Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire A-5's

How come you hardly hear Browning A-5's mentioned here at the fire? I think they are one of the coolest guns ever.

Well...I suppose I've found my "weird niche".

i shot one when i was in high school, wish i still had it.

I have several. Think they're bitchin.

Folks are too attached to plastic Benelli garbage these days.

Brian.

Don't know lt, but I have two belgian sweet 16's and a jap, a solid rib 12 ga and 2 M11 with solid ribs sorta like them myself. Magnum Man

Maybe it's a regional thing. Back in the day, here in the swamps it was the gun to have.

Couldn't agree more, Brian. I'd take an old A-5 any day. Wish I still had the one I let get away. Benelli? I'll never own one. 'Sounds more like a company that makes sausage grinders than shotguns.

Good, I was beginning to think I was special.

agreed

They were very popular on the west coast too. All the old duck and brant hunters I know all owned at least one A5. The duck hunters I run into these days don't even know what an A5 is. They all shoot Benelli's or an 870 Express.

Brian.

killed alot of bobwhites with the one i had.

the A5 was my only shotgun for over a decade.

Great grouse gun.

Spot

When Benelli first put wood on the M1 Super 90 I traded a 24" barreled Montefeltro and some cash for that 26" M1 S90 and never looked back. Shot a lot of birds and fowl with that Benelli it was nice and still is.But I sure like the old A-5. Magnum Man

that's what I shoot for ducks, unless I'm shooting a double.


I have one beater 12 Ga. with a swapped out Jap barrel to shoot steel shot.....and a mint round knob with a four barrel set that I'm keeping pristine, in case I manage to somehow break my beater.

also have a mint 20 ga. magnum that is my son's.

have used a ton of 1100s and an 11-87 for ducks, but got tired of breakdowns. A-5s just keep on ticking.

When I was a kid I shot my dad's A5. When I became a man I found I could not afford an A5 so I got a used Rem M11 or two or three.

Alan

My problem with the Benelli's is that they don't have any personality. They're all pretty much the same, whereas A5's and even 870 Wingmasters all have their own individual vibe.

I'm certain that the Benelli is an awesome tool though. My taste in guns is pretty weird by most standards anyway, so take what I say with a grain of salt. On second thought, take everything I say with a grain of salt.

Brian.

They were especially popular here in Oklahoma for quail. No plug required for quail and five rounds as fast as you could pull the trigger.

I don't bird hunt much anymore, but when I do I've had to give the nod to my Gold Hunter. (Though I still enjoy shooting my Light 20 on occasion.) The Auto 5 and its Savage, Remington, and Franchi derivatives were good, but the Benelli and Browning Gold iterations really are an improvement, as much as people don't want to admit. (Fewer moving parts, more versatile.)

I have a Sweet Sixteen myself. It's a safe queen now because it was my dad's that he bought in the early 60's. We both killed a lot of pheasants in Michigan with that thing.

I envy your son. I've wanted one of those for as long as I can remember. Whenever I had money in my pocket, I always ran into the Light 20's, which for some reason never appealed to me. All the Mag 20's I have run into were wayyyyyy out of my price range.

Brian.

I agree that they are more modern, more effective tools. I can't get jonesed up to hunt with one though. I also refuse to own a 30/06 or a 270. I'm a weird dude when it comes to guns.

Brian.