Crow Busters Forum

You have a Browning BPS Trap, a specialty model that came with some extra features both cosmetic and functional.  The functional features were specific to the game of trap and not well suited for hunting.  Those are a monte carlo style stock with different dimensions in regards to drop at comb and drop at heel.  It is designed to shoot rising clay birds and high stock is set up to deliver a 70/30 pattern when properly mounted.  Competitive trap shooters want a gun to shoot high so they can float the bird above the line of sight to see how the wind affects it. With a trap gun you shoot underneath your intended target.  The other unique feature to BPS trap is the switch you mention on the magazine. Trap is a one shell in the gun rule game, that switch allows you to feed one shell into the gun easily without having to insert in the magazine.  When you pull the slide back with the switch set to single shot the ejection fork stays up, one simply sets a shell on top of the ejection fork and close the action and it is ready to shoot.  The cosmetic features on the trap model were a little more bling, machine scroll engraving on the receiver and a gold trigger.

The bottom line here is you bought a specialty gun designed for trap shooting with a couple of features that make trap shooting easier and bird shooting more difficult.  When buying a shotgun new or used you need make the effort to know what it is you are buying otherwise you can easily become quite disappointed quickly with your purchase.  If you were a trap shooter and posting in one of their forums you might be singing praise about your BPS instead of complaining about things you don't understand to your fellow crow hunters.  In a nutshell, you need to learn more about shotguns.

You people are the experts; not me. The gurus of gunnery. Actually  the accuracy blew me away. I would say it is  one of the most accurate shotguns I ever owned. And  I like that hot tip about shooting below the crow idea however you presented it. That was very interesting too. So it is a trap model? Very interesting!  Its' stock isn't monte carlo though....all the same  there is absolutely no question you know the gun! Only naturally that worked out for me  just fine! Thanks again!

 And to you Island Shooter I like your words of wisdom too!

I'm a computer dummy when it comes to photographs but I like your advice and information about it. It looks like an Ithaca pump however. Now that I understand it; I am all set with it thanks to your help. I understand it  now. Yes it is an older model. Has a vent rib and I don't know the choke in it but it hits pretty good. It is heavier than an Ithaca too.By Ithaca I mean the featherlight model 37.....now that is a real crow getter.

On another note one gun I regret selling back in the 70s was this Winchester Semi automatic 3 shot. It had a short barrel of maybe 20"? It came with 3 shots only If I am not mistaken. What do you think of that? And it never jammed. I had a winchester 1200 model for years that only jammed on a lousy reload once in awhile  but otherwise never jammed.

If you have a gun with a stuck choke tube try chucking the choke tube wrench in a vice and then turning the barrel against the choke tube wrench, you get a lot more leverage that way that can help to break it free.

Check the link you pasted, it's a partial web address i.e. incomplete.