Browning salt-cured wood on shotguns!

[Lone Star]

I've read that some years ago, Browning used some wood that was "salt-dried", and that this rusts the guns it was used on.

Anyone know when this was, and if it extended to such models as the BPS or the reproduction Winchester M12's?

The comments I saw were about rifles, and may have dated to 1960's production.

Lone Star

 

[nextjoe]

The salt-wood was used from 1966 to 1971. The BPS was introduced in 1977 and the Model 12 repros were in 1988, so all those guns should be fine.

Best,
Joe

 

[Jagermeister]

Lone Star:

You are correct in the Salt cured stocks. I have worked on several of these over the years. I was able to detemine if the stock had salt by scraping some of the interior wood, (rifles) and the salt would appear as silver flakes, sililar to gold in granite.

I was able to cure the rusting problem by providing a full stock glass bedding. Hell of a job to do, but it did do the job.

JM

 

[Dave McCracken]

This occurred on A-5s and Superposed shotguns as well as rifles. To check, remove the forearm and check the metal underneath, If it's rusted, it's probably a "salt gun".

 

[Lone Star]

Thanks, guys. You'd think a maker with the prominence of Browning/FN would know better. You'd think people would sue them for repairs or a new gun.

Lone Star

 

[nextjoe]

You'd think people would sue them for repairs or a new gun.

They did. It was a major fiasco and nearly bankrupted Browning. They had to give out a LOT of new guns, including very high grade O/Us.

Best,
Joe

 

[Wildalaska]

They will still fix em under warranty too (Superposeds)..


WildsodiumchlorideAlaska

 

[crt360]

My father had one of the '60s Superposeds with the problem. I can't remember if I ever saw it before it was repaired by Browning, but apparently the receiver had an uncontrollable rust problem next to the stock. The last time I saw it was many years ago and, as I remember, Browning had replaced the wood, cleaned up the rust and reblued it to like new condition.

 

[Gordon]

Wildalaska: I tried to follow up on Preachermans link to get my salt wood superposed 'fixed' and the phone # was no op. You got the real skinny? Thanks G.

 

[Traveler]

Browning will restock salt wood guns. However, they will charge you full price unless you can prove you are the original owner. The warrenty was not transferable.

Personally, having dealt with over 100 of these guns from Browning I would never own one.

By the way, Browning was not the only manufacturer of firearms to have this problem. They are just the best know, and the only one who had a warrenty that required them to correct it.

 

[Chuck Dye]

My Dad’s Superposed, now mine, was overhauled by Browning when the salt cured wood attacked the metal. Memory is not good enough to be positive, but I am reasonably sure the original wood was a lot prettier than the replacement. That said, I cannot identify the repaired areas. Given that the gun was left cased in a closet and the problem not caught until it was pretty severe, the repair is impressive.