browning 2000 User Guide

BROYYNING

R

We are proud that you have chosen a
Browning. In its manufacture we have endeav­ored to incorporate the very finest in materials
and craftsmanship, and with just reasonable
care this gun should provide you with many
years of pleasure and dependable service. If,
by any chance, you have any observations to
make regarding its performance or appearance,
we hope you will write us immediately.

We would also like to know more about you

as a Browning owner and would be grateful if

you could take but a moment to complete and

return the marketing survey card found on
the inside back cover.

Thank you.

BROWNING

BROWNING

Browning Model.

New Gun Owner’s Record

Keep

this

record for

future

Gauge..

Purchase Price..

Date of Purchase

Please fill out and mail the Marketing Survey
back of the booklet.

BROWNING

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in Canada by:

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Ferrier

8rowning

Street, Montreal, Que.

Arms Co. of Canada, ltd.

reference

H4P

1L9

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at

the

GAS OPERATED AUTOMATIC SHOTGUN

NOMENCLATURE

In conventional gun terminology, the posi­tion and movement of gun parts are described
as they occur with the gun horizontal, in
normal firing position; i.e., the muzzle is for-

ward or front; butt stock is rearward or rear;
trigger is underneath; the rib is on top.

CAUTION

ALWAYS VISUALLY CHECK

a.

YOUR SHOTGUN
that it does not inadvertently contain
any ammunition. Whenever you pick
up a gun, immediately make sure the
gun is on safe and the chamber and
magazine are unloaded.

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR GUN’S

b.

SAFETY IN THE “ON SAFE”

TION - even if you are certain the
gun is unloaded.
check, frequently while you are hunt­ing. Be sure contact with a twig, a
tumble on slippery terrain, the mo­ment of excitement after a shot, or a
dozen other seemingly innocent inci­dents have not left
“off safe.”
Never point a gun you are certain
is

“on safe” at anything you do not
intend to shoot. Safe gun handling
does not stop with your gun’s mechan­ical safety. It starts there. Handle
your gun at all times with deep respect

-

to be certain

Check and double

you

with a gun,

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POSI-

and with alert consideration to all

within its range.

c. ALWAYS KEEP THE MUZZLE OF

YOUR GUN POINTED IN A SAFE
DIRECTION

certain the gun is unloaded and “on

safe.” Never point your gun at any­thing you do not intend to shoot.

d. ALWAYS UNLOAD YOUR SHOT-

GUN WHEN NOT IN USE
safety precaution it is preferable to
disassemble your gun for storage.

Store your gun and ammunition sep­arately - beyond the reach of children.

e. DO NOT PUT A 20 GAUGE SHELL

IN A 12 GAUGE GUN - if you value
your gun and yourself. We strongly
recommend that all shells of different
gauges be stored in completely sep­arate
NEVER store shells of mixed gauges
in a common container or IN YOUR
POCKETS. EXAMINE EVERY
SHELL YOU PUT IN YOUR GUN.
The most certain way to bulge or rup­ture the finest barrel is to drop a 20
gauge shell into a
The 20 gauge shell, unfortunately, will
not fall completely through the barrel;
its rim is caught by the FRONT of a
12 gauge chamber. Your gun will mis­fire, and under conditions of careless­ness made lethal by haste, a 12 gauge
shell can be loaded behind the 20.
You could not deliberately have

and well-marked containers.

-

even though you are

-

12

gauge chamber.

2

As a

creat-

ed a more serious hazard to your gun
and yourself.

f. BEWARE OF BARREL OBSTRUC-

TIONS
gun and yourself.
Mud, snow and an infinite variety of

other objects may inadvertently lodge
in a barrel bore. It takes only one
small obstruction to ruin (swell or
rupture) the finest of shotgun barrels.

g.

DO NOT SNAP THE HAMMER ON

AN EMPTY CHAMBER
CHAMBER MAY NOT BE EMPTY!
Treat every gun with the respect due
a loaded gun
certain the gun is unloaded.
It is unnecessary to snap the hammer
to prevent weakening of the main
spring. It will not weaken even though
the hammer is left cocked indefinitely.
Neither will snapping the hammer on
an empty chamber damage or break
the firing pin.
AMMUNITION: The gauge and max­imum acceptable load are stamped on
the right side of the barrel. Never
use a load that exceeds these specifica­tions.
so long as the cartridge length does
not exceed the length stamped on the
barrel. That is, a 12 gauge shotgun
stamped
inches”

Magnum loads but not 3 inch 12

gauge Magnum loads.

-

for the safety of both your

-

THE

-

even though you are

Magnum shells may be used

“12

gauge shells -2 3/4

may use

2 3/4

inch 12 gauge

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CAUTION: Do not take the meas­urement of an unfired shell to deter­mine the length. An unfired

2 3/4"

shell,
for example, only measures about 2 1/2".
Most shell boxes are stamped as to

the length of the shells they contain
and some shells are actually individu­ally marked as to their length.

The Browning 2000 must be used only
with the gauge of ammunition stamped
on the barrel. The barrel and action
of this shotgun have been made with
large safety margins over the pressures
developed by established commercial
loads. Nevertheless, Browning can as­sume no responsibility for incidents
which occur through the use of cart­ridges of non-standard dimension or
those developing excessive pressures.

GENERAL OPERATION

This shotgun is gas-operated. A portion of
the expanding powder gases is bled off
through gas ports in the barrel and used to
operate the mechanism. During rearward
travel, the bolt extracts and ejects the spent
shell and cocks the hammer. During forward
travel, a new round is fed from the magazine
to the chamber.

This operation is semi-automatic; the
trigger must be released and pulled to fire
each successive shot. After the last shell has
been fired, the breech bolt locks open. This
of course, facilitates speedy reloading.

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MOUNTING THE BARREL TO ACTION

Your Browning 2000 is packaged and

shipped with the forearm attached to the re­ceiver and magazine tube. In order to install
the barrel it is necessary to remove the fore­arm from the magazine tube and affix the
forearm on the barrel before mounting the

barrel to the action. Follow the

1.

THOROUGHLY CLEAN ALL ANTI-

stens

below:

RUST COMPOUND FROM THE
BARREL,THE BORE AND OTHER
METAL SURFACES. Remove with
any good quality gun oil or gun clean­ing solvent.

2.

Unscrew the forearm cap and remove
the forearm from the magazine tube.

3.

Affix the forearm to the barrel by lo­cating the entire forearm rearward of
the barrel ring and gently sliding the
forearm forward until the barrel ring is

seated against the rubber forearm bush-

ing (Figure 1). Do not force the rear­ward end of the forearm upward around
the barrel as this could split the fore-

arm.

Draw the breech bolt rearward so that

4.
it remains locked back. Be sure the
safety is “on safe”.

5.

Grasp the butt stock by the pistol grip
and anchor the butt end on your hip.
With your other hand grasp the fore­arm and barrel and after a final glance

through the bore to be sure there is no

barrel obstruction, carefully work the
forearm down the magazine tube and
introduce the barrel extension into the
receiver (Figure 2).

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6. As the barrel and forearm are seated
into final position, be certain the

shaped cut in the barrel extension

(Figure 3) mates fully against the

Fig. 3

barrel guide in the upper inside of the
receiver (Point A, Figure 4). Also

check that the metal forearm tabs in

the rearward end of the forearm (Fig­ure 5) slide into the opposing receiver
recesses (Point B, Figure 4).

7. Screw the forearm cap onto the maga­zine tube. HAND TIGHTEN ONLY.

U-

Never apply a wrench or any kind of
severe force.
Removing the barrel is simply done by
reversing the above procedure. If you
prefer to store your gun with the ac-

tion and barrel separated, it is suggest­ed that the forearm be attached to the
magazine tube and receiver. This se­cures your forearm and prevents it
from possible damage.

CLOSING THE BREECH

Do not press the carrier latch and let the
breech bolt ride home under its own force, un­less the bolt is actually feeding a round into
the chamber. It is always advisable, whenever
the bolt is being closed on an empty chamber

or being closed after the barrel has been re­moved from the action, to hook your thumb

or finger around the bolt operating handle and
let the bolt ease forward.

The cross bolt safety blocks the trigger

CROSS-BOLT SAFETY

from operating.

In the “off safe” or “fire”

position a red warning band is visible, on the

left side of the trigger guard_, alerting the

shooter of the gun’s ready-to-fire status.

To accommodate left hand shooters, this
safety can be reversed by a gunsmith in a
matter of minutes. When reversed, of course,
the red warning band will then appear on the

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right side of the trigger guard. Unlike many
other guns with cross bolt safeties, no extra
parts are necessary for this conversion.

LOADING

BE SURE THE MUZZLE IS POINTED

SAFE

IN A

DIRECTION, AND THE

SAFETY I§ “ON SAFE.”

The Browning

2000

is equipped with the
speed loading system Browning Automatic
shotguns are famous for. It is not necessary
to jiggle the first round into the chamber and
then trip the carrier latch (bolt release) to
ready the first round for firing. Nor is it neces­sary to insert a round into the magazine and
then cycle the bolt to chamber the first round

After being sure the breech bolt is locked

open,

all

you do is thumb the first round into
the loading port on the left side of the re­ceiver.. Push this first round forward so that
the brass head of the shell is about an
inch forward of the carrier latch trip (Figure

6).

Release the shell by withdrawing your

thumb completely out of the loading port and

letting the shell slam rearward against the

carrier latch trip.

Instantly this round will

be whisked into the chamber ready for firing!

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