I picked this gun up off Gunbroker a couple weeks ago. Looks like it’s a 1944 or 45 brought back after the war by a serviceman. I consulted Rudolph before I bought it and he informed that they aren’t usually engraved. Unfortunately it has been reblued so some of the engraving is washed out. The proof marks are almost gone on the barrel. All numbers match except the bolt. The other negative is at one point it was drilled for a scope mount. The holes have been filled and according to Art they are super hard to hide. I took it apart and cleaned it last night. Everything mechanically looks good. I will load some Hartin crimp shells tonight. Short chamber loading is new to me so I’m excited to try that.
That’s an incredible find. For those that don’t know, Auto-5 production in Belgium was interrupted twice by the Germans. 1914-1918 during WWI, and 1940-1945 during WWII. But, after liberation in 1944, FN assembled some Auto-5 and Superposed shotguns from parts and sold them to American GI’s “over there”. These guns have serial numbers that aren’t documented anywhere. They all fall between the last produced in 1940 and the first of 1946. So incredibly cool, and you own one!
About the engraving. World Market Auto-5’s didn’t come with standard engraving the way Brownings did circa 1938. Browning simplified the Grade 2 (FN Type I) pattern and dropped the Grade 2 altogether. You can see the difference, especially on the left side. So your gun began life as a High Grade. I have a 1931 Grade 2 that’s similar to yours:
Your 1931 is beautiful. I am going to have to shoot a limit of roosters with mine this fall before I send it to Art to be restored. Correct me if I am wrong but a lot of the guns that were built for our troops have sling swivel and studs. I can't believe how good the wood is on this one. I am tempted to put a spare set of wood on it when I use it.
World Market guns usually do have sling swivels. I don’t know if they came standard, but they seem to predominate. You may have gotten wood meant for the American market, or it might not have been added yet when the Germans rolled up. I say it because the front swivel is on the magazine cap. Pre WWII stocks tend to have rich, dark walnut that I like a lot. You certainly got lucky there.
If it were mine, probably not. The checkering looks nice and crisp. And I really like the color, especially of the forearm. And I’m not sure that the finish will appear period correct. That said, Art did one for me that turned out just great. Here are the before and after photos:
You won’t hurt the value refinishing the stock. If you like the way the refinished stock looks better, then go for it.
Hello everyone, Congratulations Win7stw for your nice type 1 Browning auto 5. As usual, Rudolph posting are comprehensive. To complement is analysis, I will had a picture of a 1939 American market Browning auto 5. I would like to bring to your attention an interesting little detail. On the second set of pictures, I compared the marking of one of my pre-war auto-5 with the marking on Win7stw gun. You can see that the font are not the same. Either the F.N. wanted to update his look or they had the retool their production line that was damaged at the end of the war. Top gun is the Belgium Browning The top marking is the pre-war
Biz, what year is the top gun? I need to find a pre-war gun like yours or the 1931 that Rudolph posted above.
This is one of my favorite auto-5. This 1939 has a solid rib, very nice wood color and the quality of the finishing and the inletting are exceptional. Regarding the European walnut color, I suspect it has been stained.
Marc, that is absolutely beautiful. I love the figure in that stock. I really hope to find an affordable pre-war gun someday. A 3 shot would be a bonus.
I found an early Remington with the suicide safety. I believe it’s a 1906. Trying to talk myself out of it. It’s posted on my local classifieds. Here’s the link https://touch.bismanonline.com/browning_model_a5_belgian_semi_automatic_12_gauge
