I have a Browning A-Bolt rifle that I bought many years ago second-hand at a gun show. It came equipped with the Browning BOSS muzzle brake system. The intent of the system is to be able to tune your rifle to different loads by controlling the barrel vibrations. It is supposed to improve accuracy.
I stumbled across the fact that Browning made an accessory, the BOSS-CR, that provides the same tuning ability minus the muzzle brake. Without much thought about there being different models, I bid and won an online auction for one. It’s coming in the mail.
There was only one little problem. The Browning BOSS-CR is specific to the rifle model and caliber. I started to notice that when looking at the labels of others for sale online. I naively thought if it worked for a .30-06, it surely would do OK for something of a smaller caliber. Who cares if it was the blued model and your barrel is stainless.
Just to be sure, I sent a note to Browning Customer Service asking about it. A day later I got a reply back that indeed I should use the model specific to my rifle model and caliber. But being the great company that they are, they didn’t leave it at that. The reply continued to say, “we would be happy to send you the correct one at no charge. All we will need is a good shipping address and whether the rifle is matte blued, gloss blued, or stainless.”
There are two morals to this story. First and foremost, Browning has great customer service. Second, before bidding on something online, do your research! It will save you from having extra gun parts lying around for a firearm you don’t own.