THe Browning "Salt Wood" debacle occurred in the late 1960's with an estimated 90 percent of all Browning firearms produced during 1967-69 being effected.

It's cause was a process sold to Browning by the Morten Salt Company in 1965 for speeding up the drying process of stock wood. The process had been used for drying furniture timber, and involved covering the wood with salt to leach out moisture. The salt was absorbed into the wood when it became liguid, and although the wood appeared to be dry, the salt naturally induced corrosion in the metal parts that it came into contact with.

Because of a shortage of highly figured Walnut in Europe, large amounts of this wood was shipped to Belgium for use primarily on high grade superposed shotguns.