Browning A5 Barrel Doesnt Fit

D

dubious

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Hi folks,

I am trying to replace the old fix choked barrel on my classy (1930s?) Browning A5. The replacement barrel has a different size "lug" on the bottom. Both say Browning made in St Louis. It looks like if I file down the width slightly it may fit? The original is a 20 gauge 2 3/4 inch shell fixed blued barrel. I ordered another browning a5 barrel which is also for 20 gauge 2 3/4 inch with ventribs and a powerchoke.

The top barrel is the original and the bottom is the replacement. Check out the lugs at the bottom.

Thanks for your help on this folks!

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Pics of the new Barrel:

Hi... they are both marked Browning 20 guage 2 and 3/4 inch shells.. heres another pic of the new barrel

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When you say it doesn't fit, how do you mean?

You may need to measure the width and thickness of the way lugs on the bottom.
 
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Well it looks like the lugs could almost fit width wise into the channel in the reciever but are about 1/8th of an inch too wide on each side. That's why I was thinking of trying to fit it. Here's another pic of bottom of the barrels. I'll measure more precisely after work.

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A good shotgun smith should be able to remove the barrel from the barrel extension, or you can ask Browning about doing it. Check the front ring, though, for both position and length; it has to be right in relation to the barrel extension.

Jim
 
One of them is a Belgian Browning, the other is a Remington Browning ("American Browning") barrel. The barrels are different, and you will not likely be able to find a smith that can fit them.

In the FWIW category, neither of them was made in St Louis, MO, and neither of them was made by Browning. St Louis, MO is where Browning had their corporate headquarters for many years, their corporate headquarters are now in Logan, UT. Browning did not and does not make the firearms sold under their name, they are importers and distributors and have been from the start (unless you want to count the few rifles JBM made before selling his falling block rifle design to Winchester).
 
Sometimes a product is changed without telling anyone ! One of Browning rifles started out with a large barrel thread . The at some time that was changed to a small thread + epoxy !
 
After looking, that is an older heavy weight gun, and the new barrel is for a light twenty. I don't know if the barrel extension can be changed from one to the other, or not.

Even if the way lugs on the barrel extension were fitted, it may still not be quite correct. The only hope would be unscrewing the barrel extensions and trading them, if they're even the same thread, and they may not be, since the heavy weight was made by Remington, and the light in Belgium by FN.
 
If they can be unscrewed, can not a new barrel be fitted to the older extension? That's a lot of work and if a rib is desired, then it will have to be soldered on afterward. Then the assembly must be blued (or reblued).
 
Gary, one would be better to use a light twenty barrel, like this, but I'm not even sure on the recoil ring being in the right place. One would think they should be the same distance from the receiver extension out to the ring, but it would have to be measured. Also, the I.D. of the ring should match so it will fit on the magazine tube correctly.

The rib should still go inside the receiver, when the barrel recoils, so I don't think it will need to be tinkered with. The rib stops at the ring in front of the extension.

Also, as far as extensions, I'm not sure if they thread to the same place. The heavy weight looks like the extension to barrel thread fit is right where the barrel runs into the extension. On the light twenty, theres that ring, so which side does the thread start on?
 
Snyper, yes, I think the locking bolt may be larger in one than the other. It looks like the square hole in the extension is different in size. I can see this, as when the lightweights came into being, they modified several things to cut the weight down. In that case, the extensions would have to be swapped, if it was to work. Something tells me they aren't swappable, but I may be wrong.
 
Well folks, the plot has thickened. It turns out I have a Browning 3 Shot version, which I gather is somewhat rare. Thats why the barrel doesn't fit. Do you guys have any idea how valuable these things are? I'm planning on having the existing barrel professionally bored out to improved cylinder for close range quail hunting. Would I be a fool to refinish the stock with linseed oil?

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Don't use Boiled Linseed Oil. There are better options.

As for the choke, I used Briley in Houston and asked for two chokes - one a bit more open than Modified and one a bit tighter. Worked out great.
 
If you have a rare gun, any changes will take away from the value.

BUT if you decide to redo the choke, it would be better to have it threaded for tubes and you would have more versatility
 
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