Browning Silver 12ga Shotgun Review with Surviving Duck Season

The Browning Silver is a tried and true gas-operated semi-auto shotgun.  The Silver has been around since 2006 but I have not had much experience with it until this review. For this review, I met up with  Joel from the YouTube Channel Surviving Duck Season. Since most variations of the Silver are tailored towards Waterfowlers, having Joel, a highly experienced duck hunter, along for the review was a huge plus.

You can watch the review video above or if you prefer to read, we've broken it down for you below.

MSRP

$1399.99 but you'll find the best deal on a Browning Silver at Reeds Sports

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QUICK SPECS

• 12 gauge (some wood models available in 20ga)
• 3 1/2" chamber (some non-camo variations available in 3")
• 28" Barrel (most variations have 26" option)
• 7lbs 9oz 
• Length of Pull 14 1/4" 
• Drop at Comb 1 3/4" 
• Drop at Heel 2"
• Comes with 3 flush Invector Plus chokes (IC, M, F,)

TRIGGER

• 5lbs 4.58 oz (Average)
• The trigger feels heavier than it pulled on trigger guage
• Pretty decent trigger overall

ERGONOMICS

• This gun feels good, a little heftier than I prefer in a perfect world, but I still like it
• A little heavier, but nicely balanced, 
• Very basic grip textures, nothing special
• Triangular cross-bolt safety is great
• Bolt release is small and maybe a challenge with gloves on
• Loading port edges are sharp, not super easy to load fast
• Brass bead (no need for a fiber in my opinion)

QUALITY OF BUILD

• Solid gun for the money
• Just as good of quality as many other higher priced shotguns

RECOIL/RELIABILITY

• Recoil was kind of funny - both Joel and I experienced it more in the face with lighter loads, and more into the shoulder with heavier loads
• Heavier recoil than anticipated for a heavier gas gun
• Cycled extremely well no matter how we shot it

BREAKDOWN

• Breakdown seemed second nature, maybe because it is nearly identical to the Winchester SX4 that I have broke down 100s of times.
• It was interesting to tear it down and see all the internal similarities between this gun and the SX4, and Maxus 2. The bolt looks identical to an SX4

SPEED SHOOTING

• I was able to accomplish shooting 3 hand thrown clays in 1.21 seconds 

In summary, if you are a Browing fan and you want a semi-auto shotgun that is more affordable than the Maxus 2 and the A5, this is the shotgun for you. If you are not a Browning faithful, this shotgun is a moderately average decent shotgun. It cycles great, is well balanced, with a decent trigger, and you know it will last a long time. On the flip side, it is a bit heavier and yet the recoil is also heavier than anticipated. The grips are bulky and the controls are nothing special. The Browning silver is a fine gun, it just doesn't really excite me in any of the categories I look at.

Whether our targets in the field or our targets in life, we will only hit what we are focused on so live the #targetfocusedlife 

Stay Target Focused,

Steve