Browning Citori O/U

[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]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.