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Looking for opinions on two Brownings.


Chris Waring
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Hi.

I am looking for opinions on the Browning B725 pro sport and the Browning 525 ultra XS Pro. I shoot sporting and skeet. I know best fit is king and I will try both. All comments welcome.

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This question has been posted in other forums to get a wider audience. 

Edited by Chris Waring
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The 725 has a shallower action and therefore handles and feels different to a “normal” Browning,

Ive had one of the first Ultra XS guns for nearly 20 years apart from 12 months ( long story)

in my opinion its a great gun,

Friend of mine has just bought the new xs pro and put a 525 g1 and a 725 in part ex.

Too early for him to have a opinion yet, (just got it at the weekend)

:shaun:

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The shooting times recently did a review on a new 525 Laminate, primarily a clay gun. It has a grey stock and for end that might not be to everyone's taste. it weights 8.4llb and comes with either 30 or 32" barrels. The review gave it 98 out of 100. Although it is not yet available in Britain yet, it will be retailing at just over the £2000 mark.      

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21 hours ago, shaun4860 said:

The 725 has a shallower action and therefore handles and feels different to a “normal” Browning,

Ive had one of the first Ultra XS guns for nearly 20 years apart from 12 months ( long story)

in my opinion its a great gun,

Friend of mine has just bought the new xs pro and put a 525 g1 and a 725 in part ex.

Too early for him to have a opinion yet, (just got it at the weekend)

Please let me know what he thinks of it.

Chris.

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16 hours ago, Mr gen said:

The shooting times recently did a review on a new 525 Laminate, primarily a clay gun. It has a grey stock and for end that might not be to everyone's taste. it weights 8.4llb and comes with either 30 or 32" barrels. The review gave it 98 out of 100. Although it is not yet available in Britain yet, it will be retailing at just over the £2000 mark.      

Friend of mines daughter has one and Bywell Shooting Ground In Northumberland has one in.

2 hours ago, Chris Waring said:

Please let me know what he thinks of it.

Chris.

Will do Chris will see him on Saturday

:shaun:

 

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The latest Browning 525 ultra xs pro I think is a nicer gun to shoot. Only gripe I hate the sharp edges and sticky top lever on them, they are hard to get the lever to move and thumb gets sore after a while.

I like the look and lower profile action of  the 725 but don't like how it shoots.

Both will serve you well with no issues with either gun.  it really is down to how you find the feel fit and handling that matters, not what we like or don't like. 

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i have the prosport and i really do enjoy using it, it balances nicely with all the options of weights etc to get it just how you like a gun to feel. 

 

i also have the b525 sl and i must admit its another fine gun to shoot, it looks better in the flesh than the pics show to be fair. its a heavey gun but really does soak up the recoil - its noticable! 

 

as always it comes down to personal preference though so as im sure you will, have a feel and a play. if your anywhere near essex you can have a go with mine at fennes. 

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Hi Chris

I have been shooting a Prosport since last July I find it very well balanced and equally at home shooting long or short distance clays, not as pretty as a 525 XS but still a nice looking gun and I do get comments how nice it looks. My Prosport weighs just a couple of ounces under 9 lbs and that is without adding any additional stock or barrel weights, I think this can vary from gun to gun, I presume that it is down to wood density. I tried a XS Ultra a couple of weeks ago and the balance and Fit was very good but I still preferred the Prosport. I part ex a Blaser F16 for the Prosport as the Blaser was a bit lively in my hands so the heavier gun has definitely made a difference to the distance I am now killing clays and my ratio. 

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Thanks for your comments steve 1066. Another question is what length barrels? I have not been shooting long and at present use my friends gun, a Beretta 682. I have tried other guns belonging to people at our shooting ground and prefer the bigger feel of the Brownings. I will get my cert in a week or two. Again what barrel length?

Chris.

Edited by Chris Waring
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15 hours ago, steve1066 said:

Hi Chris

I have been shooting a Prosport since last July I find it very well balanced and equally at home shooting long or short distance clays, not as pretty as a 525 XS but still a nice looking gun and I do get comments how nice it looks. My Prosport weighs just a couple of ounces under 9 lbs and that is without adding any additional stock or barrel weights, I think this can vary from gun to gun, I presume that it is down to wood density. I tried a XS Ultra a couple of weeks ago and the balance and Fit was very good but I still preferred the Prosport. I part ex a Blaser F16 for the Prosport as the Blaser was a bit lively in my hands so the heavier gun has definitely made a difference to the distance I am now killing clays and my ratio. 

I bought the ProTrap Adjustable 4 or 5 months back, it tips the scales and 1oz shy of 9lbs without any stock/forend weights. The gun shop had 4 x 32" which he weighed when I was there some were a full 6-7oz lighter, mine had the nicest wood. Pretty wood must weigh a bit more! 

I went from a 30" 692 and the browning suits me MUCH better. I chose the ProTrap over the ProSport just because I prefer a parallel comb. 

3 hours ago, Chris Waring said:

Thanks for your comments steve 1066. Another question is what length barrels? I have not been shooting long and at present use my friends gun, a Beretta 682. I have tried other guns belonging to people at our shooting ground and prefer the bigger feel of the Brownings. I will get my cert in a week or two. Again what barrel length?

Chris.

I'd never had a set of 32" barrels either and had never shot a 32" but they definitely suit me.  Like you I prefer the Browning feel over Beretta - personal preference/shooting style/fit I suppose.

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Hi Chris

My Barrels are 30 inch, I tried 32s but they felt quite front heavy and I did not want arms like popeye due to having to add weights to bring the balance back.

Blackbird mentioned about the adjustable comb, I am not sure which Browning comb mechanism he his referring to but I did have mine come loose on just one occasion and I think that the Allen Key supplied with the gun is quite small and you cannot really put any tension on it, so I purchased a decent quality T shaped Allen key, gave it a good kranking up and no problems since.

 

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7 hours ago, Chris Waring said:

Farmer7.

I had never considered the pro Trap. Is it ok for sporting Clay's? 

Absolutely, That's what I bought it for. I've always preferred a flatter comb. 

 

3 hours ago, steve1066 said:

Hi Chris

My Barrels are 30 inch, I tried 32s but they felt quite front heavy and I did not want arms like popeye due to having to add weights to bring the balance back.

 

My ProTrap is 32" and balances bang on the hinge pin with no weights at all. I like it a lot and feels very balanced. Maybe just down to wood density again. 

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Something I have experienced lately on my Prosport is the trigger not allowing the second barrel to fire and I thought it was me holding onto the trigger when you have a second bird that is quite fast after the first bird, but my son tried my gun today and it happened to him he said that he had definitely released the trigger sufficiently to allow the second barrel to be fired, it happened on two consecutive pairs. Has anyone else experienced this malfunction on a Prosport or 725 mechanism? Will probably have to send it back, let’s see how good Browning are with it’s warranties.

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Send it back under warranty and insist on a written report of work done.

The trigger system on the 725 is a little different from other Browning/Miroku models and has been problematic since day 1 and the gen 2 version hasn't fully resolved these issues. Whilst Browning makes the highly questionable claim that it's a mechanical trigger, compared with other true mechanical triggers it really isn't, because even though it will usually set the 2nd barrel without recoil, it still uses an inertia mechanism. Work that one out!

As mentioned elsewhere there are 2 well known AAA class sporting shots who each have 2 Pro Sports so they always have a backup gun for when the triggers go wrong. Similarly, a number of American skeet shooters using sub gauge tubes in 725s have had  problems with intermittent failure to reset the trigger and many guns have to be modified for light loads.

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On 26/03/2019 at 06:33, Mr gen said:

The shooting times recently did a review on a new 525 Laminate, primarily a clay gun. It has a grey stock and for end that might not be to everyone's taste. it weights 8.4llb and comes with either 30 or 32" barrels. The review gave it 98 out of 100. Although it is not yet available in Britain yet, it will be retailing at just over the £2000 mark.      

Do you have a link to that Mr gen?

 

Cheers

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2 hours ago, B725 said:

Never had a problem with the trigger on my 725 had it from new 2012

Which is true for quite a lot of 725s but there are too many where it's very much not true.

Competition shooting is an expensive sport and participants tend not to keep problematic guns for very long, which is why there are very few 725s (or 692s for that matter) at registered sporting shoots.

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