Hello everyone. My name is Derek. I'm from germany. Two years ago I purchased an old Browning Auto 5 from the local gunsmith. I really love this gun, it is a wonderful piece of craftsmanship. A second barrel was also provided as part of the set. It has a rear sight, no rib and a cutts compensator installed. It is a non-rifled barrel / smoothbore. I did research in various books and on the internet, to find out more about this 'configuration'. I did not get any noticeable results / information. So I decided to register at browningowners.com. Can anybody help me with that? I am thankful for all help and information. Best wishes from germany. (I'm sorry for my bad english, working on it.)
Derek: Your English is better than my German, although I did learn how to order beer pretty quickly. You have what appears to be a "Buck Special" which is an Auto-5 with a slug barrel and rifle sights. You should be able to shoot pretty good groups at 50 meters or so despite the smooth bore. Recoil is pretty stiff...
Thank you very much for your quick and detailed reply, Rudolph31. Isn't it very unusual that a "buck special" barrel is equipped with a cutts compensator? Do you have any concerns about safety when firing slugs through the cutts compensator / choke tube (it is a modified choke)? Vielen Dank für die tolle Begrüßung Shooter13!
First slug barrel I've seen with a Cutts on it. Unique!!!!! The bead front sight and rear elevation sight seem a weird and unusable combination though.
I'm guessing someone added the Cutts. It was the original screw-in choke system. The tubes are still available on ebay and from Numrich Arms. I think it's OK to shoot slugs through a modified or even a full choke. Since the rear sight is adjustable, you shouldn't have any trouble with the tall front bead. Please let us know what you experience. EDIT: Just looking at your barrel, I noticed that your barrel extension is blued. That's evidence of a refinish as the extension is left in the white at the factory. After a re-blue it's normally polished off. You may experience problems cycling until it wears off. Also, since the front bead is normally mounted on a ramp, I don't think the Cutts puts it much higher than usual. I had good results shooting slugs through a Poly Choke and no rear sight.
