Browning Auto 5 humpback

[Drm50]

My main Slug gun for deer is a cut off A5 Light 12. Barrel is about 24" and
has Rem 700 old model sight on rear. Front is Williams shorty ramp with
Patridge blade in dove tail. I take a beating from buddie's over its habit of
"Ejecting" front sights. We shot awful lot of slugs at shooting matches and
Turkey Shoots besides deer hunting. The torque of barrel recoil was enough to loosen front sight. I always carried a spare in my watch pocket.
I made a slug gun out of Savage with same sights except guy wanted a
bead on front instead of blade. While I was sighting it in, less than 10 shots, the torque threw the bead out of front and took me right between
the lookers. Because of the recoil stroke back sight has to be far enough up the barrel to clear. That requires a high front to sight in. With ramp and
sight that's a lot of mass to react to recoil stroke.

 

[LDM]

Have a 1950ish Light Twelve that came with a factory Cutts. Added a Japanese made 26 inch Invector barrel and a slug barrel with rifle sights. As long as you set the friction pieces properly for the load used it's a reliable and soft shooting gun. Also a whole lot less in the maintenance department compared to a gas gun.

 

[dave1918a2]

I have My Dad's A5 that Mom bought in 1960 with dog track money(one of the few times that happened). Bought Herself a washer-dryer combination and had $135 left over so She went to the gun counter( She was at Wards) and bought Dad the A5 for $119 plus tax. She gave it to Me when Dad passed in 1981. Real nice solid rib twelve gauge full choke. Brought down lot's of pheasants. I'm originally from the Black Hills.

 

[Camster]

I was given a new 1969 Light 12 28 MOD in that same year.Had it for decades(during which time I added a 26IC barrel) and let it go about ten years ago.I estimate the round count at just 700.
I bought a new Citori 28 gauge in 2000, which was more to my taste. I later sold that one.Round count=0.

 

[andyinlz]

American Brownings

I have 2 that were made in America by Remington during WWII ( the Belgium plant was, well, occupied).

Both 12 gauge.

Both my grandfather's.

One sports a post WWII Nydar Reflex sight.

Treasured possessions.

 

[DWalt]

Remington was making A5 designs (as the Model 11) from very early under license from FN. Obviously, under the German occupation of Belgium during WWII, FN wasn't producing them, and Remington was making more exact copies of the A5 in the USA until FN resumed production in the early 1950s.

 

[WPWarhawk]

I came of age in Kansas, before the deer made a comeback. Pheasant hunting was the big sport. I owned several A5s over the years, most 12 ga but also a 20 or two.

But the Browning auto I shot best was their first gas shotgun, the B2000. I guess a lot of them had problems, but mine was great. Then I caught the side by side bug and sold them all. A 26 inch 12 ga BSS was and is the most instinctive shotgun I’ve ever used. Throw it to my shoulder and pull the trigger, no thought or aiming involved, just automatic hits.

 

[MetalMan]

I own 2.....

A late-1990’s Japanese A5, 12ga., 3” Magnum that’s been a great gun for duck, field birds, doves and clays. With the interchangeable chokes, I can essentially customize the shotgun for the specific outing. It really reaches out there.

I also have a Silver Hunter, 12ga., 3” Magnum that was presented to me as a Christmas present by some co-workers back in 2007. There is an engraved silver plate attached to the butt end of the pistol grip commemorating the occasion. I haven’t had the heart to fire this shotgun....yet!

 

[JohnRippert]

Those are great guns but can beat you up pretty well. There is a video out there of Gunny shooting a 12 ga trying to see if the auto is faster than a pump. That old war horse puts a pretty good pounding on him. I don't think he had any fillings left in his teeth afterwards. *s*

Would not surprise me at all if he was firing heavy loads when the recoil system was set up for light loads. I used my grandfather's Remington Autoloading Shotgun, the predecessor to the Model 11, quite a lot when I was a skinny little shrimp of the teenager. I found it to be a soft shooting 12 gauge.

 

[old tanker]

I've got an A5 in 12 gauge that was a hand me down from an uncle. Polychokes were somewhat popular back in the Fifties, I guess. When I was a kid, I thought it was really cool looking. I suppose some would think it a desecration, but I rather have the memories of duck hunts with my uncle.