Francotte shotgun place of manufacture manual#
Francotte shotgun place of manufacture full#

Today the FN/Browning Custom Shop in Herstal, Belgium offers bespoke Superposed shotguns on a special order basis. Most Superposed guns came with semi-pistol grip stocks and rounded forends, although pistol grips and semi-beavertail forends were supplied on some models. The Midas grade featured a blued receiver set off by gold inlays.

The Grade I featured a blued receiver and the Pigeon and Diana grades had silver gray tone receivers. The difference was in the grade of wood and the increasingly elaborate checkering and engraving patterns. All of these guns were functionally identical. The entry level was the Grade I (a very nice shotgun), followed by the Pigeon, Diana, and Midas grades. In my youth Browning Superposed guns were offered in four grades. A glossy stock finish and highly polished, luster blued barrels made the guns standouts in any company.

Francotte shotgun place of manufacture manual#

The manual safety also served as the barrel selector. A gold-plated, selective single trigger and selective ejectors were standard.

Francotte shotgun place of manufacture full#

Superposed shotguns featured ventilated rib barrels that were struck full length, French walnut stocks, hand cut checkering and hand engraved receivers. Any combination of Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Improved Cylinder, Skeet and Cylinder chokes was available in all models. The 12 gauge Magnum Model had a 30' barrel and the Trap Models were available with 30' or 32' barrels. Barrel lengths of 26.5', 28' and 30' were offered for field guns. There were Field, Magnum, Trap, and Skeet versions. The Superposed was produced in 12, 20, 28 and. It worked as intended and no one could reasonably question the quality of materials or workmanship employed in its manufacture. This boxlock O/U gun became the most popular double barreled, high grade gun in the U.S. The Superposed was introduced in 1931 and to this day it is produced by the arms making giant Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Belgium. I think that, for American shooters, the introduction of the Browning Superposed shotgun (B-25), the last gun design of the great John Browning before he died in 1926, was the turning point. In the 1930's this situation slowly improved. Only lessor quality American guns were made in Belgium or supplied with Belgian barrels and large numbers of cheaply made private label (house brand) shotguns were imported from Belgium. American high grade guns, for example, usually came with British, German, or American made barrels. II.) Belgian twist barrels, especially, were viewed with suspicion, sometimes with good reason. (This was much the same situation as occurred with Spanish guns in the decades immediately following W.W. I), in addition to best guns, a great number of relatively low grade guns and also double gun barrels were manufactured in Belgium. From the late 1800's through the decade immediately following the Great War (W.W. Today Belgian made guns have a deservedly high reputation, but this was not always the case.

Since the evolution of the modern side-by-side and over/under hammerless shotguns in the late 19th Century, Belgian gunmakers have turned out some of the best. The Liege proof house was established in 1672 and it is the oldest European proof house still in operation. Liege, Belgium has been a gunmaking center for centuries.

Best guns are typically bespoke guns, or are at least available as bespoke guns. and they are usually available with different levels of adornment. Most best guns are decorated with engraving, fine line hand checkering, etc. A best gun is intended to be competitive with the best that any other shop can build. One of those few shotguns intended to compete in the marketplace primarily on the basis of quality, design, workmanship and finish rather than just price. Let's start by reviewing the definition of 'best gun': As used here, best gun means a double-barreled shotgun of the highest quality.