Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns Looking for opinions on the new Browning A5 16ga

Good or bad

I don't own one. One of my great friends does. His stock cracked and broke on the first magazine full of shells. Sent it back to Browning and they replaced it. The dealer made no friends on the deal as he accused my guy of mistreating the gun but he was just the middle man so no bearing on the gun's performance. Browning replaced both stock and fore end so they'd match. Far as I know it runs great and he hits stuff with it.

I run real A-5 Sweet Sixteens and have no need for the new one. YMMV.

Just my opinion. Smooth running gun. Like the round knob not so much the pistol grip. Like 26 inch barrel due to reciver being so long. Not the 28 inch barrel. Wood is bland. Weight between hands good with the round knob and 26 inch barrel for a carry upland gun. For doves or ducks u might want to go the other way

Just my opinion. Smooth running gun. Like the round knob not so much the pistol grip. Like 26 inch barrel due to reciver being so long. Not the 28 inch barrel. Wood is bland. Weight between hands good with the round knob and 26 inch barrel for a carry upland gun. For doves or ducks u might want to go the other way

One of the reasons I am looking at it is because of its light weight and the other is its ability to hold 5 rounds. I was looking at the Benelli Ethos in 28 ga, but it only holds 3 rounds. If I ever get to go Chukar hunting again i want more than 3 and the two I currently get with my sxs. Even mtn grouse hunting I have had late flushers after I have shot my two shells. But I do really like hunting with my sxs,

I have owned a bunch of A5's over the years even a Sweet 16.
Try as I might to like them, they just don't fit me.
Do the new ones come with a shim to adjust the pitch and cast of the stock like the Maxis does?

I have an A5 12 gauge 3.5".

The Good: Mine has been perfectly reliable with high brass 2 3/4" to 3.5" magum turkey loads. I really like the light weight and the feel. It's lighter in front without any gas mechanism under the forend. It's just the magazine tube. It makes for a very nice handling gun. It's fantastic to carry.

The Bad: It's an inertia gun and does next to nothing to soak up recoil. Even though it is a semi-auto, it kicks harder than a gas gun with the same round. If you are going to shoot alot, you may want to consider a gas gun. Not that the A5 won't take a lot of shooting - it will. But the recoil is an issue with heavy loads.

The other issue is that there is sort of a learning curve loading it. It has a speed load feature. So if the bolt is locked back and you slip one into the magazine, it will automatically feed into the chamber. You sort of really have to push the shell into the magazine pretty far with your finger to get the rim past the shell stop. If you close the bolt, then pull it back again, the bolt won't stay back unless you activate the bolt lock switch on the bottom of the receiver in front of the trigger guard. This resets the carrier and lets you lock the bolt back again. Of course, you can load the magazine while the bolt is closed then just cycle one into the chamber like a more traditional semi auto. The A5 gives you multiple options.

Don't get me wrong. It's a great gun and despite the amazing recoil, mine is going to be my main turkey gun this spring. It's well built and reliable. It's light and joy to carry. It just kicks like a mule and the loading procedure is a little different than most other gas guns when using the speed load feature, or when changing out a shell in the chamber for a different load without cycling a new shell into the chamber from the magazine (you can do that, too). It take a little getting used to.



Yes.

I have one of the current model Sweet Sixteen A5s that I bought new in 2017. Here are my thoughts on it.
-- For background, I use it only for informal clays shooting and UGB hunting - no waterfowl.
---The recoil isn't bad, certainly no more and likely less than what I experience from my other 16ga guns (M12 and 100+ year old Husq. SxS)
-- I estimate that I've fired around a couple hundred target shells thru it and maybe another 100+ heavier field loads and had ZERO malfunctions.
-- My shotgun is very light. IIRC, empty it weighs in at approx. 5 lbs & 10-12 oz.
-- The balance on this gun is OK but not great. It seems to improve once it's loaded but it doesn't match up to my SxS guns, especially when I compare it to one like my Beretta Silverhawk.
-- The wood color & figure on mine is very bland but the stock finish seems to be holding up OK and there are no cracks or splits in the wood.
-- While the buttstock is adjustment via a variety of shims and spacers, I've not messed with mine since it seems to fit me fairly EXCEPT FOR
-- The length between the pistol grip and the trigger, i.e. the trigger finger reach, is EXCESSIVELY LONG! NOTE: I do have smaller than normal sized hands but IMO it's still excessively LONG.
-- I managed to reduce the extra long 'trigger finger reach' but adding a stick-on spacer to the inside of the pistol grip. I can now maintain an almost normal grip and place the pad of my finger correctly on the trigger. BTW, I got a sorbothane insert from a company in FL: Universal Grip from God A'Grip. It seems to be holding up OK and is supposed to be easily removable.
-- I've not formally pattern tested any of the choke tubes or different shotshells but a couple of quick shots into a dirt bank indicate that the POI is reasonably well centered. Plus, I seem to break most clays just fine as long as I swing the Sweet Sixteen properly. Although being so light in weight does nothing to help my follow-thru!
-- I've not fired any steel shot or other non-toxic loads thru this shotgun, so I have no idea how well they pattern or if steel or other super hard pellets would negatively affect the steel in the barrel and choke tubes.
-- I bought a 26 inch barrel version, in part because the action/receiver length on these Sweet Sixteens is so long.
-- Overall, I think the Sweet Sixteen is a nice shotgun for us 16 gauge fans. I wish someone would make it's equivalent in a modern pumpgun!

Oh, and the trigger pull is not all that great. It's got a bit of creep. It's much better on my Browning Maxus II and Winchester SX4.

yes they do as well as LOP shims

that might work.
When I throw a A5 up to shoot, I wind up looking right into the back of the hump

Haven't been impressed with 12 ga that I've seen in tough duck hunting conditions. Have zero experience with their 16 GA, which intrigued me initially.

Thanks for great info

Look at the TriStar Viper in 16 gauge. I was impressed with it especially the cost. If I was gonna pay the kind of money for the Browning I would go old School and get a Belgium Browning Sweet 16 but that’s just me. Check out that TriStar

Is the TriStar built on a smaller action than the 12? Same for the Browning.

I believe so I may be wrong on that the. It was pretty light though

Thanks

Have a friend with a new A5 (new as in 3 or 4 years ago when he bought it). He likes it, but I think has only used it in a limited amount on tame bird hunts.



The Tri-Star Viper 16 is on a 16 frame, smaller than their 12. I've got a Viper 20 that I really like, except the trigger sucks. Many put the mcarbo spring in and sing its praises. I added that to mine, it maybe took it from 7.5 lbs down to 7 lbs. Weight of the gun will not trip the trigger. Precision Sports in Wisconsin will work the trigger group over for $75 with a week or 2 turnaround. 3.5-4 lbs is what I've been reading elsewhere from them.

Good. Very light nice handling gun. Hard to beat for carrying all day upland bird hunting.

I traded min for a 20 gauge Benelli M2…

Even Art from Art’s gun shop pointed me to his 20 gauge A5 and said it was lighter than my old 68 Sweet sixteen…

they are re great guns but hard to find ammo for, and you don’t want to use them for duck unless you buy a Japanese barrel and put the other one up.