# For those who hunt with "valuable" shotguns...



## 22 Chuck (Feb 2, 2006)

Very nice gun.. Some day someone will get it and wonder why the previous owner didnt use it and will be thankful they saved it for him..


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## Mn bum (May 1, 2018)

I have a nice browning featherweight. It is a beautiful gun, and a joy to carry and use. I clean it and oil it after every hunt. But I don't hang it on a wall and look at it like a piece of art. Take care of it and enjoy it. You'll appreciate it more than a safe queen.


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## 6thMichCav (Nov 8, 2007)

There are lookers and there are users. Never the twain shall meet.

99% of my guns are users, so I buy used guns to avoid putting the first scratch in them.

Regardless of one’s personal value, any visible wear is going to affect collectibility. My “mint condition” probably looks like 90% to a collector.

So, use it and care for it, or put it in the safe permanently.


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## KJW1992 (Apr 23, 2019)

22 Chuck said:


> Very nice gun.. Some day someone will get it and wonder why the previous owner didnt use it and will be thankful they saved it for him..


Right now that lucky fella is me 

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk


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## bowhunter426 (Oct 20, 2010)

I have some valuablish shotguns like my Browning Maxus that I put thru hell

I have a 1950 Winchester Model 12 Black Diamond Trap Grade that has been passed down thru the family from my great grandfather and a Citori I bought a few years ago and I hunt more gingerly with these. Fair weather, easy walks etc. They are more pieces of art than a getter done tool but they are wonderful to use and still deserve to be used to appreciate the craftsmanship that went into creating them.


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## GDLUCK (Dec 2, 2002)

So Dad passes down a gun. Value. Is it's value the $$ that it's worth? So they can sell or trade for a new iphone? Or is the value looking at the dings and scratches and remembering the miles you walked and the shots you took together and the miles and shots and dings you will add with your son before passing it on?

Value. Funny word.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

The gun that I most respected and lusted after was owned by a person I use to run into while grouse hunting, and occasionally I would hunt with him. The gun was well worn and cut down mid grade Parker. Every blemish was positive from my point of view. The barrels had been cut off at the 24” mark and this left the gun choked at cyl x cyl. . I. Always remarked how much I lo
Bed the gun and one day, after having met up early, he let me hunt with the gun. We moved and killed a lot of birds that day. He shot well with my corn cob Ithaca 37 and I felt invincible with his Parker. I always hoped to find a similar Parker after my financial progression but I never found one with the right character. I did end up with a English stocked Browning with 25 inch barrels and screw in chokes. It has developed quite a bit of character. On rare occasions, if I wanted to show off for someone, I would take my Browning skeet gun. I hated to nick it up and it was heavy to carry but having shot it so much I could hit birds almost with my eyes closed.


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## jjlrrw (May 1, 2006)

KJW1992 said:


> Might as well show it off, right?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I Purchased a browning A-bolt 30-06 and A5 12g and the wood on both were beautiful, its been close to 30 years but there was a company that made custom covers to put over them while in use, they were camo so it help while deer or waterfowl hunting, I don't remember the brand could look if you like. Also not sure if they would work or made them for a break action gun??


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## flighthunter (Nov 21, 2005)

KJW1992 said:


> Right now that lucky fella is me
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk


One of the best metaphors I’ve heard regarding this conundrum your in goes something like… keeping that gun in the safe is like not banging your smoke show girlfriend to save her for her next boyfriend.

I’d say the only reason to not use it like any other field gun would be if you are truly concerned with resale value. When I was younger and would be stretched with my budget on toys, I was always concerned with maintaining resale value I.e. boats. My outlook has changed 180 now that my budget can afford these things.

Your kids probably won’t end up keeping the gun that was a safe queen vs one that was used and made memories.


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## triplelunger (Dec 21, 2009)

I think a dinged up shotgun with a couple scratches adds to the beauty of it. 
That being said, I don't own any shotguns that cost me more that $300.


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## motoscoota (Mar 9, 2021)

You know what I did with every freak'n Star Wars toy?.. Opened the box and played my ass off in the sand box. Maybe a bank account would have been better financials, but looking back money doesn't really buy that sort of simple innocent fun.


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## michiganmaniac (Dec 9, 2008)

What some of my wealthier hunting friends
say is if they have the money to own it, they have the money to fix it. Don't gamble what you can't afford to lose.


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## Night Moves (Jan 28, 2021)

I hunt with a similar Browning all the time and have done so for 40 years. I don't care about cosmetics. I will never sell it, so I own it to use it.


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## birdhntr (Jan 25, 2014)

Chessieman said:


> That stock looks to be heavily varnished, I do not think oil would pernitrate it. I have a older Marlin that has a self bleeding stock, now those guns are meant to be dented!


Hard wax is all that you can do to help


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## birdhntr (Jan 25, 2014)

TheHighLIfe said:


> I have been ac/dc with guns, so I can relate to the different suggestions above - but have one consideration to add
> 
> my gun shop guy said they could tell when my guns came in, as they looked 'rode hard and put away wet'. I understand that guns are meant for shooting
> 
> ...


Bob's gun shop in Alpena.
He knows his Browning's and double guns.
One of the best gun market sellers around.
He sold 3 unused doubles for well over a million.
He didn't want to give my browning back when I had him look at it.lol.


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## wpmisport (Feb 9, 2010)

KJW1992 said:


> I'm 100% going to continue hunting with it on occasion. Like if I go to a GEMS site I'll stick to trails and edges of openings instead of the young aspen stands. For rabbits I walk around brush piles instead of through thorns and willows, etc.


What I would do when hunting in thick cover is to tuck the stock into my armpit and keep the gun pointed strait ahead. It worked good for me but if I was using a gun with a synthetic stock I would not do this.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I don't have any pretty shotguns. They all work to pay rent on space in the safe. I'd love a beaut like the OP's, but for the trap field only.


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## SteelShot (Jan 26, 2011)

An old retired gun shop owner once told me, “life’s too short to hunt with ugly guns.” Take it out, just go easy on it.


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## birdhntr (Jan 25, 2014)

SteelShot said:


> An old retired gun shop owner once told me, “life’s too short to hunt with ugly guns.” Take it out, just go easy on it.


They feel good ,then they shoot good.
Only one problem is the dogs always take you to places that you don't get to choose!!


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## gundogguy (Oct 5, 2008)

Both of my Browning XT Ultra's are tools nothing more. They are not fancy furniture only to be looked at. I taken wood rasp and grinding tools to my stock improve fit wrap the wrist in Bondo just to improve the grip, built up the palm swell with Bondo as well. Just love make a tool fit me better and perform better. I call my gun "Timex" It takes a beating over 100,000 rounds and keeps on banging
What he look like new..








Citori XT Trap with Adjustable Comb, Grade I - Browning







www.browning.com





Quick video of the me "Timex" making a 70 yard kill while a Lil Spaniel is steady and awaits being released to make a nice retrieve







Hal


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## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

I hunt grouse with a Dickson r/a.
There is nothing that can happen to a Superposed that Art’s gun shop cannot refresh or repair at a modest price.
Some would say their refinishing is better than factory original.

Use your shotgun in good health


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## jasperdog (Nov 8, 2007)

So.. Back to the original proposition.

I have no advice on the care and feeding..

I did have a buddy ( and a pretty good one at that) who could pretty darn well shoot a shotgun.

He was from modest means in Northern Michigan. Worked his way into a pretty well solid position. Really wanted a nice shotgun. Spent a lot of time contemplating, and finally bought the Purdey he wanted a couple years ago. Borrowed from his 401(k) to do it. 

First wife died some years ago With no children between them. Remarried 5 years or so ago.

He shot that thing a fair amount, both hunting and at clays. Grouse, woodcock, Tunnel of Trees… 

Unless you knew what it was, he would never tell you. He just liked holding it.

Well, then he died of a heart attack this summer In his early 60’s.

So my advice is to go shoot it…


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## 9mm Hi-Power (Jan 16, 2010)

KJW1992 said:


> I'm just curious to hear about anyone else who hunts with a "nice" gun. Also if anyone applies linseed oil or something similar to old guns like this.


Browning Superposed shotguns were finished in "hand-rubbed' varnish. I can guarantee unless you have a lot of experience re-finishing upscale shotgun stocks like your "Super" any touching up you try to do to dings, scratches, dents and the like will be readily evident and generally speaking any attempt on your part to fix-up something you've already messed up will only make it worse. Kinda' like having a scratch on your Ferrari and going to your local NAPA store for some touch up paint and rubbing compound and then going to Bud's Bump and Grind - "Our Business Is A Wreck" to try and fix up what you've done. .

That is a gorgeous shotgun and it will only go up in value while keeping in mind condition is everything . If you're determined to take it afield - and that's certainly your prerogative - and the stock gets beat up then beat it up some more to the point you feel you must do something about it and send it off to a professional stock maker/re-finishing shop for a complete re-finish ( stock, fore end, re-cut checkering etc. ) - today's going rate is probably somewhere between $500.00 and $800.00* these days. A lot of big $$$'s, yes, but that's a big $$$ shotgun so don't expect to find anyone who knows what their doing to do it on the cheap. Do not take it to a local gun shop that guarantees it will be done in 10 days or two weeks at the most - you will come to regret it.


Personally and assuming you're not totally enamored or in love with the shotgun I'd sell it via a reputable shop that deals in upscale shotguns, like Jaquas* or Art's - either on consignment or outright. With your returned fortune look for a clean 20 gauge Field Grade Superposed . You will have a fair amount of cash left over and won't be as emotionally conflicted every time you take it afield and fret about condition as you now seem to be with your Pigeon Grade. And as far as shootabilty, carrying, balance, handling, hunting with and the like it's the very same shotgun down to every nut, bolt and pin but without the bling.

Jaqua's Gun List has a 20 ga. Pigeon Grade like your's listing for $5,495.00 . That's probably what your's is worth ( +/- ) so please don't make any rash or spur of the moment decisions about it that one day you may regret. Don't take this personally but if you try and do anything to it in your "basement workshop " - touching up the stock, trying to remove the fore end from the barrels, touching up the blue and the like you will only succeed in making things worse. You have a real jewell of a shotgun - keep it that way.



Gamekeeper said:


> I hunt grouse with a Dickson r/a.
> There is nothing that can happen to a Superposed that Art’s gun shop cannot refresh or repair at a modest price.


Art's - per their current price list - is just shy of $500.00 to re-finish the stock and fore end and if you re-finish one you have to re-finish the other and this is a "high gloss finish. " They use some sort of " automotive/ acrylic finish" that they used on a Superposed Superlite they did for me a number of years ago.











To re-cut the checkering ( if the stock is beat up enough to need re-finishing then the checkering should be re-cut - "In for dime, in for a dollar") is another $300.00 - so you're looking at $800.00. Not sure if this is your idea of a "reasonable" price or not but it is certainly a good price for really good work on a really nice shotgun by really nice people who really know what their doing.

Hope this helps.

9mm Hi-Power


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## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

jasperdog said:


> So.. Back to the original proposition.
> 
> I have no advice on the care and feeding..
> 
> ...


I think I met him when shooting at Emmet county. His Purdey was very nice.
I was squadded with an F. RIZZINI R1 at the Tunnel one year. Just sublime in all regards.

There was 200k in the rack that day on each station.


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## birdhntr (Jan 25, 2014)

Just have it buried with you then nobody will know what you did to that beautiful gun.lol


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## DirtySteve (Apr 9, 2006)

I bought a franchi last year that was a relativley plain model SL model but still nicer than anything i have ever owned before. I picked thisngunnout adter a year of looking because if the unique wood grain on it. I take the gun through all sorts of rough stuff. I have put a few handling marks on it. It has a linseed oil finish and the manual says to use linseed on it yearly. It amazed me how well it soaks that up and how well the oil covers imperfections. Made me want to strip the varnish off every varnished gun I own.


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## gundogguy (Oct 5, 2008)

Now to make that "furniture" fit and make it a tool you can use. Here is what you need to do. Get a case or two of shells, a pattern board and some bondo, duct tape and mole skin. Shoot for a couple of days. As in any thing worth while there are no shortcuts. You can do the best fitting yourself.
Hal


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

KJW1992 said:


> Might as well show it off, right?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a beauty! I apply Birchwood Casey's Barricade on the metal. I also tape the bottom of the forearm and the six inches above the heal of the stock when I am out in the field hunting grouse to protect the finish with a good quality cushioned athletic tape. Not too asthetically pleasing, but effective when you are fight through alders or aspen whips to close to get in position to shoot.

Uncut stock really adds to its value as well as the fact that this is a LTRK gun. Does it still have a cape buffalo horn buttplate on it? 

I have a 12 in a Grade III in IC/Mod and a pair or 20s; one 26.5 and one 28". Schwing rates the late 1950s superposed as FN's best production. You look to have one of the early Pigions after they dropped the Grade III and IV and reworked their nitride coated receiver guns. Art's Gun and Sport or Midwest Gun Works are your best options for any gunsmithing work on a superposed. The FN applied varnish finish may craze over time. MGW offers several finish style options. Art's finish is sturdy, but a bit bright. As mentioned, refinishing an over and under is not cheap. A hand rubbed oil finish will cost you well "north" of Art Isaacson and MGW's price, though. These can be annually renewed by the owner, since they are in-the-wood, not on the wood.

I would steer you away from an A-5 sweet sixteen because the shothells are so hard to acquire. A nice FN vent-ribbed 20 gauge from the early sixties would be my recommendation, just after the altered the stock to moe away from the Round Knob era.


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## Mark4486 (Oct 14, 2015)

Go get yourself a can of this and rub a couple coats on before every season or every other. It coats so thin you will never notice it. Use an old tshirt. I hunt with a silver pigeon and I have a satin finish so I buy the satin yours looks to be a high gloss. If I showed you my gun you would never know I drop it at least once a season and I hunt nasty cover. 0 scratches 0 dings. Don’t forget to coat the end grains. It self levels so you just rub on a thin coat and let it dry.


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## kappa8 (Aug 8, 2013)

Beautiful superposed KJW! Why did you buy it? For investment, or to go afield?

None of my guns are safe queens, including my L.C. Smith 16ga Sterlingworth. She's gotten a couple extra dings since I acquired her 20 years ago. My upland hunting memories would be imperfect had I not take out that 16ga with my german wirehair Ty (a blackie!) and shot the heck out of phez & grouse. It may have lost $1000-1500 in value due to use, but I couldn't recreate those memories for 10x that cost. What really makes my L.C. so special is I purposely bought it knowing the year it was produced, which coincides with my dad's birthyear.

If that Browning is an investment, rub it with a diaper twice a year until it appreciates to your sell point. Otherwise, go out and make some memories. Shotguns, like cars, are meant to be driven & enjoyed.


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## KJW1992 (Apr 23, 2019)

kappa8 said:


> Beautiful superposed KJW! Why did you buy it? For investment, or to go afield?


Well... it's kinda hard to explain, but I was window shopping on an online auction site and the next day I got an email that I was the successful bidder. Ever be on a website and you go to click a link and just as you click, the screen loads more stuff and the buttons all move? Or go to scroll and your phone glitches and instead of scrolling, it clicks whatever your thumb was on? Those are my best guesses as to what happened. I like to quote Bob Ross and call it a "happy little accident" because it's a dream gun of mine, all the way down to the chokes. I just can't bring myself to sell it


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

Browning Superposed twenty gauge guns consist of about half of the FN era's production. Consequently, they have increased in value at a more rapid rate than the 12 gauge versions, particularly for Grade II guns and up. Twenty-eight inch barrels and more open choke combinations, other than Sk and Sk, add to their value. FN Browning choke constrictions were bored tighter than Winchesters of the same era. One thing I would recommend is that you grab a box of shells and sit down at a bench and fire at a stationary target circle of thirty inches from a rest at at least two different distances to regulate your barrels. Occasionally these silver soldered barrels will be off, throwing rounds well away from the shooter's aim point, particularly in higher grade guns for some reason... When you consider that the Superposed was John Browning's last design, you have both a very nice OU and a piece of American Gunmaking history. Some clay target shooters criticize these guns because the felt recoil is considered to be higher via the location of the locking bolt, but I shoot mine primarily to get meat for the table not a score on a range.


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## kappa8 (Aug 8, 2013)

KJW1992 said:


> I like to quote Bob Ross and call it a "happy little accident" because it's a dream gun of mine


God provides many blessings in life, whether (surprise) children or shotguns Enjoy both with reckless abandon.


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## 2ESRGR8 (Dec 16, 2004)

kappa8 said:


> None of my guns are safe queens, including my L.C. Smith 16ga Sterlingworth.


HUH? Fox Sterlingworth? I don't think LC Smith made a Sterly model. 
But back to the original question...I don't own any guns in that $5k plus price range but of the guns I do have I will take them out in any weather, any cover type, I have them to use and if I want to use them on any given day then they are coming along. I mean gunsmiths need to pay bills too.


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## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

2ESRGR8 said:


> HUH? Fox Sterlingworth? I don't think LC Smith made a Sterly model.
> But back to the original question...I don't own any guns in that $5k plus price range but of the guns I do have I will take them out in any weather, any cover type, I have them to use and if I want to use them on any given day then they are coming along. I mean gunsmiths need to pay bills too.


Right.
Like it doesn’t rain everyday on the grouse moor. 
Guns are made to be used.


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## Sharkey (Oct 29, 2010)

I would use it. I own a 20 year old Ruger Red Label 20 ga. that is worth double what I paid for it. It has been dragged through all sorts of cover in rain, snow, and whatever else with hundreds of rounds fired through it. A quick spray and wipe down and back into the case it goes. It often does not leave the back floor of my pickup for almost the entire grouse season. It is in very good condition with hardly any indication of the use it has had. My beautiful little 28 ga Wingmaster on the other hand looks well worn and I have hardly used it. It stays in the safe. My point is that the better made guns can take the use or abuse better if the owner does basic cleaning and reasonable storage. An Upland Gun Company double in 28 gauge will be in my truck next year. 


Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


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## Night Moves (Jan 28, 2021)

Sharkey said:


> I would use it. I own a 20 year old Ruger Red Label 20 ga. that is worth double what I paid for it. It has been dragged through all sorts of cover in rain, snow, and whatever else with hundreds of rounds fired through it. A quick spray and wipe down and back into the case it goes. It often does not leave the back floor of my pickup for almost the entire grouse season. It is in very good condition with hardly any indication of the use it has had. My beautiful little 28 ga Wingmaster on the other hand looks well worn and I have hardly used it. It stays in the safe. My point is that the better made guns can take the use or abuse better if the owner does basic cleaning and reasonable storage. An Upland Gun Company double in 28 gauge will be in my truck next year.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Michigan Sportsman


You must not hunt enough then. LOL My old Browning that I bought new in the 80s has the bluing worn off it, but the wood finish has held up well though.


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## Gamekeeper (Oct 9, 2015)

Don’t hunt with ugly guns


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## Mark4486 (Oct 14, 2015)

I would like to like to add… the day I shoot my last bird the thing I’m gonna reflect on last will be the worth of my gun. I get it’s your dream gun as my beretta is to me. But instead or having a dream gun in a safe have a dream gun on a dream hunt with friends and great dogs. You can’t take it with you.


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

Mark4486 said:


> I would like to like to add… the day I shoot my last bird the thing I’m gonna reflect on last will be the worth of my gun. I get it’s your dream gun as my beretta is to me. But instead or having a dream gun in a safe have a dream gun on a dream hunt with friends and great dogs. You can’t take it with you.


You are right, wandering around in the grouse woods or afield for pheasants or sharpies is the best thing going...that is what I will remember at the end of my life. That and witnessing two grand passages sitting on the prairie of North Dakota; never realized how many waterfowl the landscape can actually accomodate until these events.

To the OP, here is a backstory that will provide a chuckle for you: I checked Ned Schwing's records of early fifties Superposed pricing. The Grade II in your year of manufacture sold for all of $149 more than a standard Grade I. Consequently. the current price is simply reflective of the number of 20gauge guns produced each year, standardized workmanship, and inflation acting largely on the value of the engraving jobs done by Felix Funken, Nelly Watrin, Louis Vrancken,and several others as well as the FN manufacturing quality control measures instituted by Jacob Nicolai and Val Browning from 1949 into1950. One of the big changes that resulted from this altered approach was the standardization of the receiver engraving pattern on Grade I guns as they transitioned from 1950 to 1951.


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