EDITOR’S NOTE: Spring turkey hunting is over in most states for the year. However, 42 states have fall turkey seasons that give hunters another opportunity to bag a turkey. This Browning shotgun might be just what you need to make it happen.
Hunting buddy Nathan Robinson inched forward on toes and elbows, traversing a radically steep Idaho canyonside in a hard-core stalk on three unresponsive tom turkeys. Chin to the ground, he slid his shotgun – one of Browning’s new over/under Cynergy’s – ahead of him along the rocky slope. As I inched along behind him I saw him stiffen, and then turn the twin barrels of his shotgun to point up the canyon wall. Glancing up, I spotted the three toms working across the slope about 25 yards above our position.
We’d been working these three particular turkeys for over an hour now, and while they would occasionally gobble in response to guide Marc Warnke’s seductive purrs and yelps, they refused to give up their position on the steep canyon wall. So we did what any serious turkey hunter would do; we put the belly-crawl on them. Lot’s of sharp rocks and sore elbows and ribs later, the three Jakes bobbed their heads above the rocky terrain. Nathan’s shot sent two of them cartwheeling toward the canyon bottom, the Browning TSS load killing both of them very dead with one shot. I moved three fast steps forward, saw the third turkey’s head bob through an opening, and assisted him in a backflip maneuver with my own 12-gauge load of tungsten 7s and 9s.
While I’m not a big shotgun guy, I do appreciate the feel of a good scattergun. The first time I hefted Browning’s new Cynergy, it left me feeling pleasantly surprised and excited to take it afield in pursuit of Idaho gobblers. The shotgun is lightweight, well balanced, carries pleasantly, and comes to the shoulder nicely.
CONSTRUCTION
The Cynergy model I used was the “Wicked Wing Mossy Oak Bottom Lands”. It features a composite stock with textured gripping surfaces and a high-performance Inflex recoil pad. The stock also sports an adjustable cheek piece, and a ¼-inch shim so you can customize the length of pull. If you prefer cast-off in your shotgun stock, that’s available too. Metalwork is finished a Burnt Bronze Cerakote that collaborates nicely with the camo stock. The bores are fully chromed, and a nice ivory bead front sight tops the barrels. Three interchangeable choke tubes round out the package, (full, modified, improved cylinder). The safety sits comfortably atop the shotgun’s tang, and acts as the barrel selector switch, enabling the shooter to set up one barrel for close work and the other for distance. A single gold-plated trigger mans both barrels.
The action was pleasantly tight and empty hulls ejected with gusto. The shotgun swung and pointed naturally, in fact, so naturally that I have almost no recollection of pointing or aiming at my turkey – just that spectacular attempt at a backflip that he made at the shot.
The Cynergy is available in 12-guage, and in 26, 28, and 30-inch barrel lengths, and weighs 7lbs 6 oz. to 7lbs 10 oz., depending on barrel length.
SPECIFICATIONS
Over all length: 43-inches.
Length of pull: 14 ¼ inches.
Drop at comb: 1 5/8 inches.
Drop at heel: 2 ½ inches.
Chamber length: 3 ½ inches.
Rib width: 5/16 inch.
Choke system: Banded Invector-Plus Extended.
Receiver material: steel.
MSRP $2,340.