Short chambered 16 question.

Discussion in 'Browning Auto A-5' started by Bill Idaho, Nov 23, 2019.

  1. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    Hypothetically speaking, IF a guy found no less than 4 16 gauge A5s today while spending the day in a nearby city gunshop hopping, and IF two of these particular A5s had no markings indicating they were 2 3/4" yet had a moveable ejector, THEN one cold extrapolate those two had at some point been converted or at least partially converted to 2 3/4", correct?
    I did in fact find a total of 4, all from the 20s or 30s, all marked 2 9/16". ( NONE WERE PRICED SUCH THAT I MIGHT CONSIDER BUYING.) Two had moveable ejectors, (one long ejector, one short ejector). Neither of these two had any extra barrel extension sticking out of the receiver. Could I safely figure someone started to convert them, and apparently quit before finishing the job?

    Could I take a fired 2 3/4" 16 gauge (resized) hull and simply place it in the chamber, then manually cycle the action and see if the empty hull will properly eject? And if it does, wouldn't that tell me that particular A5 had been converted? Or am I over simplifying things? I did not check to see if the ejection port had been lengthened.

    (No, for the record I did NOT bring any new appropriations home with me, but I might be able to wheel and deal on a couple of these 16s in the near future.)
  2. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    I would want to do some measurements. With these being so old and who knows who done what to them. And I have seen 2 3/4 shells fired out of short chambers, it works sometimes and sometimes not. Personally I would not want one that had been converted to 2 3/4. In my mind it serves no point. Just buy a 2 3/4 gun and go with it. Now you say you want and old one, well then stick with 2 9/16 chambers, that’s part of the old( original) that you get with an old one. It’s not that hard to get 2 1/2 inch shells. You can order or reload them.
    I think manually cycling one with a 2 3/4 shell would be a starting place, but wouldn’t count it as a definite
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2019
  3. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    Here is a great reference.
    https://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=79647

    If the barrel serial number matches the receiver and it has a sliding ejector I’d bet they were modified. I’ve seen a lot that have had the barrel extension blued so it’s a little harder to tell. With the naked eye it’s been hard for me tell if the ejection port has been lengthened.
    Rudolph31 likes this.
  4. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    I just noticed something...........for those of you with the A5 bible, if you turn to page 137 and look at figure #137-2, you will see the rear of the breech block (what everybody else in the world calls the "bolt") appears to be flush with the rear of the ejection port. Notice the amount of barrel extension sticking out past the receiver on top.
    Now boys and girls, if you turn the page to 139 and at this picture (#139-1) you will see two differences. (Both are 16 gauge models.) The first being the amount of barrel extension sticking out (noticeably more) and the space behind the breech block. I see somewhere around an 1/8" from the rear of the breech block to the rear of the ejection port.

    Using those two examples, could one then safely say if there is that space behind the breech block and the receiver, and the extra barrel extension visible, the gun has been altered to shoot the longer shell? If so, that would make it extremely easy to see which shell the gun will shoot. Since part of the conversion process is to move the barrel forward (apparently around 3/32"), that would also move the breech block forward (when it is in battery), so.............
    If someone merely altered (or switched) a barrel to a moveable ejector, then a quick glance at the rear of the ejection port should tell if the barrel has been moved, right?

    I am sooooooo close to jumping off the bridge into the 16 gauge pool.
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2019
  5. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    ??????
  6. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    Tapped the wrong key........sorry.
  7. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    Don’t do it. Stay on the bridge. You will surly drown in the quick sand pool that many of us are in. I’m telling you these A5’s are a serious disease.
  8. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    I don't know if you've read some of my previous posts, but I have considerably over 25 A5s---so far. (All Belgian 12s, save for a lone Japanese 20. I know, I know.....what the heck was I thinking?)

    I have heard the first step in treating a problem is admitting you have a problem.
    I'm way past that..................
  9. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    well hell why you teasing. If you don’t have several of each gauge then your wrong. I love my 16’s. Would trade a 12 for a16 any day.
  10. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    I am kind of the opposite of Bill, I have all 16's except one for one 12.
  11. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    For those of you guys smothered with 16s, certainly one of you guys has at least one converted to 2 3/4".
    Could you grab it and confirm my observations about the gap between the rear of the ejection port and the rear of the breech block?

    And, I don't know if y'all are aware, but if you soak those 16s in a tub full of water, they'll swell up to a 12. (Unsure regarding the ammo.)


    Just sayin".

    And, seriously, thanks.
  12. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    Sorry Bill but I do not have any converted guns to look at for you.
  13. Ranger6

    Ranger6 Administrator Staff Member Administrator Global Moderator Forum Moderator

    Sorry me either. I think you should buy and send to me, then I will let you know.
  14. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Identifying a short-chambered gun by the position of the bolt is something I hadn’t thought of. I don’t have a converted gun, but I do have two factory 70mm Sweets, and the dimensions should be the same.

    I chose a 1938 65mm and a 1948 70mm for the comparison. The ‘38 had 31mm of space from the rear of the slit to the back of the Operating Handle, and the ‘48 had 35mm. There was also 4mm of extra Barrel Extension sticking out on the later gun.

    So you can tell them apart by looking at the slot. That’s one more thing I’ll look for in the future, especially when internet pictures don’t show what I’m trying to see.

    [​IMG]
    win7stw likes this.
  15. jlp

    jlp .22LR

    This is a converted gun

    Attached Files:

    Rudolph31 likes this.
  16. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    Me thinks my theory is correct. If you can see about a 3/32" space between the rear of the breech block and the rear of the ejection port------it is converted.

    Well......after all this hulubaloo, I guess technically all it specifically indicates is the bolt has been moved forward. The link still might not be relieved (as Art's videos points out). So, if the bolt is forward, that means the barrel is (obviously) moved forward, which therefore means the forearm has been altered. So, the remaining things to determine is if the forward edge of the ejection port has been cut, and if the chamber/forcing cone has been lengthened. (Does the operating handle hit the front of ejection port on a short-chambered receiver if the barrel assembly has been moved forward? I was under the impression the only reason to lengthen the front of the ejection port was for the empty hull to clear on its way out.

    (Thanks. I appreciate the time and efforts you all are taking on this.)
  17. jlp

    jlp .22LR

    This gun had all the conversion steps done except the modification to the cartridge stop so it would not feed from the magazine.
    Kind of strange someone didn't finish the conversion.

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