The Browning Phoenix is a hunting rifle for demanding hunters with an eye to detail.
The Browning house presents another semi-automatic, derived from the famous and legendary A5 'Hogback'. This last model of this, like the previous ones, echoes the style, shape and general charm typical of Browining, a brand that has always been linked to the production of hunting semiautomatics.
Any hunting enthusiast will know that John Moses Browning has developed numerous varieties of firearms, cartridges and mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world.
He is the most important figure in the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms, having obtained 128 patents in the field of weapons, the first of which was granted on 7 October 1879.
Browning has influenced the design of almost all categories of firearms. He invented and made significant improvements in single shot shotguns, lever action shotguns and shotguns. His most significant contributions were made in automatic weapons. He developed the automatic pistol, thanks to the invention of “blowback” mechanics, a technology still in use in most modern pistols. He also developed the first recirculating gas machine gun, the Colt-Browning Model 1895. Other successful models include the Browning 50-caliber machine gun, the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), and the Browning Auto-5.
Manufactured at the Viana Browning plant in Portugal, the Phoenix range is available in three options: Gloss Topcote, a composite / synthetic and the more familiar combination of wood. The Browning Phoenix uses the self-adjusting, gas / piston operating system.
The Phoenix series consists of 5 12 gauge semiauts and a recent 20 gauge.
The Phoenix aesthetic consists of a Phoenix decorated on the left side of the appeal and the Browning Buckmark logo on the right on the base of the jumper. Both sides are intertwined with the word Phoenix chosen in gold. The shutter is chromed. The Top Cote of the Phoenix range, which is the most refined in terms of aesthetics, features excellent woods.
The checkering is good, while the stock is old-fashioned with the word Browning embossed.
We come to the technical characteristics. The Phoenix is handy for shooting and moves easily from target to target. The trigger, although it requires a precise shot, is soft and predictable. The Phoenix 12M has a Back Bore barrel system, Invector + chokes, "lily" barrels and the aforementioned Active Valve System.
Specifically, the Back Bored system consists of an over-bore of the barrel, i.e. an internal diameter larger than the classic specifications. All this allows an increase in the speed and penetration of the pellets, less dispersion of the shot pattern and a decrease in recoil quantifiable in 6%.
Invector Plus chokes allow the use of steel shot, improving their ballistic performance.
Finally, the Active Valve System, that is the piston of the gas intake group, installs a regulating valve placed inside it, which works independently by exploiting the quantity of gas necessary to operate the mechanism. With light cartridges the piston uses all the gas, with heavy ones the Active Valve System lets the excess gas vent to the outside. Using cartridges from 28 to 56 grams, you can be sure that there will be no hitches or unpleasant surprises. In fact, the valve has three segments that ensure a perfect seal and together act as cleaning elements. The piston having a very short stroke limits the amount of gas expelled from the mechanism.
The tubular tank is made of aluminum and can contain, without the reducer, 4 standard cartridges and three magnums.
When fired, the Phoenix proves to be reliable and easy to handle, with a good grip, which allows you to immediately go and aim, following every movement of the person holding it. Suitable for hunting wild boar and deer, the Browning Phoenix looks like an excellent hunting rifle, like all the Browning rifles, but not everyone feels like considering it the true heir to the legendary A5.