Been pondering another auto for a while for pigeon splatting and needed something proofed for big steel for ducks and geese. I'm also fed up of getting the miroke muddy and covered in blood, the small scratches from leaning it against trees and pushing through hedges with it and its nice to have a 3rd shell in reserve occasionally.
I took the plunge yesterday on a reasonably local and very well priced Browning Maxus black synthetic with 30" barrel and 3.5 inch steel shot chamber.
(Sorry about the upside down pic, its right on my PC but got swung round somehow in uploading
)
As you can see I have done some stock work on it already as it was a little too low in the comb and I want it shootable for chasing some pigeons tomorrow. Unfortunately the guy didn't have the stock adjuster shims with it but I am going to take a trip to see Tony Manvell at Wilts rods and guns today to see if he has any and if not get some ordered. Its not a major problem as my cardboard strips and tape only take it up 6mm and as synthetic stocks seem to be very narrow in the comb I shall be getting a Recoil Systems stick on raiser anyway to thicken it up and for a nice comfortable cheek rest. http://www.recoilsystems.com/combraiser/combraiser.asp
I have had it in pieces this morning with the trigger plate, firing block and gas piston off to give it a real good clean out (probably first and last time) This is a very easy job which can look very daunting to the new auto owner with all the moving parts and I will put up a step by step guide with pics if anyone is interested, maybe even a video
First impressions out of the box are very good, it seems well built and solid as expected from Browning with their long history in autoloaders. It weighs in at a very field friendly 7lb 2oz but with the 30" barrel it comes out longer overall than my 32" miroke so stability when swinging it feels much the same. I like the latch system on the forend rather than the traditional screw on magazine cap which can shoot themselves loose. The only downside of this comes for the user that likes to add a weighted end cap, but for me it balances pretty good anyway and a weighted end cap could be substituted with a clamp on barrel weight.
The "speed load" system is a good feature, rather than putting a shell in the chamber then pushing the bolt release button to slam the breech shut you just put the first shell up underneath as you would to fill the magazine and it automatically chambers it for you.
The proof is in the shooting and I will report back tomorrow evening with shooting conclusions
I took the plunge yesterday on a reasonably local and very well priced Browning Maxus black synthetic with 30" barrel and 3.5 inch steel shot chamber.
(Sorry about the upside down pic, its right on my PC but got swung round somehow in uploading
)
As you can see I have done some stock work on it already as it was a little too low in the comb and I want it shootable for chasing some pigeons tomorrow. Unfortunately the guy didn't have the stock adjuster shims with it but I am going to take a trip to see Tony Manvell at Wilts rods and guns today to see if he has any and if not get some ordered. Its not a major problem as my cardboard strips and tape only take it up 6mm and as synthetic stocks seem to be very narrow in the comb I shall be getting a Recoil Systems stick on raiser anyway to thicken it up and for a nice comfortable cheek rest. http://www.recoilsystems.com/combraiser/combraiser.asp
I have had it in pieces this morning with the trigger plate, firing block and gas piston off to give it a real good clean out (probably first and last time) This is a very easy job which can look very daunting to the new auto owner with all the moving parts and I will put up a step by step guide with pics if anyone is interested, maybe even a video
First impressions out of the box are very good, it seems well built and solid as expected from Browning with their long history in autoloaders. It weighs in at a very field friendly 7lb 2oz but with the 30" barrel it comes out longer overall than my 32" miroke so stability when swinging it feels much the same. I like the latch system on the forend rather than the traditional screw on magazine cap which can shoot themselves loose. The only downside of this comes for the user that likes to add a weighted end cap, but for me it balances pretty good anyway and a weighted end cap could be substituted with a clamp on barrel weight.
The "speed load" system is a good feature, rather than putting a shell in the chamber then pushing the bolt release button to slam the breech shut you just put the first shell up underneath as you would to fill the magazine and it automatically chambers it for you.
The proof is in the shooting and I will report back tomorrow evening with shooting conclusions
