Browning A5

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DougSmitty
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Browning A5

Post by DougSmitty » Wed Sep 05, 2012 2:50 pm

My uncle who hunts the world over, say its one of the most widely used guns used in Argentina shoots for doves, as few can go thousands and thousands of rounds with no cleaning.
Is this true?

Im strongly considering this gun. I want a no frills, reliable gun.


Thanks
Last edited by DougSmitty on Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

Mountaineer
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Re: Browning A5

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:36 am

As a great fan of the Auto 5 in 12 and 16, I doubt it.
Gas autos and 20/28 O/U combos would be my guess for popularity when 500 shot days happen.
The slam shuck of an Auto 5 would likely endure but the shooter would feel it.
As far as cleaning, the inertias require little and I never cleaned my gas autos much with no issues.

If you are talking about a gun for birdhunting apart from slaughter in other lands, the Auto 5 is a good one with a feel one might like.
My Sweet 16 is one with which I would last part.
You want the presently popular an overly fretted idea of very light scatterguns then other models wil fit the bill better.

DougSmitty
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Re: Browning A5

Post by DougSmitty » Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:52 am

[quote="Mountaineer"]As a great fan of the Auto 5 in 12 and 16, I doubt it.
quote]

This was an article I found othe A5 in Argentina used as a House gun for dove hutning guests, a popular choice.
The Auto guns you speak of, simply dont hold up to that abuse and are not popular, at least thats what an uncle for has hunted there for 30 yrs tells me, He shoots Over/unders mostly and other guns used regularly are A5s.



Let's Keep Our Browning A-5's Running!
By Randy Wakeman

When down in Entre Rios Province of Argentina to duck hunt, one of the local "house guns" was an old A-5. It has been shot for 25 years or so like that, never cleaned, and he was proud because "it never jammed." I believe him.

The barrel pounded the back of the receiver like a ball peen hammer with every shot. It never broke a single part in all those years, testimony to the ruggedness of the A-5 design. I'm sure it is still kicking equally hard (very enthusiastically) today.
So, I am aware of one A-5 that does kick like a barrel stabbing its way directly to the back of the receiver at full speed, which is precisely what it was doing, and likely still is. He sure loved that old thing, though.

A-5's are said to be "prone to forearm cracking." Well, after something over 50K rounds though A-5's, I've never cracked one. Coincidence? Not really.
Some 0000 sandpaper and a few moments to make sure the barrel does not contact any part of the forearm wood through the cycle, and you are golden. Finish with a few drops of Tru-Oil to seal the inside of the forearm, and you're done. Just keep that forearm nut tight; it's the only thing that holds the barrel on. Browning has beefed up that forearm nut area twice over the years. A glance at a Belgium made A-5 and a more recent Miroku made A-5 forearm will show the difference.

They are fabulous guns.
Minimal attention to simple things like bronze pieces and recoil springs keeps them humping along comfortably. Another thing that is too common is over-oiling or even greasing up the stainless steel magazine tube. STP, Mobil One, Breakfree CLP, folks just seem to want to oil something--reducing friction that is supposed to be a source of some friction. Clean and essentially dry does it; just one or two drops of Breakfree CLP or Montana Extreme Gun Oil is all (maybe more than) you need.
Browning has long recommended that with hotter loads, an A-5 be operated with its magazine tube essentially dry, just a very light film of oil. It isn't like if a drop of oil is good, a gallon of it must be better. Here's to good humpbacking!

Note: An article about the Browning A-5 shotgun can be found on the Product Review Page.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:21 am

Not sure your point or position...a bit of a confusing post(s).
Wakeman is a known fan of the Auto 5.....he is known for many Opinions in point of fact. :)
I take anything he says with a good dose of salts....he is an Internet expert of the first water and by definition.

Your mention was about guns found in high volume shooting....regardless of Wakeman's pimping or a beat-up Auto 5 in a South American gunrack, I wager my picks would be found most often these days.

Discovering Auto 5 duck guns or pheasant slayers still shucking away under years of use and abuse is common.
And an outfit like Midwest Gunworks can make any Auto 5 as new again...they did so with my Sweet 16.
Auto 5s do have their pecularities and I have seen many with splits in the forend...never mattered to me as all can be fixed.
They also do have a different feel to the slamming shuck and benefit from an upright head position....I love it all.....many do not though or do not get past it to admire the Auto 5 for the wonderful machine it is.
The Auto 5 is often a choice made for the very best of reasons....some of those being memory and esthetics.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by DougSmitty » Thu Sep 06, 2012 2:39 pm

'The Auto 5 is often a choice made for the very best of reasons....some of those being memory and esthetics.'



You forgot to mention RELIABILITY.

It is the original INERTIA driven Shotgun, same as the Benelli

As I stated, my uncle has hunted Argentina for 30 years, says it is commonly seen.

Only reliable guns need apply for those type of shoots/hunts

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Re: Browning A5

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Sep 06, 2012 3:55 pm

I did not forget anything...I chose to list only two....and we will have to disagree on the scattergun popularity of those traveling to shoot doves in droves.

The Auto 5 would be properly classed as long recoil rather than inertia....not the same as the Benelli...or Beretta Pinatil or....
Tho the inertia action itself has been around over 100 years as I recall.

With all his experience, I would suggest following Unc's advice rather than chumming the waters elsewhere.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by DougSmitty » Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:52 pm

Mountaineer wrote:I did not forget anything...I chose to list only two....and we will have to disagree on the scattergun popularity of those traveling to shoot doves in droves.
.
Indeed, you did leave out Reliability, something the A5 is known for. Guns shot hundreds of thousands of times, for decades, with NO cleaning and still functioning reliably, is a thing of beauty.

The Auto 5 would be properly classed as long recoil rather than inertia....not the same as the Benelli...or Beretta Pinatil or....
True but not true, the same in functionality.
According to the physics defenition i would say they are the same thing. Both are recoil operated but go about it a different way.
An auto gun is either Gas or recoil operating, Inertia Operates OFF of RECOIL.
I own a Benelli and its easier to clean than an A5 and perhaps slightly less recoil, thats about it.



Tho the inertia action itself has been around over 100 years as I recall.
Almost as long as the A5

The Browning Auto-5 was the first mass-produced semiautomatic shotgun.
Designed by John Browning in 1898 and patented in 1900,[2] it was produced continually for almost 100 years by several makers with production ending in 1998.

With all his experience, I would suggest following Unc's advice rather than chumming the waters elsewhere.
I like to verify and crosscheck before leaping so to speak.
Last edited by DougSmitty on Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:10 pm

I think I have stumbled upon a question strongly backed by a camoed agenda.
What did not make sense, now does.
With that knowledge I'll withdraw and know far better next time.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by DougSmitty » Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:12 pm

Mountaineer wrote:I think I have stumbled upon a question strongly backed by a camoed agenda.
What did not make sense, now does.
With that knowledge I'll withdraw and know far better next time.

I have no agenda, but Ive researched enough to know fact from fiction.

The long Recoil / Inertia operation is and operates off the same premise...RECOIL.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by duckn66 » Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:14 pm

The A5 is a wonderfully reliable gun. I have 3 of them all Belgium 2 of them round knob light 20's and one magnum 12. I love the 20's on quail.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by tdhusker » Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:54 pm

A5's use a friction ring on the magazine tube that slows the velocity of the barrel and bolt assembly. That friction recoil system works well but anyone who has hunted in extremely cold temps can tell you that you have to use the right kind of lube on the tube. You also have to use the proper number of friction rings for the loads you arre shooting.

They have nothing in common with a Benelli inertia system other than the fact they use the recoil of the fired round to cycle the action.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by P&PGunsmith » Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:49 pm

I live right next to the suisun marsh. It is brackish dirty water with duck clubs and wildlife areas. I have had numerous Browning A5 come in with problems and have asked them when the last time they cleaned them. Several had been over 20 years. The duck hunters out here love them. i could easily understand an A5 in the right conditions going 25 years without cleaning, They are strong and simple.
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Re: Browning A5

Post by honestcharlie56 » Sun Dec 02, 2012 11:39 am

Just for alittle bit of real life thought here. 25 years of not cleaning an A5 and not setting for the correct load (letting the bolt slam the receiver over and over and over.......) is pretty ignorant. Do they still work....yes, I just picked up a 1918 Model 11 (Remington's shot at the A5). When I first took this gun apart dirt was polished inside the receiver from the bolts action....lol safe to say she wasn't cleaned much. The gun reportedly still fired with a broken bolt, broken firing pin, cracked butt stock and crack forearm. Yes, its amazing what these guns will put up with......NO you shouldn't treat them this way.

P.S. There is a buffer in the back of the receiver to help absorb energy when the bolt contacts the receiver, make sure its still there.
Learning!

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Re: Browning A5

Post by tdhusker » Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:05 pm

P&PGunsmith wrote:I live right next to the suisun marsh. It is brackish dirty water with duck clubs and wildlife areas. I have had numerous Browning A5 come in with problems and have asked them when the last time they cleaned them. Several had been over 20 years. The duck hunters out here love them. i could easily understand an A5 in the right conditions going 25 years without cleaning, They are strong and simple.

I understand that you are a gunsmith but I have a good bit of practical experience with A5's. Mostly waterfowl hunting. They probably have more moving parts than any other semi-auto shotgun made right now (the old ones anyway, don't know how the new ones work). I don't know how you can call them simple. They also require as much (more in some cases) maintenance as any semi-auto I've been around to keep operating properly.

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Re: Browning A5

Post by Rockstar » Thu Dec 13, 2012 7:49 pm

tdhusker wrote:
P&PGunsmith wrote:I live right next to the suisun marsh. It is brackish dirty water with duck clubs and wildlife areas. I have had numerous Browning A5 come in with problems and have asked them when the last time they cleaned them. Several had been over 20 years. The duck hunters out here love them. i could easily understand an A5 in the right conditions going 25 years without cleaning, They are strong and simple.

I understand that you are a gunsmith but I have a good bit of practical experience with A5's. Mostly waterfowl hunting. They probably have more moving parts than any other semi-auto shotgun made right now (the old ones anyway, don't know how the new ones work). I don't know how you can call them simple. They also require as much (more in some cases) maintenance as any semi-auto I've been around to keep operating properly.
Sorry,but this just isnt true, and you just read it and now contradicted it, FROM a Gunsmith.

Some A5s have never been maintained at all, and have literally tens of thousands of rounds through them.
Cleaning them isnt really necessary for function (Inertia/Recoil) as it is with other guns, especially gas operated Semis.

A5s are nice guns.
Moving Parts isnt an issue as theyre all steel and well made. A little lube does the trick. Same with AKs
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