“I’m looking for an elegant second-hand boxlock – please help”

Browning B525 Game

Option 3 Browning B525 Grade 3

This gun was sold as the Browning Elite Game, and it has all the well-proven, reliable features of the 525 in its many forms. Like most modern break-action Brownings, it is built on the Miroku plant in Japan.

It has Browning’s grade 3 woodwork, which admittedly is not in the same class as the Rizzini or the Beretta, but then, you should be able to pick up a well-conditioned example for under £2,000 second-hand.

Mechanically, this is a typical Browning. It hinges on a full-width pin, which runs under the bottom barrel.
This means it has a slightly taller action than the other guns on this page, with all of the features stacked neatly on top of each other, just as John Moses Browning envisaged in the 1920s.

This form of construction tends to give slightly different handling characteristics to shallow-actioned guns hinged on stub pins, so do make sure it suits your shooting style.

All the versions I have ever seen are multichokes with Browning Invector tubes. Actions are decorated with game scene engraving, and barrel sets carry 6mm ventilated ribs. Stocks are usually 14¾in, with drops at heel and comb of 2¼in and 1½in respectively.

Any faults? None that I have ever heard, but I am sorry there was never a fixed-choke version.