In some 17 years of shooting sporting seriously I have seen many Browning O/U guns worn out to the point that they unbolted after the first shot. I've seen them with rubber bands wrapped around the wrist and hooked on each end around the top lever to prevent that. I knew one guy who really shot a lot, every chance he got, and he owned three Brownings, exactly alike. One was in the shop being rebolted nearly all the time. In all that time I've only known of one Beretta that had to be rebolted. All O/Us that are shot enough have to be rebolted, even Perazzis, but it's been my experience that it happens to a Browning entirely too quickly, regardless the amount of cleaning, and lubricant that is kept on it.
Having shot a 682 Gold E as a comp gun for years, then my hunting experience with my 687 SPII, I'm solidly in the Beretta camp. I'm sure there are those on here who will say they have put 50K rounds through their Brownings without an issue.......they might should be buying Lotto tickets, too. That said, other than the bolts wearing out too quickly, I've never seen that many other problems with Brownings. I wouldn't be scared of one for a hunting gun, I just don't like the looks of that high action.
SRH
