I have a Sweet 16 and have been trying to find the approximate age, but am not really coming up with anything too definitive. Any ideas from the experts here? Receiver Serial Number ?
Whoa, you've got an A prefix. That IS the serial number. There were 2 runs of 16 gauge Auto-5's with that prefix, and it's impossible to tell them apart from the number alone. Fortunately, you've provided a picture of the date code and I can research it for you. The Greek letter Theta makes it a 1953 gun. http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html
Auto-5 serial numbers can be very confusing, and especially so for the 16 gauge. Originally, all guns received sequential serial numbers. But after WWII the standard 16 gauge shotgun shell in the U.S. changed from 2 9/16" (65mm) to 2 3/4" (70mm). Many changes had to be made to the Auto-5 to cycle these longer shells, and the guns had a separate serial number range along with an X prefix. This system was used from 1947 to 1953 and numbers ran from X1001 to X99999. In late 1953 the X was changed to an A for a run of only 958 guns that ended in 1954. The OP's 16 is one of these. In late 1953 the Standard and Sweet Sixteen were given different prefixes and separate serial numbers. The Sweet received an S and ran from S01 to S99908, and the Standard an R (for regular?) and ran R01 to R99999. This run ended in 1957. In 1958 the S was changed to A (allege, French for light) and the R to T for a run of 10900 guns. In this case the serial numbers are concurrent, there is no record of how many of the 10900 were Sweet Sixteens or Standard models. And there is no way to differentiate these A prefixed guns from the earlier run by serial number alone. Note that the OP's gun is a Sweet Sixteen, but in his case the A only designates a gun chambered for the 2 3/4" shell. Later in 1958 the S and R returned, along with a single digit date code.
