XT vs 725

I have decided to buy a Browning XT or 725. I am only get the o/u. Which is the more reliable?

 

To early to tell on the 725 but most browning stuff is fairly bullet proof

 

I have no experience with the 725. Did buy the wife a new/old sytle XT. We both like it . Simple to clean, fairly light for a OU, very dynamic swing. It is the 30" barreled model. She only wants to shoot one gun for everything. I think that this is a keeper. Have not had any problems with the trigger on this gun, and it has a Soft Touch recoil system on it. Shooting doubles with a lite 1 0z. for first shot, very dependable. A friend does have the 725. He shoots this as his main gun. He shoots a lot of doubles. His trigger did break during the first Year. Hope this helps. P.S. if You buy one get one without the Browning comb hardware, as it is wierd. Have a good stock man put a standard 4-way adjutable comb on it. They do have pretty good recoil without a recoil system on them, if You are using Remington Nitro's.

 

XT is proven 725 will be,,they are all mechanical devices they all can break,if you pay $2400 or $10,000 it can give you trouble,pick one up and shoot it then decide

 

I have owned an XT and a Special Trap (the Citori prelude to the XT).

The only problem I ever had was the retaining pin for the ejecter would come loose and ultimately break or cause malfunction. This happened multiple times to both guns (exact same ejector design). The exact same thing happens to a squad mate and his XT.

Not a big deal, but obviously a poor design in my opinion.

 

if you will put some good grease in the ejector slide area.... it will not break.... enough drag that it absorbs the shock... at least that is my opinion... never had anything on an ejector break by doing that.... doesnt take much but a good coating down in the groove it slides in. I believe that it lessons the shock of the spring that makes it eject.... I have never had one come out or a retaining pin come out either... works for me anyway..

 

My gunsmith talked me out of a new 725 at the PA State shoot this year when he described the trigger issues these guns are plagued with. It's only a concern if you want to shoot doubles but he told me that there are 2 kinds of triggers that come in the 725: those that work flawlessly and those that don't work at all. He's had several in for warranty work on the triggers that he has simply sent back to Browning for replacement because he couldn't do anything with them.

As for the ejector screw matter, he now pulls the ejectors out of every O/U he services to check the back of the screws to see if they are properly stacked or if the staking was not done or not done properly. For my part, after having 2 screws get lost from the same gun, I converted the ejectors to extractors by installing different springs and have had no problems since.

 

I have had my 725 for 18 months now. Shot close to 3000 rounds through it with no issues. I do grease the hinge and ejector area prior to each shooting occasion and clean after each. After cleaning fresh oil on the ejector slides and other mechanical areas. No trigger isues yet. I wouls not hesitate to purchase this model. It is a trap model with adjustable come factory installed. After patterning and once the comb is set it typically stays there so if an adjustable pad is used it is not a big deal. The comb does not come loose as older models may have. Hope this helps.