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Browning bps hi-cap 12 gauge

2.5K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  no_glockie  
#1 ·
I was in my favorite LGS yesterday and they have a Browning BPS Hi-Cap 12 gauge. Basically a 20" barrel, 6 shot BPS with a synthetic stock, bead sight and I think cyl. bore choke. Pretty nice and new, I think it has been there for a bit. Think Ithaca 37 with nicer finish IMO.

I like it, thinkng about buying it for HD etc. The only option I would add is a light clamped to the mag tube.

Anyone have any experience or thoughts on the subject?
 
#7 ·
I don't think you can load directly into the chamber with a BPS because of the bottom load/eject setup...

Other than that, the BPS is a great gun. Super-slick action.
Ned Christiansen has an interesting take on the BPS.
http://www.m-guns.com/rifles.php

Quote from his web page > "Shotguns-The Browning BPS has never been seen as a fighting or action competition shotgun. That's a shame, because with a few modifications, it makes a great one. When I needed to upgrade to a modern pump from the Winchester '97, I looked at everything I could find. I looked outside the boundaries, careful to not be constrained by what everybody else was using. My three main criteria were handling related: a) it must have a short, smooth stroke; b) ergos must be good- safety and slide release easily reached and actuated; c) there must be no %#&%$@#!!)&$# cartridge lifter, acting as a loading gate to the magazine. As popular as certain models of shotgun are, many have the lifter/gate which must be depressed to load the magazine. These tend to act like Chinese fingercuffs, trying to skin the unfortunate thumb that follows a little too closely behind the cartridge it is pushing in. The BPS has none, and, in fact, the magazine loading area is long enough that loading two at a time is possible, by dropping a cartridge on to the bottom of the bolt of the overturned shotgun, pushing it in with a second cartridge, which then follows it in. You have just loaded two for the price of one, so to speak. As a bonus, the BPS has an ambidextrous safety, if that is important to you. It also has bottom ejection, of which much is made, but the advantage is not that the empties come out the bottom, nor even that the receiver is enclosed (although I'll admit that doesn't hurt). The real advantage is that ejection is very positive and it is not necessary that the slide be racked hard and fast to get clean ejection. The one huge, glaring disadvantage of the BPS and other bottom-ejecting shotguns in a fighting/competition role, is that a single round cannot be quick-loaded into the chamber when the gun runs dry, as there is no ejection port giving the shooter direct access to the chamber. The action of the gun must be closed, a round loaded into the magazine, and racked into the chamber-- slow and cumbersome. Some tactical trainers recommend against the habit of dropping a round directly into the chamber because a) you weren't supposed to let the gun run dry in the first place, and b) you are using two loading procedures: one for an empty gun and one for a partially loaded one. Be that as it may, when the shotgun has been run dry, and you have just heard that very loud CLICK, it is faster to drop one in with the action open and close it than it is to put one in the magazine and rack it in. There could be a time when one round NOW is more meaningful that one round in "now-point-eight" seconds with the satisfaction that you did it like they told you. Toward this end, the BPS and the Ithaca Model 37 pictured here have the loading port cut into the receiver.

Some other odds and ends...not things I've done dozens of, but again, examples that show the limits may be a little further out than you thought; just because there is not a product in somebody's catalog, or just because you haven't seen it done before, does not mean it can't be done."

Go to the link for pics.
 
#6 ·
I say go for it.

I think that a short barreled twelve gauge is a great home defense gun.
 
#8 ·
Well I bought it...

I went to my LGS on some other business and I asked them to bring it down off the wall so I could go emit a good look.

It was the only one they had, I think they've been out of production for a few years and it probably wasn't a long production run.

I bought it and it's in the box waiting to be assembled and cleaned.
 
#9 ·
Congrats OP

While not a BPS or M37, I did buy my son and grandson each one of the Steven's Model 350s (M37 clone) and have been VERY impressed with them. Grandson spent several days working the action on his while watching TV and it smoothed up nicely.
 
#10 ·
Nice. I think the M37 had a long history as a police shotgun. I read a reprint of an American Rifleman article on US military shotguns, both Ithaca and Stevens made shotguns for the military.

I cleaned the factory preservative and stuff off tonight, put the barrel back on and put it in the cabinet. I think it accumulated a little dust in the shop.

Installing the barrel is a little different than the Remington 870. I had to read the manual.

I'm planning on adding a white light and maybe a different front bead. I'm looking forward to shooting it.