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Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Took my New to me 525 32" out yesterday for a dove shoot . The first time I shot this gun , well lets just say it wasn't love at first shoot .

But I am liking it alot better now ! The birds flew pretty good and I really should have limited out , but I am happy the way I shot with this gun . I am thinking it will make a great gun for Ducks also , hope to find out soon

Guest

Nice going! I wouldn't mine one of those mainly for summer clays. I'd probably be optimized with 30" barrels.

If Browning comes out with a Citori 725-16 I'd be all over one! 28" barrels would work well for me for both birds and clays.

I have to sigh a little when I look at the ground and green growth in your picture. Right now we have abut 8-10" of new snow on the ground and it's -16 with a projected high temperature of -5 today.

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Dave you guys live in a great part of the country for hunting , deer and especially bird hunting , but I don't think this Florida boy could take those winter up there . Oh ya I am envious of the rabbit hunting . I am a dog hunter at heart and at one time had nine beagles , used them for deer hunting , which is a great southern tradition that sadly enough will be all over soon.

Guest

Nine beagles, wow! You and Jason (Black Belt) need to chat.

It's up to -13 now.

Member Joined: 08 Oct 2012 Posts: 371 Location: Indiana

I wasn't aware you were a beagle man at one time Mark. I raised hunted and trialed beagles most of my life. My wife and I are down to one and she is a house dog. I kinda lost interest after my once in a lifetime died of cancer to young. But boy was he a pleasure to hunt with and he earned himself a hole room full of trophies and plaques. And even earned the title international field champion. I'm glad you are gonna like your new toy you had me worried for awhile Shocked

Hey fn16ga, where did you hunt in Florida. I haven't seen a dove around the Lakeland area for several weeks.
xvigauge

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Didn't like the balance,lop,.???

I don't know why Browning put that dull as concrete finish on the 525s that I have seen. I took it off of mine and put an English oil finish that has a nice sheen but not new chrome shine to it. There was a lot of nice grain hiding under that flat finish.
Just my opinion.

Regards, Gordon

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

fn16ga
I started with Kleen Strip stripper on everything. I wear rubber gloves ( that stuff burns)and rub with some #2 steel wool. You can see the old stuff coming off. I went over the checkering with a small brass brush. The checkering cleaned out well. Sand off any stubborn finish with 150 grit. Work grits down to 400. Mask the checkering and start filling the pores. Btw, do all sanding with the pad in place. You don't want to round the wood at the back of the stock.. To fill pores I use tung oil with rotten stone sprinkled on top. Sand this slurry in with the 400 grit paper. After 48 hours I sand the dried tung oil back to the wood. I do this procedure 4 times. Min wax old English oil finish works well as a finish. I put one coat on per day. When I'm applying finish the checkering is masked off. Every third or fourth coat of finish I use OOOO steel wool. I normally put 15 to 18 coats of finish on. With the checkering exposed I put two coats of oil on them and brush with a tooth brush.
It works for me

Regards, Gordon

Member Joined: 09 Jan 2013 Posts: 2168 Location: Florida

Thank you for that , I like your method for filling the pours