Thinking about buying an A-5....

[SCDeac82]

Hi Guys:

I like Browning guns, and think it would be neat to own an A5. I will shoot some skeet & trap, plus probably take it into the duck blind eventually.

I'm a history and gun fan.

Yeah, Ive heard they kick and can be finicky...Questions:

1) Should I lean toward a Belgian or Jap model?

2) Saw a newer model 12 ga. (Japan made) today at a pawn shop in very nice condition, priced @ $879. Is this reasonable?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

JB

 

[oregunner]

Hold out for a new one. http://www.browning.com/library/infonews/detail.asp?id=372
Mark

 

[lamarw]

For the heck of it, buy a Pre-WWII model. Why Not? Another thought is to buy one made the same year you were born. Why Not?

The price you quoted does sound way high to me.

I scored a decent one (all original- make sure all the main parts and larger screws have matching serial numbers) from 1939 and only paid $300.00. I would not want the Japanese or the Remington made models only because they just don't seem right to me. I think you are looking for one not as a collector or a full time shooter, but more because you simply want it for what it represents as part of shotgun history.

Research and enjoy learning about them before buying one.

 

[Slugo]

the original A-5 is an interesting gun, but...

it's been left in the dust by today's better gas and inertia driven autoloaders. I own quite a few Brownings, but refused ever to add an A-5 to my collection. Has the balance and grace of a sewer pipe, but it's beautifully made. It belongs in the Smithsonian Institute with the other historically significant firearms. It's day is long gone my friend, long gone.

Let me start; Beretta, Browning, Winchester, Benelli to name a few higher quality autoloaders. Read, ask and learn...

 

[jrothWA]

Have two A5's, 12ga MAG & Std. 16,

both are heavy BUT seeing that they can handle all ammo go in their favor.

THe best one to get if the Japan model as it was the last made, Belgium are good but if it not a beater you may ot want it on a rough hunt.

THe 12MAg is a heavier receiver that standard receiver and barrel DO NOT interchange between the two. Same receiver will take any barrel for that receiver.

As far as the statement about being in museum, go to a used gun rack at Cabelas, as note how many A5's are ther against the new current crop.
VERY FEW!

Parts a getting scare but browning still list them.

Got the 12MAG for when I got involved in gold prospecting, wanted something
to work and deliver. Told a buddy what I did and he a retired Sheriff's reserve deputy, glowingly approved.

 

[columbia_shotguneer]

My dad's cousin had one of the Remington versions of the A-5. To this day I can remember him killing many deer with that gun with 2 3/4 magnums #1 buckshot, had 20 pellets in the load. Loved the hump back look!

 

[Clark]

I am a big fan of the A5.
I hunted with pump shotguns from 1965 until 1998 when I got an A5.

Not all A5s are the same. I like the safety in front of the trigger, and not behind it. But that is not a deal killer. If you take every shotgun you can get your hands on to the range and shoot trap, you will likely find the A5 is close to a never miss gun.

 

[SCDeac82]

Thanks for the comments guys. Doesn't seem like aanyone is "neutral" on the A5.

Clark, which models have the safety in front of the trigger guards?

Older, newer, Belgian, or Japanese?

Thanks.

JB

 

[Orphanedcowboy]

There are several things to consider before buying an Auto-5. What do you want from the gun? Collector, shooter, hunter or all three?

Value can be any where from $400 - $1500 depending on what you want and how bad you want it. I have several light 12's, standard 12's and magnum 12's that were bought in the $500 range.

My favorite of all of the 20 something Auto-5s I own is a 1957 standard 12 with high figured wood. I paid $495 for it at a local pawn shop, has a IC choked ribbed barrel and it is all original and makes a great dove gun.

They stopped the front strap safety in the early 50's I believe, I only have a couple and I think the latest one is a '51 model the other being a '29, the inside the trigger guard safety was stopped around the 1920's IIRC, but not 100% sure since my Shirley book isn't handy. I have a 1909 model 12ga that is being restored, I paid $325 for it with the bluing completely gone but no pitting or cracks and someone hunted it hard, just wish I could here the stories it could tell.

Patience is a good thing to have when looking for Auto-5s to buy, because for every deal there is a better one right around the corner.

 

[SCDeac82]

Dear Cowboy:

Thanks for the input.

Would love to see a pic of your favorite if you have the tecnology.

Sounds like you are one of the A5 cognescenti.

JB

 

[redrick]

I have a 60's model A5 12ga. FC, that my Dad gave me when I was about 10. He paid $75 for it then used.

I hear people talk about how heavy it is and how bad the recoil is, but it's the only shotgun that I have used in the field since I was a kid. Shooting everything from buckshot to low brass.

It does show a lot of wear from many years of use. I was thinking of retiring it for that reason. So I have been looking at the new shotguns out there. I have not found one that I like better than my A5 as far as how it fits me and comes up to my eye.

I joined a new hunting club this year and when we came out of the woods after the first drive for lunch. I had my A5 leaning on a tree. Everybody that saw it had to come look at it and always someone asks, if I want to sell it or someone says never sell it.

 

[johnbt]

"it's been left in the dust"

Good one, you had me going there for a second.

I duck hunted some with a man who used an A5 he'd been given while he was in high school in the '70s. I don't think it had been cleaned until I did it. There was stuff sprouting in the back of the receiver.

Be careful buying an older one with a fixed choke if you're going to shoot steel shot. I believe the guy paid over $300 for a new barrel with choke tubes. Yes, he could have had tubes installed in the original barrel, but he wanted it left original.

My uncle had a first year A5 Magnum he used for turkeys. It was way too heavy for walking the fields and foothills while bird hunting. Reliable and strong, just heavy.

John

 

[Clark]

I think the old Belgians have the safety in front.

1) In 1998 I got a 12 ga that had been re blued for $150 at a pawn shop.
Wow, was I impressed with that shotgun.

2) 3) In 1998 I got a 12 ga and 20 ga Rem 11 [A5 clones] for $62 each, and the 20 ga looked unfired. They were being carried toward a gun show.

4) In 2007 off a gun show table I got a 3" mag 12 ga A5 with screw in chokes with the muzzle swaged by Stan Baker for $400.

5) In 2007 I got an old A5 with factory original cylinder choke bore 23" barrel for $200. It was carried into a gun show. The guy kept telling me that the barrel was worth more than that.

The first two shotguns are never miss guns, but the last three I can't hit anything. With steel shot and full chokes, the pattern is so tight, it is like shooting a bird out of the sky with a rifle... they have to be sighted in.