Hello, I have recently come in possesion of 2 Brownings o/u , The first one is : serialnr : 57226 S8 ( 1968 ? ) Fabrique National D'Armes De Guerre __ Herstal. Belgique Special Steel 12ga Shells 2 3/4 ( both on the left side of the barrel ) Made in Belgium __ Browning Patent ( on the right side of the barrel ) 12 bore 70 cm barrels 6mm rib wich ends to 4 mm *- and **- choke ( 3/4 and 1/4 ) Nice grade wood with teardrop , forend looks like a 3 piece without the screws. nice deep engraving with dog flushing pheasant left and dog flushing duck on the right and scrolls including triggerguard , dogs head on bottom , silver shine. i can't see a signature. Overall in mint condition, hardly been used . there is however no mention of B25 on the barrels. Second one is: serialnr : 324NX02243 ( no idea of year ) Browning Arms Company Morgan, Utah & Montreal PQ Made in Belgium by Browning SA ( Both on the left side of the barrel ) Mod B25 - 20ga - 2 3/4" ( on the right side of the barrel ) 20 bore 67 cm barrels even 5-6 mm rib * and ** choke ( full and half ) nice dark medium quality wood , no teardrop. straight normal rounded forend. engraving with 2 pheasant flying on the left and 2 ducks on the right both sides have a blank oval edge around the scene with some light scrolls around and bottom signed by D Matagne in used condition Now my question is for the first one, is it a B25 or another type and if is a B25 is it normal that some engraving was left without signature or could this have been done outside by another gunsmith/engraver ? Second gun is in need of some " TLC " , previous owner did a bit too much polishing espicially on the triggerguard wich has turned almost dark grey. The production date is also a bit of a mystery for me. Since we are not allowed to use lead shot where i live i was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of re-choking of these guns especially for the 20 bore ( https://www.teaguechokes.com/teague-multi-chokes )
Briley (https://www.briley.com/) is the place to ask about re-choking fixed chokes on vintage guns, and if the barrel thickness will even allow steel-rated chokes. For Brownings of this vintage, "*" indicates full choke, and "**" indicates improved cylinder; "*-" is modified, and "**-" is improved modified.
