I'm interested in a Browning A5, but I don't know much about them. Any advice for a buyer? I want one in descent (not pristine) condition, and I'm looking to hunt with it occasionally.

- What are your opinions on standard model vs. Light 12?
- If I find one with a PolyChoke, what are your opinions? Does that detract from the value? Is it worth keeping on, or would you cut it off and install screw-in chokes?
- Anything I should look for?

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Where's my dad's America?

The A-5 is my FAVORITE Auto loading shotgun. IMHO this is what you should look for:

A-5 Lightning 12 gauge (NOT magnum - too heavy & unnecessary) with a 27.5" bbl and a "Modified" internal fixed choke.

Make Damned sure the stock has NOT been cut or modified - quite common. It should measure 14 3/8" LOP. I personally like them without recoil pads, which on that gun is not needed. Very mild recoil on that gun!

Ventilated rib.

Long Tang and Round Knob is most coveted & traditional A-5 configuration.

I like the lighter French Walnut on the 60's era A-5's. Make sure the fore end is not cracked. I would not buy one with a swivel installed in the wood. That's not the way they came.

Go over the gun carefully and buy a good one. It's worth the extra few bucks to buy a better condition example and it will last you a lifetime. The A-5 is an ABSOLUTE PLEASURE to shoot and mine (which was made in the late 1950's and new in the box when I bought it in the 80's) has had somewhere around 8 to 10 thousand rounds through it and still works like new! That along with my Browning Superposed are my standard Pheasant hunting guns. Take your time, ask questions and wait 'till the RIGHT ONE comes along - there are plenty to choose from. One in 95+% condition is typically going to run around $800 or so and worth every dime. You really would spend at least that much for a new model current shotgun and I don't think that would even be in the same class as this one. Good luck on your quest!

Chief38

Should you find one with a Lyman, or a Cutts Compensator type choke, do not dispair. I have many, many chokes for them, happy to share. Difficult to find nowadays, but still effective. My Sweet Sixteen and my Remington 58 are both fitted w/ Cutts, and are excellent field guns.

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Halfway and one more step

Old TexMex,

When I hunt every year my Hunting Buddy's and I ALL use A-5' and in fact they call us "The Browning Brothers"! Two of us (myself included) use a 12 gauge, one a 20 gauge (a bit light for Pheasant IMHO) and one a "Sweet 16" which is a GREAT gun. The ONLY downside to the 16 gauge guns now days is that it is always a P.I.T.B. to find any sort of ammo selection for. Seems that 16 has fallen out of vogue and not too many LGS's carry a descent selection of Shells. Other than that - great gun and lighter to carry as well.

That said.......... IMHO for a new purchaser I feel the 12 is a lot more versatile and ammo a lot easier to come by. The 16's also sell for a bit of a premium as they just made less of them.

My A5 is a "birthday gun". For me that is 1953. I grew up wanting one.

In addition to the advice about looking to be sure the fore-end isn't split, it pays to bone up on how to keep a good one from splitting. The wood is under stress, and I guess that even a properly cared for one can split eventually, but some things can be done to improve your odds. Make sure that the friction rings are in the right position for the loads you are using; that the mag tube is dry (not oiled); and that the mag nut is properly tightened. I like it snug, but not "cranked". Loose makes a slide hammer out of it with predictable (bad) results.

It took me a bit of study on the design of the A5 to be a good custodian of one. It is recoil operated rather than gas-operated. But mine is a joy to own and shoot.

A bit of advise regarding lubrication of the magazine tube exterior on the A-5's..................

After owning one for 30 years and working on at least 20 of them, the most important thing here is to PROPERLY lubricate the exterior magazine tube like so..........

Use STRAIGHT SAE 30 weight NON DETERGENT motor oil. Wipe a little on the cleaned mag tube with a patch - lightly wipe off the excess. The gun will function and shoot very reliably! If a lighter weight lube is used the recoil will be TOO FAST and FTE might be a problem. This simple tip is the most over looked thing when it comes to the A-5. Make sure you use the 30 weight NON Det. Motor Oil and NOT gun oil which is way too light for this purpose. Works like a charm!!!!

I agree with everything chief38 said. I also prefer the ventilated rib on my guns. The difference between the standard model and the "light" model is negligible,imo. I must respectfully disagree with TexMex about the compensators. They are unsightly and DEFINITELY detract from the value of the gun.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Agree with You Tom, though mine both have compensators, they were given to me as a kid that way, and I shoot 'em. My 28 ga. 1148 is the only non cutts fitted automatic I have. Note that I never said they enhanced value, nor improved appearances, but rather offered variable chokes to the OP. just tryin' to be helpful, and rely on my personal experience with these fine old shotguns.

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Halfway and one more step

Let me cast a vote for a A5 in 16ga, there are a ton of them out there, lighter in the field, and a joy to shoot. Other then the cost of shells I can see no down side (and if you re load the shells are not a issue).

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always trust your cape...

Well, I have one and I like it. Soft recoiling???? I think not. It WILL kick. Lube the mag tube? Absolutely not! No lube-keep it clean and dry. That's how it was meant to run. And as far as cut stock-mine is cut-I'm small and the shortened LOP really helped with mounting. I hunted with mine this year after about 15 years of it sitting in the closet and two things came to mind. First of all, it still kicks like a mule. Second, it fits me like a glove and I was making shots I hadn't made in years. The old ways are sometimes the best.Will probably hunt with it a lot more in the future.

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Forum consigliere

Caj,
I beg to differ with you here! Originally that is what the Browning instructions said, but that was changed in the 70's when there were too many FTE issues. Now the Browning Service Center recommends the procedure that I have described and that is precisely where I got this from.

If you don't have FTE issues down there I suppose what you are doing is fine, but in the cold North East it is a common problem with non properly lubed mag. tubes. All I can tell you is I followed their lead and I have yet to have a FTE after doing so nor have any of the 20+ I have worked on. I would NEVER have thought to use 30 weight motor oil on a Browning but that came right from the horses mouth!

If your A-5 is not a soft recoiling gun I would replace both the action spring and the recoil spring. They shorten up rather quickly and that will definitely make a difference. Brownell's sells them and the friction rings as well - should yours be worn. I am quite familiar with this shotgun and have worked on a fair share of them A properly maintained and lubed A-5 should not beat you up. By the way........ if you do try the motor oil thing, you can set the friction rings on Heavy Load when actually using light loads and that will also reduce recoil. Most of the time it does work on the 12's but most of the time NOT on the 16's. You can however give it a shot - nothing to loose.

Chief38

I've never owned or shot one but always wanted one. Good info to know.

I learned as well the magnums are unnecessary and to actually try to find one in 16 gauge, as that was the gauge the Auto 5 was designed around. Is this true?

I've also been told they are supposed to kick like mules but it sounds like they don't if they are set up right.

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Cheers, Charles
SWCA #2442

make sure it's got all the friction rings

I loved my light 12. It came with a Cutts compensator & 3 choke tubes in 1952. It was used so don't know the age. It's long gone now & I still miss it. I remember 4 Snow geese falling with 3 shots.

If you have never fired one before, they dont feel like other shotguns, the first one I fired I thought it was going to jump out of my hands, they recoil a little different from most semi-autos. Jeff

My Dad has a Light Twelve with a non vent rib barrel. He bought it around 1954 or 1955 in Detroit when he went to work up there, and discovered he loved pheasant hunting. He was a tool and die maker by trade, so this gun is absolutely FLAWLESS to this very day; he's fastidious about taking care of EVERYTHING. I've never shot it; I'm 43, and I think he'd STILL be nervous about letting me take it out somewhere and try it. Probably hasn't been shot in over 30 years, but it's still a beautiful gun, and he also has the original owner's manual and mag plug it came with. AFAIK, he never lubed the mag tube, and told me the gun never failed him. Took plenty of ringnecks, one of which is on his mantle now, from about 1960. I would never sell or trade it, if he does ever hand it down to me. Every time I see how nice it still is, after all these years, it just reminds me of his personality. He still gets it out about once a year, wipes it down, makes sure there's NO fingerprints anywhere on it, and puts it back up. Just a beautiful weapon, and no doubt a FABULOUS bird gun.

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MARK

Thanks for the responses, guys! I guess I need to start reading about friction rings and where the foregrip normally cracks.

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Where's my dad's America?

The good news is theses are hard working, hard to stop functioning guns.

I prefer the light 12, vent rib, fixed choke barrel. But the poly choke is an excellent option.

Normally even with a well worn mag tube and spring as long as the friction rings are set correctly to the ammo load they cycle. The shell latch occasionally wears out and ammo from the mag tube launches (drops) out. Parts are available from browning and Brownells.

Have fun.

I purchased two Brownings A-5 in 1968. One was a 3in 12 gage vent rib. Used it for water fowl hunting flooded crops infi and around Saginaw Bay Mi. The other was a 3in 20 gage. Best all around shot gun I ever owned for that time period. Hinted evthing with it. 3 in for waterfowl and 2 3/4 for rabits and other small game. I purchased a sighted slug barrel for it, made in Japan. I still have the 20 ga and plan to give to my son.

I now use a SBE 3 1/2" for turkey. I got a slug barrel for it to hunt deer. It does the job.

I think the a-5's are classics, built with quality materials and workmanship . I hated to see them stop mfg'ing them. I don't think they would be affordable today. I never cared for a poly choke on the end of a barrel and I notice the asking price is not as much as the ones without them. That may be a regional thing?

Reading the posts sure brought back a lot of old memories.

Thanks
The new high end autos have awesome improvements on them but I don't think the materials are as good in the old A5's.

i have my grandpas light 12 like new.

i picked up this beater CHEAP a while back and it was filthy and the barrel had been cut and the stock had cracked. the non rib barrel is marked for full so i assume it was a 30 inch full choke when new, all the rage back in the day as so many A5 from that era seem to have 30 inch full. so i searched for parts and was patient and sent the barrel to briley for a thin wall choke install (modified) and brass bead. replaced all the springs. mid 50s vintage with the auto load feature. it is my HD gun, keep it loadd with Hornady light mag buck. FYI the only difference between light 12 and standard 12 ( non magnum) is 2 holes drilled into the stock from the back end to take a few ounces of wood out, the frame is the same. i think this was carried in the field a LOT due to the wear patterns on the blueing around the action. has a nice look to it i think.

a friend did some resto work on the wood and installed the decelerator

its like a howitzer, the entire barrel comes back a few inches. recoil operated no gas. you can hear the sproing! of the action. ~115 year old design and still works great.

Some remarkably nice ones can be found at great prices if you look around and can be happy w/a 12ga.
Even pre-war guns in used but nice shape and un-molested show up in the $500 range which I don't think is bad for a great piece of machinery like these..

The long recoil system can be a bit discerning the first few rounds if you're used to a gas-op semi or even a pump. Lot's of things moving when it goes bang.
The Remington Sportsman 48 has about the same feel to it.

The A5 is one of those classics that everyone should have at least one of,,or at least have owned one for a while.

They're great shotguns. My Dad picked one up in a trade in the '80s. He apparently didn't have much money in it, and gave it to me. It's 12 gauge that was shipped to my home town in about 1956. In really nice shape.

It took me a while to figure out about the friction ring. That's kind of a neat concept.John Browning was indeed a genius.

I bought a rifled slug barrel for it, and it is pretty accurate. It's a bit disturbing, though to shoot with slugs. You can feel and hear the back of the barrel hitting the inside of the receiver, and it kicks like a mule. A mule with a VERY bad attitude. I'm going to severely limits the slug usage, it means too much to me.

If I could find another at a decent price, I would most like to have a Sweet Sixteen. I love the 16 Gauge, and one of those would be really cool.

Pick up an A5. They're great shotguns.
Jim

Two years ago my dad gave me his Sweet 16. He bought it new in 1960, the year I was born and it's still in very nice shape. I killed my very first deer with it way back in 1976. I have a Light 12, too, with a 26" IC barrel and a 28" Full choke barrel. It's my turkey gun as well as just about anything else I want to shoot. Great guns. I wouldn't want to be without one.

Ahhh, love the old Auto-5s. Great guns. Dad had a 20 gauge, and his dad had one in 12 gauge and another in 20. Grandpa normally used the 20 for pheasants and the 12 for ducks and geese. For years, I regarded anything other than an A-5 as some sort of lesser gun. Still kinda do, at least as far as repeaters go.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

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Wishin' don't make it so.