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Browning Gold issues...

11K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  mudpack 
#1 ·
Saturday was cold; 8 degrees. I had cleaned my Gold several days previous, applied the thinnest layer of Outer's Gun oil. This procedure had been working fine all season. Saturday I got several "Benelli clicks", and when it did fire, would not close completely on the second shell.
Saturday night I disassembled the bolt, the trigger group, and the piston/actuator....cleaned them completely with carb cleaner, blew them out with 100psi shop air, and reassembled....feeling that I was good to go.
Sunday was 33 degrees. No clicks...it always fired....but would NOT load the second shell. I had a single-shot.

This afternoon, after scouting, I'll take ALL apart and look again. What do you Browning guys think....recoil spring?????
I didn't pull that out on Saturday....
 
#3 ·
I had the issue with my gold. Ended up replacing the spring in the stock with a sure cycle. Never had an issue with that gun since. Moisture was getting in the factor spring and gummin it up. No more failures to feed...and it cycles quicker. Try cleaning the spring that is in there or replace it.
 
#5 ·
I have same problem with my gold hunter. I carry small bottle of 'Rem Oil' in choketube case and when gun wouldn't "work" on a cold morning in the middle of no-where, I Rem Oil it liberally. It went to working and when seems to slow, I Rem it again. I had this problem off-and-on for several years, "think" now may have handle on it. Will look into replacing the stock spring, as I sometimes don't get third shell.
 
#6 ·
My dad has a gold and loves it, has shot it for years with no problem. I used it a couple of times and really liked it so I got one and it was a piece of junk. I never could get it to cycle well. Sent it back to the factory twice and they kept saying it was solved....NOT. I finally sold it and went on with life. (So my recommended solution is selling it I guess )

The beretta I bought instead has been a great gun. At the end of last year, it started having trouble cycling, but a replacement of the recoil spring solved that problem (the old one had rusted).
 
#7 ·
I had my Benelli out Sat morning, it was cold indeed.

I had cleaned it the night before with CLP Breakcleaner, which is the only thing I will ever use on a gun out in cold weather.

Maybe we ought to change the name of it to a Browning click? Mine never mis fired and killed geese....

Either sell that Browning, or start using CLP Brakecleaner in cold weather.
 
#8 ·
Took it all apart last night, again. Removed the recoil spring. The spring was clean, the tube had some powder in it. Cleaned the tube with a .410 bronze brush, dry-patched it out. Shimmed the spring 1/2". Took special care cleaning under the bolt release lever. Re assembled; seemed to be just fine; bolt slammed shut with authority in the warm shop anyway.

This morning: two minutes after shoot time, three greenheads drop into the decoys. CLICK!!!!! Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!
After that, nine shots, no malfunctions. Not sure what to think at this point.

Dozer: I had problems right after I got it with the bolt not closing. I quickly figured out that if I kept it well-lubed...ala ks4691...it would work just fine. Problem now is the Kansas late-season temps: this well-lubed gun seems to be a sluggish gun that won't close and fire when it gets close to zero.
I guess tomorrow I'll just take the Xtrema2 instead. Hope those three drakes give me a do-over...... :biggrin:
 
#11 ·
I have a browning gold 10 gauge and the only problem I ever had was due to the shells I was shooting. I always shot winchester drylock I ran out one day and a buddy gave me a box of federal premiums and it wouldnt kick them out the kept getting folded over in the bolt come to find out federals are about an 1/8 inch or so longer than winchesters but other than that no problems. I also have a benelli m1 that I have had for 10 years never had any problems out of it either untill this year. I hadnt cleaned it for 3 seasons just lazy I guess but it was still shooting like it was new we found a corn field that had 10000 + mallards going into it so I decided to clean it just so I didnt have any problems first group come in I came up click manually kicked that shell out and another click and again after all the birds were gone I loaded back up and test fired it went off 3 times no problem another group come in 3 clicks every since I cleaned it ive had nothing but problems should have left it alone I guess or taken better care of it to begin with
 
#13 ·
duckmnn said:
Browning claims the only thing to use in any weather is CLP.It can be bought at any Walmart.My gold was hitting primer hard enough all the time.I thought broke .No re cleaned gun used CLP never another issue thru 3 cases shells.
Thats what I am talking about. CLP is the best thing I have ever found for cold weather hunting.
 
#14 ·
I have a Gold...I'm betting your issue is your hitting the butt on the ground hard enough it pulls the slide back a hair. If it does that it goes click. I've done it a few times and it's easier than you think to do. My Dads Benelli is really bad at about it. The cycling issue is more likely related to the recoil spring. If you clean it well you shouldnt have any issues. I've had mine since 2002 and clean it only once during the season and after. No issues for me.
 
#15 ·
I prefer the Gold over the Xtrema2 because I'm sentimentally attached to it AND because I seem to hit uncommonly well with it.

Took it with me again this morning ...against my better judgement. Granted, it was only 30 degrees. Worked perfectly. :huh:

JMac....you are right on. I've found the same thing, and I'm constantly pushing forward on the bolt handle during the hunt.

TomKat & duckmnn: when it's seriously cold, is CLP better than NO lube at all? I have an old can of Breakfree CLP that I've used on other guns and was not particularly impressed with....but, if it cures this spate of cantankerous behaviour from the Browning, I'll certainly try it!
 
#16 ·
mudpack said:
I prefer the Gold over the Xtrema2 because I'm sentimentally attached to it AND because I seem to hit uncommonly well with it.

Took it with me again this morning ...against my better judgement. Granted, it was only 30 degrees. Worked perfectly. :huh:

JMac....you are right on. I've found the same thing, and I'm constantly pushing forward on the bolt handle during the hunt.

TomKat & duckmnn: when it's seriously cold, is CLP better than NO lube at all? I have an old can of Breakfree CLP that I've used on other guns and was not particularly impressed with....but, if it cures this spate of cantankerous behaviour from the Browning, I'll certainly try it!
Most likely the spring is worn and weak. A new spring should fix the issue of it sliding back and not going boom. That being said I seem to shoot really well with it too. I debated on buying a Maxus but it almost seems hard to miss with this gun.
 
#17 ·
Mud,
Sorry to hear about your gold. I already saw that your hooked on it for sentimental reasons, but dammit, that Extrema 2 is a waaaaaaay more solid gun! :biggrin:

Alot of the benelli guys always run and think that when they have a slow cycle on cold days, they blame the stock spring, when the real issue is the wrong gun oil. As mentioned above, Break Free CLP is the best I've found in cold weather. My Benellis and My Extrema 2 have never failed me in single digit temps and I can dump these guns as fast as I can pull the trigger.....I went through the same issue your having with a Beretta 390. I was using remoil on it and it was slow cycling because the oil would get to thick for the action to work properly. REM OIL is terrible in cold weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope you got your problem fixed. :beer:
 
#18 ·
Goosegetter50 said:
I have a browning gold 10 gauge and the only problem I ever had was due to the shells I was shooting. I always shot winchester drylock I ran out one day and a buddy gave me a box of federal premiums and it wouldnt kick them out the kept getting folded over in the bolt come to find out federals are about an 1/8 inch or so longer than winchesters but other than that no problems. I also have a benelli m1 that I have had for 10 years never had any problems out of it either untill this year. I hadnt cleaned it for 3 seasons just lazy I guess but it was still shooting like it was new we found a corn field that had 10000 + mallards going into it so I decided to clean it just so I didnt have any problems first group come in I came up click manually kicked that shell out and another click and again after all the birds were gone I loaded back up and test fired it went off 3 times no problem another group come in 3 clicks every since I cleaned it ive had nothing but problems should have left it alone I guess or taken better care of it to begin with
Sounds like you may have put that m1 back together wrong? Want to sell it? :biggrin: :lol:
 
#19 ·
Took the Gold out this morning. Five shots, no problem. Sixth shot: did not go back into battery. Seventh and eighth shots: no problems. Only the one problem all morning, but that one problem is one too many.....going to try something else.

5PM EDIT: I believe I have discovered the problem: the ejector spring had a tiny "kink" in it, and was catching on the edge of the hole it seats in. This would not let the ejector pivot back far enough to allow the shell to slide up in front of the bolt. I took the ejector and spring out, polished a nice radius on the edge of the hole, reversed the spring so the "kink" was down in the hole, put a dab of RIG in the hole, and reassembled. Works like new, manually.
Before, when I let the bolt go home slowly with a shell on the carrier, it would not always close completely. Now, when I let the bolt go home slowly, it goes all the way home...every time. I believe I'm ready for the ducks tomorrow...I'll let you know when I get back.
 
#20 ·
mudpack said:
I prefer the Gold over the Xtrema2 because I'm sentimentally attached to it AND because I seem to hit uncommonly well with it.

Took it with me again this morning ...against my better judgement. Granted, it was only 30 degrees. Worked perfectly. :huh:

JMac....you are right on. I've found the same thing, and I'm constantly pushing forward on the bolt handle during the hunt.

TomKat & duckmnn: when it's seriously cold, is CLP better than NO lube at all? I have an old can of Breakfree CLP that I've used on other guns and was not particularly impressed with....but, if it cures this spate of cantankerous behaviour from the Browning, I'll certainly try it!
It has been proven to me under field conditions that CLP is the best thing you can use in very cold weather. I was thinking about you when I got up this morning and went hunting with Jarbo. I douched my M2 down with CLP. It really seems to strip all residue out and makes my gun work better. I have used WD40 (crap) G96 and a few others. CLP works better in cold weather than any thing else I have used, including remoil, croil, etc.

I am glad you found your problem. I allmost got a B gold a few years back, and the only reason I went with the M2 was the weight.
 
#22 ·
i bought a browning maxus and last year sent it in account would not shoot the 2nd shot. sent it in and they said it was fixed. this year it started not ejecting the second shoot and i had to take knife and flip out the empty shell and then shoot the 3rd shell. haven't sent it in this time thought i would not clean it and see what they say. two years in a row i have had trouble with this high dollar gun. had little trouble with my mosburg pump compared to this gun.
 
#23 ·
Mudpack...CLP is good stuff. I use it on both my Gold 10 and 12 down to single digit temps with no problems.
It sounds like you may have your problem fixed but I'll give you a few things to look for if you dont. Check your gas piston. I've seen them break that spring on the inside and that will cause problems. Also be sure that your mag tube that the gas piston slides on is clean of all the carbon build up.
Hope this helps.
 
#24 ·
grnhd...thanks for the tips. I had checked the piston spring: its good. I always keep the magazine tube polished clean, so I know that doesn't enter in.
Actually, it performed flawlessly on Saturday (15 degrees). Looks like the ejector spring was the culprit. It got a good workout, too; fired 16 shots. (had one greenhead on the water that I could NOT kill; took seven sluicers to stop it!)
Both my buddy's and my Lab died last year and have not yet been replaced...that's why all the sluicing.

Looks like the Gold is back to its old, excellent self. :thumbsup:

This was my best season ever. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.
 
#25 ·
mudpack, do you mean the ejector spring or extractor spring?

The ejector is a fixed pin at the back of the barrel extension that kicks the shell out when the bolt gets to the end of its travel. It has no spring nor any moving parts.

The extractor and its associated spring seem to fit the description of the parts you've identified as the problem with your Gold.
 
#26 ·
I stand corrected, Quattro, the proper terminology is extractor spring. (#40 in the parts diagram in the owner's manual)

The problem was cured, by the way, as described in an earlier post. I've since shot over 200 rounds using that modified bolt (in another gun) and had only one failure to close properly. I won't complain about that one incidence.
 
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