Bushmaster, sit up here on my knee and I will tell you about postwar Browning trap guns. I am working from memory and will edit. Immediately postwar, there were no trap guns, except 30" tight choked guns that were indistinguishable from field guns and had standard forends. A friend who tried to order a pair of Supers, one skeet, one trap, could not get Browning to make him a high stocked Trap gun with beavertail. This was probably just before 1950 (subject to revision). In the very early fifties (subject to change), there were 30" vent rib guns with beavertail forends, long tang, round knob, and horn buttplates, and 14 3/8" stocks with high dimensions. These are the rarest and most coveted guns, similar to Pre-64 Winchesters of the highest rarity. The next step is a recoil pad on the previous gun, probably about 1952 (subject to revision). This is not a bad gun, because it has the round knob, beavertail, and long tang, the last variation that shows these features. This is the rarest gun that a collector can realistically pursue. The next Trap variation, in my opinion, is the long tang, square knob variety, date unknown. The Broadway was introduced about 1961, with that same long tang, square knob variation, again subject to revision. Later variations are short tang, square knob, Broadway and Lightning rib. Good luck in your search for the holy grail of postwar Browning Traps, the long tang, round knob, hard horn buttplate, and beavertail forend. There aren't more than a handful of those guns that have not been fitted with a recoil pad. Find one in mint condition, and you have a real prize.
