Hey guys... I do much of my own stock work, so I am not up to speed on stock fitters... I would like a "factory like" job done on my Citori Lightning 20 gauge. My Lightning 12 gauge fits me perfectly and feels great at the OEM original length of pull and with the Browning Brown "Honeycomb" pad... the 20 gauge plastic plate slips and slides and refuses to settle consistently... I would like to have a factory brown honeycomb pad installed on my 20 gauge to closely match the 12 gauge... this will require cutting the stock down a little and then fitting the pad... who are the trusted Browning craftsmen out there? Anyone with good experiences care to chime in? Thanks.
Browning Citori Recoil Pad Installation
- Thread starter hoytcanon
- Start date
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
I had Vic Tomlinson install an original Browning pad on the Citori XT Gold I acquired that had had the original pad removed and replaced with a Gooey Pad(POS). Lol He did a great job. You would never know it's a replacement.
But even closer to you Hoyt would be Steve Holborn in Warren, Ont. Absolutely top quality work, he is always my first choice but his turnaround times can be painful......LOL
The hardest part will be sourcing the pad in Canada. Browning Canada was 1 year minimum to get it?! I ended up having a friend in the USA order me one from Browning USA and mail it to me.
But even closer to you Hoyt would be Steve Holborn in Warren, Ont. Absolutely top quality work, he is always my first choice but his turnaround times can be painful......LOL
The hardest part will be sourcing the pad in Canada. Browning Canada was 1 year minimum to get it?! I ended up having a friend in the USA order me one from Browning USA and mail it to me.
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I have had Steve do work for me many times... he lives just down the road... but he is not well, and is not taking on work right now. I sent Vic an email... he is away fishing until tomorrow. I will get the pad sent up by a friend in the US if necessary... it didn't occur to me that getting the pad would be a problem.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Yes I knew Steve wasn't well but when I last spoke with him in April he was thinking he may take on some lighter duty jobs where he is not standing for lengthy periods? Glad to hear you have a pad and spacer headed your way. I'd be interested to see a pic of the gun once it's completed. Citori's are a great gun IMO.
Just got the stock back from Vic Tomlinson (thanks for the recommendation Spank)... less than a week turn around time... door to door to door... good price, excellent work and incredible service... I can add my recommendation for stock work.
And now... I just picked up a pretty NIB older Grade 2 Citori, choked Full/Mod... I would like to open the chole on the top barrel and run it Mod/Mod for early teal and woodies and later sharpies and pheasants... any recommendations for a smith who is experienced with opening a fixed choke???
And now... I just picked up a pretty NIB older Grade 2 Citori, choked Full/Mod... I would like to open the chole on the top barrel and run it Mod/Mod for early teal and woodies and later sharpies and pheasants... any recommendations for a smith who is experienced with opening a fixed choke???
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Well??.........if it were me and doing something as nice as a Grade 2 Citori I would really sweet talk ole' Stevie Wonder into doing it!!
Glad to hear your other project turned out well. Vic's turnaround times are great!
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Steve is feeling much better but doesn't want to take on too much until the winter... I have him lined up for another job later... any ideas for the choke? Would hurt like heck if it got screwed up... need a good recommendation that I can be confident in.
Beretta687EELL
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- SW Ontario
Since you asked again ... IMHO go with screw chokes, unless you are using that gun for one specific purpose and will never change. Good screw chokes enhance the value of a gun that is going to be a shooter. I generally see about a $400 difference in older guns with and without screw chokes. I would give Steve Milton in King City a try, as I heard that he does high quality work. YMMV
Has anyone used Al's Corner Store Gunsmithing? Brady Mills is the smith... they say on the website that they open fixed bores and convert fixed chokes to screw-in chokes... I have been buying choke tubes from Al's for years and their service has been excellent, but have never used their gunsmithing...
P.S - I sent an email off to Steve Milton.
P.S - I sent an email off to Steve Milton.
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Follow-up; Steve Milton is $250 to thread the barrels, Plus $90/each for thin wall chokes... he can't take new work until 2016 and probably not until March. Brady Mills at Al's Corner Store is $225 to thread to the Tru-Choke system and $25/each for chokes... my Citori is on it's way to him as I write this.
What are you talking about???
I initially asked about smiths who have experience doing Browning shotguns... sure, anyone can do it... but over the years I have seen many butcher jobs... I do lots of stock work myself, but I wanted a "factory" look on this one.
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
Yes I have to ask too. What or who are you referring to Struff 55? You seem to have lost me?!
Well... just talked to Brady and it turns out that the barrels are too thin for standard tubes and would require thin wall tubes which cannot be used with steel shot... since I want to use this gun for early season teal and woodies and snipe, I decided to just open the barrels up... the gun was suppose to be full/mod, but the barrels measured .680" & .705", which is more like xtra-full/full... at .680" the top barrel was at a "turkey" style constriction... I am having the barrels openned to .715"/.725", roughly equivalent to Improved Mod/Light Mod. This should do fine for 90% of the intended uses
