Browning Citori 725 Trap, Adjustable Comb

[JimDandy]

Well recently I picked up a 725 Trap, had the worst time ever in a store, but I thought I'd give anyone thinking about it a peek.

Here's the shotgun itself:

The front bead is a light pipe.

Joined with a Mid bead.

It comes with three red, and three green, and two non-lighted white lightpipes with varying size "dots" facing shooter.

There are three optional trigger shoes for the mechanical trigger, which doesn't require the impetus of a shell firing to switch to the next barrel and fire there, for those of us who forget to set the selector to the right barrel at times.
There's a medium to wide textured trigger, that in my case was installed by default.

And two optional smooth trigger shoes of medium and large widths.

 

[JimDandy]

As with most if not all firearms in this day and age, it comes with a firearms locking system. In this case some barrel inserts.

These inserts are not particularly impressive. They run off a star drive screw, not a key and lock. They don't particularly well fit into the barrels. They don't seem particularly secure, and would be easily defeated by anyone who's handy enough to know about star bits. If gun locks are important to you, I doubt this one will satisfy you.

Three flush mount Invector-DS (Double Seal) chokes are included.

The brass band you see across the bottom (they're placed top down on the table) allegedly seals that end to prevent high pressure gases and fouling from infiltrating that seal between the barrel and the choke tube. The choke selection is heavily weighted to longer ranges, with Full, Improved Mod, and Mod.

Your locale may vary, but while I have three big box type stores/chains selling Citori 725's, not one of them stocked any of the Invector-DS chokes. I had to go to Browning's website and have them direct me to an internet vendor that had the chokes in stock. In this case, for about half of Browning's web price, which was strangely even more than their catalog price.

This particular model has an adjustable comb-

Which adjusts by loosing what ammounts to a set screw in the butt pad, here.

 

[BigD_in_FL]

Nice!............Now do yourself a favor and either lose the glow worm or put in the smallest bland one they have so you can focus on the bird, not the front sight.........

From Gil and Vicki Ash of the OSP Shooting School:

If the gun must be ahead of the target, and the eyes must be on the target, then the eyes cannot be looking down the gun

 

[BigJimP]

Congratulations on a nice shotgun....

 

[JimDandy]

Well Big D, they gave us a little cylinder to keep all the light pipes in, which is actually one of the surprising things that really tickles me for being cleverly designed.

And while I'd love to go out and give this guy a spin to pick which one I like, and where to adjust the comb to, if I took a picture of outside right now, you'd ask me why I photographed a piece of paper.

So adjustments for efficiency will have to wait a bit.

 

[BigD_in_FL]

It sounds like where my grandson lives out West, gonna be a white Christmas for him as well

Enjoy that new gun when the weather clears

 

[Slugo]

-O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G-

--one of the very best trap guns on the market today. I have the 32" Sporting version. Very happy with it!!

 

[JimDandy]

Yeah, I wanted a 30-32 inch Sporting with High Rib and Adjustable comb, which the Browning site says is "New" but given it was impossible to find anywhere, with merchants checking their suppliers and whole-salers, I'd say "New" meant "Coming Soon".

 

[oletymer]

I got the left hand version of same gun in Nov. It is a good doubles gun and backup for my Kreighoff for singles and handicap. It took 6 months to get it after placing my order though.

 

[BigD_in_FL]

Wait a sec, you bought a Browning as a backup to a K gun? Every K gun owner I know (and most of my shooting friends at sporting are K gun owners) wouldn't even consider the Browning for one good reason - the trigger isn't even close to the quality o the K gun (or a P gun or a Blaser, Kolar, etc.)......................

 

[JimDandy]

They changed triggers for the 725. What that means for the quality of the trigger I can't comment.

 

[Dreaming100Straight]

The 725 is supposed to be a mechanical trigger and is claimed to be a big improvement.

 

[oletymer]

Big D I needed to get a doubles gun and the 725 is doing fine. If the Kreighoff ever needs to be sent in for repair I have no qualms about using it while waiting for the return. The trigger is close enough to not cause a problem. I don't shoot a lot of doubles and could not justify spending 15k for a doubles gun.

 

[Dreaming100Straight]

BigD is absolutely right and you need K gun for doubles. You can send the 725 with the lousy trigger to me.

 

[BigJimP]

Not all of the Browning Citori models have triggers that are unacceptable...

and I'm not trying to pretend my Citori XS Skeet models are equivalent in all areas to a Krieghoff K-80, because they're not....but they're at least acceptable, pedestrian level guns...at a reasonable price.

 

[JimDandy]

Well it went out for a few rounds of trap. After a first round to shake the rust off and get a feel for it i.e. a throw-away score, I shot a pair of 19's.

I don't practice enough for 25's yet, and normally average a 14, so a pair of 19's makes me pretty happy so far. The only adjustment to this point has been the cast.

I also had a better idea of how I was missing. A couple jerk-stops, but the miss-misses I think my point of aim is over my point of impact. So if I get a slight rise in the comb that should move my point of aim down, I think.

Do I have the theory right?

 

[BigJimP]

If you raise the comb - it raises the Point of Impact...

If you lower the comb...it lowers the Point of Impact...

 

[Flatshot9]

High Rib.....

Is this Sporting a 50/50 style....which would be better for skeet or SC? I also see a Trap version of this 725 with same high rib but wonder if it is say 75/25 or what. Any one know?

 

[JimDandy]

This is the Trap, not the Sporting. I was looking for the Sporting, and though it was listed as *NEW* on the catalog, based on not being able to find it anywhere (Gunbroker, four stores, including both mom and pop, and big box) I'd say that really meant *COMING SOON*

I would say they're basically the same except for the fore end, and the recoil pad, but I'm not sure they are. Even beyond that, the stock shape itself looked different the last time I looked, and there was also some conflicting information on the chamber size. On Browning's Website I've seen all 725's have a 3 inch chamber. Then I see the Trap has a 2.75 chamber. I still haven't looked at my barrels yet to see what they say, as it's not that big of a deal to me.

 

[Dreaming100Straight]

Compare the ribs of the Sporting and the Trap and you should see a difference. The trap comes with either a Monte Carlo or Adjustable stock. You got the adjustable. The Sporting has a sloping stock and the trap is a parallel stock. I believe the trap is nearly a pound heavier and while the Sport has a 3" chamber the Trap has a 2.75 which is more common in a clays gun.