Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga – Superb 30 Inch Over Under

Description

A 20 gauge sporting gun used to mean giving something up, usually weight, balance or the fitting hardware that the 12 gauge models got first. The Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga does not work that way. It is the full competition specification, adjustable comb and adjustable balance included, in a frame scaled to the smaller shell.

A Twenty Gauge Built As A Competition Gun

At 7 pounds 5 ounces this is lighter than the 12 gauge version by roughly eleven ounces, and that difference is felt in the hands rather than just on paper. Less weight means less fatigue across a hundred target course, which matters more to shooters of smaller stature and to anyone shooting several rounds in a day.

Thirty inch polished blued barrels give the swing enough momentum to stay honest while still coming onto a target quickly. On a 20 gauge that barrel length is what keeps the gun from feeling whippy, which is the usual complaint about smaller gauge clays guns.

Recoil is the other reason shooters move to 20 gauge for clays. A lighter payload in a gun that still weighs over seven pounds produces noticeably less push than a 12 gauge target load, and that shows up in the back half of a long course as steadier shooting rather than flinching.

Fitting Hardware That Usually Costs Extra

The Pro Fit adjustable comb uses a single bolt to change both cast and drop, so a shooter can move the comb until the bead sits where their eye naturally looks without a trip to a gunsmith. That one adjustment does more for consistency than any other change a shooter can make to a shotgun.

The Pro Balance System puts adjustable weights inside the stock, letting the balance point move forward or back. A gun balanced between the hands swings differently from one that hangs at the muzzle, and being able to tune that also takes some of the sting out of felt recoil.

Five extended choke tubes come with the gun, covering Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Improved Cylinder and Skeet, regulated to a 50 50 point of impact. Paired with the gold plated Fire Lite 2 mechanical trigger, the gun arrives set up rather than needing a parts order.

Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga Specifications

• Browning item number 0183486003
• Gauge 20 with a 3 inch chamber
• Barrel length 30 inches, polished blued
• Overall length 48 inches
• Weight 7 pounds 5 ounces
• Rib low post floating, 5 sixteenths to 7 sixteenths inch taper
• Trigger Fire Lite 2 mechanical, gold plated
• Chokes five extended tubes, Full, Improved Modified, Modified, Improved Cylinder and Skeet
• Point of impact regulated 50 50
• Stock Grade III and IV black walnut with a gloss oil finish
• Comb Pro Fit adjustable for cast and drop
• Balance Pro Balance System with adjustable stock weighting
• Grip close radius with a palm swell
• Length of pull 14 and three quarter inches
• Drop at comb 1 and 9 sixteenths inches
• Drop at heel 2 and 3 eighths inches
• Receiver silver nitride
• Action over under, break open

Stock geometry on the 20 gauge differs from the 12 gauge Pro Sporting, which is worth knowing if you are comparing spec sheets. The 20 gauge starts at 1 and 9 sixteenths inches drop at comb and 2 and 3 eighths at heel, while the 12 gauge models begin at 1 and 3 quarter and 2 and 1 half. Those are starting points rather than fixed numbers since the comb adjusts from there, but a shooter carrying a fitting sheet from a 12 gauge gun should expect to redo the measurements rather than transfer them.

Why Buyers Choose The Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga

Shooters pick the Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga when they want competition specification without the weight and recoil of a 12 gauge. Nothing has been left off to hit the smaller gauge, which has not always been true of 20 gauge clays guns.

The adjustable comb is the feature that changes scores. Most shooters are fighting a stock that does not fit them and do not know it, and being able to move cast and drop with one bolt turns a guessing game into a measurable adjustment.

Citori lockup has a long record of staying tight through high round counts, and the 825 receiver refines that design rather than replacing it. For a gun that will see a lot of shells, that service history counts.

Grade III and IV walnut with a silver nitride receiver puts this in a different visual class than a working field gun, and a well kept walnut over under holds its value better than a synthetic stocked competition gun.

Upkeep on the Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga is routine, with a hinged action that strips without tools, choke tubes that back out with the supplied wrench, and a walnut stock that responds well to an occasional oil wipe.

Who Should Buy The Browning Citori 825 Pro Sporting 20ga

This shotgun suits the sporting clays or skeet shooter who wants a fitted competition gun in a lighter, softer shooting package. It is a strong choice for shooters of smaller stature, for younger competitors moving up from a youth gun, and for anyone who shoots enough volume that 12 gauge recoil becomes the limiting factor. Shooters chasing maximum pattern density at long targets may still prefer the 12 gauge version, and anyone who does not need the adjustable comb and balance system can get the same barrels and trigger for less in the standard Sporting model.

Learn more about this over under shotgun from Springfield Armory, or browse our full firearms range.