I only have this one - a 1963 light 12, made in Belgium of course.



It was my pheasant gun when I lived where pheasants did. Looks like we're moving to Colorado which may have some pheasants left.





I put the sling on it when I was training a pup. I kind of like it now, so it will most likely stay.



It kicks hard, is pretty heavy, and is overly complicated. I love it.

Once I ran through our shotgun qualification course with it for fun. It made those ugly 870s hang their stubby muzzles in shame.

Who else has one?

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I have had a few! Awesome guns! I have a solid rib 12ga. that is an early model. I stupidly sold a 1968 pristine 12 ga. magnum Belgium made some years back. Sold my 20ga. A5 also........The Winchester m12's and the Superposed get the field days now........

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Go big or stay home

The alpha and omega. Sorry for bad pictures

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Possum—The other white meat!

Had one back in my youth. 30" barrel and only hunted doves w/shotgun. Couldn't hit jack with it. Once missed a dove sittin on a power line. Traded it in on a Win. 1300. Been kickin' my own arse for the past 25 yrs.

A 12 gauge will shoot a power line in two! But don't ask me how I know--I mean I read it on the internet--wait there wasn't any internet when I was 16--I mean I heard it from a friend.

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Possum—The other white meat!

I have 3(all Belgian). A std.weight 12 w/ improved cyl.,A 3"Mag w/28" full,and a Lt.20 with Imp. Cyl. I bought a Jap3" barrel with Invectors for the Mag so I can shoot steel shot. I can align the old humpback better than a tapered (a la Rem 1100) shotgun. john

I spent many happy mornings at a duck blind with an older Belgium A-5.

Unfortunately, long gone.

I have a light 12 in a hard case that was made in 1953. I bought it from a lady who inherited it and didn't want it. She said it came from a relative who used it once. The gun is in new/pristine condition.
Jim

I did many morning along the Platte in the Denver area with an A-5. I had a full choke 32" bbl that is actually about 31.5".......Loved it except when I had directly overhead shots.......OH MAMA!!!! My favorite shells are 2 3/4" Mags for more than chukar, grouse, or pheasants. Some of the tough SoDak pheasants were in need of the 2 3/4" mags also. JMB sure was something!!!

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Go big or stay home

I have my late fathers Belgium Browning Sweet 16, his favorite quail gun.

Yeah, I owned two of these fine guns. My first was a Standard 12, to which I eventually added a Browning "Buck-Special" barrel as the gun was used primarily for deer hunting in shotgun-only county.

I also had a light 20 with ventilated rib that I bought for a song.

Sorry to say that both Brownings are no longer with me. The buck special was replaced by a Rem. 1100 with a Hastings rifled barrel and the light 20 fell to a Browning 20 gauge Citori, over-under.

Forty-five years ago I was given a gorgeous, brand-new Belgian-built Light Twenty with a 28" vent-rib modified barrel. I loved it, although I've always been a side-by-side double guy. I actually shot a little better on doves with a little Stevens 311 20 gauge, but the Browning was very sweet.

In my drinking days I sold it. One of countless stupid things I did when drunk. Still berate myself for that one.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I, too, had a Buck Special, bought new in late 1970, probably (from serial number) made in 1967. As many of you probably know, the Buck Special barrel is about an Improved Modified. Used it a little when I fell in with a skeet-shooting crowd, but never really got into scattergunning.

Great gun, and the manual of arms is certainly friendly to anyone who is familiar with a 1911 and desires to operate safely on a skeet range.

Mine also proved rather accurate with slugs, at least Brennekes.

His genius is shown by what appears to me to be an avoidance of the laws of physics. You have a "set" amount of recoil from a shotgun shell going off, for example with a Citori, straight back into your shoulder. No action is cycled, no gas escapes.

With the Auto 5, the recoil is MAGNIFIED (many times it seems) that of a standard double of the same or LESS weight kicking you like an army mule in a bad mood! Generally you get the benefit of weight, or an action cycling, or somthing to help you with recoil. Not with the Auto 5. It takes a fixed amount of recoil and doubles or triples it! Now that is genuis!

(My grandfather always said it was to see if you were "man enough" to start hunting. Because if you could stand the recoil, you were ready!).

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Possum—The other white meat!

I too have three. A very early 12a., (1929 or '30), a Light 12, and a 26" barreled Sweet 16. And an old Remington Model 11 in 20ga.

To those that are getting kicked too hard, your either set up wrong, or lubing too much.

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Just one, a plain field grade made in 1933. No engraving on them then,,safety inside the trigger guard. Just a nice classic FN. Thought I should own at least one semiauto shotgun before I leave, so I bought this one. Fun to shoot. Full choke is perfect for skeet and S/C's

I don't believe they recoil any 'harder' than any other recoil op gun of the same weight and stock dimentions. There's a lot more going on with each shot as far as parts moving around than a gas-op, that's for sure.
They need a minimum velocity/shot weight combination to get enough energy going in the other direction to overcome the recoil spring and however the friction rings have been set up. Like any semiauto, the hammer spring and the bolt return spring all play into it also.

My Dad had a Rem Sportsman 48 with about the same long recoil system in it. My brother bought an 1100 new in '63 (still has it & the 48!) The recoil difference between the two systems is noticably different with the same ammo however.
I shoot some pretty soft handloads in my FN A-5. They just barely work the action. They work in bro's 1100, but no go in the 1953 built Sportsman 48.
It's all good,,all fun.

I have 2. My deer gun(dogging) is a 12 ga. lt. wt. with a 22" invector barrel. I put Ramline plastic stocks on it(to keep the wood damage to a minimum) and and a homemade 2 shot extension. Have killed a boxcar load of deer with it. Second one my kids gave me a NIB from 1994 20 ga with 28" invector barrel for my retirement back in Feb. 2014. It has become my dove gun. These and my 2 ea mdl. 12's are all the shotguns a feller ever needs.

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S&W Accumulator

My Dad has a Light Twelve with the plain barrel and Modified choke that he bought from a Western Auto in Detroit new in 1953. 28" barrel; perfect for pheasant hunting in Michigan in the winter. He still has the original owner's book and wooden plug that came with it. The gun itself is absolutely flawless, with perfect bluing and beautiful wood; not a scratch to be seen anywhere. The only wear at all is the electroplate is wore off the face of the gold trigger it came with. Amazing to me; he hunted pheasant from 1953 until the late Sixties, when him and Mom got married. I suppose I can chalk the condition up to his OCD, and being a tool & die maker. EVERYTHING he owns is flawless, lol! I have never shot this gun, and don't think it's been shot in thirty years or so. Dad's almost 85 now; wish we could find us a place to get out and shoot that old mule; we live in town, and it's hard to do.

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MARK

I have a sweet sixteen have shot rabbits, pheasant,duck and deer. SWEET
and a couple skunk.

Beautiful!
I have a Remington 11 and a Savage 720, both variations on the same theme and they shouldn't kick too hard as long as the recoil system is set up correctly and isn't over lubed.

I have a 1955 Light 12 and a 1973 Sweet 16. Both are very fun to shoot, but require ice packs afterwards.
My grandfather used to always tell me the more oil I used to clean them, the harder they would kick. He was right.

THIS!

And Remington Model 11s for me!

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

I have a really nice Belgian 12 gauge my Dad gave me. Hunted with it a lot. Dates to about 1956. I bought a rifled slug barrel for it. Moved the collar to the front of the recoil spring. With slugs the back of the barrel SLAMS into the inside of the receiver.
Kinda scared me.
Jim

Mine was made in 1953 and it is a great shotgun. It shoots out farther than any of my other 12 gage shotguns. It is one I have not shot in years as I use Mossberg pumps for almost everything these days.

It is set wrong and will damage the gun that way

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

I have a 1952 FN A5 and a 1954 A5 Lightweight, both in 12g. They both kick a bit with the hard plastic buttplates, but they are classic guns.

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Ash

My Father hunted with a "Diamond Arms" single shot shotgun most of His life. 12gauge, 28" Full Choke. Dad's older Brother purchased it at a Hardware Store in Lake Park, Georgia for $3.25 in 1916 and gave it to Dad for His 16th Birthday. Dad treasured that old shotgun and kept food on our table (we were "Dirt Poor") . In the 1950s I purchase Dad a Browning Auto-5 12 gauge 3" Magnum with a 32" full choke barrel. I was a witness when Dad dropped a eight point buck at 67 yards with the Browning.The #00 buckshot entered the buck's left shoulder and went though the body and almost exited the hide on the right side. Dad purchased me an exact Browning Model many years later. I still have the Browning and Son #1 has Dad's Browning and the old Diamond Arms Single Barrel per Dad's last wish.
Jimmy

I can't count the number of A-5's that have gone through my hands since 1964. Used to collect them. Down to three now,which I will keep. A Standard 20 with 25 1/2" and 27 1/2" bbls in improved and modified. A 25 1/2" Sweet Sixteen,improved and a 27 1/2" Light Twelve,modified. They are all in beautiful condition,all vented ribs and round knobs from the early to mid '50's. Finest shotguns ever made,imo.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Nice Browning, and photos too!

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John
S&WCA Life Member

I have one just like that, one owner, still have the original early 60's sales receipt and owner's manual. Always dependable and operated flawlessly in the harshest hunting environments whether it was iced over duck hunting in freezing weather or in pouring down rain. My favorite all time firearm and hunting tool is my Browning Belgium A-5.

Nice gun sig. I own one as well. Back after the Korean War, my father moved to CT., near my uncle, who was not a hunter. My dad talked him into trying duck hunting in the costal marshes. So my uncle found a clean, used, Light Auto-5 12 ga. for sale, and bought it.

He went duck hunting with my dad 3 or 4 times, did not like it, and wrapped the gun up in a blanket, and put it away.

Fast forward to 1971, I was 12 years old. My uncle comes to visit one day, and hands me the blanket. Says, "I don't need this thing, and your old enough to have it". I unwrapped it, and about fainted when I saw what it was... Came just in time, too, as the previous hunting season I had blown the end off the barrel of my H&R .410 single shot after plugging it with snow.

Bought a MEC 600jr reloader, and shot the snot out of that gun. God knows how many ducks, pheasants, tree rats, and other targets of opportunity fell to that shotgun.

A little worse for the wear and tear, I still have it (its on the never sell list), and still take it out for pheasants a couple times a year.

Larry

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Have a few - heavy, strong recoil, BUT they are works of art.

A few years back, one of my lifelong friends fell on hard times. His dad was like a father to me and had passed away a few years before. His mom, whom we called Mrs. C, contacted us about buying some of her husbands guns so she could help her son save his house. This Browning Light 12 is one of those that we bought and are "caretaking". It still has the original papers, and receipt from Sears and Roebuck from November/1968 with Mr. C's signature. One day I hope to return this to my friend. Guns like these are made to be heirlooms. Whether it returns to his family or stays in my family it will be cherished because it belonged to Mr. C.

SWCA #1834
browning light 12.jpg

I still use A-5s. I have one that was my Dads. 30" fc. Dad wired
house for guy who got gun out of FN plant in liberation of Belgum
That was 1953, dad took $50 off bill for it. I have Lite 12 that was run over,in the case, buy a truck on a dirt road. Only barrel
was damaged. I cut it off 23 1/2" and put sights off a 700 Rem.
on it. Before rifled slug barrels came along it would shoot with
any factory slug gun. This is first year of Ohio rifle season so it
will be retired after 40+ yrs. the only jam I ever saw was when
Dad got in cat tails, bird took off, dad shot it, bolt handle grabbed
and "loaded" cat tail.

I bet it still kicked shooting the cat tail!

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Possum—The other white meat!