Home Forums Gear Free Classifieds What’s it worth? Belgium A5

I have a Belgium made Browning A5 born in 1976. It is the 3” Magnum model, 28” Ribbed barrel. Full choke I believe (2 stars). Very good condition. Has one scratch on the barrel in front of the fore end and a small mark on the left side of the stock. I will add a couple pics when I get home from Ohio.

Thank you and Happy Turkey Day!!

I believe that 2 ** would be modified and would be more desirable in my humble opinion.

Ok. I wasn’t quite sure. Thought it meant full.

The market is frowning on both standard weight and magnum A5s these days (the Light Twelve brings a bit more than these); I presume your gun is a 12 gauge.

In very good condition it would be tough to get much more than $500 for your gun, as these older guns aren’t suitable for steel shot and don’t cycle light target loads. It is possible to get them to shoot lighter loads through the use of a worn out recoil spring, but not many know about this.

Not sure about the Mags. 20s are apparently made of platinum, based on the prices I see.

I paid $750 for a very nice 30” VR Light Twelve about five years ago from this seller:

http://shootinginvestments.com/Shotguns/Shotguns-Brownings/Shotguns-Brownings-A5%20Shotguns

Pm sent.

Right now, there’s roughly three categories of Mag 12s:

the pristine/collector grades and special versions/grades, which bring the premium $…>$1000 category

The beat to hell examples that folks buy to rebuild into a special purpose version, which is the <$500 category.

…and the rest, which can vary from $500-$900, depending on condition, manufacture, barrel length, and choke.

I’d put yours in the $625-$800 range, IF as described.

Caveat is: you might add 10-20% in these crazy times, for the right buyers.

Just off the cuff. I used to collect and speak with HM Shirley quite often, back when he was THE expert. I don’t profess to know much, but I did listen and have some good references and a god bit of Auto 5 dealings..

My buddy just sold a stack of Begium A5s new in the box for close to.3 grand each.

A5 prices are up from a short time ago.

Look on gunbroker and see what they're selling for.

Does 1star indicate a full choke?

hh4whiskey nailed it.

I don’t shoot steel very often, but sent mine to Briley for tubes. Paid a touch more for steel-compatible ones. Anyone shooting steel probably wants to be able to tweak the pattern anyway; same for TSS. Older guns may be over-choked a bit for modern shells using shotcups and buffers too. That job is about $300, which puts the total up there with some nice new ones, but A5-types like the nice checkered wood, hand engraving, and wonderful old-school mechanism. I sure get a lot of interest in mine from other shooters.

Just bought a Light Twelve at pawn shop for 500. Out the door. G xxxx serial #. I say 80% good. Don't see any stars on this one. Looked with better eyes two ** on it.

GLWS

Yes, it does.

Here are the designations
* full l, *- Imp Mod ll, ** Mod lll, **- imp Cyl llll, **$ Sheet lllll *** Cyl llllll
The hash marks are for choke tubes

It is a full choke. 1 star. I was looking at it wrong but I thought it would be obvious that a 3” magnum would be a full choke