It used to be that you could get a decent O/U sporting gun for about $1400. I wonder why this is not so anymore? Take the case of the Browning 325/425/525/625 series. It seemed like with every "new" version came a price hike. If you scratch around you can find the odd 525 for around $1800 but back in the day you could get a 325/425 sporter for $1100 if you scratched around. Now I’m not oblivious to the effect the march of time has on the dollar, the economy and thus the retail price of a product. But it seems to me in the case of the Browning sporters they haven’t gained anything in the way of upgrades to justify the increase in price. In fact I offer that these guns are examples of old and out of fashion technology. Take for example the porting on these guns. A generation ago other manufacturers were offering a choice of non-ported barrels so the customer could have his choice of a much more effective porting scheme or in fact no porting at all. These days I believe that porting is somewhat passe yet there is the 625 with those same "drainage" holes from 1996.
It could be argued that the general trend has been away from the X25 type of gun towards a lower profile receiver with much lighter barrels. An example would be the Perazzi Mx-2000, Kemen or Beretta DT-10. The bottom line is I believe the X25 series of guns are just overpriced. This leaves a big gap for a quality O/U in the under $2000 class before you bump into the autos. Currently the best sporting O/U to be found in that range is the hands down winner. The Beretta 686 White Onyx Sporting for $1800. It can be had with non-ported 32" bbls threaded for the Optima bore choke system. It has the favored low profile receiver design as well as good sporting stock dimensions. In fact I believe this gun is somewhat of a sleeper being that all of the 68X series guns are essentially the same mechanically. You have to wonder if a 682 Gold is worth the extra cost. That extra money could be well spent on stock fit, trigger work and those all important Full chokes you’ll wind up wanting for FITASC.
By the way I’m a huge proponent of gun tweaking there are very few guns that function their absolute best right out of the box and virtually every gun will benefit from being fit to the shooter. So the market sorely needs more O/U choices in the sub $2000 bracket. I believe Browning and Winchester would do well to cut their prices. In fact here is an idea for a GREAT sub $2000 sporter. Offer the Winchester Select sporting with minimal engraving, a blued receiver, choice of lighter ported or non-ported barrels in 30 and 32 inches with vented mid rib and put a retail of $1600 on it. It would sell like crazy. Next time we go even cheaper in the search for an O/U sporter! I find some of the O/U’s in the sub $1000 bracket more interesting than those you can get for $2000!
-EDIT- 08/10 Lately the Browning X25 series seems to be making a bit of a come back. I’ve seen a lot out on the courses lately. Most likely do to the lower prices that can be found on these guns lately if you look around.
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