New Browning Maxus - Woot!

This past weekend I convinced my wife to go with me down to the Cabela's down in Richfield, Wisconsin for a little preseason shopping.  One of the items that I had on my list was a new shotgun, so I boxed up my old Browning Gold 3 1/2" camo for a trade in and headed to the store. 

In the Gun Library they offered me $500 for my old shooter, which seemed like a fair price as the gun was nearly a decade old, and cost me $1,000 when I originally bought it.  While still in very good condition (hence the good offer from the Cabela's), it had some small nicks, a couple of collapses in the rib, and had a tough time cycling in cold weather or the dirt of Louisana.  Plus, in all of the years I owned it, I never liked the 28" barrel.  Despite that being the length of my precious Browning A-5, on the Gold it felt like I was swinging a telephone pole.  That extra two inches really made a difference. 

All of the above generated the desire for a new shooter.  Note that I said desire and not need.  As my wife would ask, how many guns does a guy need?  Not many, I'd guess, but in my armory are guns for very distinct purposes: a dove gun, pheasant gun, secondary duck gun, back up pheasant gun, home defense gun, tertiary goose gun, etc.  Plus I have sentimental guns like my aforementioned  A-5 and my dad's gun.  Anyway, my bottom line was that since I was getting rid of my primary duck and goose gun, I needed to replace it.  And with the Maxus and its 26" barrel and light weight, I could also us it as a new secondary pheasant gun as well.  It was almost like buying TWO new guns!  What was not to like? 

The only thing better than buying a new gun is buying a new car, or buying new technology (like a new PC, laptop or iPhone).  It feels just like Christmas as you envision all of the great things the new asset can do, and how much more effective you'll be by using it.  Kind of like when you were a kid getting a new pair of Nike shoes and you just knew you were faster because of them. 

While the cost of this bad-boy was an owie - $1,350 - between my trade, a gift card, and my Cabela's points that I've been saving for this exact purchase, my total out of pocket was just over $350.   Not too bad for a brand new, state of the art firearm that should last me a decade or two. 

There's lots to love about the new Maxus: I've already mentioned the shorter barrel, and the light weight (6lbs., 14oz.), but perhaps its biggest selling feature is its modular construction.  The Maxus easily breaks down into critical components that are easy to access and keep clean.  This is really revolutionary for Browning which has always had a reputation of making shotguns that were difficult to break down; especially as it pertained to accessing the trigger mechanism (and putting it back together again!). 

While I've not shot it as I've had too much work and chores to do, I hope to do so shortly and will report up a review at that time.  Until then, I'm content to clean it, rub it down, and practice mounting it at imaginary ducks on the wall while the dog looks at me like I'm nuts.  Hopefully we both get a chance to see what it can do here shortly.