Kevin at BACO checked the catalog for the production year on a Grade III 28ga and they only showed the barrels being available in a blued finish. I then spoke with the nice folks at Art's and they concurred. They did say that the original buyer could have requested this finish thru Browning on a special order basis and they would have coated the barrels before shipping from their MO facilities. He said many skeet shooters have this finish applied to their barrels and it is common. A call and $20 fee to the BACO research office can confirm if this did indeed happen. So the barrels are not the standard factory finish for this model but they could still have the original Browning finishing before they left their MO facilities.
GF1....thanks for the suggestion on reaching out to Art's. I was going to touch base with the folks at BACO but was not familiar with Art's so I appreciate the note. The next time I am in the St. Louis area I told them I will definitely make a point to swing by their shop.
