Jonny Carter has been out and about with Browning’s new B525 Composite, a shotgun that turns into “an absolute beast” when stock weights are added. Will this particular Browning appeal to your customers? Let’s find out.
The Browning B525 has been a favourite among shooters since its release back in 2003, replacing the 425 with a model boasting improved trigger-pulls and a more sculpted action. The 525 will require little to no introduction after 22 successful years on the market, and this year Browning has released a new variant: the B525 Composite. The new shotgun offers a modern twist on this classic design, with a fully composite stock and fore-end to complement the brand-new action engraving.
Before we look at the new features, it is worth giving a quick rundown on the B525 and what makes this action design so great. The action itself is forged from one piece of steel, making it nearly indestructible. It hinges around that single classic Browning centre hook, which provides a large surface area to help spread wear and pressure, increasing the life expectancy of the gun. This width and strength is mirrored in the single wide locking bolt that holds the gun closed. The single trigger is inertia operated, with the safety catch that doubles up as the selector set just behind the toplever.
As the name would suggest, this new Browning features a fully composite stock. A few decades ago we saw Browning first move away from traditional wood stocks with the Cynergy Black Ice and more recently with the B525 Laminate. The Laminate was a real success, but the Cynergy suffered from being complicated to adjust and by being incredibly front heavy. When this gun was announced in January, with a list of features that would combat everything that was wrong with the Cynergy, I was excited.
The black composite stock has a nice lightly textured feel, isn’t super reflective and feels less plasticky than the old Cynergy stocks. The grips on the ambidextrous palm swell and the fore-end are overmoulded in a thick dark grey rubber that offers a good amount of grip even when wet.
Ambidextrous
In the hand, the shape of the fore-end is to my taste. I quite like the ambidextrous palm swell of the pistol grip, although I feel like it could have been a little deeper. My hands are fairly large and go about ½in over the bottom of the grip. This gun is marketed as a bit of an all-rounder, though, and a full sporting pistol grip would have made it a little less appealing to those using it in the pursuit of small game.
This stock feels tough, and Browning seem to put a lot of faith in it as a stronger, more robust option than walnut.
The stock is as ambidextrous as the grip, making it straight as a die from the action to the toe and heel. It means it does sit a little inside the shoulder if you need a bit of cast like I do. Luckily, from a fit perspective the gun is fitted with the Inflex II pad system, making it easy to increase the length of pull and an adjustable comb to get your face into the right position for you. This is controlled with a single Allen screw at the back of the stock. When this is loosened off, the comb’s movement frees up in both cast and height options. Set it where you want and then lock it in place – simpleas pie.Benefits
The barrels on this test model are 30in, but 32in are also available. The bores, as with all B525s and chambers, are chrome lined to remove the chance of any rust building up. They are also back-bored to improve ballistic performance.
Browning say this gun is for everyone, and I can certainly see that. The benefits for rough shooters, wildfowlers and pest controllers are obvious: you cannot scratch, break or water-damage this stock. For clays shooters it’s fair to say that many new shooters may care not for the origins or history of shotguns, want something modern and cool but don’t want an automatic. If so, this gun is for them.
Finally, I know many shooters who have a rough weather gun to complement their main gun. This Browning is perfect for that, although the price tag might be a little high for this particular niche.
Field test
I was very excited to take this gun for a test, so the day after it arrived, I took it with me for a quick pop at Sporting Targets in Bedfordshire. “Why start small?” I thought and went up with a gang of friends to the skeet field where a very tasty FITASC layout was situated. It turns out this was a mistake. I had fitted the comb, but had not fitted any stock spacers, nor had I fitted any balancing weights and that’s because this gun does not come with them.
Without stock weights the Browning is overly front heavy, which makes it pretty uninspiring to shoot. I struggled to get it moving, it was not forgiving if my hold points or plans were not completely bombproof, and generally it felt odd.
After 50 shots I put the gun away, a little deflated. I contacted Browning asking if it could send the stock weights down so that I could see what improvements it made. Forty-eight hours later the weights were on my desk ready to be fitted to the gun, as well as a few spacers to get the stock somewhere closer to my ridiculous length of pull. The fitting took five minutes and I whizzed up to the local ground to see what the result was.
The first pair of shots gave me an answer — the 165g added to the back of the stock had turned this gun into the versatile beast it was meant to be. It moved gracefully through the air, it was ultra-responsive mid-shot when I need to make a correction to a bad move and the recoil was much sweeter.
Conclusion
In short, I went from hating this Browning to falling in love with it and the only thing I wish is that it had been supplied with those weights. If you’re looking at stocking the B525 Composite please make sure you can offer your customers stock weights.