......BPS's................

kamlooky

kamlooky

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I see these fine units frequently for sale on the EE and they do tend
to take a while to sell.
I think they are a pleasing and well built shotgun with lots of pluses going for them.
Don't hear too many issues with them.

Do tell, why isn't there more …….:bigHug:...… for them that is displayed awn'ear?
 
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I find loading the 37 and the BPS a pain in the butt compared to a M12 or Wingmaster, not to mention ejecting the hulls into your hand on a trap or skeet range - ‘nuff said!
Cat
 
I had a BPS Trap for a while and although it was a good enough gun I did find the bottom load to be a bit cumbersome. It also shot a full pattern high which I find easy enough to get used to on the trap range but after a while it causes me to instinctively shoot under going away sporting clay's targets with my flat shooting sporting gun. It's better for me to have a flatter shooting trap gun if I don't want to mess up my sporting scores.
 
I generally find the wrist is on the larger side of a BPS.
Loading is moot when hunting and the hulls land at your feet and not bouncing off your buddy to your right when in a blind.
I kinda find that amusing fun when things get hot.
All in good fun.
Rob
 
Unfortunately in the shotgun world, a pump is seen as utilitarian and is only 2nd to a single shot. I watch these European show where they don't really bash pump actions but rather passively look down on them. The English are the worse. Just watch an episode of the Gun Room on pump action and you will see what I mean.

I personally think that the Europeans are envious that an American could invent something so profound that it help changed the course of history or at the very lease, a war. Ironically John Browning also invented the over under, a gun that the English covet but an over under never scared the Germans to the degree where they petitioned for it to banned for use in war.

From what I can tell, pump action shotguns are most popular in North America and as fairly young countries, both Canada and the United States need inexpensive tools for nation building. There isn't a lot of money around when one is first starting out. And at the turn of the 18 century, the concept of old money is really a European thing. So over time, we have gotten use to inexpensive pump action shotguns. I think that the BPS is a quality pump gun but is a bit of a pariah because the pump shotgun niche is dominated by inexpensive, rugged and reliable guns. The finish is a bit better than other pump actions but the question then becomes how much more money could that command and the free market, the answer is, not that much more. The only other thing that Browning has is name recognition but lets be honest, the BPS never had a military contract whereas the 870, 500, model 12 and 37 cut their teeth in some of the greatest battles in history. Don't get me wrong, I've wanted a BPS for awhile but I can't justify the price point when there are so many other inexpensive, well built, battle tested pumps out there. I am a huge fan of Brownings and own everything from 1911-22s to A5s to BPSs which I don't mind paying for but it just seems to me that the BPS for what it is, is about $250 over priced. That the cost of a Tokerav or SKS!
 
they are a bit annoying to load and a bugger to strip compared to other pump guns, Oh and more expensive. Most people dont really seem to care that they are better built then the competition, what they see is a pump that is priced like a semi. They are tanks, i dont think its possible to break one.
All that aside, they have a bit of a cult following, and the people who have them seem to like them(I have 2 of'em).

As for them not selling on the EE, well it doesn't look like their is a whole lot of movement at all, regardless of manufacturer. Seems to be a lot of posts with 10 or more bumps. Things are just slow this year i guess.
 
I love mine, smooth, fits me like a glove, fiddly to load for singles on the trap and skeet field and very well built. Selling a quality pump gun is a pain, you either firesale it or wait forever for someone who appreciates it to come along. The Benelli Nova suffers from the same.
 
BPS 20 gauge was the first shotgun I owned as a kid 30 some years ago. High gloss finish, deep blued barrel, tang safety, what's not to love. Now matte bluing and an unappealing reconfigured satin stock. Wish I'd have kept it when I moved up to the 12 gauge. Now you have me thinking I need to go to Kitchener and get the wingmaster that's on sale today.
 
I have had a 12 gauge and a 20 gauge. I find them clumsy, heavy and the rib is kind of prone to damage. I have also owned several newly manufactured Ithaca M37s, it is a much nicer gun for right around the same money.
 
Garaldtao said:
Unfortunately in the shotgun world, a pump is seen as utilitarian and is only 2nd to a single shot. I watch these European show where they don't really bash pump actions but rather passively look down on them. The English are the worse. Just watch an episode of the Gun Room on pump action and you will see what I mean.

I personally think that the Europeans are envious that an American could invent something so profound that it help changed the course of history or at the very lease, a war. Ironically John Browning also invented the over under, a gun that the English covet but an over under never scared the Germans to the degree where they petitioned for it to banned for use in war.

From what I can tell, pump action shotguns are most popular in North America and as fairly young countries, both Canada and the United States need inexpensive tools for nation building. There isn't a lot of money around when one is first starting out. And at the turn of the 18 century, the concept of old money is really a European thing. So over time, we have gotten use to inexpensive pump action shotguns. I think that the BPS is a quality pump gun but is a bit of a pariah because the pump shotgun niche is dominated by inexpensive, rugged and reliable guns. The finish is a bit better than other pump actions but the question then becomes how much more money could that command and the free market, the answer is, not that much more. The only other thing that Browning has is name recognition but lets be honest, the BPS never had a military contract whereas the 870, 500, model 12 and 37 cut their teeth in some of the greatest battles in history. Don't get me wrong, I've wanted a BPS for awhile but I can't justify the price point when there are so many other inexpensive, well built, battle tested pumps out there. I am a huge fan of Brownings and own everything from 1911-22s to A5s to BPSs which I don't mind paying for but it just seems to me that the BPS for what it is, is about $250 over priced. That the cost of a Tokerav or SKS!
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they had an army contract for the french gendarmerie and used in combat zone like ex-yugoslavia and different african countries where the gendarmerie used them but seems the special forces preferred the marine 870 this is where the choice was done after a while. the finish too despite being better had some issues with the sights. alloy seems not to hold very well.

the problem with pump shotgun in Europe is they were banned in most of the countries of UE around 1995. we were all grandfathered for it but cant use it anymore for hunting so thus the reason no buy or love for it and in those days cannot sell it to someone else i had to surrender 2 manufrance shotgun pump actions to the local police station before we left to Canada.
the pump actions shotgun is back on the european market as they are authorized again with rifled barrel at least in France but the lesson learnt the people will not purchas to loose it again.

my 2 pesos on this
 
I had one a while back and absolutely loved the quality fit/finish and it was 100% reliable (unlike my 870's in the past). My two reasons why I sold it was it shoot its full pattern completely above the barrel and the wobbly forend. I missed so many duck because it shoot so high and the forend issue drove me crazy for the price of these guns.
 
Garaldtao said:
Unfortunately in the shotgun world, a pump is seen as utilitarian and is only 2nd to a single shot. I watch these European show where they don't really bash pump actions but rather passively look down on them. The English are the worse. Just watch an episode of the Gun Room on pump action and you will see what I mean.

I personally think that the Europeans are envious that an American could invent something so profound that it help changed the course of history or at the very lease, a war. Ironically John Browning also invented the over under, a gun that the English covet but an over under never scared the Germans to the degree where they petitioned for it to banned for use in war.

From what I can tell, pump action shotguns are most popular in North America and as fairly young countries, both Canada and the United States need inexpensive tools for nation building. There isn't a lot of money around when one is first starting out. And at the turn of the 18 century, the concept of old money is really a European thing. So over time, we have gotten use to inexpensive pump action shotguns. I think that the BPS is a quality pump gun but is a bit of a pariah because the pump shotgun niche is dominated by inexpensive, rugged and reliable guns. The finish is a bit better than other pump actions but the question then becomes how much more money could that command and the free market, the answer is, not that much more. The only other thing that Browning has is name recognition but lets be honest, the BPS never had a military contract whereas the 870, 500, model 12 and 37 cut their teeth in some of the greatest battles in history. Don't get me wrong, I've wanted a BPS for awhile but I can't justify the price point when there are so many other inexpensive, well built, battle tested pumps out there. I am a huge fan of Brownings and own everything from 1911-22s to A5s to BPSs which I don't mind paying for but it just seems to me that the BPS for what it is, is about $250 over priced. That the cost of a Tokerav or SKS!
Click to expand...



I don't think the Europeans are envious of American pump guns, they would have imported them in large numbers if they had liked the design just like they did with the over and under.
The use of shotguns in combat was not without it's problems and a lot of armies decided to just stay away from them. For instance, paper cartridges tended to soak up water from rain and humidity and would not cycle through pump actions. The paper was eventually waxed for moisture resistance but then they would stick in a hot gun! Brass hulls worked but they weren't plentiful so problems with paper hulls were not fully solved until the plastic hull became available in the 60's.

As for the BPS, I agree with most of the sentiments stating that they are too expensive but I think the biggest problem is that they just never appealed to shooters the way that 870's, model 12's and Mossbergs have. As good as the Ithaca 37 is, it also has a bottom load/eject system similar to the BPS and also appears to play second fiddle to the Remington, Mossberg and Winchester's as well so maybe that's the issue.
 
The only things I don't care for on a bps is they have a very short forend that is placed extremely far forward causing the arm you cycle with to be stretched out full length. It feels very unnatural and uncomfortable to shoot a moving target with the arm stretched out so far. I know of a few who could not close the action all the way with hunting clothes on without having to drop the gun from their shoulder to work the action due to not having enough reach. So much for a quick smooth follow up shot.
 
I love the idea of a bps in 10 gauge. Great goose gun and low risk of losing hulls after ejecting.

I would likely never buy new, stick to EE for some savings
 
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