Do we have any Browning Superposed experts in the house? Here is the story: I got a call yesterday from a friend-of-a-friend here in north Texas who explained to me that he is an avid bird hunter, but not much of a "gun guy" when it comes to things like maintenance and repairs. He told me about an issue that he has been having with a 1940's-era Belgian Browning Superposed 12 gauge that his uncle brought back with him after his service in Europe during the war, and this gentleman inherited it after his uncle's death. The issue is that when hunting in cold weather (e.g. pheasant hunting in South Dakota), the gun will usually not fire the second shot. He said that the issue never happens in warm weather, only when it is really cold outside. I asked him to describe his order of fire, and he said that he always fires the top barrel first and then the bottom barrel. I asked if he had ever tried firing the bottom barrel first and then the top barrel (while hunting in cold weather), to see if the issue could be isolated to the bottom barrel or whether it might be related to the switchover from one barrel to the next. He replied that he had never thought to try reversing the firing order while hunting, but he did try that yesterday in warm weather and both barrels fired just fine.
So here's what I'm thinking: It sounds like the issue can be attributed to cold weather, which makes me think there is some type of gunk in the firing mechanism that gels up in the cold weather and prevents its proper function. Another possibility is that the cold is causing some metal to contract, resulting in some sort of dysfunction of the firing mechanism (albeit this seems more unlikely to me). The gentleman said that he had never personally taken the gun down all the way for a deep cleaning, and was reasonably sure that his uncle never had either. So, it sounds like to me that the first logical step is a deep cleaning of the gun; particularly the firing mechanism.
And this leads to the purpose for my post here. I have only a vague familiarity with the Browning Superposed; having only experienced shooting a friend's Superposed a few times. I feel pretty comfortable that I could to a basic field take-down of one to clean the barrels, etc.; but I don't know them nearly well enough to take it apart enough to expose the firing mechanism for a good cleaning, but I did find some promising instructions on the internet for removing the stock and exposing the trigger mechanism (such as: https://www.bevfitchett.us/firearms-assembly/browning-superposed-shotgun.html).
My question to the group is: Just how difficult is it to take apart one of these old Superposed guns for a good cleaning, and more importantly, successfully getting it back together? I am pretty comfortable with a basic-to-moderate levels of gun maintenance, but don't want to get in over my head. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom you can offer.
So here's what I'm thinking: It sounds like the issue can be attributed to cold weather, which makes me think there is some type of gunk in the firing mechanism that gels up in the cold weather and prevents its proper function. Another possibility is that the cold is causing some metal to contract, resulting in some sort of dysfunction of the firing mechanism (albeit this seems more unlikely to me). The gentleman said that he had never personally taken the gun down all the way for a deep cleaning, and was reasonably sure that his uncle never had either. So, it sounds like to me that the first logical step is a deep cleaning of the gun; particularly the firing mechanism.
And this leads to the purpose for my post here. I have only a vague familiarity with the Browning Superposed; having only experienced shooting a friend's Superposed a few times. I feel pretty comfortable that I could to a basic field take-down of one to clean the barrels, etc.; but I don't know them nearly well enough to take it apart enough to expose the firing mechanism for a good cleaning, but I did find some promising instructions on the internet for removing the stock and exposing the trigger mechanism (such as: https://www.bevfitchett.us/firearms-assembly/browning-superposed-shotgun.html).
My question to the group is: Just how difficult is it to take apart one of these old Superposed guns for a good cleaning, and more importantly, successfully getting it back together? I am pretty comfortable with a basic-to-moderate levels of gun maintenance, but don't want to get in over my head. Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom you can offer.
