And this is my favorite upland gun; I have some minor wood cracks to repair, then I will hunt with it some more.

I have some theories: The O and U on the tang was a reminder; recall, JMB wanted this to be the first-ever "every-man's" O/U, so that the Superposed would be the first O/U most men ever had. I think it occurred on most all guns whether it was a DT, double-single, or just single, because the tangs were all stamped that way regardless of the trigger option.

I think "C" means Custom ordered, as was my gun. Thus the extra engraving, etc. Once production processes improved, this was eliminated as a tracking device. Just a guess. Not sure about a "P". I too think the gold S was deleted for cost cutting measures; Browning only sold 201 guns in 1934, then dropped the price 33% and sales took off.
The FN on the opening lever may have been made for FN's European sold guns, and thus placed on the Custom ordered guns for an added touch, or they may have just been the original batch of levers, and whatever was in the box at the time got installed on the gun. This "FN" may too have been eliminated as a cost savings in 1934-35.

Bump...any updates?

Scotty: I received some eMails and PMs. None offered anything new. Yours was the only gun with the C suffix. I liked all the theories that were posted here, any or all could be correct. Like you, I have discussed this with Glen Jensen. I think the answers to these questions are with the FN folks in Belgium. They may not have survived WW2. Thanks again for your interest and posts and photos of your go-to bird gun. One of my guns also has many cracks in the stock, and the rib is loose. It still shoots good ,and I watch it very closely. David

anybody ax rod fuller?

Ed, I'd love to visit Rod but he lives so danged far out there!

David, thanks for the response. Angelo Bee might know. I toured the Browning Custom shop last year...lots of young guys and/or in their 30s-40s. I wonder if Art Isaacson (Art's Gun shop) might have an idea?