Browning B-SS sidelock?

[sillymike]

The gun that got away thread got me thinking, about that Browning B-SS sidelock... It was a 26" barrel gun, that was price reasonably (I thought)... Wonder who got it and what's the scoop with them?

As I didn't even know they existed before that one showed up Can't seem to find much about them other than they were manufactured in Japan by Miroku from the mid to late 80s

 

[45CAT]

Check EE ,think one came up this year

 

[canvasback]

A superlative gun, utterly disregarded while it was in production. Not to be confused at all with the BSS boxlock.

They typically sell in the US for $3K to $6K

 

[Falconflyer]

That's pretty sweet!
I have a BSS boxlock in 20 gauge with an English stock and I shoot the gun fairly well so the fit is good. I'd love to have one like that sidelock with double triggers only 28 inch barrels... very nice!

 

[guntech]

Miroku makes some very fine firearms... this side lock is a beauty.

 

[Blockcaver]

Beautiful shotgun!

Browning SxS boxlocks are all I've ever seen. I had my finest day ever of wingshooting the day my buddy and I switched guns for the heck of it. I carried his Browning 20 ga single trigger, straight grip, beavertail forend 26" barreled SxS and never missed...MT limit of roosters plus some sharptails and huns, forget how many but a decent number each. He'd have sold the Browning to me as he didn't like it, but it had about the ugliest sapwood buttstock I've seen, plus was a single trigger, short barreled with a beaver tail forend....but damn did it shoot for me in the field.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Check EE ,think one came up this year

I dont think I have seen one in the EE here, but have seen one for sale in Canada...
just dont recall the store that had it, maybe Prophet River ???
Yes, a very nice looking firearm.
Rob

 

[Big Bad]

A gun I would have snapped up if I'd ever seen or heard of one while they were out, but in the days pre-internet an ordinary hunting guy was pretty much at the mercy of hearsay and his local gun shops.

 

[reddog]

Made by the same company that made SKS ...

 

[sillymike]

Check EE ,think one came up this year

There was one last fall... but never got a reply from the seller, than it went away.

-

Doing some reading last night, they offered 2 engraving patterns

 

[canvasback]

There was one last fall... but never got a reply from the seller, than it went away.

-

Doing some reading last night, they offered 2 engraving patterns

12 ga and 20 ga. As you say, two engraving patterns. I looked at one shortly after i began my interest in SxS but didn't feel knowledgeable enough to plunk down the $2500 asking price. I have not run across another in Canada since and that was about 15-16 years ago.

 

[Ashcroft]

I had one for awhile, it was a very nice gun to look at, to handle and to shoot. It seemed to be overpriced for a ‘Japanese’ gun. Not to fault the quality but the perception of the time was that the Japanese mostly built cheap junk. This perception persisted until they built a solid reputation with their motorcycles and finally their cars. Browning managed to build a solid reputation for their consumer grade guns but they couldn’t crack the luxury market.

 

[sillymike]

On the little reading I did on it, people offen mentionned a short LOP. I thought that it ought to be a non-issue, as just put a pad on it and be done with it...
- but in hindsight, it would be shame to do away with a nicely checkered buttplate

 

[ParksPipes]

There are also Belgian made Browning sidelocks by Lebeau-Courally.
Classic in appearance. I don’t know the particulars though, like when they were produced.

 

[m1008]

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=341595&page=1

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rBq7vw2xoMA

The nicest example I could find
https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...engraving---sale-pending.cfm?gun_id=101265102

 

[canvasback]

I had one for awhile, it was a very nice gun to look at, to handle and to shoot. It seemed to be overpriced for a ‘Japanese’ gun. Not to fault the quality but the perception of the time was that the Japanese mostly built cheap junk. This perception persisted until they built a solid reputation with their motorcycles and finally their cars. Browning managed to build a solid reputation for their consumer grade guns but they couldn’t crack the luxury market.

The West was a little slow in catching on the the excellent manufacturing capabilities of Japan.

 

[1963beretta]

Accuracy Plus had two of them not long ago. If my memory is correct, one of them was a 20g. Pretty sure one was priced at around $3000 and the other about $5000

 

[sillymike]

While searching for more details about these, I kind of stumble on some Miroku sidelock identified as "My Luck"... kind of a weird name if you ask me, but something probably got lost in the translation

 

[Falconflyer]

I had one for awhile, it was a very nice gun to look at, to handle and to shoot. It seemed to be overpriced for a ‘Japanese’ gun. Not to fault the quality but the perception of the time was that the Japanese mostly built cheap junk. This perception persisted until they built a solid reputation with their motorcycles and finally their cars. Browning managed to build a solid reputation for their consumer grade guns but they couldn’t crack the luxury market.

I still occasionally run into a “gun expert” who thinks the Japanese guns are junk!
Winchester lever gun guys say the new Japanese guns are the best that Winchester has ever put their name on. I collected MkV Weatherby rifles for a while and consider the Japanese guns to be far superior to the US made guns and equal if not better than the German made rifles. I’ve also had several SKB shotguns and hold them in high regard.
And yet the stigma lives on in some minds.

 

[reddog]

Agree totally my SKB has /is one of my very favourite upland guns and in fact sold my CZ upland for that very reason. Has been truly a delight to shoot and the 28" barrels are perfect, imho.