Why do people hate Browning Firearms so much

[matt_3479]

I have come across on several occasions regarding how bad Browning Firearms are. I was just wondering why people feel that way. What is it that makes Brownings such terrible guns. The price for brownings are pretty high, so why aren't there guns good. I purchased a Browning A-Bolt 300. wsm and i have pulled a few real nice groups at 300 yards with it. I was just curious on why people feel that brownings rifles aren't any good. Im no browning fan im just wondering would it be smarter to sell it and replace it with say a remington or tikka.

I own 2 Remington and love them as well pulling off some nice groups there.

 

[Camshaft]

I don't know about rifles but I only shoot Browning shotguns and I love them. I have two Superposed Lightning O/Us. And Two DoubleAuto twelvettes, and one BPS pump. All are Belgium made except for the BPS.

 

[BountyHunter]

I have come across on several occasions regarding how bad Browning Firearms are. I was just wondering why people feel that way. What is it that makes Brownings such terrible guns. The price for brownings are pretty high, so why aren't there guns good. I purchased a Browning A-Bolt 300. wsm and i have pulled a few real nice groups at 300 yards with it. I was just curious on why people feel that brownings rifles aren't any good. Im no browning fan im just wondering would it be smarter to sell it and replace it with say a remington or tikka.

I own 2 Remington and love them as well pulling off some nice groups there.

I do not think it is hate really. More the fact that there is almost no aftermarket parts for Brownings like the remington and clones.

Try finding an extended mag box or DBM for a Browning?

Go to the Brownells website and try to find an aftermarket stock for the Browning.

You are looking for things that do not exist normally.

So why start a build or buy a gun to build on later with no parts?

BH

 

[matt_3479]

so your saying its not so much the gun itself, its more the intension down the road people have that take them away from the brownings.

I originally wanted to take the 300 and custom it but once i got the browning due to cheap price, so im think i should semi custom my remington 700 7mm instead.

 

[cornstalker]

I have a Micro Medallion in .284 Win.

First of all, the mag is too short to allow the bullet to be seated anywhere near the lands.

Second, the machine finish in the barrel was atrocious. It fouled so bad, so fast, that I nearly sold it. It would pile up the copper so bad that ripped patches and hours of pushing blueberries were the norm. I paid to have it "lapped" only to find out later that it pretty much just got a scrubbing with JB's bore paste. Eventually it seemed to smooth out and would hold at 1 to 1.25" groups at 100. My dad loved it, and never really shoots, so I gave it to him.

I did kill my best black bear to date with it, and my son, his first antelope.

I like the 60° bolt throw, and the trigger seems pretty good. Just scared of buying another bad barrel.....

 

[JOSE A. MARINE]

Their customer warranty service is on top of the industry. I've been there and seen good barrels and actions being tossed to the can, just because a client said it would not make nice groups.

I love their shotguns, all of them. have a few.

never owned a browning rifle, because there are no aftermarket parts, I cant leave anything well, alone. I'm always trying to better things.

seven rifles and not a single one browning, though I have shot a few of them, just have not been impressed with the accuracy. my last rifle was a brand new savage in 300wsm, my dad bought a browning and my brother bought a rem700. I had to sight them all, and the savage was the most acurrate(with its simmons 3-9X40 package scope). all of them in 300wsm. same ammo on the three. just luck I guess.

joe from mexico

 

[shortgrass]

I don't know about rifles but I only shoot Browning shotguns and I love them. I have two Superposed Lightning O/Us. And Two DoubleAuto twelvettes, and one BPS pump. All are Belgium made except for the BPS.

Ya' can't compare Belgium made Brownings of 'yesteryear' to their modern made arms, it's like comparing apples to coconuts.

 

[D.A.T.]

i agree,i still use a 1929 browning a5 lite 12ga.the new ones cant even hold a candle to it.

 

[Mikecr]

+1 BH
And I'll add that most gunsmiths will not attempt to re-barrel Brownings, as they were never designed to rebarrel. The shank has to be sectioned/cut/milled out from the action.

One of the most accurate varmint guns I've owned was a Browning A-Bolt with BOSS.
That was fortunate because I really couldn't do anything with it, if it needed improvements.
Eventually I needed to re-barrel, and found James Kolbe. He pulled it off and did a fantastic job. I changed to their Eclypse stock, bedded, converted to single shot, and it was a holy fight all the way. The trigger, I'm stuck with.
But it doesn't shoot as good with a non-BOSS Pacnor on it... So I don't use it anymore.....

 

[Trickymissfit]

I have come across on several occasions regarding how bad Browning Firearms are. I was just wondering why people feel that way. What is it that makes Brownings such terrible guns. The price for brownings are pretty high, so why aren't there guns good. I purchased a Browning A-Bolt 300. wsm and i have pulled a few real nice groups at 300 yards with it. I was just curious on why people feel that brownings rifles aren't any good. Im no browning fan im just wondering would it be smarter to sell it and replace it with say a remington or tikka.

I own 2 Remington and love them as well pulling off some nice groups there.

I love my 1885's!
gary

 

[jhibbard24]

i think with any factory gun or in that sense any sort of a factory product (ie. cars, tvs, etc.) that is mass produced there will always be duds and flops.

As far as brownings go i have nothing bad to say about them. i love the 60' bolt throw and they are usually a pretty lightweight rifle. Their shotguns are good for the price range that they are in with some of the cheaper berettas and such. Just think of all the old timers out there packing around those BARs and killing deer, elk, and moose every year.

I bought a Browning Mountain Titanium is .300 wsm for my wife to use but also for me to pack around for timber hunting or steep country. Packing a 12-13 lb LR rifle gets a bit tiring sometimes and they're not always the quickest off-hand rifle. i put a muzzle brake on and got the trigger down to 2.5 lbs and topped it with a leupold vx3 4.5-14x40 and a DNZ alloy ring/base combo and it has kept this rifle very light. i broke in the barrel with some cheap factory ammo and decided to try out the HSM ammo 168gr bergers because i didn't have time to reload after getting the rifle set up in the middle of october. The HSM ammo shot a 3 shot .395" group at 100 yds and then another group that was just a hair bigger. my buddy has a Browning A bolt in .300 wsm and the only load that he has found for it that shoots good is factory Win powerpoint 180's. i need to get him to try the HSM ammo.

one downfall is the short length in the mags; as they are set up just for factory length ammo. HSM ammo is loaded to factory coal specs.

going back to factory duds... well the last two remingtons that i have bought are none so impresive. one is a 700 vls model in .22-250 that i can't get to group less than .75 moa and thats after many different hand loads. time to rebarrel it with a krieger then it should shoot like a ball of fire. number two was a 700 adl ss synthetic 30-06 that was suppose to be for the wife (this is before getting the Browning Ti). Cabelas had a smoking package deal on a cheap scope and the rifle for only $450. got the rifle shooting good with about 30 rnds down the tube and then started having some issues. the gun now had a tendency to fire when the safety was flipped off. a bit scary when i pulled it out the window of the truck to blast a 'yote dog and it went off as i was shouldering it. i took it apart and checked the trigger and reset the hammer and sear engagement and got the thing working again and used fingernail polish to set the screws. went out and shot a couple days later and after about ten rnds the same firing w/o a trigger pull crap happened so i fixed the trigger again. got the same results after a few fired rnds. I called remington and they really had no concern about it and said to take it to a certifed gunsmith. click. Lost a lot of respect right then and there for the companies service. Called cabelas and they first told me that they would exchange the rifle for another rifle just alike, but i asked for a total refund not wanting an incident like this to happen again. They were good people and did the refund for me. Just happens to be that a short time after all this happened that cnn or 20/20 and someone did a big report called 'Remington Under Fire' hmmm... seems other people have had issues too. There was a boy in montana that was killed because of a faulty firing.

A little off the subject with all this, but my opinion on remingtons is that they are popular because there are tons of them produced and its easy to find a donor action to build off of. Hands down there is no competition when it comes to building off of a custom action. the 700 action is cheap being that i can be machined out of round stock; otherwise it could have been engineered with a integral recoil like a Win model 70. its not worth building off of a factory 700 after figuring the amount of time and money put into blueprinting it and then you still have sloppy tolerences. In the end it is still a factory action that is worth $400- $500 after your total investment of $600-$800. Buy a custom action.

 

[bigngreen]

I've avoided them based on the issues with re-barreling but I've seen a couple guys do it expecting a fight but they found the barrels rolled right of and the threads were well lubed from the factory, there must be some models that are hell to re-barrel other wise you wouldn't hear it but not all are, don't know which yet though. No aftermarket parts is a downer as I really like to change stocks. If I was looking for a stock rifle with no intentions of tearing it all apart I would rock a Browning. Browning 1885's are nice, my dad shoots one for BPCR silhouette and it is a sweet rifle to shoot.

 

[roninflag]

Corn - where can you get another factory .284 though? a great overlooked cartridge. matt- john browning was genius. he invented a whole lot of unbelieveable stuff. THE MODEL 1911 IS A CENTURY OLD! how good is it?? i have a grade v citori 20 gauge . very atractive shotgun. my gunsmith will only re-barrel remingtons and he doesn not like to do them. he only does it as a favor to me. when you consider- say , for a remmington 700 adl you have $29 for the stock and $17 for the barrel $250 for the action ; if you ever shoot one with a krieger barrel you will see what i leading to.

 

[redboy]

Well ive got some where in the neighborhood of 150 guns give or take and i can say without a biased opinion that there is a horror story with every type of gun on the market . There is no perfect gun , not even a custom rifle is perfect , i own those too.I dont think people hate the company as much as the PEOPLE that own a browning .Its not just browning its also Benelli .People seem to think that owning one of THOSE firearms makes you look like you are just trying to fit in, like you have a lot of money and are trying to throw it around. I know this because my first day at a new hunting camp I brought my Browning .30-06 a bolt medallion , and the first thing out of their mouthes was OH YOURE ONE OF THOSE GUYS.