Wow!

 

Very Nice. A grade 4 Superposed. "Mother Fox" signed by the Master of Superposed Engraving. You did good.

 

Be sure to post some pics after the freshening of the finishes.

 

It looks a bit more ornate than a factory Grade 4. What do we think?

 

Congratulations on a very nice sample of a Grade IV Superposed! {hs#

The Grade IV and other FN/Browning high grades were done post WWII thru the 1950s. But they were discontinued in the early 60s and replaced by the other Browning/FN high grades called the Pigeon, Pointer, Diana, and the Midas grades. I really like the engravings from the master engravers at Browning/FN from the 1950s thru about 1967 or 68 (when they went to the short-tang trigger guard). As you may know, Felix Funken was chief of the engravers at Browning/FN until about 1960, when he retired and named Vrancken and A. Watrin as co-chief engravers. So to have a Funken engraved Grade IV is indeed a treasure.

BTW, the book by Schwing is too big to scan, not to mention protected by copyright laws (even though it's out of print). Your best bet is to look on ebay or Amazon for one. The $300 you might have to pay is well worth it.

Please post more pics when you get it back from FN/Browning. Can't wait to see what the factory does to dress it up!

CFB

 

Congratulations on a very nice sample of a Grade IV Superposed! {hs#

The Grade IV and other FN/Browning high grades were done post WWII thru the 1950s. But they were discontinued in the early 60s and replaced by the other Browning/FN high grades called the Pigeon, Pointer, Diana, and the Midas grades. I really like the engravings from the master engravers at Browning/FN from the 1950s thru about 1967 or 68 (when they went to the short-tang trigger guard). As you may know, Felix Funken was chief of the engravers at Browning/FN until about 1960, when he retired and named Vrancken and A. Watrin as co-chief engravers. So to have a Funken engraved Grade IV is indeed a treasure.

BTW, the book by Schwing is too big to scan, not to mention protected by copyright laws (even though it's out of print). Your best bet is to look on ebay or Amazon for one. The $300 you might have to pay is well worth it.

Please post more pics when you get it back from FN/Browning. Can't wait to see what the factory does to dress it up!

CFB

Thank you all for your answers.
It has 67cm barrels and F and M chokes.

I've heard it a few times now that it should be Grade IV.
Any Idea what is Grade IV in the German "Classes" like B2G, C4G, D5G,...
It must be out of the time to max 1960 there Funken retired.

The only thing what makes it a little bit strange is the round rear stock. Never see that before.

I'm angry a little that I did not take any more pictures before sending them to the FN factory.
A friend who is also a gunsmith advised me to send it to the FN/Custom Service, then the history is consistent.

I'm curious what they will do everything and how much energy they put in and then on the result.

Yes, that's right with the scan. I'll see if any turn up for purchase.

Great forum and much information here!

 

Weidmansheil!
You have a beautiful 1955 B25 Grade IV, also known as the "Dogs and Foxes" model. FN began it's production totals each year on July 1, so your 1955 gun was likely made about Sept/Oct of 1954. The Grade IV was popular in Europe due to it's heavy engraving and Germanic style, but did not sell well in the USA, so it was dropped from the catolog in the 1960's and not replaced. The Grade V was then changed back to it's pre-war name, Diana, and the Grade VI, introduced in 1957, was called the Midas.
I also have a Funken engraved Grade IV, #319xx, made in Fall 1952 as a 1953 year model, and your pictures look very much like my gun's engraving, with only minor differences. It is widely believed that Felix Funken would oversee the engraving done by his best students, and then sign his name to their work as his "endorsement" it would seem. However, one trait of Funken's guns going back to his early days, is the animal's eyes are always over-exaggerated (in my opinion). They seem to jump out at you and catch your eye. I believe this identifies a true Funken engraving, at least of the animals. Sometimes engravers would collaborate; one did shading, one did animals, one did oak leaves, etc. By the way, all my "knowledge" is courtesy of the Ned Schwing book. And Anatidae!

Your gun has the customary German sling attachment in the stock, all though I did not see an attachment in the forearm. Also, I have not seen a Schnabel forearm on a 50's gun, they appear much later on the 1970's & 80's Superlights. Very cool! But, Browning would custom make anything the customer could pay for. Your custom wood includes a Teardrop behind the receiver, much like the European B/C/D grades from the late 70's/80s, and the Fiddleback in your stock is amazing!
Make sure you do not shoot steel shot in the Belgian barrels.

 

Any Idea what is Grade IV in the German "Classes" like B2G, C4G, D5G,...
It must be out of the time to max 1960 there Funken retired.

In addition to my fellow Superposed enthusiasts' comments, above:

'Browning' and 'FN' were 2 separate product lines with separate engraving patterns. The 'Browning' B25's were built by FN for Browning. The 'Fabrique Nationale' B25's were built and marketed by FN, World-wide (except for the exclusive North American 'Browning' market) under Browning patents. The Gr IV is a Browning engraving pattern available from 1950 thru 1959.

In my opinion, the Browning Grade IV is most-like and heavily influenced by the pre-war FN D4 Grade due to the subject matter of 'Dogs and Birds' (and in some cases 'Dogs and Foxes'), the 'sculptured' receiver, and the oak leaf ('eichenlaubornament') detail on the barrel fences (which is derived from historical German engravings). This, and the deep-relief 'chiseled' engraving style gives the Gr IV its cliché 'Germanic' style. The 'faux-sculptured' flat-sided frame of the Browning Gr IV gives it a distinctive 'European' appearance.

Otherwise, no other grade (FN nor Browning in any period) resembles the Browning Grade IV. The D4 Grade remained 'dogs and birds' subjects matter, and sculptured frame through the 1950's but the 'eichenlaubornament' fence detail was replaced by 2-tiered or 'scaled' fences in scroll (top) and acanthus (bottom), then eventually was reversed to 'acanthus over scroll'.

In reference to 'German classes' - the FN 'Grade' designations are universal. To my knowledge, Australia is the only country that adopted a supplemental grading system.

The mid-1970's is the earliest period in which the 'G' suffixes were employed....i.e., B2G, C2G, D4G, D5G, etc. I do not know what 'G' denotes. Including the original 12 grade designations (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, and D1-D5) FN had upwards of 26 standard engraving patterns or designations by the end of the 1970's.

Engraved on the barrel is "Fabrique National Herstal" in handwriting letters.

The barrel address for a 1955 FN B25 would read, "Fabrique Nationale D'Armes de Guerre, Herstal, Belguique". FN changed the company name (and barrel address) to "Fabrique Nationale - Herstal, Belgique" in 1971. So depending, your gun may have been re-barreled, which might explain the uncommon 67cm length for this grade and the difference in engraving style and color of the finishes on the fences/lugs (bosses) and the receiver. Being a scripted address, I can only assume it may have been re-barreled by FN, or a set of post-1971 barrels was fitted to the 1955 receiver and engraved to resemble original details. Scripted addresses were used on some post-liberation 1945 guns, some post-1971 high grades from the first (13 Rue Faurieux) FN Custom Shop, and on the late 1970's C-Series Exhibition guns marketed by Browning in the early 1980's. Confirmation of the barrel proof-date codes would clarify the 'true' age of the barrels.

The only thing what makes it a little bit strange is the round rear stock. Never see that before.

I have seen this 'curved comb' on German hunting rifles and shotguns. I do not know the correct terminology for this concept or style.

Great forum and much information here!

Welcome to the Browning (and FN) forum. Your contributions have enlightened and we look forward to more information from our European counterparts. Thanks for sharing this nice Gr IV example and acquisition with us. Let us know how the project progresses.

It looks a bit more ornate than a factory Grade 4. What do we think?

The Engraving appears consistent with the 'catalog' standard for Grade IV details. The breech-end detail on the top barrel on the OP's example is the 'oak' leaf motif. At one time, I thought all Gr IV's had the same detail as the Gr V - the 'acanthus' motif, as in the photo, below

1958 Browning Gr IV

But, I have encountered enough Gr IV examples to conclude the breech-end detail can be either 'oak leaf' (typically early production) or 'acanthus leaf' (later production).

The Wood appears more ornate than circa 1955 for a Gr IV (and more consistent with mid-70's' FN wood configuration) but the checkering style and pattern appears consistent with FN details for their applications and evidences a few years of 'use' wear.

By the way, all my "knowledge" is courtesy of the Ned Schwing book. And Anatidae!

Thanks for the kind acknowledgement, Scotty.

 

What an incredible piece! I have been building a strong affinity for deep engraved superposed shotguns and hope to find one that makes sense to use and enjoy looking at! This one is incredible!

 

Hi everyone! My grandfather left me his Superposed and I was scouring the internet trying to find an answer for this serial number. It’s a p34pm1282. My guess is Presentation model Diana?

 

It is not a Diana Grade.

Does it have a "BrowninG Arms Co." address or "Fabrique Nationale - Herstal" address on the left side of the top barrel? This will help me determine what Grade it is.

Your Grandfather thought well of you to pass his gun to you - and he didn't tell you what it is?

 

My guess is he forgot about it to be honest, my grandmother was surprised to see it even.

It has browning arms co.

 

It is a BrowninG Presentation Series P2M grade.

 

Glad I asked, that was quick.
Any idea on a price range I should ask for it ?
Has 2 sets of barrels with matching #’s and what looks to be the origional case

 

A lot more info and details would be needed but I'm not qualified to project a value. I'm just interested in the history and configuration.

For starters - P34 suggests 20ga multi-barrel set, but the other barrel set could be either 20ga, 28ga, or .410 bore. What are the gauges, barrel lengths, forearm profile, and chokes?