Browning Citori O/U

[popplecop]

Anyone here shooting a Browning Citori, if so what's your opinon of them? I just picked up an older one from 78 in nice shape in 16 ga. I have an old Superposed, but it is heavy and doesn't get used. Have a couple of Berretas and Marlin 90s which are light and I like. The Citori is light, haven't weighred it yet but comes up and swings fine. Just wondering what the pros and cons are.

[Gil Martin]

I bought it new back in the early 1990s and am very fond of it. It shoots well and is one of my favorite pheasant guns. All the best...
Gil

[Shot Gunner]

I've had a Browning Citori for about 2 years now in 20ga. Its a beautiful gun and is probably my favorite O/U I have ever shot. This gun swings great and is VERY light, perfect upland gun. I have heard that the action can be really stiff to begin with, However that can be cured by some gun oil. Other than that I havent heard anything bad about the Citori's. The only problem I have had was the bottom barrel didn't fire the shell, leaving a small dent where the firing pin hit the primer but didnt fire. This could be a problem with the shells, but those shells would fire in a different gun. This happened 3 times and only with winchester shells. Nothing to worry about though, You cant go wrong with a citori.

[fabsroman]

I bought one back in 1989 and it was my last Browning purchase. Switched to Beretta and have not looked back. I have nothing good to say about the Citori, Browning, or the retailer that sold me that gun. Not everybody has had the problems that I have had with the gun, which has sat in the gunsafe now for over a decade without it being used. It might end up being the first gun I ever sell, but I bought it 50/50 with my dad and even though it is a POS, it still has some nostalgia. Good luck with your purchase.

[popplecop]

Already have Beretta O/Us in 12 and 20, never found one in 16 though. Y es I do love my Berettas too, but have an old Superposed, and 4 old A5s that have been excellent shotguns. Going north this morning for a grouse hunt taking the Citori and an old Marlin model 90 bot in 16 of course. Will let you know how the Citori works out.

[skeet]

Like Fabs..Not much use for Brownings. Not that the guns aren't pretty decent. The company is hardly worth trying to get things they screwed up in the beginning to fix. Slow...and it ain't their fault is the usual response. Only quick fix for mehappened when I gave a gun to the regional Factory Rep. Had it returned in 20 days. Record time...but they just sent a new gun.

[gold40]

I own three 12 ga. Citori's, and obviously like them very much. I've owned, and shot, the oldest one for 16 years with zero problems. My opinion is that the Citori is a great shotgun, and the used ones are an excellent value.

My newest one is a fancy Grade VI. The engaving doesn't make it shoot any better, but it is pretty.

[skeet]

Hey Gold..Ya know..with the grade VI...even when ya miss you look GOOD!!...So when ya do miss..always look at the gun like it's yer worst enemy..mutter to yerself a little..and they'll just think yer gettin oldtimers..Works for me...LOL

[popplecop]

When I bought the Citori I also got another Marlin Model 90 16 ga. in the deal. After due consideration I kept the Model 90 a pre war, already had a post war 16 and gave the Citori to my son. He loves it and says it fits him perfectly, so it went to a good home.

[Rapier]

The idea that there is something wrong with a Browning or a Beretta O/U gun because the gun does not fit you, is total nonsense. Any well versed shotgun shooter knows that the two guns have differently designed stocks and if a Beretta will not fit you, 99% of the time a Browning will and vice versa.

This is one of the very first things that a Clays shooter is taught. It is a basic part of clays instruction, not a myth, a fact. Unless you want to spend thousands of dollars to make a Beretta into a Browning by having a custom stock made, you just buy the Browning to start with, or the opposite, just buy the Beretta if it fits you.

There is nothing really wrong with either gun, it is very much the same old discussion about Fords and Chevy.

My experience with the Beretta is such that I have owned six and now own two 391 Gold Sporting guns but not a single Beretta O/U gun. I also do not own any modern Browning auto guns and own eight Citori guns. The Citori fits me and I carry them all over the world to places where high volume wing shooting is the purpose. In 12 years as a Clays shooter and many, many trips to far and away places, my Citori guns have never failed to function, perfectly.

I simply can not say the same for my Benelli guns or the Beretta O/U guns, neither make or any model do I own, any longer.
Ed

[fabsroman]

The idea that there is something wrong with a Browning or a Beretta O/U gun because the gun does not fit you, is total nonsense. Any well versed shotgun shooter knows that the two guns have differently designed stocks and if a Beretta will not fit you, 99% of the time a Browning will and vice versa.

This is one of the very first things that a Clays shooter is taught. It is a basic part of clays instruction, not a myth, a fact. Unless you want to spend thousands of dollars to make a Beretta into a Browning by having a custom stock made, you just buy the Browning to start with, or the opposite, just buy the Beretta if it fits you.

There is nothing really wrong with either gun, it is very much the same old discussion about Fords and Chevy.

My experience with the Beretta is such that I have owned six and now own two 391 Gold Sporting guns but not a single Beretta O/U gun. I also do not own any modern Browning auto guns and own eight Citori guns. The Citori fits me and I carry them all over the world to places where high volume wing shooting is the purpose. In 12 years as a Clays shooter and many, many trips to far and away places, my Citori guns have never failed to function, perfectly.

I simply can not say the same for my Benelli guns or the Beretta O/U guns, neither make or any model do I own, any longer.
Ed

Who said anything about fit being the problem with Browning or Beretta? I've been following this thread and fit did not seem to be the issue.

For me, it was an issue of the interior of the barrels rusting up pretty good because they were not chrome lined like the comparable Beretta and of the receiver/forearm getting gouged. I also didn't like the way the retailer or Browning handled the matter (i.e., it was my fault). This happened the first year I had the gun. Had the same issue with a brand new Beretta 682 Gold E where the hard "nickel" plating was flaking off the receiver. Beretta replaced the entire gun. Had the finish on my 391 Teknys start coming off in the first year and Beretta replaced the stock with a very nice piece of wood. As far as I am concerned, I can buy a better Berertta for the same money as a Browning and I can get much better service from Beretta since the factory is right down the road from me.

With that said, the Citori purchase was back in 1990 or so, so I have no idea if I can still buy a better Beretta than a Browning for the same money. Thing is, I just do not look at Browning guns anymore.

I also have a Benelli SBE and have been hunting with it for 13 years. It has taken tons of abuse and continues to shoot. My 391 Teknys has fired a bunch of shells through it, and the only problem I have had with it was this past October shooting a flurry. It was ejecting the empty but not chambering the unfired shell. I haven't cleaned the gun for 2+ years, so it is probably my fault. If I left the Citori uncleaned for 2 years, there would be so much rust in the barrel it would be pathetic.

We are all going to have different opinions about different guns. I will not buy another Browning, plain and simple.

Right now, I am looking at buying the Benelli Super Sport performance gun with all the nice looking red parts on it and the recoil reducer on the magazine cap.

[tim416]

I have an older Browning Skeet and a newer 525 Field. The skeet gun has had literally thousands of rounds put through it without a malfunction. I have had no problems with the 525 and actually would have gone with a Baretta but the Browning stocks seem to fit me well.

[Rapier]

"For me, it was an issue of the interior of the barrels rusting up pretty good because they were not chrome lined like the comparable Beretta and of the receiver/forearm getting gouged. I also didn't like the way the retailer or Browning handled the matter (i.e., it was my fault)."

Ah, really? You mean to tell me that someone told you that rust on your gun was your fault? I see..... a person allows their guns to rust due to neglect, and now it is not their fault. But, they have worked out a scheme in their head so that Browning is to blame. Then not only blame Browning but that person also bad mouths them for the person's protection or failure to protect their own property. That makes perfect sense to me, I have met folks like that all over the world, nothing is ever their fault, as long as they can "blame shift" their neglect to someone else.

Your rusty gun is in fact your responsibility, and is the result of your neglect, period.

I own guns that I have owned since I was 9 years of age, near 60 years now, not one has a speck of rust. I own guns that my grandfather owned and with which I learned to shoot when I was 5 years of age and not a speck of rust and they are nearing 100 years in age. I own two dozen shotguns, alone, no rust on any gun.

I judge men by their shoes, their car's interior and when in the field or at the range by their guns. If I see dirty neglected shoes, a cluttered and dirty vehicle interior, or rust on their guns, I do not do business with them, because those men neglect the details in their life, it is a life's lesson I learned before I opened my first business, 44 years ago.
Ed

[skeet]

Werll now..he did say rust in the bbl. and that does happen quite frequently with bbls that are not chrome lined. Didn't use to happen with paper shells. They left a coating of wax in the chamber and down the bore just a little way. The plastic shells leave a little bit of moisture in the bbl from sweating. rusts my Remingtons and others...pretty quickly too. Not so bad out here in Wyoming. Sorry Ed but I don't clean my guns every time I use 'em either. Sometimes I would be cleaning every day. twice a day. Some of the most detail oriented people I know don't polish their shoes every day either. One of the best gunsmiths I know has a really messy bench that contains all kinds of stuff. A real mess...and he knows where every thing is too. Amazing. Surprisingly ours is not the only way. My reloading bench(well one anyway) is messy...but I turn out very good ammunition. I also have very little use for Brownings. As Fabs said. Not their fault as they told me that a gun with an egg shaped chamber that had shot only factory was caused by an over pressure reload..wouldn't fix it either. They have never been consumer friendly..but then again...at one time no gun company was consumer friendly. But I was a LOT younger then. LOL!!

I just got a gun from a fellow who had let it rust badly. It was an old Standard weight 1100 20 ga. He is the type of guy I wouldn't trust enough to shoot his reloads. Actually an accident waiting to happen. Don't know how he ever made it to his teens on a farm. But if I want to know about investments or loans or buying farms etc..he'd be the guy I'd go to...and have. Now I have to rescue the ol lemon hunnert..Pitted a little bit I think...but it'll still shoot just fine when I get it done.

[6.5s4ever]

Popplecop,
I have had many Browning O/U's, used most of them for shooting doubles in Trap, I now have two Brownings I use specifically for 5 stand Sporting Clays .
I tried a couple Beretta O/U's but the fit was not as good as the Brownings.
So I use what works best for me and that is a Browning 525 Sporting Clays
model with the Adjustable Stock and my backup gun is a Browning XS Special
also with an adjustable stock. Both guns are great performers and work very
well with reasonable care. The barrel rusting issue was a good while back, they now chrome line all their barrels so rusting is no longer a problem. I
can not say anything bad about them really, other than a few of my trap
version guns had galling on the reciever mating surfaces. The more recent
models say in the past 10 years dont seem to do that anymore from what I have seen. Browning seems to be making a good product as of current.
Regards 6.5:)

[popplecop]

I shoot old Berettas, the BL series and I like them. The Citori just didn't feel right to me, so I gave it to my son. He says that it is the best fitting O/U he's ever shouldered, so it'll get a lot of use by him. Actullay the shotguns I shoot the most are SxSs, but the O/Us I shoot the most now are the old Marlin md. 90s with DTs.

[fabsroman]

"For me, it was an issue of the interior of the barrels rusting up pretty good because they were not chrome lined like the comparable Beretta and of the receiver/forearm getting gouged. I also didn't like the way the retailer or Browning handled the matter (i.e., it was my fault)."

Ah, really? You mean to tell me that someone told you that rust on your gun was your fault? I see..... a person allows their guns to rust due to neglect, and now it is not their fault. But, they have worked out a scheme in their head so that Browning is to blame. Then not only blame Browning but that person also bad mouths them for the person's protection or failure to protect their own property. That makes perfect sense to me, I have met folks like that all over the world, nothing is ever their fault, as long as they can "blame shift" their neglect to someone else.

Your rusty gun is in fact your responsibility, and is the result of your neglect, period.

I own guns that I have owned since I was 9 years of age, near 60 years now, not one has a speck of rust. I own guns that my grandfather owned and with which I learned to shoot when I was 5 years of age and not a speck of rust and they are nearing 100 years in age. I own two dozen shotguns, alone, no rust on any gun.

I judge men by their shoes, their car's interior and when in the field or at the range by their guns. If I see dirty neglected shoes, a cluttered and dirty vehicle interior, or rust on their guns, I do not do business with them, because those men neglect the details in their life, it is a life's lesson I learned before I opened my first business, 44 years ago.
Ed

Ed,

I have a 19 year old Ruger 77MKII without a spec of rust on it, a Browning BPS from the first year they came out, which I think is around 1977, without a speck of rust on it, I have my father's Belgian auto-5 and Winchester 101without a spec of rust on them, I have a Beretta 682 Gold that is about 18 years old without a spec of rust on it, and I have a plethora of other guns without a spec of rust on them (e.g., Beretta 391 Teknys Gold in 12 gauge, Beretta 391 Teknys Gold in 20 gauge, Beretta 3901, Beretta 682 Gold E sport, Ruger 77MKII TGT in .220 Swift, Remington 700 in .270 Win, Ruger Mini-30, Ruger 10/22, and I am sure the list goes on). I take pretty good care of essentially everything I own. I have a bicycle from 1985 that works great. 1989 Mustang GT without a spot on the interior that runs fine and doesn't have a spec of rust on it. The only gun other than the Citori that I have with any rust on it is my Benelli SBE, but I have used that thing so much over the past 13 years that the blueing is essentially gone and a couple of spots have nicks on it that rust right up. Two weeks ago, I was hunting with my brother who bought an SBE the year after me, and when we held the guns next to each other his looked brand new (i.e., he hunts 1 time to my 50). My SBE was rusting in the goose blind while I was hunting a couple of weeks ago in the pouring rain, but I am sure a man of your stature, intellect, cleanliness, and whatever other superiority you believe you have would have been hunting under an umbrella for the gun's sake.

Me, I judge a man by his heart and not whether he keeps a messy car, gun, or what have you. I judge him by his actions and try to understand why he might have a messy car, house, office, etc. Life was really simple and really clean before I had 2 kids and my own legal practice. Went to work, came home, played with the guns, the cars, and the bikes. Now, I work ALL the time, the backseat of my truck is a disaster because as fast as I can clean it my kids mess it up. Same goes for my Taurus. The Focus, we keep extremely clean because the kids don't ride in it, nor does the dog. However, my guns are still all clean and rust free, even the SBE because I wipe it down and oil it after hunting in the rain. The exception is the Citori. The Citori will sit in the safe until it rusts to pieces, and the next time I want a POS that rusts up from firing a single shot through it, I will purchase another Browning. I'd rather be smart about it and buy a gun for the same amount of money that doesn't require as much care. Same goes for a car. I prefer a car that requires less maintenance and fewer repairs. Call me crazy, but I have more important things to do than continually polish my guns, cars, bikes, etc.

Me, I judge a man by how intelligent he is, and whether he makes the same mistake over and over. As far as I am concerned, I could have bought more gun by taking the money I spent on the Citori and buying a Beretta for the exact same cost. Did you miss the point I made about the Citori not having chrome lined barrels, versus the equally priced Beretta 686 having chrome lined barrels? Also, how do you explain the gouging between the receiver and the forearm on the Citori? According to the shop, that was also my fault because some speck of dirt got in between and caused the gouging. Me, I think it was because the freaking gun was too tight. As far as I am concerned, that Citori was an inferior product compared to the 686 that I bought after it.

By the way, I'm at the point right now in my career that I wouldn't do business with a person like you either. Sometimes, it is good to be busy, but then the guns pay the price if they happen to be a Citori.

[fabsroman]

Popplecop,
I have had many Browning O/U's, used most of them for shooting doubles in Trap, I now have two Brownings I use specifically for 5 stand Sporting Clays .
I tried a couple Beretta O/U's but the fit was not as good as the Brownings.
So I use what works best for me and that is a Browning 525 Sporting Clays
model with the Adjustable Stock and my backup gun is a Browning XS Special
also with an adjustable stock. Both guns are great performers and work very
well with reasonable care. The barrel rusting issue was a good while back, they now chrome line all their barrels so rusting is no longer a problem. I
can not say anything bad about them really, other than a few of my trap
version guns had galling on the reciever mating surfaces. The more recent
models say in the past 10 years dont seem to do that anymore from what I have seen. Browning seems to be making a good product as of current.
Regards 6.5:)

Yeah, my Citori was from around 1990 because I bought it right after the Mustang GT in 1989. I have no idea what Browning makes anymore because since that incident I refuse to buy another Browning. Looked at a Browning Gold 3.5 back in 1997 because it was $200 cheaper than the SBE and I was broke and in law school, and then decided to save for the SBE in lieu of buying the Browning. Nowadays, Browning might make a very good gun and their customer service might be a lot better. However, it is like I say about cars. Ford would have to be in pretty bad shape for me to buy anything else. Same goes for Beretta and Benelli. Still debating buying a Benelli Super Sport Performance edition gun, but I shoot the Beretta Teknys pretty well already.

What did you do with the Beretta you got?

[gold40]

In forty years of shooting all types of guns, I have NEVER experienced barrel rust! Not in my Brownings, Colt's, S&W's, Lefevers, L.C. Smiths, etc.

[fabsroman]

In forty years of shooting all types of guns, I have NEVER experienced barrel rust! Not in my Brownings, Colt's, S&W's, Lefevers, L.C. Smiths, etc.

Me too, with the exception of the Browning Citori o/u. I must have got the only lemon they ever made. However, I have only been shooting for something like 30 years now since I will be turning 40 this year. Then again, I did start using the .410 at around 7 years of age, so that might actually be 33 years of shooting.