[BigJimP]

I have seen the 625 in some shops locally / but I have not fired one. In my area there seems to be quite a few of the 625's around / and I think I even saw one in Sportsman's Warehouse recently which is a big chain out here as well as a couple of small shops - but we have one shop in the area that is a gold dealer or whatever they call it - so he gets most everything as soon as its available.

As near as I can tell, with one exception ( vs the 525 ), most of the changes are cosmetic - where the engraving is different on the receiver, the 625 comes with Diana grade extended chokes vs Midas grade on 525, the checkering on the pistol grip and the forend on the 625 is unique where it almost has ribs within the pattern / Browning claims to have done something different in the way they lengthened the forcing cones and as near as I can tell that's the only difference.

I bought one of the first 525 sporting models in my area / oil finish stock, 30" barrels - it was a beautiful gun, but it had way to much drop at the comb and heel for me ( and I got sucked in by the looks of it, it was probably 1998 or so ). Because it had so much drop, it pushed the flesh in my face up against my cheek bone - and beat the daylights out of me... so about 2 years ago, I refinished it and sold it.

I think the Browning 425 was on the market from 94-97 - and I don't recall why it didn't last long / then the 525 came out with some stock changes, new engraving, etc ( and some of us went to it like a moth to a flame ..) / now the 625 models are out but they have not dropped all of the 525 series either.

In the Citori lineup of guns - there were always a lot of models / but in the last 15 years they have brought out the 425/525 series ( I think there was a 325 too ) / the XS and XS Special series / the GTS series / along with many new versions of the old standby models - the XS Skeet and XT Trap as well ....the gold versions, with gra-coil, etc - and probably a few that came and went when I wasn't looking closely.

4 or 5 years ago - they developed the Cynergy lineup / as an alternative to the Citori lineup and at last count I think they have 15 or so versions of the Cynergy as well now. I think its a marketing dept run amuck ....

Browning makes great guns, in my opinion. Browning is my primary target shotgun / the XS Skeet series - I have 6 of them now in 12, 20, 28 and .410 / the XT Trap - I have 3 of those now - and both the XS and XT models are great guns. It took me awhile to figure out that the gun that fit me the best was a paralell comb gun ( so the 525, 625, most of the Cynergy series, etc ) just aren't on my shopping list. I still have a variety of BPS models and a couple of the original Citori field models from the 80's ...with angled combs / but some of them I've put custom stocks on, comb pads, etc.

I don't have any reason to doubt mechanically the 625 series will be just fine. Dimensionally, I think its almost identical to the 525 series with the cosmetic changes. The Diana extended chokes are good chokes. My 525 had inertia triggers ( as do all my other Browning O/U's ) / I don't know if the 625 has mechanical triggers or not - but in my view, that is only a factor if you want to go to full length tube sets for sub-gagues - and Briley or Kolar can swap those out for you when you have the tube sets made up.

Its the holidays - buy yourself another shotgun - and give us a field test report ...( we're pulling for you ).

As a note, I wouldn't buy a new shotgun that isn't ported in 12 or 20ga / unported barrels are fine in 28ga and .410 . Porting does not reduce recoil - but it definitely keeps the barrel down to make acquiring the 2nd or 3rd target that much easier. I don't think there is a downside to a ported barrel on a 12 or 20ga.