Browning bragged on the reliability of its new Silver Hunter autoloader, so Greg called them on it with an 1,100-round field test.
By Greg Rodriguez
I first learned of Browning's Silver Hunter in, of all places, a camp high in the mountains of British Columbia where I was hunting mountain goats with Browning's Scott Grange. As is often the case when Grange and I get together, the talk turned to shotguns. Eventually, we got around to the high cost of good semiautomatics.
The author put 1,100 rounds of 12-gauge target loads through the Browning Silver in about 3 hours. The author and his helpers were sore, but the gun was no worse for wear.
Grange and I discussed Browning's popular Gold line as well as the then-new Silver Hunter. He was honest about reliability issues with early versions of the Gold Hunter and went into great detail about how Browning's engineers fixed those problems with a little help from some very expensive high-speed cameras. As several experienced sporting clays competitors I know can attest, those problems are long gone, and all the research that went into fixing those early issues paid off big time in subsequent offerings, such as the Winchester Super X3 and the Browning Silver Hunter.
The Silver Hunter
Browning's newest autoloader, the Silver line, is built on an aluminum- alloy frame and employs a gas-operated, semiautomatic action. With several stock and finish options, as well as a few 3 1/2-inch variants, you can have your Silver just about any way you want it as long as it's a 12 gauge. I chose to evaluate the classic wood-stocked Silver Hunter with 3-inch chamber and 28-inch barrel.
The Silver Hunter's receiver has an attractive matte silver (of course) finish. It has a nice, trim profile that fits nicely in my small hands. The receiver has a bevel near the back of the receiver, then flows neatly into the stock. The top of the receiver has a distinctive semi-humpback design that is reminiscent of the old Browning Auto 5, albeit on a smaller scale. Just below and to the front of the ejection port is a carrier-release button. An unusual, oversized triangular safety button with a knurled surface lies just behind the trigger guard that houses the classic Browning gold trigger.
The Silver Hunter's barrel has an attractive deep-blue finish and a fairly light profile. It has a ventilated rib with a white bead out front. The rib, a semi-humpback design, and the serrated receiver top make for an eye-catching sight picture. The barrel is threaded for Browning's Invector-Plus choke tubes, three of which come with the gun (IC, M, F).
The heart of the Silver Hunter is its self-adjusting Active Valve gas system. As with most gas systems, the Browning system directs gas from fired shells through ports in the barrel to the gas piston. The gases move the piston and gas sleeve rearward, which forces the bolt to the rear and operates the action. Active Valve differs from competing systems in that it doesn't direct any more gas than is needed back into the action.
When shooting light loads, the Active Valve system uses most of the expended gases to operate the action. With magnum loads, Active Valve only uses as much gas as necessary to operate the action and vents the rest through the Active Valve, out the top of the forearm, and away from the receiver for clean, reliable operation.
Because the gas piston and Active Valve operate independently, less pressure is exerted on the gas piston. This amounts to greater longevity and more efficient operation than many competing models. The Active Valve expels unnecessary gases out the front rather than driving them back towards the shooter; therefore, it significantly reduces felt recoil, which means faster follow-ups and greater all-day shooting comfort on the clays range or in the duck blind.
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