Citori Freezing Up?

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

We hunted a long hard day in the freezing rain and snow on Monday and at the end of the day we got thick into the birds and my Citori 525 Field wouldn't fire, no click sound, nothing. I checked everything I could think of and just couldn't get it to fire. It was wet and had some ice built up in spots so I took it back to the truck and let it sit out while we drove home. I got home and it was back to working perfectly. The gun is less than a year old and has been extremely well taken care of. Anyone else have a problem like this. I've hunted in colder temps than Monday's and had no problem, so maybe it was just the perfect combination of temp and the rain, but I'd like to think my $1800 shotgun is capable of firing in ANY weather. Any help? I thought about making a call to Browning, but figured I'd solicit your advice first.

[romeo212000]

Sounds like you may have had some water get in somewhere and then freeze which caused your problem possibly.

[Greg Jennings]

My thought as well.

Sometimes it's powder residue, gun oil, weed seeds, etc. in the action that get hard in the cold.

Take the gun apart so that the action is exposed. I think all you'll have to do is take the butt stock off. Then clean it well and dry lube.

[The Zephyr]

I had the same thing happen to me in a goose pit with my 3½” Citori Satin Hunter during a nor’easter. We stared hunting in the rain at about 33-35 degrees. The wind swung around to the north, the temperature dropped and it began to sleet and then snow. We went birdless for a while, when the ducks came I went to shoot, and nothing…..
I fired up the propane heater, laid the Browning nearby and within ten minutes she was freed up.
Other then my ineptness with the Browning ‘H’ safety this is the only mishap I’ve had with any of my Citoris.

Truth be told, I was shooting the 870 on the bay this morning. I don’t like to expose my better guns to the salt.

John L.

[ACooper]

My thought as well.

Sometimes it's powder residue, gun oil, weed seeds, etc. in the action that get hard in the cold.

Take the gun apart so that the action is exposed. I think all you'll have to do is take the butt stock off. Then clean it well and dry lube.

The dry lube is very important when hunting in very cold weather.

[gar-dog]

Oil can gum up in very cold weather. If you clean the action with oil, blow it out with computer air (the little bottles of compressed air).

[dustertoo]

A Citori will "freeze up" as you describe when it gets any trash in the sides of the ejectors. A leaf, weed seed, etc. I imagine a little ice or "frozen" oil/grease might do the same. Usually when this happens, the tang won't return to quite the same position that it normally does when closed...and the trigger will not actuate the firing pins.

The first time mine did it, I was sure it had something major jammed up in the action, and took it to the gunsmith at the local Browning dealer. It took them about 30 seconds to "fix it". Since then I have had it happen one more time...I cleared the trash from the side of the ejector with a blast of breath, and was back to hunting in less than a minute.