“It is a handsome gun which will age well because good taste always ages gracefully”

game shooters want a choice of choke for birds that are near or far. Still, you can order the gun with the chokes of your choice.

Light fantastic

Fixed chokes usually make for lighter, better handling guns because you don’t have the extra weight of the threaded removable chokes. However, these days many gunmakers make multi-choke guns that don’t affect the balance of the gun and they still handle well. For a game gun I prefer fixed chokes. You are highly unlikely to want to change your chokes for game shooting, apart from the rare occasion when you go high bird shooting. I also like a lighter gun because it’s less burdensome when in the field.

At just over 7lb, the Crown isn’t particularly heavy for an over-and-under game gun, so all was good on that front. Another thing that helps prevent fatigue, the enemy of good shooting, is balance.

With a centre of balance around the hinge pin, the Browning was perfectly balanced for me. Not too barrel heavy, making you feel overbalanced, and not too much weight towards the stock, which can make the barrels wander all over the place. So a big thumbs up for weight distribution.

The lock-up of the Browning five series has not changed for many years, with a full width bolt running along the floor of the action that engages with the barrel lumps when the gun is closed. Some engineers might argue that low-profile counterparts have stronger lock-ups, but this set-up has lasted for over 80 years and Brownings and Mirokus rarely shoot loose – believe me. I have guns from the early 1980s that are still tight after a lot of use.

With the deeper action comes the advantage of a better gape, meaning cartridges can be loaded in the gun with ease, ideal on a busy drive when you need to reload quickly.

Shooting

What you get when you shoot the Crown is typical Browning fare and that’s a good thing. It felt solid and dependable. I could swing the barrels easily on target and the gun felt light and controllable on aim. The sight picture was good for me and the stock length, although normally a bit short at 14 3/4 in long of pull, felt pretty good because I was wearing a thick shooting coat.

The trigger blade came to my finger nicely and there was a crisp break to the triggerpull. As on most over-and-unders the barrel selector and safety are found on the top strap. On the gun I was testing there was an auto-safety, which is usual for game guns, but you can have it changed to manual by a competent gunsmith.

As you would expect from a Browning, it felt very well put together. The action closed with a solid “thunk”, no jangles from the mechanism. All this made you have complete confidence that the gun would do what you asked it to do.