doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pls educate me on "vintage" superposed trap guns

The gun I seem to be missing is an over under.

I know that the pre war superposed's ended with serial number 17000, but I expect those to be a bit pricey.

What should I be looking for if I want the superposed equivalent of a pre-64 Winchester model 70.

I also need to know how to read the choke marks and whether a factory original would have had a recoil pad

Thank you in advance

Nothing so special about pre-war Superposed Brownings as opposed to later ones. Just avoid salt wood by sticking to round knob long tang guns...Geo

Bushmaster, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. The 12-gauge Superposed may be one of the great bargains in the gun world - particularly if you're looking for a trap version. You want a long-tang version, no question, and in the trap version, I am partial to the Lightning Trap (has the round-knob stock and slim fore-end). Choke markings are based on asterisks and dashes. * = Full, *- = imp. Mod., ** = mod, **- = improved cylinder and **s = skeet. If you look around, you can probably find these between $1000 and $2500 as long as you're not looking at graded guns - and at the top of that scale, you should find a really nice example. The pre suffix guns (1962/3 and later) do seem to be bumping up again - used to be cheaper than a Citori with screw-ins).

Thank you

Pictures please of tang and knob

Did original guns come with butt plate or pad

Original guns could come either way, plate or pad. If the pad says Browning on its probably original. Round knob long tang:

Geo, did the factory ever use Pachmayr White Line pads to your knowledge or were they always just the ones marked Browning (and presumably made by Browning in-house)? I feel like I have seen a few so equipped and always assumed it to be aftermarket.

The browning marked pads were white-line pads made for browning by Pachmyer.

A pad would be standard on Magnum guns. A plate standard on 2-3/4" guns. Unless ordered with a pad.

In my experience, earlier guns (pre war) do not carry as much value as later guns (post war). The fit and finish was best in the late 1950s and early 1960s on these guns.

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.

What B.Dudley said far as i know...Geo

The Browning marked, White Line pads were not made in house. They were made by Pachmayr.