Belgian made Citori?

[Lost Sheep]

I am trying to research a shotgun for the widow of the original owner (warranty card from Browning attests to that).

It is a Citori Lightning, steel receiver with squared pistol grip stock with high polish. It has 12 gauge barrels stamped as made in Belgium and do not have interchangeable chokes. The bluing is extremely dark and appears to match between the barrels and the receiver. Is this possible, Belgian barrels on Citori receiver? (I thought the Citoris were all made in Japan.)

Any ideas on value? Wood has minor dings. Metal is better than 90%, maybe better than 95%

Any help?

Thanks in advance.

Lost Sheep

 

[paintballdude902]

contact browning. or get the serial number and check it on their website.

could it be a superposed? or possibly an FN Liege?


what exactly does the "made in" say? does it say "NATIONALE FABRIQUE HERSTAL, MADE IN BELGIUM"

 

[Old Unc']

there is no such thing...

 

[Jim Watson]

I don't guess she will let you take pictures.

 

[Deer_Freak]

Most likely someone took the barrels off a superimposed and mounted them on the Citori. I didn't know that the barrels were interchangeable. Who would take the barrels off a work of art to mount them on a run of the mill shotgun? People did buy extra barrels for the superimposed before the advent of the screw in choke.

 

[oneounceload]

Doubtful, those would require more handfitting, and since there are no choke tubes, I doubt it. Could be a Browning, maybe made in Belgium and assembled in Portugal, or just a plain-jane Superposed

 

[Old Unc']

can't be done without massive re-machining and fitting. All the hardware is different. I'm thinking the gun is nothing more than a Superposed and most everybody believes that all Browning O/U's are also Citoris. Want pictures...

 

[Old Unc']

also, all real Lightnings have rounded grips, not squared as indicated in the OP...

 

[rbernie]

^^^^^
This.

The Lightning designation means that it's a standard Citori with the Prince of Wales grip instead of the standard squared bottom grip.

Not all Citori shotguns were made in Japan, as far as I know. I was of the impression that the Citori was introduced in 1973 and that production was moved to Japan in 1976.

 

[PapaG]

Citoris were all Japanese. There were a few guns made during the transition called the Liege that were kind of a blend of Superposed and citori, made in Belgium.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Thanks for the comments

I will be able to get pictures soon. I have seen the warranty card from Browning and it does say Citori.

I put a magnet on the receiver and trigger guard and it sticks, so not aluminum. Engraving is not fancy. It says "Lightning" on the underside of the receiver in front of the trigger guard.

Some of the terminology you all have used is new to me. I hope I am using the proper words.

paintballdude902, D'oh! Why didn't I think of that?

Old Unc', yeah, that's what I thought, "No such thing". So, how could such a thing as I had in my hands be? Hence this thread.

Deer_Freak, I considered that. No sign of an extra set of barrels. Maybe some will turn up. I also figured what oneounceload said, the fitting would be quite a job.

The stock is NOT the straight stock, nor, as nearly as I can determine, the Prince of Wales, either. The outline is not round, but flat on the bottom.

The owner's widow did say she thought there was something wrong with the gun, but did not know anything about what that might be. The function of the thing seems perfectly fine to me, but whether the recoil reset of the single trigger works was impossible for me to test. The safety and the barrel selection does seem to work OK.

Yes, it is a superposed (Over/Under) Double barrel 2 3/4" 12 Gauge.

Lost Sheep

 

[oneounceload]

but whether the recoil reset of the single trigger works was impossible for me to test.

easy to do, fire the first barrel, slap the butt with the heel of your hand briskly and pull the trigger for the second barrel.