Ok, this a follow-up on my progress with my A5 mentioned in this thread; http://browningowners.com/forum/index.php?threads/adding-speedload-feature-to-old-a5.4628/ I don't know if anyone is interested but I didn't want to continue in that thread since it was initially about speedload conversion, no need to clutter it with this stuff. So, let me give you an update on what I've done with my A5 so far. Keep in mind that this is a low budget project, and this gun will be used as a real wear and tear hunting gun so I'm trying my best to keep it going with the original parts. If it breaks in half or ends up at the bottom of a river, I won't be crying because I lost money. In the end, I paid little less than $50 for this shotgun, and I've recently seen a really good specimen from the same era at a local dealer for less than $100. If it weren't for the bureaucratic nightmare of getting a gun permit in Sweden I would simply switch guns or get another one. Also, in Sweden you will be lucky if you find a gunsmith who has ever even touched an A5 so any work done by a gunsmith would not only likely to be several times more costly than the gun itself but also a shot in the dark when it comes to craftmanship. I therefore decided to do as much as I can myself. Having said that, this shotgun has already accompanied me on both dove- and duckhunts and have brought down several birds. It's really nice to shoot and I'm already using it more or less as my primary shotgun. But if I'm going to spend money, I rather spend it on getting a newer one with the crossbolt safety, speed load feature and steel proof barrel. Anyway, I got to work repairing the several cracks in the forend. When I was done with one and took it out and fired it, another one appeared so I fixed that one, then another one appeared and so on. This went on for a while, but now I got a forend without cracks. I used heat to even out the dents in the wood and sanded the rest. For some reason the stock was really pale on one side and dark on the other, so even though I hate doing it, I used stain (Is that the right word? The liquid you use to color wood?) to even out the color. In the end the result was ok, much better than before at least. The checkering was almost gone anyway, so I sanded it down. I will eventually get some checkering tools and maybe try them out on this gun, but I don't really care from a functional point of view so there's no rush. It would look a lot better with checkering though. Then there was the case of the broken action spring tube. I finally got it loose from the stock. All it took was a slow and steady pull, the hole in the stock was full of grease and dirt so the only thing holding the tube was vacuum basically. The tube seemed in good shape after all, the plug was split in half though. You're probably going to hate me for this, but I used epoxy glue to fix the plug and an equivalent to JB Weld to reattach the tube. It seems ok so far and I thought since the gun worked even when the tube was loose in the stock it wouldn't be a disaster if it came loose again. If it does, I will get a new tube and take it straight to a gunsmith. Lastly I got to work on the stock. It was so badly banged up that I could not get all of the dents out. But I don't care really. Used glue on the worst dents and worked sanding dust in. I had noticed before that the stock was pretty loose. It could be moved a couple of millimeters sideways. Now I saw why, a crack had split the stock in half where the wood meets the receiver. The wood had split apart more and more over the years and probably swelled as well, so the wood didn't even align with the receiver anymore. The crack can be seen just to the right of the center of the stock in the picture below; But I wasn't going to give up now. I took a saw to the stock and widened the crack enough to get some glue in there and to allow me to force the wood back to its original position. All this was done by estimating how much wood to remove, so I had no idea if it would work or not. I glued the crack and clamped the stock hard. This morning I took the clamp off and tried the stock on. It fits! No wobbling stock and the wood is aligned with the receiver again! To celebrate I ordered a replacement buttplate, sadly it was not in stock so it will probably be a while until I get it, so until then the old dried out one has to stay on. So now I have not only a functioning shotgun, it's without cracks and loose parts again. And the only thing I will replace is the buttplate. The quality on these guns is simply amazing. That it worked at all after 87 years with all that dirt and rust, and that it can be repaired with minimal work and means. Just amazing. This saturday I will go duck hunting again, and the trusty A5 will be there with me. I will post some photos of it when it's finished if anyone wants to see. Right now I'm applying linseed oil to the stock so it wont be reassembled for a few days. Just to give you an idea of the state it was in when I got it, here's some photos from when I took it apart for the first time to clean it. Nice, huh?
Wow, pretty nasty. My first Auto-5 was almost as bad. It looks to be fine mechanically so I'm sure it cleaned up well. Sounds like you did a great job with the stock. From the previous photos I think the stain (yes, that's the right word) could only be an improvement. Sanding off the remaining checkering might make it harder to recut though. If the JB Weld holds (don't count on it) you'll have a great shooter that you'll pick over your prettier guns when it's nasty out. However, that time bomb in the stock could ruin your hunt if you don't have a back up gun handy. Looking forward to more pictures.
Yeah I know it's a long shot with the JB Weld. But if it breaks it probably will end up like before, still working even though the tube is only supported by the stock. And I always have a back up gun close by. There was only traces left of the old checkering on some spots, so it wouldn't do any good if you try to recut anyway. Since I don't really care about the appearence of this gun I thought it could be a good test subject to learn checkering on. Will report back with pictures.
A short update and a question... I just bought the other A5 I mentioned before in this thread. I was finally in the neighborhood again of the weapons dealer where I found one a couple of months ago, and it was (not suprisingly for Sweden) still sitting on the shelf. I got another look at it and it seems in really good condition. Really good. It's also made in 1928 but looks like it never left the house, at least compared to mine. Paid $100 for it. Bluing is almost intact and the barrel is spotless. The wood is intact but the forend has been repaired at some point, although by a professional if you ask me. The only thing bad about it that I saw was the buttplate, luckily a brand new one arrived in the mail recently that I was going to install on the one I have. I think I will keep it for the new one. Now, because of the rigorously stupid gun laws in Sweden, I won't be able to keep both A5:s. For the same reason, I won't have the gun for at least 6-8 weeks... Not a joke. So the plan is to scrap the one I have and keep the barrel and all spare parts except for the receiver which I will have to turn in to the police. So the old A5 will basically become a source for spare parts and an extra barrel. Both barrels have full choke but I will open one up to make the gun more versatile. So my question is, are all parts interchangeable on old A5:s? At least if they are in the same "generation" as the two that I will soon have?
Congratulations on your new-to-you Auto-5. Sorry you can't keep both, a nice gun and a project gun. I don't understand why you have to turn the old one in to the police instead of selling it back to the dealer. It doesn't make sense. Anyway, make sure you get ALL of the parts off of your old receiver, including the Carrier Latch, Button, Cutoff, Shell Stop, and springs. And don't lose the screws -- they're no longer available since the switch to roll pins 50 some years ago. The Magazine might require heat to remove, but get that too. To finally answer your question, I believe the parts should interchange with little or no fitting required. Let us know how it works out. And don't forget to post pictures.
Wow...such laws! It makes me a little sick knowing a receiver of any kind must be destroyed but I wish you well on your project. I'd like to see pics of the newer A 5.
Ok so I finally got my hands on my new Auto-5. The reason it took over two months was mainly because of the tedious process of getting a gun license in Sweden. So I ended up paying around $120 for it, and it's in pretty good shape. I havent fired it yet but from the looks of it I'm sure that it will work just fine. I seriously doubt that more than a thousand rounds, if that even, have passed through this gun in its 87 years of service. It's barely dirty inside and judging from the screws it probably hasn't been disassembled much, almost all other A5:s I've seen have completely ruined screws from people using the wrong tools. The bluing is in good shape, a bit worn in places but what else can you expect. The front sight bead is missing and the wood looks healthy but was "restored" by someone who sanded the checkering down completely. The barrel looks almost brand new on the inside, totally spotless. Here's a few pics, sadly the lighting was pretty bad; Overall it's a nice gun for the money I would say. The problem now is the old one. Since last time I wrote i figured out that the barrel is not straight on that one. It has a bulge right before the choke, and the barrel in front of the bulge is bent slightly. I didn't notice this until I went to pattern the gun and found out I was hitting consistently to the right of where I was aiming. And as I mentioned before, due to the moronic gun laws in Sweden, I'm not allowed to own more than six hunting guns and I'm already at the limit, so sadly the old A5 has got to go to make room for another gun. However, you are allowed to have multiple barrels for one gun, so the plan is to scrap the receiver on the old one and keep the barrel and all spare parts. I've located a Cutts compensator with a variable choke that I might be able to purchase for a reasonable price, and if so I will cut off the choked portion of the old barrel and mount a Cutts there instead. Feels so unnecessary to scrap the old one, but you can't argue with the law no matter how stupid it is... If I do this, does anyone know if it's possible to remove the front sight from the barrel? The old one I will cut down has a complete front sight that I would like to move to the new gun. Has anyone here done this? What kind of soldering has been used to fasten it, can it be removed with heat without destroying the barrel?
The old sights were soldered on. I don't know how hot you'll need to melt the solder, but although the blue might suffer, I don't think you'll harm the barrel. http://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/prod/browning-auto-5-front-sight/407713
Ok, so I think a little update is way overdue. My progress has been slow but everything has gone according to plan. This is what I did; I got a hold of an old Cutts with a variable choke, which is not that easy to find in Sweden! I cut down the bent barrel and mounted the cutts myself. My father-in-law have a fair amount of experience in silver soldering, so with his help I got it in place. And I actually got it on straight! I then bought some tools and redid the checkering myself. It's far from perfect, but it's a lot better than nothing. I ended up straying from the original design a bit since my lack of skills made it easier to alter it somewhat. Here's some pics... Next I managed to find the parts for the speedfeed upgrade. I ended up buying from Canada, since no one in the states that actually have these parts would send them overseas. Fitting them was easy, in the end I just had to remove a tiny bit of metal here and there and replace the carrier latch spring with the one from the other gun (which was longer and more powerful for some reason) to get it to work reliably. What else... Oh yeah, I installed a new butt plate. What's left to do is to open up the choke on the original barrel somewhat to make it more useful for my hunting needs. I still want a optional barrel without a compensator. The Cutts is awesome but I have a feeling I won't be very popular if I have to use it while standing next to someone. On my own in a blind hunting doves though, that's another story. So what have I ended up with? A semi-auto shotgun that will probably outlive me and then some, with all the features of a modern semi-auto, but with more feel and charisma than a thousand of its latter-day plastic/aluminium counterparts combined. It will be used in day-to-day hunting situations so I haven't tried to restore it to mint condition, as long as it works I'm happy. And work it does. Shoots like a dream. And yesterday I got to use this wonderful shotgun "for real" for the first time, helping a farmer keeping jackdaw away from his livestock farm, and it didn't disappoint. So two shotguns have now become one, and this Auto-5 will hopefully be put to work in Sweden for decades to come.
Congrats yes, indeed! You've already killed more things with that one shotgun than I have with all four of my Auto 5's!
Hi Kumpe,...Nice to see another A5 still up and running after a bit of TLC.Strange are your gun laws, even here in the UK its not that strict! I would of thought being closer to the USSR you would have been allowed loads of kit.
Closer to the USSR!? Feeling cocky after Brexit? All jokes aside, yeah we have some seriously strict gun laws here. In a nutshell it works like this, all types of guns including more powerful air rifles has to be registered and you have to have a license to own them. Licensing is handled by the police and is on a need-to-have basis. As a hunter, you can own four shotguns or rifles with no questions asked, assuming that you have passed a theoretical and practical exam for hunters. You are normally allowed to have six guns, but everything above four you have to prove that you need. Normally you don't have to prove much or anything at all to get six. Anything above six is another matter, you basically have to be a state employed hunter to get more than six. You can own more than one barrel for each of your guns, and you are allowed to own silencers for more powerful weapons (.222r and up), but not for less powerful calibers like rimfires for some inexplicable reason. For bolt-action guns basically anything is allowed, but semi-auto guns can not "resemble military weapons" or be based on a military action or it's derivative, so AR and the likes are out of the question as is pistol grips and foldable/telescopic stocks. As a sport shooter it's more or less impossible. You have to be a member of a shooting club approved by the polices for something like a year, and prove that you (using the clubs weapons) can shoot at a reasonable level and compete on a regular basis. Then you can get your first .22 handgun if you're lucky and work your way up to more powerful guns. All one-handed or semi-auto sport shooting guns have licenses that have to be renewed every five years. But I'm not a sport shooter so I don't know all the details. And of course, if you break the law they will take all your guns straight away, so if I were to punch someone in the face or drive drunk I would loose all my licenses in an instant. The same goes if a doctor diagnoses you with some mental disorder or addiction, bye bye guns... I don't think there are many countries in the EU that have stricter gun laws than us. Imagine our surprise that the EU want to tighten them even further than what we already have just because other countries have "too loose" laws... I'm starting to think you guys made the right choice to get out of this mess... So the reason that I have to scrap the old receiver for my Auto-5 is that it's preventing me from getting another gun since I'm already at the limit. I can keep the barrel as an extra for the other Auto-5, but the receiver and bolt has to go to make room for another gun.
Brexit.............still cant't believe that really happened but from a shooting point of view we get to keep our semi- auto's! they consisted of .22 rimfires and shot- guns and we can still use lead shot at clay grounds, gotta be good.For years the stuff our grandfathers had use of has been eroded,if only we had an NRA as powerful as the Americans half my kit would still be in the safe. Infact had the UK voted remain i would of asked R31 if i could bring me A5's to his part of the world and do some duck hunting there.Europe and its collective gun laws have dis- armed the populous whether this is good or bad Putin's laughing and now drinking beer with the Turks,Merkal can't dictate to the Brits any more,so the poor Greeks and French will get in the neck,i could go on and on but at the end of the day Europe can chuck rocks at each other once all the guns have gone and remember the good old days.Brexit might be the best thing to happen in a long time and other nationalities might follow.Trump could be the next upset for the Russians and i'm wondering if the Americans will re-open the air force bases around here,that's were my first gun came from in the late 70's from an airman needing more beer money..oh them good old day's...
