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1957 A-5 shotgun

12K views 35 replies 9 participants last post by  Old Soldier 
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#1 ·
I saw a beautiful Browning A-5 shotgun..12 gauge recoil operated (wonder how hard it kicks ?) made in Belgium in 1957..kind of expensive..but looks like it's worth it :hmmm:
 
#5 ·
Couldn't get any better. Have 2 and one is worn down to where it is silver from many trips in the marsh. KicK? Not any different then any other semiauto 12ga.

Was my first gun and I have hunted all kinds of birds and deer. I could not tell you how many shells have gone through that gun, but if I was to make an educated guess it would be 1/2 million shells. I have two barrels, a full that came with the gun and modified. I have had to replace the wood once on the older one, it was just worn out and split, repaired, split and repaired again. Killed my first deer with it.

About 6 yrs. ago the firing pin broke and created an unsafe condition. Bought a new one and put in without any problems. That has been the only mechanical problem what so ever.

One thing I would point out is don't press the bolt release without the barrel being in place. It dings the receiver.
 
#13 ·
Humpbacks! Not whales !!!!it!

If it's in good condition, it's still a weapon you can pass to your grand children. I cut my teeth on an A-5, and I own at least a couple of dozen. Regardless of the fads, I still hunt with my humpbacks, and I've never gotten a bruise I didn't ask for. God bless John M. Browning, and I'll shoot them tilll thr day I die!
 
#14 ·
I own a grade 3 sweet 16 that I bought years ago for a $100.00 and have added 3 barrels. too bad no one is making 3" mags in 16. I would have the reamer tomorrow.The orig barrel was 16/60 and no import marks.but was reamed to 16/70 which is 2 3/4" background was built in the 30s and more than likely brought back during the war. very nice piece.
 
#16 ·
The model 11's Iv'e seen have been nicely built :right:

Oh, I foregot, yes they do recoil a bit heavier, than compared to a gas gun. Also have to remember to change friction rings between heavy and light loads. This is frought with controversy in itself. Some claim you can cycle the light loads with a heavy set up. I'd not reccomend the other way around.

My dad's will shoot soup cans at 50 yards with the standard barrel with BRI slugs. It is definitely a gun you use a can of gun scrubber on to clean the action. I would be leary about taking it all the way apart & I'm fairly mechanically inclined. Mabe I haven't studied it enough, but on the surface it looks tricky.
 
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#20 ·
Logansdad said:
I saw a beautiful Browning A-5 shotgun..12 gauge recoil operated (wonder how hard it kicks ?) made in Belgium in 1957..kind of expensive..but looks like it's worth it :hmmm:
it is beautifully made..the patina is pretty..almost like faint case coloring..wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be :)
 
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#21 ·
A buddy of mine has a Browning Sweet Sixteen. Great gun. And I can honestly say that this is a gun that people do love, not like, but love. My friend's Browning was discovered in his father-in-law's basement after his passing. It was lovingly wrapped and stored in soft oiled cloth in a gun case hidden in the basement ceiling. From the state it was in, it was almost new, but looked to have been cleaned and oiled on a regular basis. No one in the family knew that this gun even existed. Apparently there was a gun accident in the mother-in-law's family early on in the marriage, so he, for the sake of domestic harmony, sold his firearms with the intent of always going back to owning guns after a fews years when the storm died down. He never did, other things kept getting in the way. But still, despite all this, he kept that Browning hidden in the basement, the one gun he could not part with.

from http://www.kimdutoit.com/dr/weblog.php?id=P2344
 
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#22 ·
from the above link

Here's a shotgun which is not only liked, but loved by people who've ever owned it. The Browning Auto-5 (sometimes called the "humpback") was the first semi-auto shotgun made, and was designed by the Man Himself, John Moses Browning. Even among his many other designs (eg. the Colt 1911), the Auto-5 is regarded as Browning's best design. Stories of its reliability and ruggedness are legion: at one point, the Auto-5 was the waterfowl piece, and without which few hunters considered their gun safe complete.

Many shotgunners think, incidentally, that the venerable Auto-5 is still the fasest-cycling semi-auto shotgun, matched only recently by Benelli and the new Brownings.

Production began in 1902, and ended in 1999, which means that the asking price of the Auto-5 has shot up, and no one makes accessories for them anymore.

[pause to allow boos, jeers and catcalls to subside]

Personally, I blame the Democrats. Wasn't Bill Clinton President in 1999?

To give you an idea of the Auto-5's popularity, the two-millionth Auto-5 was produced in 1970 at the FN-Herstal factory in Belgium. Other A5s were made under licence by the Japanese company Miroku, but these are not as treasured as the Belgian-made models (although still as expensive).

This one, the "Light Twelve", is listed at Collector's Firearms for $1,095 -- other models sell for less, although not much less.

Other versions are the Magnum (12ga. and 20ga. only), the "Sweet Sixteen" (the "Light" 16ga.), and the "Light Twenty". All calibers are available in "Standard" weight, which may be preferable from a recoil-management perspective -- taming recoil is the only area where the Auto-5 trails the competition (and even then, not by much).

Barrel lengths vary from 24" to 30". The length of the barrel can sometimes (but not always) be estimated by the "pet" names given to the various types: "Shooters" come with the shorter barrels, "Stalkers" with 26" barrels, and so on. People will often have swapped barrels from the original format, so it's not always a reliable guide. The "Buck Special", of course, is a slug gun with a rifled barrel.

So... why should I get an Auto-5 instead of one of the new whizz-bang modern ones painted in a camo pattern?

Well, duh... because it's an old gun, of course -- the same reason to want a Winchester 1894, a Colt 1911 or a Remington Police revolver. All were designed a century or more ago, and all are still outstanding examples of firearms engineering.

The Auto-5 still belongs in every serious shooter's safe, for its heritage if for no other reason. And some day, a Sweet Sixteen will be in mine.
 
#26 ·
My Sweet Sixteen is one beautiful gun. It's loaded with extra's, too, including recoil pad, poly choke, ventilated rib, and of course the gold plated trigger. The original finish is in excellent condition, as well as the other parts of the gun. Guess my $100 investment in 1961 has turned into an excellent investment. Wouldn't sell it for $1,000 today. It's the top gun in my gun cabinet, for sure. :nod:
 
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