I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

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Old No7
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I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by Old No7 »

Well, it does have a top lever...

For the last few years, I've really enjoyed upland bird hunting with my sweet little 28" 20 gauge Dickinson Estate side-by-side shotgun that was marketed/sold by Cabela's (and made by Akus in Turkey). As compared to the boxlock action of the CZ Bobwhite which it replaced (also made in Turkey), the trigger-plate action of the Estate is much thinner in the wrist and action, and in the barrels too (as it has the Teague-style thin-wall choke tubes), and it's more rounded on the bottom. I honestly think it looks and handles like a gun costing twice its price. The case color, engraving and checkering of the Dickinson is also heads & tails above that on the entry-level Bobwhite.

The only problem with that sweet l'il SxS is the checkered wood buttplate when I'm shooting extended rounds of sporting clays or multiple rounds of 5-stand or skeet. As much as I love the SxS and its straight English grip, I finally have given in to my friends and a shooting coach who have been encouraging me for quite awhile to use the SxS in the field and "Get a 12 gauge over & under if you really want to score better at clay target games".

So I found a very nice and little-used Browning Citori Lightning with 28" barrels and extended chokes, and brought it home. And the price was very good too, as they knocked off $75 and it came with two Midas Extended Chokes (which cost $40 to $50 each) in F and IM, and I used the $$ saved to add SKT and IC. I may get a M or Light-M tube later, or maybe another SKT; we'll see after I have used it for a few times.

Citori Lightning 12-28 (1).jpg

Some shooters may prefer a full pistol grip, but as I have straight stocks on my leverguns and a straight/English stock on my SxS, I went with the Lightning model, which has the rounded "not quite a Prince of Wales" grip on it. Browning describes this grip by saying: "The rounded pistol grip offers a more open grip than full pistol grip designs. Many shooters feel this gives a slight speed-to-shoulder advantage. It represents a midpoint in design between ultra-speedy straight grips and extremely stable full pistol grips." To me, it fits and feels just right, and I also like the classic "old-school look" that is a little bit different than what most other shooters use (yet another reason why I like my SxS).

Citori Lightning 12-28 (5).jpg

I spent half an hour last night cutting 1.5 coils off the 2 ejector springs, and now instead of almost taking your eyes out and vigorously tossing the empties over 12 feet back, they now eject about 3 feet behind me, and are much easier to catch in my hand.

I've done a lot of online research that suggests most shooters will shoot better with an O/U versus a SxS, but I've also talked to a few top shooters here in Maine who claim they can shoot both just as well. Go figure... But for sure, for extended rounds of clays shooting, I have to believe that my scores will improve just by changing to a 12 -- versus a 20, and by going to an 8.2 pound O/U with a recoil pad -- versus a < 7 pound SxS that has a wooden butt.

Oh, it's a very pretty butt -- yeah, BUTT it hurts after awhile... :wink:

Now I need to get out and shoot... Pull!!!

Old No7
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Last edited by Old No7 on Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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GunnyMack
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by GunnyMack »

7 once you get used to it yes your scores should climb! Congrats on your " stepping up" . I have been an O/U shooter for 30 odd years( trap & Olympic trap) and just last fall bought my 1st SxS, a CZ bobwite in 410! It's a bird killer! Now I have 2 Perazzi and my 'Red headed step child' it was a box of parts when I got it. Now I use it for sporting as its cylinder & cylinder.

If I were you I'd get a skeet tube and a mod tube! That way you can play the game of spinning them in and out like all the other guys on the clays ranges do!

Good luck with your Citori and keep your head down!
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jeepnik
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by jeepnik »

I love my 20 ga. It shoots much better than I do, but I do it with style. 8)
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octagon
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by octagon »

I would not consider going into a dove field without a Browning O\U. I love em! Superposed is to shotguns what levers are to rifles. :D
new pig hunter
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by new pig hunter »

Last year I bought a used 12-ga Citori O/U for trap shooting and my score went way up. The machine would throw 27 clays and I would hit 25 or 26 ..... without even trying. It was as though the clay would go east, I would shoot west, and I would still hit the clay. Absolutely amazing. With my previous shotgun I would have to pay attention with each shot. Now with the Citori, I just aim in the general direction to get the hit.
mark
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by mark »

A nice shotgun, mine is a Beretta O/U, I use it for skeet.

I'm not going to enter the debate whether a S/S or O/U is better.

So long as they both "fit", I have both.

Enjoy your new gun.

Cheers Mark
EdinCT
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by EdinCT »

I bought a Citori about 8 years ago and have really enjoyed it. I hadn't hunted pheasant in years and was invited to go with a old friend to a private club. I didn't miss a bird and some were flushed at 30 yards out and going fast.
I also love it for turkey and the choice of imp mod for close birds or extra full for farther birds.
I even put a cylinder and imp cyl choke in and tried 4 slugs in it at 50 yards they grouped into about 3 inches and 4 inches high over just the bead.
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6pt-sika
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by 6pt-sika »

I grew up with SxS guns mostly Parkers Foxs and a few Brit guns . I never owned or shot an O/U regularly until I was in my mid 20's . My first O/U was a Franchi 2005 trap combo and about the same time I bought a brand new Citori 4 barrel skeet set . Later the Citori went down the road for a Remington 3200 tube set and not to long after that the Franchi and the 3200 went down the road for a new K-32 skeet gun with Kolar tubes . Not to long after I got a pair of trap barrels for the K-32 as well as s moderate monte Carlo stock . I used the same gun for trap and skeet for a number of years . I musta done something right my scores with that gun got me in the top classes in both games . But I digress lots of times I'll go shoot skeet trap sporting or dove with an O/U and a SxS . My scores or bird count are virtually the same with either configuration . I truely believe it's easier for a person that grew up shooting a SxS to transition to an O/U . I have several friends that never shot SxS until later in life and they claimed difficulties . Almost forgot a number of years back I had a pair of Citori 16 gauge guns one was a 24" Upland Special with an English stock the other was a 28" Lightning . Both had invectors at the time I used the 24" for grouse and the 28" for dove and sporting clays .
Last edited by 6pt-sika on Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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RIHMFIRE
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by RIHMFIRE »

Congrats on your new O/U shooter...
Well made gun....points very well....a few of my fellow skeet shooters have them
I am sure you will enjoy it.....Have fun
Do you reload?
I bet....if you really get into shooting trap skeet and sporting clays...
you will "upgrade" to one of the Italian makes...Beretta, Caesar Guerini.....
or maybe Krieghoff..

Time for me to grab my Beretta and shoot some skeet too!
LETS GO SHOOT'N BOYS
retmech
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by retmech »

Congrats on the new gun. It's hard to beat Citori's for durability and trouble free performance. I shoot a Citori 625 20 ga for sporting clays and am very happy with it.
JB
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Re: I Just Joined Browning's "Citori O/U Club"

Post by JB »

Excellent guns. I grew up shooting an old Browning Leige over and under. I guess that's one reason the side by sides never felt as natural in my hands as an over and under. And you picked a good one, I'd avoid the cheap Russian, Chinese, and Spanish over and unders like the plague.
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