Bill Akins
New member
I've had three Remington 11's. One with the button safety made in the 1940's that was a two in the tube ONLY "sportsman" that I converted to a five shot tube using another tube, spring and fore end. Had a friend who wanted it so badly that I sold it to him. Still have the two with the in the trigger guard "suicide safeties". One with a Cutts comp and one without. So I'm already familiar with the recoil spring and friction ring settings. Of course these are basically the same as the Browning Auto 5, but I never actually had an Auto 5 until now. I picked this one up at auction recently and it's a Belgium. According to its serial number on the receiver (that matches the solid rib barrel) it was made in 1940. Must have been just before the Belgium ones stopped production due to the Nazi invasion. 1940 Belgium production serial numbers were...
1940: Belgium serial number range 218809 - 224596. Mine falls about 1000 before the last number. Dating from 1940 I can't (shouldn't) shoot steel shot.
12 gauge. Solid rib barrel with Cutts compensator is 25 3/4" with a near excellent bright strong bore. Factory marked (***) to indicate the choke is cylinder bore, which means it has no choke and that is somewhat unusual and makes me wonder if it is possible the Cutts comp was installed at the factory. However I do not know if the Belgiums ever factory installed Cutts comps. But if they didn't, then it seems unusual and strange to me that the gun came from the factory with no barrel choke of any kind. Most of the auto 5's I've seen are either full or modified choke barrels.
I'm not a big fan of vent or solid ribs (that this one has), thinking all they do is increase weight. But I'll take a solid rib over a vent rib because rust forms in the vents on vent ribs and is hard to get to. But this solid rib one had several things going for it that I really liked since this will be a shooter and not particularly a collectors piece. Having fixed a few cracks in my Remy 11's from previous owners not knowing how to set the friction rings or using weak recoil springs, I really liked the aftermarket Bell and Carlson synthetic stock with cushy recoil pad and fore end since I won't ever have to worry about it getting cracks like the wood ones do. I'm also a big fan of the old Cutts compensators. I know folks say they are loud to those standing to the side of you while you shoot, but I like them. The Cutts comp also has the advantage of allowing me to set my friction ring to one setting and shoot all loads without having to change the friction ring setting. See this drawing for one setting for all loads using a Cutts comp.....
I have the same Cutts comp on one of my Remy 11's too. I also think it aids in the gun's swing on clays.
Cutts compensators have not been in production for a long time. Although unless factory installed, serious collectors say it decreases the value of the gun. But as time marches on, and Cutts comps become more scarce than they already are, I believe not only will the Cutts comps themselves increase in value, but may increase the value of the gun. I believe the day will come when instead of decreasing the value of the gun, it will instead INCREASE the value because there were a lot more auto 5's without the Cutts comps than with. But whether they do or not, I still like them and their retro look. Recently I saw one go on Gunbroker for $100.00 just for the Cutts tube body without any chokes to go with it! I also checked on the Bell and Carlson stocks and they are about $100.00 too. So if I just bought the Cutts comp without any chokes for it, and bought the Bell and Carlson stock, that would be $200.00 right there and since I only have a grand total of $318.00 out the door on the gun, that means I only really paid $118.00 for the gun. Since I got the gun for $265.00 auction win, with $40.00 S&H, $3.00 Ship insurance and my dealer who's a friend only charged me $10.00 for the transfer fee, my total out the door was $318.00
It also had a tube cap with built in sling swivel and the Bell and Carlson butt stock has the attachment for a sling swivel too. Nice to not have to carry it all the time and to be able to sling it.
With it being Belgium made, pre war, with the Cutts comp and synthetic Bell and Carlson stock that won't ever crack, sling swivel tube cap, no rust to speak of, I think I got a real nice deal for what I paid. It's in real nice condition too with almost no rust except for a few pin pricks of light rust that I can probably remove with some fine steel wool or using a wood wedge with oil. Already fired it and it operated flawlessly. So I FINALLY got myself the humpback Browning auto 5 to go with my Remy 11's. I like antique guns because they are all machined steel with no plastic trigger guards or metal alloys and if properly taken care of, will last literally for centuries. Plus the fit and workmanship of those bygone days you just don't get on production guns anymore. Here's the pics.
.
1940: Belgium serial number range 218809 - 224596. Mine falls about 1000 before the last number. Dating from 1940 I can't (shouldn't) shoot steel shot.
12 gauge. Solid rib barrel with Cutts compensator is 25 3/4" with a near excellent bright strong bore. Factory marked (***) to indicate the choke is cylinder bore, which means it has no choke and that is somewhat unusual and makes me wonder if it is possible the Cutts comp was installed at the factory. However I do not know if the Belgiums ever factory installed Cutts comps. But if they didn't, then it seems unusual and strange to me that the gun came from the factory with no barrel choke of any kind. Most of the auto 5's I've seen are either full or modified choke barrels.
I'm not a big fan of vent or solid ribs (that this one has), thinking all they do is increase weight. But I'll take a solid rib over a vent rib because rust forms in the vents on vent ribs and is hard to get to. But this solid rib one had several things going for it that I really liked since this will be a shooter and not particularly a collectors piece. Having fixed a few cracks in my Remy 11's from previous owners not knowing how to set the friction rings or using weak recoil springs, I really liked the aftermarket Bell and Carlson synthetic stock with cushy recoil pad and fore end since I won't ever have to worry about it getting cracks like the wood ones do. I'm also a big fan of the old Cutts compensators. I know folks say they are loud to those standing to the side of you while you shoot, but I like them. The Cutts comp also has the advantage of allowing me to set my friction ring to one setting and shoot all loads without having to change the friction ring setting. See this drawing for one setting for all loads using a Cutts comp.....
I have the same Cutts comp on one of my Remy 11's too. I also think it aids in the gun's swing on clays.
Cutts compensators have not been in production for a long time. Although unless factory installed, serious collectors say it decreases the value of the gun. But as time marches on, and Cutts comps become more scarce than they already are, I believe not only will the Cutts comps themselves increase in value, but may increase the value of the gun. I believe the day will come when instead of decreasing the value of the gun, it will instead INCREASE the value because there were a lot more auto 5's without the Cutts comps than with. But whether they do or not, I still like them and their retro look. Recently I saw one go on Gunbroker for $100.00 just for the Cutts tube body without any chokes to go with it! I also checked on the Bell and Carlson stocks and they are about $100.00 too. So if I just bought the Cutts comp without any chokes for it, and bought the Bell and Carlson stock, that would be $200.00 right there and since I only have a grand total of $318.00 out the door on the gun, that means I only really paid $118.00 for the gun. Since I got the gun for $265.00 auction win, with $40.00 S&H, $3.00 Ship insurance and my dealer who's a friend only charged me $10.00 for the transfer fee, my total out the door was $318.00
It also had a tube cap with built in sling swivel and the Bell and Carlson butt stock has the attachment for a sling swivel too. Nice to not have to carry it all the time and to be able to sling it.
With it being Belgium made, pre war, with the Cutts comp and synthetic Bell and Carlson stock that won't ever crack, sling swivel tube cap, no rust to speak of, I think I got a real nice deal for what I paid. It's in real nice condition too with almost no rust except for a few pin pricks of light rust that I can probably remove with some fine steel wool or using a wood wedge with oil. Already fired it and it operated flawlessly. So I FINALLY got myself the humpback Browning auto 5 to go with my Remy 11's. I like antique guns because they are all machined steel with no plastic trigger guards or metal alloys and if properly taken care of, will last literally for centuries. Plus the fit and workmanship of those bygone days you just don't get on production guns anymore. Here's the pics.
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