Dear Readers,
Thanks to a sharp-eyed reader, here is the Belgian Browning version on how to properly close a gun. There are all sorts of opinions on this, but I have always done it Brownings way. I guess that I must have actually read one of those manuals back in the ’70s.
Best regards,
Bruce Buck
Shotgun Report’s Technoid
(Often in error, never in doubt.)
Dear Technoid,
Recently read your advice on closing an O/U. This advice compares with the instructions contained within my original owner’s manual, dated 4/61, for my (Belgian Browning) Superposed.
…”upon closing the gun, let the top lever snap into position-do not retard its action with your thumb.” The instructions continue to explain that the lever will not usually return to the center position, especially in a new gun.
Thanks for this page. Always is interesting and informative.
Regards,
Dave
Shotgun Report® 
There is one occasion in which manually easing the top lever closed is a VERY good practice, and that is when inspecting someone’s gun that they may have for sale. I have seen some pretty nasty dressing downs take place when a potential buyer just shut the gun and let the top lever spring closed. However, none other than the Technoid personally instructed me once to let the spring of the top lever do its function because it would close the gun in a more “consistent” manner each time. Obviously, now that is the technique I employ!
LikeLike
Well maybe so………….however, hearing and seeing it click, is a far cry from what I have seen over the years when people take that advice “literally”, and slam the action shut. That sound goes right through my brain like fingernails on a blackboard. I handle some very fine guns on an everyday basis, and always hold the top lever, and gently close the action releasing the lever so it locks in. Maybe some guns will not totally lock up this way, and if I see that, I do it again, with a slight more force……..but I have seen people take quality guns and throw them closed like they were slamming a car door……and I cringe each and every time I see it. $1000 gun or $100,000 gun….I close them the same way. (though I have been know to miss a target I should not have and throw the next two shells in and close the gun, like I was breaking it in half……..just sayin)
LikeLike