I'm trying to decide which gun to buy/keep. I know the Superposed typically costs more (higher value) than the 101. I have a 101 20ga and would like to buy a 12ga to match it. the weird thing is I have a Superposed, but I'm not nuts about it. I really love the 20ga 101. I'm thinking of selling the Browning to buy the Winchster 12ga 101. Could you guys out there who own or are familiar with these guns help me talk aloud about them to push my decisions along?
Winchester 101 12ga vs. Browning Superposed 12ga
- Thread starter Sniper66
- Start date
entropy
Member
I've owned both, in 12 ga. ; I owned a 101 about 30 years ago, and I currently own a Superposed. Keep the Superposed. 101s will kick the crap out of about 90% of the people who shoot them. Sell the 20 ga. 101 and buy a 12 ga. Superposed. OK, that sounds a bit harsh. You're really Ok with the recoil of the 20 ga. 101?
Actually, if I were buying a 20 ga. O/U, it'd be a Beretta 686 Black Onyx. An older Japanese Weatherby Orion or SKB 500 would be OK too.
Are you going to shoot Sporting Clays or Skeet with it often? Ouch! Maybe a round or two, then pheasants in the fall? Then a 12 ga. 101 might be OK for you. I shot one round of Trap with mine, too much punishment for me. (I regularly shot an 870 3" Magnum for Trap, ducks, and geese at the time, but I planned on pheasant hunting with the 101, so...) I mostly used it only for pheasants after that. It did not fit me well, and fit has a lot of bearing on recoil, particularly felt recoil.
Actually, if I were buying a 20 ga. O/U, it'd be a Beretta 686 Black Onyx. An older Japanese Weatherby Orion or SKB 500 would be OK too.
Are you going to shoot Sporting Clays or Skeet with it often? Ouch! Maybe a round or two, then pheasants in the fall? Then a 12 ga. 101 might be OK for you. I shot one round of Trap with mine, too much punishment for me. (I regularly shot an 870 3" Magnum for Trap, ducks, and geese at the time, but I planned on pheasant hunting with the 101, so...) I mostly used it only for pheasants after that. It did not fit me well, and fit has a lot of bearing on recoil, particularly felt recoil.
I have 101's and a Superposed. Both are good, well made guns. If you can live with the fixed chokes you will not go far wrong with either. The Superposed guns are my favorite across the board and the price is higher. I could not afford a 20 gauge Super back in my hunting days but my 20 gauge 101 did a good job of filling in for it. I would not sell a 20 gauge 101 to get anything else. No need to have the same model gun in 12 and 20 gauge. My 12 gauge Super is one of the Lightning models with 28" barrels and it is as light weight as the 101's and I like it better. The hard fact though is that both these guns now sit in the safe and I shoot my Beretta SP1 sporting almost 100% of the time at clay targets. It has an adjustable comb and interchangeable chokes and I switch between trap and sporting clays and an occasional round of skeet or bunker all with the same gun.
Keeping both is always my default position
. But, I've made a commitment to myself to buy another gun if and only if I can sell one first. So far that hasn't worked out so good and my collecction has grown instead of shrinking as planned. "Man plans and God laughs".
. But, I've made a commitment to myself to buy another gun if and only if I can sell one first. So far that hasn't worked out so good and my collecction has grown instead of shrinking as planned. "Man plans and God laughs".I’ve had both and shot each extensively. I didn’t notice the oft mentioned recoil attributed to the 101.
Biggest differences to me were the 101s springy extractors that let a shell slip under occasionally and the ease of changing the 101 ejector to extractor only.
Keep the one you shoot best.
Biggest differences to me were the 101s springy extractors that let a shell slip under occasionally and the ease of changing the 101 ejector to extractor only.
Keep the one you shoot best.
SwampWolf
Member
There was an interesting article published in the 1968 edition of the Gun Digest titled "Browning versus Winchester; the Upstart Against the Veteran", where author Bill Resman compared the established Browning Superposed shotgun with Winchester Model 101 superposed shotgun, newly introduced to Americans in 1963 and made in Japan by the Olin-Kodensha manufacturing facility, ostensibly created to "build quality guns at a more affordable price." The Model 101 was one of the first, if not the first, firearm to be made in Japan and marketed by a major American gun company and was, accordingly, met with much curiosity and interest, if not outright skepticism, by the American buying public. Some of the observations made by Mr. Resman are as follows:
"...The two guns selected were as similar as possible. Both had 28" barrels bored modified and full, a single-selective trigger and automatic ejectors...
As might be expected for a hundred dollar price differential, crowding $300.00 for the Winchester, $400.00 for the Browning (remember, this was reported on in 1968), most of the kudos for appearance go to Browning. The deep-looking, blue-black sheen of the Superposed's metalwork is considerably more attractive than the 101's adequate but rather lusterless black...
"The checkering was different, not only in skill but also in application. The Winchester's was done before finishing, whereas the Browning's was through the finish. The Browning surpassed the Winchester in cleanliness. There was little overrun at the points in the design, and all but a few of the diamonds were even and sharp pointed, giving a good grip even with gloves. The Winchester had overruns on almost every inside border line and a good number of diamonds were flat topped. The latter, plus the fact that the finish was applied after checkering, doesn't contribute much toward a no-slip hold on the shotgun...
"(However), on the two samples tested, the Winchester's deeply cut, cleanly sculptured engraving surpassed the thin line work on the Browning. While the Winchester's engraving may seem a little gaudy to some, the work itself is still better executed than the Browning's. In fact, the Browning engraving looked a little ragged. This I found so hard to believe that I carefully examined both guns under a magnifier. The results bore out what the naked eye indicated: the Browning engraving was ragged.
The wood to metal fitting was so well executed on both guns that the writer could make no preference...On opening and closing the gun, the Browning was much smoother than the Winchester, which remained stiff even after months of use...
"Both guns have single selective triggers, but they are of different design. In the Browning, the recoil of the first shot readies the trigger for the second shot, while in the Winchester this is done mechanically...
"What the comparison boils down to then, is this: If you want with top workmanship, an excellent bluing job, and glasslike stocks, the first choice is definitely the Browning. If, however, you are interested in a gun with very good workmanship, and perhaps better handling qualities than that found in the Superposed (the author and several of his experienced shooting acquaintances thought so after shooting the guns side by side), you can save yourself about a hundred dollars by buying the Winchester 101."
Of course, almost 55 years have passed since this review was published and much has changed over time.
"...The two guns selected were as similar as possible. Both had 28" barrels bored modified and full, a single-selective trigger and automatic ejectors...
As might be expected for a hundred dollar price differential, crowding $300.00 for the Winchester, $400.00 for the Browning (remember, this was reported on in 1968
), most of the kudos for appearance go to Browning. The deep-looking, blue-black sheen of the Superposed's metalwork is considerably more attractive than the 101's adequate but rather lusterless black..."The checkering was different, not only in skill but also in application. The Winchester's was done before finishing, whereas the Browning's was through the finish. The Browning surpassed the Winchester in cleanliness. There was little overrun at the points in the design, and all but a few of the diamonds were even and sharp pointed, giving a good grip even with gloves. The Winchester had overruns on almost every inside border line and a good number of diamonds were flat topped. The latter, plus the fact that the finish was applied after checkering, doesn't contribute much toward a no-slip hold on the shotgun...
"(However), on the two samples tested, the Winchester's deeply cut, cleanly sculptured engraving surpassed the thin line work on the Browning. While the Winchester's engraving may seem a little gaudy to some, the work itself is still better executed than the Browning's. In fact, the Browning engraving looked a little ragged. This I found so hard to believe that I carefully examined both guns under a magnifier. The results bore out what the naked eye indicated: the Browning engraving was ragged.
The wood to metal fitting was so well executed on both guns that the writer could make no preference...On opening and closing the gun, the Browning was much smoother than the Winchester, which remained stiff even after months of use...
"Both guns have single selective triggers, but they are of different design. In the Browning, the recoil of the first shot readies the trigger for the second shot, while in the Winchester this is done mechanically...
"What the comparison boils down to then, is this: If you want with top workmanship, an excellent bluing job, and glasslike stocks, the first choice is definitely the Browning. If, however, you are interested in a gun with very good workmanship, and perhaps better handling qualities than that found in the Superposed (the author and several of his experienced shooting acquaintances thought so after shooting the guns side by side), you can save yourself about a hundred dollars by buying the Winchester 101."
Of course, almost 55 years have passed since this review was published and much has changed over time.
Great offering here. Thank you for the infomation. And now the difference between the superposed and the 101 is about $1,000. Another comment: I have a Winchester 101 20ga and my brother has the equivalent Browning. I like my 101 better.There was an interesting article published in the 1968 edition of the Gun Digest titled "Browning versus Winchester; the Upstart Against the Veteran", where author Bill Resman compared the established Browning Superposed shotgun with Winchester Model 101 superposed shotgun, newly introduced to Americans in 1963 and made in Japan by the Olin-Kodensha manufacturing facility, ostensibly created to "build quality guns at a more affordable price." The Model 101 was one of the first, if not the first, firearm to be made in Japan and marketed by a major American gun company and was, accordingly, met with much curiosity and interest, if not outright skepticism, by the American buying public. Some of the observations made by Mr. Resman are as follows:
"...The two guns selected were as similar as possible. Both had 28" barrels bored modified and full, a single-selective trigger and automatic ejectors...
As might be expected for a hundred dollar price differential, crowding $300.00 for the Winchester, $400.00 for the Browning (remember, this was reported on in 1968
"The checkering was different, not only in skill but also in application. The Winchester's was done before finishing, whereas the Browning's was through the finish. The Browning surpassed the Winchester in cleanliness. There was little overrun at the points in the design, and all but a few of the diamonds were even and sharp pointed, giving a good grip even with gloves. The Winchester had overruns on almost every inside border line and a good number of diamonds were flat topped. The latter, plus the fact that the finish was applied after checkering, doesn't contribute much toward a no-slip hold on the shotgun...
"(However), on the two samples tested, the Winchester's deeply cut, cleanly sculptured engraving surpassed the thin line work on the Browning. While the Winchester's engraving may seem a little gaudy to some, the work itself is still better executed than the Browning's. In fact, the Browning engraving looked a little ragged. This I found so hard to believe that I carefully examined both guns under a magnifier. The results bore out what the naked eye indicated: the Browning engraving was ragged.
The wood to metal fitting was so well executed on both guns that the writer could make no preference...On opening and closing the gun, the Browning was much smoother than the Winchester, which remained stiff even after months of use...
"Both guns have single selective triggers, but they are of different design. In the Browning, the recoil of the first shot readies the trigger for the second shot, while in the Winchester this is done mechanically...
"What the comparison boils down to then, is this: If you want with top workmanship, an excellent bluing job, and glasslike stocks, the first choice is definitely the Browning. If, however, you are interested in a gun with very good workmanship, and perhaps better handling qualities than that found in the Superposed (the author and several of his experienced shooting acquaintances thought so after shooting the guns side by side), you can save yourself about a hundred dollars by buying the Winchester 101."
Of course, almost 55 years have passed since this review was published and much has changed over time.
I have had a couple of examples of each. I will take the early Brownings over the Winchesters for several reasons, mostly durability of small parts, the flexible ejectors on the Winchester that let shells slip past and finally resale value.
