Picked up my first Auto-5 last night

I'm a longtime Browning owner, but I've just never had a Browning shotgun. I'm about to retire from 24 years military service and I've decided next year with my extra time to try upland bird hunting. I've always loved the history of JMB's many patents, so I decided I wanted to own and soon hunt with a piece of history. I found a used Light 12 online and took a chance with an Internet gun sale, the gamble paid off as I received a decent shooter grade gun in good condition for under $500, and yes it's a Miroku production. I'm looking forward to getting out and shooting some skeet with it, although I did call my gunsmith and he's agreed to go through it before I put shells down range. There was also a second gun I was eyeing at the local gun shop, it's a sweet 16 and the asking price is $650, this one's an FN model. From what I've been reading that's a good deal too, who knows I may end up with two of them... Anyway, looking forward to using this resource and being privileged enough to have one of these guns call me its owner

Here's a pic...

Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum Sir !!

Fine looking specimen...

...and thank you for your service to our great country !!

Enjoy the Forum !!

Thank you good Sir, I always tell my fellow vets that if it was't for the taxpayers none of us would have a job.

I'm off to see if I can display the accuracy of my A-Bolt to any ill fated four legged ruminant willing to walk out from cover, wish me luck

More than a taxpayer...worked for the DoD 35 years...last 7 years as a member of the Criminal Investigation Task Force ( CITF )

Good Hunting !!

Cool, I was a law enforcement type early in my career, but I needed a change and had to decide between CID or going over to a ARSOF job, I went with the latter and here I am. Thank you for your service BTW...

Welcome to Browning Owners, and congratulations on acquiring a copy of JMB's masterpiece!

I notice that your gun sports a "Buck Barrel" with rifle sights for shooting slugs. I don't know if those sights will affect your Skeet scores, but I do know that they cost a lot more than standard barrels.

As for the 16 gauge, I love shooting mine. I got into reloading to support the habit but now Cabela's offers Herter's ammunition at a reasonable price. Since the pre-WWII 16s had 2 9/16" (65mm) chambers, I shoot the factory ammo in the later guns, cut down the hulls and reload for the early ones. So you really need two...

You should know that most of the Auto-5s will have a Full (*) or a Modified (**) choke. Maybe you can hit Skeet targets with those, but I need a Cylinder (***) or Improved (**-) barrel. If that Sweet Sixteen has the right choke it's a bargain. Otherwise it'll cost over $100 to fix.

I was thrown for a loop when I picked up the shotgun and I noticed there wasn't any rifling in the bore.... I've been pricing up second hand barrels and had sticker shock, my answer to that was I'm a proud new owner of an Auto-5 16 gauge...lol. Luckily I have a 40 gun safe, I guess the 12 gauge can be used for driving deer or maybe I'll find a good deal on a barrel at one of the gun shows this year. The 16 gauge wasn't labeled as a sweet 16, so I'm assuming it wasn't the light model. It's got the foreword safety and a 30" barrel with full choke. I had 3 that I was looking at and one turned out to be a 2 9/16th shell gun, the asking price was only $400, payed a little more for the nicer gun that shoots standard load.

If anyone is looking to pick up a cheap shooter grade sweet 16, below is the add, $419 out the door shipped. I spoke to the dealer this afternoon earlier today and he still has the gun and says everything is in good functioning order.

http://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...inch-imp-cyl-very-early-.cfm?gun_id=100615171

Very hard to tell from the picture but it looks like your 16 might be pre-WWII and converted to shoot 2 3/4" shells. Part of the barrel extension protrudes on the 16 and that portion is blued. On 2 3/4" guns the extension sticks out a little further, and converted guns show a sliver of silver there. The serial number will confirm.

I shoot my full choke guns at Skeet, but I load "spreader" shells when I do. Without spreaders I might as well use a rifle. I'd take the Buck barrel over the full choke.

A great source of barrels and other parts is eBay. Just be aware that Belgian barrels are unsafe for shooting steel. And of course the 16's come in 65 and 70 mm chamber lengths. Also -- the 70 mm barrels have a movable ejector.

Well I picked up the 16 gauge, this is a very clean gun, I'm under the impression it's been reblued at some point, considering the SN# comes back as a 1929 gun. Also I measure the distance between the front eject port and the front receiver and it ended up measuring 17/32", so it's either been converted or it's a 2 3/4th gun. Looking at the foregrip I'm thinking it doesn't exactly match the stock, it looks replaced. Anyway, I'm very happy with the gun for the price and I cannot wait to fire her, I appreciate the feedback Rudy, let me know what you think...

Here are a few pics

1929 was a good year for Auto-5s! Beautiful gun, and I see the movable ejector and silver extension clearly, so it has been converted. If Browning did it they would have marked the barrel for 2 3/4" shells. Some shells may still hang up -- Herter's shells tend to run a little longer than Remington's.

Here's a great reference:

http://www.nramuseum.org/media/940941/serialization-date of manufacture.pdf

And here's mine from 1924:

Another beautiful piece of history, the site you sent was the one I used to reference the year.

I'm not seeing any markings for the 2 3/4, but the conversion looks so clean so I'm wondering if it was done by one of the bigger gun shops that specializes in Browning like Arts, who knows.

Since there is an abundance of manufacturers who make 2 1/2 shells I'm thinking about just shooting the RST spreader load as you suggested, what do you think? Also is there anyway to tell if the friction ring, coil, and springs aren't original? I'd guess if the gun was restored they were replaced, but I'd like to know for sure.

Funny that I have to rearrange the shelving in my gun safe because it's not set up to accomidate a long barreled shotgun like this one, the other A5 fits, the 16 gauge does not.

I'm going to be retired by this summertime, the plan is to get into the local technical schools gun smithing course. I'd really like to learn how to do restoration on older firearms such as these, in my opinion it's good Americana that we should keep alive for the future generations. Besides I promised myself that when I retired my next career was going to be something I liked and not just a job that pays well, I'd really like to eventually have a shop and work for myself.

I think that RST shells are expensive. That's why I reload. When you're saving $7/box it doesn't take long to break even.

I don't know how to tell if the friction parts have been replaced. I believe my 1924's recoil spring is original -- it's made from square wire. Yours probably wasn't.



I used to recommend changing the recoil and action springs, but for target loads I don't think it's necessary. The Field Service Manual has a list of minimum spring lengths. You can download it here:

http://www.midwestgunworks.com/page/mgwi/ctgy/browning-auto-5-field-service-manual

If you are going to work on your Brownings you'll need a set of special screwdrivers. Midwest Gun Works, Brownells, and Midway all have them.

Correct, they are not cheap but I was thinking of using these for hunting and using another more reasonable load for skeet/trap. I'm thinking since you said the herters run long, what type of load maybe more reasonably priced would you suggest for practice? I don't yet reload, I'd love to learn.... But... I have two young children at home and just cringe at the thought of having to keep gun powder and such in my shop. My 2 and 5 year old are regularly pilfering around the house and while I have most everything secure little hands just make me so very nervous. As things are my 40 gun safe is easy to keep the guns and most ammo in, but a large amount loading stuff would be difficult to secure everything and have piece of mind.

Remington Game Loads are what I used before Herter's became available. Their fired length is 2 5/8". But RGLs are several dollars a box more than Herter's, so try them first. My '48 Sweet Sixteen (pictured above) jams on Herter's but my '57 loves 'em. Both of those guns came from the factory with 2 3/4" chambers.

As for reloading, a simple wooden cabinet with a padlock will secure all of your supplies. Your wife has more dangerous chemicals under the kitchen sink than an 8 pound jug of smokeless powder.

I'm going to order a case or two of the herters for clay pigeon practice, some of the reviews on Cabelas web site says the shot being manufactured in Europe is smaller than standard American, what size shot would you suggest using?

Also any experience with the herters 16 gauge for pheasant loads? would you recommend and if so what size for upland, specifically pheasant/chucker/quail?

I use #8 for Skeet, 7 1/2 for Trap. With a full choke, you're all set for the 27 yard line.

Congrats on the two shotguns! I don't shoot skeet nor use a shotgun for anything but squirrels, so a full choke barrel is all I have interest in. Thank you for your service and congrats on getting out after just a long time in.