What do you guys think? It’s on a Browning model 12 grade 1.
Plain, slab sawn walnut. Nothing fancy, but likely utilitarian. You didn’t show the grip....hopefully grain is straight in the grip?
I would think someone would generically call that fancy or extra fancy grade, based on the percentage of figure. I doesn't necessarily look like knock your socks off figure, but it can be said to be present. It kind of looks like a feather crotch edge piece?
Slightly above plain. Poorly fitted butt plate.
JR
It's normal to that particular model. Way beyond Select grade. There is between 25 and 50% figure, so perhaps an A+ grade.
The Browning M12s had well fitted buttplates - this one is just showing the effects of 30 years of wood drying and shrinking.
Wood doesn't shrink enough to cause something as glaring as that ill-fitted butt plate. From 100 year old Parkers to 50 year old Superposeds, the butt plates all still fit perfectly with almost very few exceptions.
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/conte...pg?format=1500whttps://images.squarespace-cdn.com/conte...pg?format=1500w
Yeah not sure about the butt plate, was curious about the wood grade for Brownings. Seemed a little more figured for a grade 1.
The wood is certainly not bad. It has enough character to distinguish it above just plain grade. Pretty much standard quality for those guns.
This one's above average but the forend is plain as your hand:
https://images.gunsinternational.com/lis...751D6DFD1A5.JPG
Thanks guys, Im not too familiar with Brownings, some of their offerings has some very basic looking wood and was curious about this one!
Looks more like an poorly sanded redo to me.
Me, too. Looks to have been sanded with the buttplate off, rounding the edges. Also either over-sanded, or with a poorly fitted replacement buttplate. The buttplate is severely proud of the wood at the toe.
SRH
Very well possible, never really concerned me much. I was curious about Browning wood grades, but thanks for bringing that up to my attention, be a nice little project to fix that up!
I have never seen a badly fitted butt plate like that on a Browning M12.
It could probably be fixed by CAREFULLY sanding or cutting about 1/32" off the stock (or only enough to remove the rounded edges)and then reshaping the butt plate to fit.
I would call that semi-fancy. Not plain and not fancy just something in between.
I see that as a A grade with a borderline AA side on one side. Better than a utility grade blank but just the next step up. The world is full of too many one sided blanks.
Fellow selling wood made the remark that he often comes across blanks which have one nice side and one not so nice side. Sometimes they turn plainer when shaped but rarely become a higher grade. Surface figure gets removed and often straight grain awaits.
He learned that cutting for one premium blank which is great on both sides was much better than hoping to get two slightly lesser blanks out of a billet. Often you ended up with two AA/A blanks rather than one exhibition blank on both side.
Wood grading is pretty darned subjective. About the only thing I'd say is that I'd never pay for a wood upgrade when ordering a gun without seeing samples of what typical standard grade and typical upgraded wood look like. If and when it comes time to sell, consider yourself lucky if you get back much of what you paid for the upgrade. More for your enjoyment/taste than anything else.
Only a buyer can determine how they value the figure on that, or any, stock, but a seller is not likely to describe it as plain. If the criterion was only quantity, not quality, a seller would have a case. Just pointing out that there are two competing sides to the subjectivity coin, as you have noted if one hopes to invest in wood upgrades.
Back in the day you could order knockout grade wood from Browning for just a few bucks. Bobby