Browning Broadway Trap conversion

pilon

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I have a 67 superposed lightning broadway trap gun in nice shape.

Is this gun suitable to convert to a sporting clay gun? It would need a new recoil pad and barrels opened up.

Advice please.
 
If it's comfortable, fits and is well balanced, why not.

Most of the Broadways I've handled are front heavy, poorly balanced (for sporting) and feel somewhat "sluggish" ... compared to say a Citori 625 Sporter.

A little saying keeps coming to mind:

"You can't make chicken salad outta' chicken s#*t"
 
"You can't make chicken salad outta' chicken s#*t"

lol thanks for that beretta boy.

I swing this particular gun with it's 30 in. barrels almost too quickly for ATA trap
and that is why I thought it would make a nice SC gun.
I must be built different than you because I find all my Broadways to be wonderfully balanced. 32 inch barrels for trap slows my swing down enough to be more effective.
 
Find out whether thin wall chokes tubes can be installed. Belgian Brownings are sometimes not good candidates for choke tube installation due to the lack of space between the barrels at the muzzle end. If it can't I'd suggest having the barrels honed to light mod and mod.

Pattern the gun for point of impact. Trap guns often shoot high which is a handicap with sporting clays and you may need to take the stock down to get it shooting a flatter pattern.
 
As it is a lightning, the barrel walls are thinner than the standard Supers. Chances are very slim then of installing choke tubes even thinwalls.
It has seemed to be a popular conversion with some of the shooters on the other side of the border the last few years though.
You mention " I find all my Broadways to be wonderfully balanced" perhaps you have a standardweight Broadway that the barrel walls may be thicker and move condusive to tubing ?

Tim.
 
Thanks Claybuster and planemaker for the comments.
All my Superposed are of the Lightning variety so indeed I may have trouble tubing them. I have looked at the Briley website but am unsure if I can even ship barrels to the States.
Is there someone in Canada that does that sort of work?
Otherwise I may have to get them honed as suggested.
 
choke tubes?

I am not certain of your barrel dimentions ( and to be honest I could pull my superposed lightning from the safe ) but am too close to bed , you may want to try TNT gunworks in Regina Sk. they put Briley thinwalls into a citori trap combo for me a few years ago and I was quite happy with their work !
 
Thanks Claybuster and planemaker for the comments.
All my Superposed are of the Lightning variety so indeed I may have trouble tubing them. I have looked at the Briley website but am unsure if I can even ship barrels to the States.
Is there someone in Canada that does that sort of work?
Otherwise I may have to get them honed as suggested.
Lawry in Caledonia is a Canadian supplier of Briley products. At one time they used to machine barrels for thin wall chokes. I am not sure if they still do.

Another option would be Steve Milton at Precision Arms in King Ontario. He has a proprietary choke tube system that is well regarded.
 
Thanks Claybuster and planemaker for the comments.
All my Superposed are of the Lightning variety so indeed I may have trouble tubing them. I have looked at the Briley website but am unsure if I can even ship barrels to the States.
Is there someone in Canada that does that sort of work?
Otherwise I may have to get them honed as suggested.

I shipped my model 12 barrel to Briley a few years back and had thin walls installed, series 2's. Unless things have changed in the past 7-8 years for shipping gun parts it shouldnt be an issue. I just had to remove the receiver and no had no problem whatsoever, I sent via Canada Post, UPS wont touch it! And btw I had a beautiful pair of Broadway Traps, one lightning circa 1971mfg, and one John Moses Special 50 th Ann Superposed NIB circa 1981, the lightning went to a fellow in California who was converting it to sporting clays shooting, said they are highly sought down there for sporting clays conversions!!
 
...I swing this particular gun with it's 30 in. barrels almost too quickly for ATA trap...

Far be it for me to talk you out of your project ... but I would remind you that the relative speed of swing at ATA Trap and Sporting are two different things altogether. A hard left or right at Trap from the "opposite" end station is really only a quartering target ... nowhere near the swing speed you'll need on a hard crosser at Sporting or FITASC. That same swing & lead "sight picture" you use at ATA will put you way behind the much tougher quartering targets encountered at bunker Trap... especially with their "wider" Trap settings and 70 meter birds.


The Trap gun that seems quick at 16 yard ATA Trap, to me, remains a bit of a clunker at Sporting, FITASC and bunker Trap. Where once the average guy's hunting shotgun was sufficient to take part in Sporting, today the Sporting Shotgun has evolved with the complexity of Sporting Target presentations to be just as unique, specialized and individual a gun as is - say, an ATA Trap gun from a NSSA Skeet gun. And none of the three make particularly good field guns ... their characteristics are all individually tailored to their respective clay target specialties. Yes, you can use either to shoot Sporting ... but, it's sort of like using an 8 iron to play an entire game of golf ... it will work in some situations, but really isn't ideally suited to the whole game. Or, back to my original comment about the chicken salad. ;)

Best of luck with your project ! ... and x2 for Steve's choke work at "Precision".
 
spank it is nice to hear you too appreciate the Broadways.. heh.
I may look into Brileys more and send them an e-mail regarding Canadian shipments.
At present I have 4 Broadways, a 61, a couple of 63s and my 67.
Not sure why I need so many but all except my last purchase (too recent) have memories such as shooting 50 beside Paul Shaw and having him point out that I chipped one ..LOL, running 25 at the 27 yard line...
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Hope those Californians are right!!

To berretta boy I know my Broadway is not built, tailored to SC but for me it will suffice. I probably will not be the top shooter on any given day but I will have as much fun as anyone.
And to boot I will be shooting a classic! To me anyway.
Another is that when I go back and shoot trap with one of my other Broadways they will feel very similar. ( you know the saying "beware the man with one gun" ) :0)
I think I can make that chicken salad. ;0)
Thanks for the recommendation X2 for Steve and for the good luck!
 
Funny, Mr.Shaw didnt offer me a "good shooting" when I got him by two targets at the 100th Grand in the singles championship. Come to think mof it neither did Mr.Jordan whom I bested by 4, hmmm??? Buddy of mine once took Rick Sheridan with a 50 straight against Sheridans 49 in 410 in a shootoff and all Mr. Sheridan could say was must be a northern shooter, you shoot them backwards, youre supposed to lead under, not come up to them!! Nothing like gentleman shooters, wonder why I quit travelling to their clubs for shoots?!! And sounds like you have a nice collection of superposeds there.Funny how you dont need $10,000) worth of Krieghoff to get to the 27!!LOL. I got there too with a Citori Plus!! Good luck in your quest to build a sprting clays gun.
 
And thanks for sharing.
I like the comments about being a backward shooter from the North. lol
Actually Mr. Shaw was a perfect gentleman that day and it both flattered and amused me that he noticed I had chips on 1 target. :0)
Regards
 
"Mr. Shaw" is indeed a gentleman ... and a pretty nice guy to boot.

Let us know how your project turns out ( I like the idea of the big, wide rib) ... and x 2 for what Claybuster recommends for getting your gun to shoot "flat" as opposed to the higher POI's usually preferred for ATA Trap ... you'll find many dropping birds in todays Sporting courses. Yes you can probably hit them by showing a little (or a lot) of daylight under them ... but it's easier and more natural to do with a flat-shooting gun.
The Superposed's will certainly stand up to a lot of shooting. I'm not a "K-gun" fan myself, I find them a little slugish as well compared to the P's and B's. ;)
 
I was shooting a broadway about 3-4 weeks ago, 30" barrels wasn't a lighting and I found it quite light probably, not a bad SC gun. I was actually toying with tube setting it and turning it into a skeet gun, I started shooting trap with a citori plus trap and then started shooting skeet with it, I unfortunetly sold it to buy another gun and regret it a lot.

I only shoot sporting clays casually, but a gun that shoots high is some times advantageous and some times a curse. When you need to look at the target it provides you that opportunity to see what it is doing and to hit it. It is a curse when you see the target late and take a instinctive poke at it and shoot over top.

For me I sold my last beretta's and now shoot one of those exploding k-guns, actually a k-32 LW for NSSA skeet. Couldn't stand those italian guns shooting high. For skeet I want 50/50 POI and there is only so much you can do to the stock until you start having to have the barrels adjusted.

For trap I like 70/30 POI, lets you get a nice look at the birdie before it becomes an ink ball.

Cheers, gwagen
 
"Mr. Shaw" is indeed a gentleman ... and a pretty nice guy to boot.

Agreed !

Gagnon's will ship my barrels to Briley.
It is likely the lightning barrels can be tubed so here's hoping.
I'll take Yours and Claybusters advice on getting the gun to shoot flat.
As our club final trap shoot and corn roast is in 2 weeks I plan on sending the barrels after that.

A plug for Gagnon's...
I emailed Gagnon's last night and John replied almost within the hour!!
On a Sunday evening. That is fast service!

Glad to hear you like the Broadways too gwagen.
I'm inclined to believe 50/50 POI would be good for SC too so I'll wait until I get my barrels back and pattern them.

My Broadways are all quite high at the comb and I can afford to shave some off if needed.

Thanks for the comments. :0)
 
update

My barrels have been shipped to Briley via Gagnons.
( Jerry and John kudos! : Great service )

Mike H. here in my locale is going to swap the Browning Trap Recoil Pad with a Kick-Eez Rocker Pad.

I will get Mike to take a little off the comb after I try it out if needed.

All should be ready in about 3 weeks.
Hope our ranges are still open up here then!

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