Browning BSS
- Thread starter dak0ta
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Sheepdog1968
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My take. Well made and holds up to lots of use. Was ahead of its time in terms of what the market wanted then.
steveno
Member
I had a BSS with 26 inch barrels a long time ago and is very well made. the reason I got rid of it was that is not to shot with steel shot. this was well before bismuth and other types of shot came around. they did not have choke tubes. it is one those "I should have kept" guns
oneounceload
member
Stout and reliable, albeit a little too heavy for my tastes to be carrying all day afield. The Japanese-made guns are decent enough, but do not really compare to the Belgian ones (ESPECIALLY in price!
) but should do a decent job. Barrel wall thickness should be more then plenty if you want Briley or similar to install chokes.
) but should do a decent job. Barrel wall thickness should be more then plenty if you want Briley or similar to install chokes.
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steveno
Member
the barrel thickness wasn't the only problem in that because the steel shot column going down the barrel was working the solder joint of the barrels causing them to separate. how many rounds for that to happen is anybody's guess. I wasn't aware the there was any Belgium made BSS guns. I thought they were only Japanese made
eastbank
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i have a 20ga 3" mag BSS sporter non choke tubes with 28" F&M barrels, single selective trigger and ejectors from the late 70,s and weights in a 6.5lbs and it has shot a truck load of shells with out a wimper or trip to the repair shop. i don,t remember exactly what i paid for it,but it couldn,t have been more than a couple hundard dollars and was money well spent. eastbank.
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Virginian
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The BSS was an excellent SxS in the American style. It was never designed or built to be a lightweight English game gun. I prefer them to both the Winchester 23s and the Parker Reproductions, both contemporaries in the marketplace. They started out with non-selective triggers, but the later guns had a selector. They also made some Grade II editions - fancier looking is the only difference. The sidelocks were more expensive and a totally different gun. I put a lot of steel magnums and hard tungsten downrange in one fitted with Briley extended thinwall tubes with zero ill effects. I have had a lot of shotguns. As of now the only SxS I have left is my 20 gauge BSS Sporter with 28" bbls. Some of the best money I ever spent.
oneounceload
member
Belgian Brownings are made, not really called the BSS, and here's a nice one used for $12,500:
http://www.gunsinternational.com/Browning-BSL-SxS-Belgium-12-ga-.cfm?gun_id=100527506
@6#-10 oz, and choked LM/IM, it's about as nice handling a SxS you will find.
This is called BSL for Browning Side Lock
http://www.gunsinternational.com/Browning-BSL-SxS-Belgium-12-ga-.cfm?gun_id=100527506
@6#-10 oz, and choked LM/IM, it's about as nice handling a SxS you will find.
This is called BSL for Browning Side Lock
Panzerschwein
member
My Dad has a mint BSS 20 bore with single trigger and ejector. The gun is a DREAM. Light, handles well, Miroku made gun and it's just awesome.
Nice game gun. There is a world of difference between Lebeau-Courally and B.C.Miroku.Belgian Brownings are made, not really called the BSS, and here's a nice one used for $12,500:
http://www.gunsinternational.com/Browning-BSL-SxS-Belgium-12-ga-.cfm?gun_id=100527506
@6#-10 oz, and choked LM/IM, it's about as nice handling a SxS you will find.
This is called BSL for Browning Side Lock
Unless you find made for Browning B.C. Miroku SLE (Holland & Holland patterned action) at a reasonable price I would buy Citori instead. The box lock BSS has heavy barrels and no choke tubes. There is no reason to pay big premium for something like that.
eastbank
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you have to define big money, to one person 500.00 may be the end of the world and to another 10,000 may not be any thing. cry when you buy,laugh when it lasts. i bought a charles daley 500 double barrel 12ga made by miroku in japan for 200.00 last year and its made just like my bss browning but has two triggers and extractors and think i got a screaming deal. eastbank.
Kingcreek
Member
as stated above, solid, well-built but a tad heavy, pretty near indestructable.
I have a 20mag w selector like new and an early 12 w 26"tubes that killed a truckload of ringnecks over the years without a hickup.
I have a 20mag w selector like new and an early 12 w 26"tubes that killed a truckload of ringnecks over the years without a hickup.
reddrumtoo
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I had two 12 ga. that I bought early on . They were $200.00 each . They were a 26" & a 28" barrel length , I really liked them . I recently found a new in the box 20 ga 26" . It followed me home ,I love it also. In my opinion they are very nice shooting guns , but I wouldn't buy one for duty as a safe queen.
au_prospector
Member
My brother got my dad's 1972
20 ga swings so nice easy on the follow through. Great trap gun, he uses it on a 5 stand course. My father took plenty of Iowa pheasant with it and a few rabbits too! Thousands if not tens of thousands of shells through it, never a problem. It's a classic. Don't let the lack of interchangeable chokes stop you as you wont need them. Might be a little heavy, but it is proportioned so well. Mount and swing one, you will see what I mean. Worth every penny.
20 ga swings so nice easy on the follow through. Great trap gun, he uses it on a 5 stand course. My father took plenty of Iowa pheasant with it and a few rabbits too! Thousands if not tens of thousands of shells through it, never a problem. It's a classic. Don't let the lack of interchangeable chokes stop you as you wont need them. Might be a little heavy, but it is proportioned so well. Mount and swing one, you will see what I mean. Worth every penny.
Virginian
Member
What's all this craze for lightness? The BSS was not designed as an English game gun. It was designed in the American style, and it is built sturdy enough that it can utilize those 3" chambers without falling apart. It has as good a mechanical selective trigger system as there is. Start putting heavy loads - and I don't mean 1-1/4 ounce in a 12 gauge - though some of those lightweights and see how much you enjoy it and how long before the gun starts loosening up. It is not the ideal gun for preserve quail or pheasant gun. If you want choke tubes Briley can fix you up.
au_prospector
Member
OMG, it is a strong, sturdy shotgun. You can hear it/feel it when you open and close the breech. The '72 we have has strong ejectors. Personally I dont think it is heavy, but I guess some do. For my 5'9" medium frame it swings so nice, easy follow thru. Mounts correct and true to my line of sight every time. Dad would carry it for miles walking the frosty Iowa corn rows early mornings, eat a sandwich and then walk ditches and fence lines in the afternoon. I was young, 12 years old and carried the single shot H&R. Mostly I was the retriever dog. We would come home with 2 or 3 and maybe a rabbit. Pottawatomie County Iowa, we had family friends with 1500 acres of corn and hogs. Those were the days, ahhhh I digress.
Pick one up and handle it, you will see.
Pick one up and handle it, you will see.
Gordon
Member
Well it is used by Butch Searcy and others as a basis to build elephant guns with huge cartridges. Mine has digested lots of low base #7 steel shot at doves for 10 years and the modified and IMP cyl. barrels look like new. The barrels are pretty thick FWIW compared to old American made shotguns and I would not worry about #4 or finer steel shot in full choked ones and I am sure #2 steel in modified barrels is ok too.
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