In about 1960 my grandfather gave me his 16 gauge Browning FN Belgium Auto 5. It is Serial Number 90646. Solid rib, Factory fancy walnut stock
It has the pre-1930-style front-to-back sliding safety mechanism through the front of the trigger guard. But according to one reply on “A couple Browning A-5 problems” thread, the SN range for 16ga A5's made in 1930 is from 82751 to 90500, which would put the gun I have in 1931, I guess.
When I tried a year or two ago to use the Browning Web site to date the manufacture of this gun I had a bit of a problem because the Browning Web site seemed to show some different number/dating rules for 16 gauge Automatic 5’s from the other gauges.
Best I could figure it I thought it was a 1931 manufacture based on that chart so that seems consistent with the other post. My grandfather never mentioned what year he actually bought it, but he and my dad both confirmed (and the gun shows it) that Grandpa custom ordered it from the Browning Company with a fancy-grade Walnut stock.
Anyway I joined in the family pheasant hunts every fall through the 1960s and maybe into the early 1970’s shooting with this gun. Seems like our family was a 16 gauge family, because my dad also used a 16 gauge, a Winchester Model 12. His Model 12 (which I have) is serial 628799. It is prominently marked both 2¾ FULL on the barrel and 2¾ on the bottom of the receiver underneath the serial number.
My dad and I both used the same 16 gauge ammunition on those hunts. I would have sworn it was 2-3/4 inch ammunition we used. The Browning performed just perfectly for me all those years. I do not remember a single jam or failure to eject or any malfunction in all the years I was hunting. Seems like all the years I was shooting it, either it MUST have been chambered for 2-3/4 inch, or I must remember wrong and we used 2-1/2 inch ammunition? It was 40 years ago I was shooting it, so my memory sure ain’t perfect.
The Browning’s barrel is not marked as for 2-3/4 inch ammunition. The receiver ejection port looks perfectly smoothly machined, no rough edges or other evidence of the injection port having been enlarged aftermarket for 2-3/4 inch shells, and THE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF THE EJECTION PORT IN THE RECEIVER IS EXACTLY 2-9/16 INCHES. Neither my dad nor my grandfather ever said anything about it having to be converted from 2-9/16 chambering (or 2-1/2) to handle 2-3/4 inch ammunition.
But could I have been shooting 2-3/4 inch ammunition cleanly through it all those years while it is chambered for 2-9/16?
It has the pre-1930-style front-to-back sliding safety mechanism through the front of the trigger guard. But according to one reply on “A couple Browning A-5 problems” thread, the SN range for 16ga A5's made in 1930 is from 82751 to 90500, which would put the gun I have in 1931, I guess.
When I tried a year or two ago to use the Browning Web site to date the manufacture of this gun I had a bit of a problem because the Browning Web site seemed to show some different number/dating rules for 16 gauge Automatic 5’s from the other gauges.
Best I could figure it I thought it was a 1931 manufacture based on that chart so that seems consistent with the other post. My grandfather never mentioned what year he actually bought it, but he and my dad both confirmed (and the gun shows it) that Grandpa custom ordered it from the Browning Company with a fancy-grade Walnut stock.
Anyway I joined in the family pheasant hunts every fall through the 1960s and maybe into the early 1970’s shooting with this gun. Seems like our family was a 16 gauge family, because my dad also used a 16 gauge, a Winchester Model 12. His Model 12 (which I have) is serial 628799. It is prominently marked both 2¾ FULL on the barrel and 2¾ on the bottom of the receiver underneath the serial number.
My dad and I both used the same 16 gauge ammunition on those hunts. I would have sworn it was 2-3/4 inch ammunition we used. The Browning performed just perfectly for me all those years. I do not remember a single jam or failure to eject or any malfunction in all the years I was hunting. Seems like all the years I was shooting it, either it MUST have been chambered for 2-3/4 inch, or I must remember wrong and we used 2-1/2 inch ammunition? It was 40 years ago I was shooting it, so my memory sure ain’t perfect.
The Browning’s barrel is not marked as for 2-3/4 inch ammunition. The receiver ejection port looks perfectly smoothly machined, no rough edges or other evidence of the injection port having been enlarged aftermarket for 2-3/4 inch shells, and THE MAXIMUM LENGTH OF THE EJECTION PORT IN THE RECEIVER IS EXACTLY 2-9/16 INCHES. Neither my dad nor my grandfather ever said anything about it having to be converted from 2-9/16 chambering (or 2-1/2) to handle 2-3/4 inch ammunition.
But could I have been shooting 2-3/4 inch ammunition cleanly through it all those years while it is chambered for 2-9/16?