Browning Superposed O/U advice - ref Salt Cure wood

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Buck_Up

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Hi
I would like to get some feedback on a 1970 Browning Superposed O/U 12gu shotgun. The year 1970 falls smack in the middle of the range of potential "salt wood" stocks.
It is round knob long tang. There is not any evidence of salt / rust. I have the opportunity to purchase the gun, but would like to first get some advice.

I read somewhere that the long tangs did not have the salt cure stock issues.
Q1: Is it truth, that the Long Tangs did not have the salt cured stocks?

I am leary of any gun within the potential salt wood date range due to potential resale issues down the road.
Q2: If this gun is certain to not have the salt cured wood issue, is it to be expected that buyer demand and resale prices would be lower by virtue of it being within the date range?

Trying to educate myself on this particular salt cure issue - look forward to hearing from people who are more intimately familiar with it.
Thanks
 
Google " detecting Browning salt wood" . You remove the butt plate and apply a chemical to the wood, you get a clear yes-no. I believe that even if your gun is clear (it may have a replacement stock, either free from Browning because they did that for a limited time, or purchased by a former owner) it will negatively affect value. The reason is that this wood causes damage to the steel where it contacts the wood and can be hard to detect until it is quite advanced and by then there is no easy good fix. Speaking for myself, because they made so many of these, especially twelves, I just wouldn't buy a gun from the affected years, there are so many available that you don't need to worry about, why take a chance? Jim
 
https://shotgunreport.com/2013/05/22/browning-salt-wood-explained/

Here is what the link says ...

The best discussion of the Browning salt wood issue is in Ned Schwing’s “Browning Superposed” book (Krause Press, 1996). According to Schwing, in the mid ’60s Browning needed a better supply of high grade walnut for it’s guns. A California contractor had a large inventory of good walnut taken from clearing power line right of ways. Demand for Browning guns was at an all time high and the usual kiln drying process for walnut was too slow to produce what was needed. Rapid kiln drying also produced cracks in the California walnut.

Morton Salt had developed a salt solution drying process successfully used in the furniture industry with good results. This cured the walnut much faster than the kiln method. Browning tested it and there were no problems, so Browning bought the process in 1965. “In an area roughly the size of a football field, five-foot by five-foot by eight-foot stacks of stock blanks were covered with salt. The salt was supposed to leach out the moisture and dry the wood quickly. The process did accomplish its purpose but the moisture that was drawn out of the blanks on top of the stacks ran down into the blanks below, resulting in a brine solution that soaked the lower wood blanks.” (Schwing, pp 246) The retained salt reacted with the gun metal with the finished stock was installed. This caused the rust associated with “the salt wood problem”.

According to Schwing’s interviews with Browning’s Harm Williams and Val Browning, all the salt curing was done in the US and affected at least 90% of all Browning stocks from made from 1967 to 1969. The problem continued to show up until 1972, but in smaller numbers. It was then that the entire supply of walnut blanks was burned and replaced with traditional kiln dried wood.

To detect salt wood on 1966 to 1972 guns, first check for outward appearance of dark or discolored spots. Check every place that wood meets metal, as on the rear of the forend and at the head of the stock. Rust on the metal will be apparent if there is a problem. According to Schwing, the definitive test is to remove the butt pad/plate, scrape away a little wood from the exposed butt and apply a 1% solution of silver nitrate to the fresh wood. If the silver nitrate remains light purple, there is no salt. If the silver nitrate turns white, you have a salt gun.

If you can prove that you are the original owner of the salt gun, Browning used to replace the wood for free and will probably still do so. If you bought the gun used, you are on your own. I got a used Superposed 410 with salt wood some time ago. Browning charged me about $250, if memory serves, to replace the wood. It wasn’t free, but it was certainly a bargain price. I don’t know what the numbers today are.

By the way, Browning wasn’t the only one to get taken in by the salt wood walnut curing process. I’ve heard that some other gun companies did also, but weren’t quite as up front about dealing with it.

Best regards,

Bruce Buck
The Technoid writing for Shotgun Report, LLC
 
I would think by now, that a salt gun with original wood would have obvious pitting around the receiver. If you've ever seen a salt gun that has rusted, its not a pretty sight. I understand that some salt guns that had the wood replaced were done so and reblued/refinished - but still show traces of rusting in some areas.
 
cosmic said:
I would think by now, that a salt gun with original wood would have obvious pitting around the receiver. If you've ever seen a salt gun that has rusted, its not a pretty sight. I understand that some salt guns that had the wood replaced were done so and reblued/refinished - but still show traces of rusting in some areas.
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Agreed. After 47 to 52 years one would think there would be obvious signs.
 
If nothing has happened by now nothing will happen it is a process that happenes overa extended period . What do you think you will just wake up and look at the gun and in two days it will be rusted if it hasn't happened by now it will not happen most of the guns that have the problem have already rusted many years ago and I have seen many .
 
struff55 said:
If nothing has happened by now nothing will happen it is a process that happenes overa extended period . What do you think you will just wake up and look at the gun and in two days it will be rusted if it hasn't happened by now it will not happen most of the guns that have the problem have already rusted many years ago and I have seen many .
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I would be concerned that humidity could affect the rate of oxidization. This gun is mint, appears to have spent it's 46 years unused, likely in a dry place.
I have decided to not buy it. Thanks everyone for the feedback.
 
struff55 said:
If nothing has happened by now nothing will happen it is a process that happenes overa extended period . What do you think you will just wake up and look at the gun and in two days it will be rusted if it hasn't happened by now it will not happen most of the guns that have the problem have already rusted many years ago and I have seen many .
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I've seen a few too and it's not hard to see the damage usually where the stock meets the receiver and around the trigger guard.
 
I think that a salt wood period gun would forever be viewed with suspicion, and be discounted as a result, whether or not it showed rust.
 
Superposed 20 gauge - need to know year of production, round or square knob, short or long tang, chokes, length of barrels, condition, condition, condition - anywhere between $1400 and $2K depending on the answers to the questions.
And obviously higher grade with signed engraving could push this number much higher.
 
struff55 said:
If nothing has happened by now nothing will happen it is a process that happenes overa extended period . What do you think you will just wake up and look at the gun and in two days it will be rusted if it hasn't happened by now it will not happen most of the guns that have the problem have already rusted many years ago and I have seen many .
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I would tend to agree with this and if I was in the market for one, likely take advantage of the saltwood depressed price syndrome.
 
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