Browning B27

[Zimtrout]

Good morning all

Does anybody have any info on a Browning B27? are they any good, i think from my basic research that they were hand built?? were they multi choked? 

cheers ZT

[JJsDad]

I am pretty sure the B27 was the short lived successor to the B26, which around 1979-80 was the entry level offering by Browning. Looking through a range of catalogues I have of Browning products, the B26 & B27 had a fairly short production life and did not feature in the Browning range once the Japanese Citori (325) was introduced.

Unless they have subsequently been multi-choked by the likes of Teague, I can see no evidence that they were multi-choked at the production stage. Whether the B26 & B27 were actually made in Belgium is, I suspect open to debate and due to the fact it was their entry level gun, I would suggest not. At the time, the cost of producing the largely hand built B25 was escalating to the extent that it was being priced out of the market. Other attempts to reduce production costs saw the introduction of the B125, where parts in the white were sourced from Japan and other countries and then assembled in Belgium.

Were they hand built ? No. While they may have had the odd stroke of a file to get a particular component to fit or function correctly they could never be described as hand built.

Are they any good ?  Depends on usage and condition. They were never the success story that the Citori/ 325 / 425 etc range achieved, and spares for them I would suspect after around 38 plus years, will be non-existent or somewhat difficult to obtain.

There are 3 on Gun Trader, which should give you a steer on prices.

[tweedledee]

wouldnt have been multichoked back then

[Zimtrout]

Thank you gents. going to look at one tomorrow. the wood is in pretty rough condition, but it will be used for pigeon shooting from a hide.......when the new licences are sorted. 

I think this is choked at 1/4 and 1/4.... I am hoping to find a gun made in the year i was born and the b27 is about right, being 1980-1982ish..

good point re spares....will check out guntrader thank you..

cheers zt

[Harry Callahan]

Not a 27, but I have a 26. From what I could tell they are possibly the same gun, just different years. (B26 sounds better than B27 to my ear)

I like my one a lot. If it's all in good nick (ignoring the wood), parts shouldn't be too big a worry - but yes, getting a part could be an issue. Good gun IMO, and it serves me well wherever I take it without looking out of place, as it were. I didn't necessarily set out to buy my one, but it was the best fitting and feeling gun I handled... I've since grown very attached to it.

 

Good luck 

[Zimtrout]

Had a good look at it, sadly it was a little tired. The wood was not great and a big split n the fore end. the checkering was nackered and the action not tight. Think i made the right call when i left it there.....