Browning Superposed Salt Wood Serial Numbers

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Browning Superposed Salt Wood Serial Numbers Rating: 3,6/5 308 reviews
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  1. Aluminum
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    I will be looking at a 20 ga. Superposed later this week that was manufactured in 1970. A little bit of research has revealed that this may be a 'salt wood' gun. Assuming this hasn't been restocked, what should I look out for? This is in an auction and the preliminary valuation is $100. I am looking to get a good field gun so cosmetics aren't important, but safety is. Assuming the gun is only cosmetically damaged, what would you bid? What if the gun has been restocked? Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
    Thanks,
    Andy
  2. Aluminum
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    Andy, If you can get the serial number,check with Browning arms.
    Also pose the question www.shotgunworld.com.
    Regards,
    Joisey Steve
  3. Aluminum
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    Steve,
    Thanks! Shotgunworld is new to me and looks like a great site.
    Andy
  4. nfwood
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    Andy, sometimes pretty hard to tell. Typically you will find pitting along edges where metal joins the stock or forearm. Looks just a tad rusty along those joints like shotgun had been allowed to get wet and was not cleaned up soon enough. first effort is to pop the forearm and look for light rust or pitting along the barrels just below where the wood fits against the barrels. Also look at the forearm metal and the screws that hold it in place. They are likely to be pitted as well or appear rusty if you can get some light on them. Have seen a couple that had the slots of the screws almost filled with rust and crud.
    Also the wood around the metal line may appear darker than the rest of the wood--but that can be caused by someone who slathered a lot of oil into the mechanism and that drained into the buttstock at back ofthe receiver.
    bidding depends on you and how many others who know about the gun. If a live auction and others don't know about the salty stock problem that gun could go for $1,500.00. If really a rag, it will still likely go for $500 to $500.
    Good luck. Probably not much danger from shoting it but the rusting can't really be stopped until the wood is replaced--an expensive proposition. One cost me about $600 to get repaired and restocked 10 years ago. Turned out to be a beauty but by then who wanted to take it to the field?
    Nelson
  5. Aluminum
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    The saltwood gun looked like it had the wood replaced at the factory. I was hoping to sneak in under the radar on the shotguns because most everyone was there for the handguns and rifles. Unfortunatly there was a guy with a lot more money than me, although I think he paid way too much. I did sneak under the radar last weekend (I think) and walked away with a 20 ga. LC Smith field grade, 16 ga. Savage/Fox model B, 12 ga. Browning A-5, and a 12 ga. Winchester 1897.
    Andy
  6. A friend of mine had a Browning Safari Grade made in the late 60's or early 70's. He put it in his parents glass fronted gun case when he went off to Vietnam to serve our country. Upon his return he went to Alaska to work on the pipe line. He returned to go to college. Then he got married and moved away from his parents hometown. When his father passed away he went home and got his rifle. It looked great except along the seams where the stock and metal met. He removed the stock and the metal below was deeply pited and rusted. He contacted Browning, this was in 1981. Browning instructed him to return it to them. They sent him a letter saying they repaired these rifles for free for 10 years but his rifle was returned after the 10 year period and it would be $700.00 to repair the rifle. He asked them to just return the rifle to him unrepaired. They refused to return his rifle to him. He had to hire ($200.00) an attorney to get his rifle back. He bead blasted the rifle and painted the barrel with enamel paint. The sanded down the interior stock and sealed it with epoxy paint. He traded the rifle for a Ruger model 77. To the best of my knowledge he has and will never buy another Browning again. I was a Browning fan then myself owning numerous Brownings. But I have not bought one since then myself and discourage others from buying Brownings to this day. I refuse to work on Brownngs in my shop. I know the management at Browning doesn't care about the way I feel about their management practices but it all adds up in the long run. I know John Moses Browning must be rolling over in his grave today. He would not stand for such product support. He was a perfectionest and made great products.
    Rustystud
  7. Plastic
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    The 'Superposed' book gives a complete explanation of the problem. I have Nightmare experiences with Browning on my two Superposed shotguns that puts a bad light on Browning management today. My father purchased 2 Broadways in NRA Excellent as gifts for my brother and I. When my bachelor brother died I ended up with his gun and he had it apart and it had rust on the tangs. When I inquired by phone about reblue the Tech told me it may be salt-wood and so I sent the gun in to Browning and they sent me a quote for $250.00 to reblue. A couple of days later I got a 2nd revised invoice for $800.00. I called to find out what had happened and they said the bill was now revised again to $2200.00! What had happened was that to get the pitting out of the barrels they ground them down so far that the gunsmith determined them to be unsafe so now they wanted me to pay for a total rebarrel job which required them to be sent back to Liege. I protested to their manager and he agreed to let me off for a mere $1,000.00 and after a year I got the gun back with unfired barrels, Belgian(French) certification and a beautiful new stock. Screwed but happy.
    Then my other gun starting showing signs. Once again they told me to send it in. I did so in November, but around Christmas I knew they would be on break so checked to see if they got my gun. They said it was already on its way back to me! I had never received acknowledgment or a work order. I asked what was done. After a little checking he said NOTHING, and that Browning had stopped working on the guns and referred all work out to other shops at the owners expense, totally! I wrote to president Don Gobel and he sent me back a letter that so much as said 'take a walk', and so I wrote another letter. Finally, a Vice President called me at home and after cordialities asked me what I would like for him to do. I simply said 'fix my gun!' He said they couldn't do that and that they had to make the decision somewhere. I told him I have to make decisions in the market place all the time and the next ones will be Beretta or something else! My last purchases have been a Beretta 20ga 687L and a high grade Rizinni 20 O/U. I plan to never again buy a new Browning. I fixed the 2nd one too for another $1300.00. Yeah, I know, nuts, but I'm a hopeless sentimental. My dad was a serious Browning collector, both Belgian and Japanese and I still have and cherish some of their fine products he shared with my brother and I. But current Browning management does not appear up to the task of the fine tradition laid down by their predecessors, Val et al. An ignorant and risky decision was made (see book) and their loyal customers paid the price, TWICE! Sorry about bleeding all over everyone but take it for what it worth. One mans experience. But It would be a cold day in Gehenna before I bought any Browning made in the years 1965 to 1975 and certainly no new ones just out of principal. Disgusted... Dave
    [ 07-09-2005, 05:24 PM: Message edited by: twoluvbirds ]
  8. Cast Iron
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    Browning's greed caused the saltwood problem in the first place. They had such a demand for high grade shotguns with high grade wood at the time. The high grade stocks were all air-dried at the time and it took years to happen. For when you kiln-dry a highly figured piece of wood it literally self destructs. Salt has a love for moisture and by soaking the high grade wood in salt water, they could get the wood on the guns in weeks after cutting with no checking nor spliting of the highly figured wood. At that time the fancy bowl turners were keeping their bowls together afterturning by soaking in salt water. So some bird brained IE at Browning read about that and dictated that is the way we will do it, screw mother nature and her slow drying times. We can get 1000 times the amount of fancy wood on guns this way.
  9. Cast Iron
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    I kinda think Browning's on the wrong track today in other ways. If you look at Ruger, they went from a barn to America's number 1 gun maker in a relatively short time, by putting mechanical innovation and modern safety features into traditional-looking guns. Browning is an international operation, but it doesn't take a crystal ball to see that the USA is something like 75% or better of the world market for firearms in one package. Americans are possibly getting even more conservative in recent years, and gun owners are typically more conservative than average. So what does Browning say? They want to be 'different.' I suppose if everybody else was NOT jumping off cliffs, they'd want to be 'different' then too. Browning still makes some very nice guns, the Citori, the excellent BPS pump, their .22 lever action, etc. But the trend is going towards the Cynergy shotgun, and new products like it. Nerve-jangling 'Euro' styling, cheaper production techniques, and the sacrifice of durability in the bargain. If you take the stock off a Cynergy shotgun and look at how it's hollowed out to make room for the mechanism, you'll see some pretty dubious engineering. It would be fine if made of Kevlar and carbon fiber, probably, but most of the guns are stocked in wood and they are simply asking wood to do impossible things.
    I'd say, if you like any of Browning's sturdier traditional models, get them now. Remember what happened with Winchester in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
  10. Cast Iron
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    Say, is that about Browning soaking the wood in saltwater documented? Browning themselves did this, and not some little wood supplier in Turkey or something? It's hard to believe they could have been THAT dumb and short-sighted.
  11. Plastic
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    Unfortunately, Browning management blew it from the get go. See the book: Browning Superposed: John M. Browning's Last Legacy' by Ned Schwing. It's a great book, although it devotes only 2pages to a subject that's been a curse on the buying public for these fine shotguns, it leaves no doubt who was at fault. A process they purchased from Morton salt and failed to implement properly. Sadly, the most illustrious period for these guns is terribly tarnished by this event. Guns that should bring considerable value for their quality of execution sell for much less than what they are worth due to the risk of getting an effected gun. High grades are particularly suspect, and consider that most of these higher grade versions were purchased by Brownings premium customers who really loved their products and shooting them. Guns prior to these dates like a .20 gauge round knob go for hefty prices, $2200.00 on the low end in my area. Browning was, and in some ways, perhaps still is, a great gun company, and I still hunt and shoot all the clay sports with the ones I already own. But I think I'll go elsewhere for any new purchases. The market is extremely competitive and there are many equal or better buys. Beretta, Rizinni, Sig(Rizinni), Guerini, SKB and many others. Caveat Emptor. Dave
  12. Stainless
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    Was this salt wood used on only the Belgian guns?
    I have 2 Citoris, one a 4 barrel set, grade 3, the other a Lightning.
    Did the Citori use this salt wood?
  13. Plastic
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    From what the 'Superposed' books says it appears that only the Belgian products were effected, and that it has shown up in virtually the whole line, although I've only personally seen one of their fine bolt action rifles so effected and no Auto-5's. I don't believe any Japanese products were effected at all. One can check with their repair stations at Arnold, MO for sure, but I think your Citori's should be fine, along with all the other Japanese products. I believe the Higher grade Citoris did not come along until later. In my view the Belgian Browning products have always been the Cadillac line of the firearms industry. Their execution was impeccable and worth every penny of their cost over their competitors. Perhaps no company could recover from such a blunder and keep guys like me totally satisfied with the process. I think, in my case, though, they were more negligent than they should've been. Particularly with my history with them as a consumer and as a victim. By the way, the 'Superposed' book mentioned above is well worth the purchase price and you would find it an interesting read.
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I've checked the serial numbers, as best as I could, and the #15333 S3 may be DOM of 1931-1939. The #72104 S7 may be DOM of. Superposed grades (diana, midas, pointer, pigeon) saltwood fabrique nationale john moses browning broadway trap superposed choke codes felix funken superposed LOP airways case. Oct 19, 2004. Superposed later this week that was manufactured in 1970. A little bit of research has revealed that this. A little bit of research has revealed that this may be a 'salt wood' gun. Assuming this hasn't been restocked. Andy, If you can get the serial number,check with Browning arms. Also pose the question. The Superposed shotgun was introduced to the U.S. Market in 1931 and discontinued distribution in the U.S. The Superposed is still available through Browning International's Custom Shop. To find your serial number, you will need to refer to your owner's manual. We have most owner's manuals.

Browning Superposed Salt Wood

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