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

The "American Browning" seems to be popping up quite a bit lately.

Bit more like a M11 than an A-5 IMO.. but I really like my Model 11s as well.

my dads (rip) auto-5, is still in the fam-damly with the receit(1962 369.00 $) engraved vent rib.....he gave me the "rem 11" he was using.....when i was 11. at the time- ducks in the back waters of the "Chippewa flowage" fear/ed me . bty my "11" has a poly choke...shoot in close over decoys, turn the choke and wack high flyin geese on the way back to the truck...

I kinda like 'em. Make mine Belgian.

When I was a kid most of the hunters had either an A5 or a model 12. A few doubles sprinkled in there as well.

My A5 was stolen from the house years ago and I now regret not having replaced it.

Nice work Rick, I would say the gun fits you nicely

I've never shot an actual Browning A5, but last summer grandpa traded me a bucket of tomatoes for a Savage copy that he got as payment for auctioning an estate sale. Took it home and shot 5 clays off the back porch. The damned ported poly-choke liked to have deafened me, but I hit the clays.

On the poly-choke side of this debate, dad has one on his 20 guage 870 Wingmaster. I was probably 12 or 13 years old before I knew that shotguns came any other way. Hard telling how many quail he has killed with that gun. I would never add a polychoke to a new gun, but on that old 20 guage, it fits.

I think that when mine was made in 1946 it might have been hard to get FN to make A5s. Remington was up and running and could produce sporting arms again right after the war.

Ernie

Interestingly enough Dad learned to hunt quail with a guy that was a bit better off than he was as a kid. Had a 12 in 12, and an A5 in 16. When that guy died suddenly he could not afford the 16, but could the model 12. Thats what I have from Dad. Later in life we each bought an A5, japan, but in 12 instead. And then found a super friend that had a belgian one in 16 that I used once.. and he gave it to me with a plaque on it, in memory of my father. That gun gets a bit wet at times when I use it though....

Guess I got 2 of the popular ones from Dad's era.

Jeff

A long time ago, I was traveling back from a doctor's appointment in San Francisco. I stopped into a little pawn shop in a small town that occasionaly had guns. I walked in and something on the gun rack caught my eye, so I asked to see it. It turned out to be a Savage version of the A5........fully factory engraved with game scenes and really beautiful wood. The gun wasn't in the greatest shape ever (it had been hunted with a lot), but it was still a beautiful gun. It had a polychoke though, and needed to be reblued and refinished. I thought, "I've already got plenty of shotguns that I hardly shoot." So I handed it back to the owner and resumed my trip home. A day or two later, I thought "Damn, I should have bought that." A month or two later, I was down in that area again, and I stopped in specificly to buy the gun. Turns out the shop owners had retired and closed down the shop.

They were asking $75 for the gun, and said they'd take $50 as it had been there for years. Not one of my brightest moments, that's for certain.

Brian.

Have one in 12 Ga. 2 3/4 that I duck hunt with and one in 20 Ga. 3" that I dove and squirrel hunt with.

I never held a shotgun that pointed better until I put a Benelli Super BlackEagle in my hands.

The old A-5 is still the 2nd best handling shotgun around today IMO.

JM

Rick, should walked up oin that moutain behiend you in the second pic. If that is where i think it is i have shot quite a few chuckar on it.

I like double guns, be it O/U or SxS but the A-5 is the only autoloader that I like. They are a classic.

Mart

I have several different Benellis and still always go back to my old reliable A5 12 magnum. It might be heavy to pack around, but it has never let me down. It may not look that great any more but it shoots great. I also have 2 sweet 16's a light 20 and light 12. I guess I kind of of like them.

JM...just curious. SBE I or II? I'm in the hunt and frankly leaning towards SBE I.

David

David, look at the Super 90's, unless you just have to shoot 3.5"'s. Same Montefeltro action and I actually prefer them.

Rick, that A-5 of yours is a killin machine! I have recently acquired a standard A-5 in 16 gauge and have been looking at a Sweet Sixteen at a local pawn shop, but not sure if I want to invest in a second 16 gauge.

damn your greedy- you got them in round and flat knob. i want some more too. you wanna benelli. i love that blonde. really hot. is she sweet?

David, My son shoots a I. That gun is awesome buddy.

JM

There is not much better than a round knob blonde!

wouldn't you like something cold and modern with a plastic junk handle