Home Forums Birds & Dogs Shotguns FN Browning A-5 question?

I just picked up a 1953 FN Browning A-5 in very good condition and I was wondering about the value of the gun? I paid $100 for it, which I knew was a good deal just not sure how much of one.

Any thing unique I should know about this shotgun before I start shooting it?

SS

Man, I hate to tell ya, they saw you coming. You got taken for a ride and over paid about $25 for that old mule. Just to make you feel better I will give you your money back plus $50!

Condition and configuration are very important, and you've told us almost nothing. So presently it's worthless.

Any A5 is worth at least $100 unless it was burned in a fire, run over by a street roller, etc.

Condition of original metal and wood are VERY important. Also important are choke, barrel length, Vent Rib, alterations, etc.

Give us some more details or better yet pictures.

Sorry for the lack of pictures guys. The gun has a 28" barrel, no vent rib, and I can't find a choke designation stamped on it. It is marked "Acier Special" and is a 2 3/4" chamber. As far as I can tell the wood is all original. Small surface scratch on the buttstock. Bluing is very good-excellent except for on the bottom of the barrel where there are some rub marks from the barrel sliding back and forth when shot. I'll try and take some decent pics when I get home.

I believe a single asterisk * on the barrel represents Full choke.

I assume 12 ga.?

Sounds like a plain Jane Auto-V, that configuration may have been the most common. Regardless, they are fantastic guns, and built like a Swiss tank. Your $100 was a steal. Even $300 would be a decent price.

Good find!

Yeah.. Remove the cap, fore-end and barrel. Check the friction piece, spring and rings.. Ensure they're in good condition and the gaps on the friction piece/spring are NOT aligned.. Clean the magazine tube and lightly lube with machine oil before reassembly.. After it's back together, check the receiver face and barrel extention.. They should be mated. If the extension protrudes from the receiver face, you most likely will get misfires until corrected.. A suitably sized O-ring placed between the fore-end wood and the barrel shroud will bring it back into place..

Have fun.. Ya did good..

Oil it once in a while as instructed by redneck then shoot the [bleep] out of it.

If it cycles fine with high vel loads but doesn't with target loads, simply reverse the brass friction ring. Switch it back when going back to "high brass" loads. Good advice above re: lubing it. Keep it cleaned and properly lubed and it will never stutter. Good buy!

Hey guys. I finally got a chance to take the A-5 to the range and run some loads through it. It fires just fine, but it doesn't kick out the empty. Am I looking at an ejector issue here or would a good cleaning fix it up?

ETA: I tried field and target loads and neither one would kick out the empty.


SS

It's been a while since i've had mine apart. The A-5s have a what they call a friction ring, that is reversed when you are shooting low brass loads. When you take the forend off it is easy to see, a metal ring, about the size off an O-ring. Do'nt know if that is your problem.

I am guessing you are shooting a pretty light load? more than likely you need to take off the forend and adjust the rings to your load. You will likely find these same instructions on a label in the forend when you remove it. adding a light coating of oil to the magazine tube while you are in there won't hurt either.

http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=105

And don't forget to ensure, upon reassembly, that you do NOT line up the gaps in the rings.. The gap on one should be opposite the gap on the other..

Also, ensure you oil/lube the magazine tube's exterior where the mainspring and collars ride - in order to function correctly, it needs to be lubed..