My old Browning BPS has been sitting unused for years because I have been using a 20 gauge instead. I always thought I'd keep it to give to my son. Well, he finally outgrew his youth gun and it's time for a new gun. He is partial to auto loaders because he likes the idea of them.
Today, we went to a big clay shooting complex that has some rental guns. For $20 we got to try a Remington 1100, a Browning Citori, and a Browning single barrel trap gun. We shot three rounds of trap each. He shot his first round with the BPS, his second round with the 1100, and his third round with the Citori. (I wanted to try the trap gun.)
Conclusion was that he liked the 1100 and the BPS best, and sees no need to get an autoloader. So, he gets the BPS as his own. I think I'll have it tapped for a scope mount, but otherwise leave it as-is. Nice when things work out this way.
By the way, I also shot the 1100. Nice gun. If I were shooting a lot of trap, I'd definitely want a dedicated trap gun. That Browning trap gun had a lot of fine features that make it very practical.
Anyway, I'm satisfied that we gave the boy a good bit of background. If he had clearly favored a different gun, we'd be working toward getting one of that type.
Interesting note, I shot 20 and 20 with the 1100 and the trap gun. I shot 11 with my BPS. I could see I was shooting high. I don't know if that's because I haven't shot the gun in almost 10 years and am not used to it, but I was certainly not used to the 1100 or the Trap gun because I'd never fired either of those.
