CHAPTER 6
The Browning A-5: A Gun with Soul

In America, if you mention Browning to someone of Vietnam generation or older who has served in the Army or Marines, especially in the infantry, more than likely they will think of the BAR, possibly even the 30 caliber machinegun, although by Vietnam, the M-60 replaced both the BAR and the .30-caliber machinegun. On the other hand, if you mention Browning in connection with shotguns, the vast majority will immediately think of the old humpbacked autoloader popularly known for the last half of the 20th Century as the Automatic Five, Auto Five or A-5.

A lineup of Browning A-5s from its 1983 catalog.

Although the more expensive Superposed was Browning’s premier shotgun, to many Americans, if you wanted a Browning, the best of the best, it meant the gun commonly known for the first half of the 20th century as the “Browning Automatic.” Americans were not alone in this. Much of the world’s population who shot, when it came to shotguns, identified the name Browning with the venerable old autoloader. The popularity of the “Browning Automatic” was such that it was not confined only to average people, but even to those who could afford much more expensive guns. Everyone from members of European nobility to Bedouin tribesmen owned and shot the “Browning Automatic.”

There have been thousands of articles written about the Browning Automatic. The history and the mechanics of this remarkable shotgun have been covered in articles more times than can be mentioned here. So my intention is to simply provide lesser-known information, no technical descriptions, just small bits and pieces and anecdotal accounts.

The Browning A-5 Sweet Sixteen, one of the most popular models.

In 1954, Japan’s Crown Prince Akihito (the current Emperor of Japan) went on a tour of Europe. During his visit to Belgium, naturally he was taken to Belgium’s pride and joy, the arms factory of Fabrique Nationale, the makers of Browning guns. During the tour of the factory, the Crown Prince was asked if he was a shooter and if he was familiar with Browning arms. The Crown Prince responded that he shot duck and pheasant, and he was familiar with the Browning name brand. Before the Crown Prince’s arrival, the FN factory officials had arranged to present him with a high grade 20 gauge Superposed. For the Crown Prince, a man of small physical stature, a lighter gun was the appropriate choice. But before the presentation could be made, the Crown Prince remarked that he had always been fond of the “Browning Automatic” but did not own one. He shot a 16 gauge English double, a Best Gun, at the time. There was a flurry of commotion and activity as FN officials scurried about to correct their choice of presentation shotgun. Before the Crown Prince left the factory, he was presented with a “Browning Automatic” Sweet Sixteen. The 20 gauge autoloader was not available yet (the 20 appeared in 1958), so the lightest autoloader available was the 16 gauge. Upon returning to Japan the Crown Prince proudly posed with his new “Brownjng Automatic” and told the reporters that he was anxious to try out the gun on pheasant. The picture of the young Crown Prince proudly holding the Browning Sweet Sixteen was on the front page of every newspaper in Japan. How times change. Today such a display would bring down the wrath of the indignant public who no doubt would bombard the offending newspapers via email, text messaging and twitter, criticizing the Crown Prince for his politically incorrect behavior and for the newspapers for publishing such an “offensive” photograph!

An old 1952 full page ad of the Sweet Sixteen from the pages of Outdoor Life magazine. The Sweet Sixteen was always touted as the ultimate autoloader for the uplands. Notice the absence of the ventilated rib on the gun in this ad. Back in the day, many hunters preferred the A-5 without the rib. It made for a more barrel light gun with “between the hands” feel.

Nowadays everyone knows that the proper name for a gun such as the “Browning Automatic” is semi automatic or auto-loading shotgun. But back in the day, from its very first beginning in 1903 until 1954, for half a century, it was simply called an automatic. It wasn’t until the appearance of the new “automatic” shotgun, Browning’s Double Automatic, that the name Automatic Five was applied to the old humpback to differentiate it from the newer Double Automatic. If you look at the butt-plate of the older A-5s, the name Browning appears on the right and Automatic on the left surrounding the letters FN in the center. The Double Automatic has Browning on top and Double Automatic on the bottom with a portrait of John M. Browning in the middle. All Browning advertising simply referred to the old autoloader as the “Automatic.” But after the appearance of the Double Automatic in late1954 on dealers shelves (the Double Automatic was available in Europe in 1952 but not in America), starting with the 1955 ads, the old humpback got a new nickname, the Automatic Five, which was shortened to Auto Five or to A-5. So, for the last 43 years of its life it was popularly known as the A-5 although it was still referred to as the “Browning Automatic.”

A full page ad from the 1957 Field & Stream magazine with Browning’s famous name for the A-5, “the Aristocrat of Automatic Shotguns.”

The Browning A-5 had been in production from 1903 until it was discontinued in 1998, a period of 95 years! During its life, it was made in three different countries at one time or another. There were changes here and there through the years, but nothing really major. The A-5 was produced mostly in Belgium, but it was also made in America for a short period, and these are known as American Brownings. The American Brownings were made from 1946 until 1952 to help fill the demand for sporting arms. FN did produce A­ 5s during this period, but in much smaller numbers because they were heavily involved in making military arms for the newly created NATO. To relieve the demand for sporting arms in the U.S., Browning had Remington make the “American Brownings.” They were essentially the same as the old Remington Model 11, except that they had the magazine cut-off and some superficial changes to make them more like the FN version. However, although very well made, they were not as highly finished as the FN versions and had rolled on engraving rather than hand cut and the polishing of parts both internal and external was not up to the level of FN made guns. Since Remington Model 11 was made in 12, 16 and 20 gauges, the American Browning was available in all three gauges as well.

All pre-World War II and post-war A-5s, up to 1951, had a front sliding safety, sort of like the one on the M-1 rifle! Some still prefer that style of safety.

Some 73 years after the start of its production, in 1976, Belgian A-5s ceased to be produced, at least for the American market. Miroku of Japan started making the A-5s for the next 22 years. A little known bit of history is that the very early Japanese made A-5s were actually made by SKB. Miroku was not set up to make the autoloader at first. So, the initial run of the Japanese-made A-5s was actually sub-contracted out to SKB by Miroku. This was a very common practice in Japanese gun making industry in the 1970s. For example, the A-5 look-alike “Auto Pointer” was imported by Sloan’s, which sold it under the Charles Daly label. The gun was made by the Yamamoto Company, but the identical gun was also sold under Daiwa Corporation label. It is not clear as to whether it was actually made just by one company and marketed under several names or if it was indeed made by several companies. However, once set up, all Japanese made Browning A-5s were made at the Miroku plant.

The Miroku-made A-5s lasted until 1998, when, to the dismay of die-hard fans, Browning decided to stop production of this classic shotgun. According to Glen Jensen, who has been a Browning employee since shortly after the end of World War II, the A-5 was the most popular Browning firearm ever. Even after more than a decade since its discontinuance, Browning receives queries from those wanting to know if the old gun will ever be produced again. Jensen, who is Browning’s Official Historian, believes that the A-5 was the best shotgun that the company ever produced.

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Recently, Browning announced the resurrection of the A-5. The “new” A5 has the square stem receiver, although in a slightly different form. That is about all that it shares with the old classic. As Browning says in its ads, “this isn’t your Grandfather’s A­5.” That is true, as it is a completely different gun and with its alloy receiver has a very different feel to it. The new gun has what Browning calls “kinematic” action, which is another way of calling the inertia driven system that Benelli uses. Everything else about the gun is completely different from the original A-5. The receiver shape of the new gun looks more like the receiver of those ugly, ill-fated A-5OOG and A-5OOR of the past. No, it is not an updated A-5. It is a completely different gun, and it is hard to figure why Browning couldn’t have come up with a more graceful looking design. Granted, the old A-5 was not exactly a beauty queen, but compared to this new “A5,” the old gun looks downright beautiful! No doubt Browning chose to call this new gun the “A5” in hopes of getting some mileage out of the popularity of the old classic. If Browning wanted to make a connection with the old gun, they could have called it “A-5000” or something, not A5. Or they could have taken a page out of Remington. Remington started out with its Mode 11 and all subsequent Remington autoloaders have retained the 11 prefix but have followed with the numbers of the year of design like 11-48 or additional digits like 1100 and so on. Needless to say, die-hard A-5 fans are not happy with Browning’s naming of the new gun.

Three classic Browning A-5s, a “Twenty” at the top, a “Sweet Sixteen” in the middle, and a “Light Twelve” on the bottom. All three guns were made over a half a century ago, the youngest being the “Twenty” which is a first year production model made in 1958.

The unmistakable profile of the A-5 has stayed the same throughout its 98 years of life. The only changes have been that the very early guns of first couple of years did not have lock/set screws on the receiver. But that lasted only a short period and FN started to supply all receivers with lock/set screws. In 1951-’52 the cross bolt safety replaced the front safety called the “sliding safety” by Browning that had been used for half a century. Starting around 1953-’54 Browning began to also provide the “speed load” feature on all A-5s, a feature that was initially developed for the newer Double Automatic. Also in the mid 1960s, some of the small screws that were not visible were replaced with rolled pins. That was about it.

No one, not even avid fans of the A-5 will call the old humpback graceful looking. Its angular receiver profile with the abrupt, square back may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it did help many shotgunners to connect with their target, a sort of a built-in rear sight alignment. Yes, I know, shotguns are supposed to be pointed and not aimed, and the rear sight on a shotgun is the shooter’s eye, but try telling millions of those who shot and still shoot the A-5. They’ll swear that the rear hump helps them align the barrel with the target. And although it may not have the flowing lines of a sidelock side-by-side or even a modern, streamlined repeater, it definitely has its own charm and charisma.

Initially the A-5 was imported from Belgium in plain, un-engraved version. But shortly, the Grade I had some engraving. At one time or another, there were 11 different grades offered. However, after World War II Browning dropped all the grades and upgraded the Grade I. Only on special order could other grades be purchased. In Europe, FN continued to market the plain version as Grade I, while the American customer got an upgrade, the Grade I sold in America was actually a “Special” Grade, a Grade II with slightly modified engraving pattern. The higher grade A-5s are rarely seen in America, very few were imported.

Aside from the small mechanical changes that were already mentioned, there were only cosmetic changes. The receivers of the A-5 were rust blued but switched to hot blue in 1961-62. Some claim that the rust blue was better, but in reality, there is very little difference, if any. The wood was oil finished on pre war guns but post-war were lacquer finished until the mid-1960s, when glossy polyurethane finish was applied to all Browning long guns. In case of wood finish, the old oil finish and lacquer finish were definitely better than the glossy synthetic finish. But then, some do like the glossy stuff! The butt­plates were mostly horn, while some guns came with hard rubber until the mid 1960s when they all became plastic except the 12 gauge Magnum model which came with a recoil pad.

The butt-stock of the A-5 could be ordered as a straight grip or with the standard rounded semi-pistol grip popularly called “round knob.” The straight grip option was available for a long time, from 1903 until 1966. Of course in 1968, the iconic “round knob” was replaced by the so-called “flat knob,” which Browning called in their advertising a “modern” full pistol grip. Apparently “modernization” was not all that successful because in 1987 Browning went back to the old “round knob” grip with a slightly different checkering pattern.

All “Light Twelve,” “Sweet Sixteen” and “Twenty” had gold plated triggers. The Standard Models and the Magnums had blued triggers. However the Standard Models were dropped in 1970, and beginning with 1979 the Magnum models also had gold plated triggers. If you find a Standard Model on the used gun market with a gold plated trigger, it was gold plated after market, not at the factory.

Barrels were available as plain, plain with matted surface, hollow matted rib (solid rib) and, of course, the ventilated rib. The solid or hollow matted rib was discontinued in 1962-’63, and Belgian plain barrels were discontinued in 1975, a year before the Belgian guns were discontinued altogether. There are some Japanese made A-5s with plain barrels. But for all practical purposes, Miroku made only ventilated rib barrels, except for the slug barrels, which had rifle sights. The few Japanese plain barrels that are around are from the early Japanese production run mostly made by SKB.

The barrels were available in a number of lengths, starting with 24” (actually 23.62 inches or 60cm), 26”, 28”, 30” and for 12 gauge, 32” which was made for the Standard and the “Magnum Twelve” not “Light Twelve.” All of the barrels were cut to metric measurements so the inch markings are a bit off, about an inch shorter. The barrels were available in all degrees of choking, and unlike most gun makers, Browning offered the A-5 barrels in whatever choke the customer desired, regardless of the barrel length, within reason, of course. I doubt if any 32” improved cylinder barrels were ordered. The barrels could also be had from the factory with either Poly Choke or Cutts Compensator device until 1970 when this practice was discontinued. The Japanese made barrels, of course, were available with the Invector Choke system. The short, 24 inch (60cm or 23.62-inch) barrels did not appear until 1963 and were listed as 23 inches. However, a few years later they were listed as being 24 inches although they remained the same length! They were all made as rib-less barrels and with rifle sights. Later, some of these short barrels were special ordered with ventilated or even plain without a rib and cylinder or improved cylinder choking for bird shooting. They were never cataloged, but available on special order.

Pre-war and early 1950s guns had the same serial number on the receiver and the barrel. The A-5 barrels were always interchangeable within gauge and chamber length, but until1953, guns left the factory with matching numbers. However, even with those early guns, quite often guns with different serial numbers are found. That is because different barrels were substituted for the original barrel. A gun may have left the factory with a matching number full choke barrel, but an open bored barrel was put on later, or visa versa. From late 1953, the numbers no longer matched, although on rare occasions you could still find a gun that left the factory with matching numbers. By the time the “Magnum Twelve” and the “Twenty” came out in 1958, matching numbers were a thing of the past, extremely rare, except for special models that were heavily engraved or the higher grades that were available on special order only.

For the first six years the A-5s were made in 12 only, then in 1909 the 16 gauge version appeared. In 1936, owing to the demands of upland hunters for a lighter gun, a lightened version of the 16 appeared and was called the “Sweet Sixteen” although the name was not inscribed anywhere on the gun. At the end of World War II, in 1946, a lightened version of the 12 gauge was introduced and was simply called the “Lightweight.” Like the 16 gauge, it was not identifiable by inscription or other marking. However, both the “Sweet Sixteen” and the newer “Lightweight” 12 could be identified by their lighter weights and gold-plated triggers. Starting in 1952-’53 they could also be identified by their serial numbers which had letter prefixes. The “Lightweight” had the letter “L” and the “Sweet Sixteen” the letter “S.” Also, at around 1950, Browning started to engrave the name “Sweet Sixteen” on the left side of the receiver and the 12 gauge version got a name change to “Light Twelve” with the name so inscribed. So, at this point Browning had both the 12 gauge and the 16 gauge in Standard Models as well as the lightened “Light Twelve” and “Sweet Sixteen.”

All Browning A-5s were extremely popular and sold better than any other gun in their line. The A-5s were never popular on the trap and skeet fields, they were hunters’ guns. In 19S8 the 3 inch Magnum 12 gauge and the 20 gauge versions were introduced, becoming immediate hits with hunters. The 20 gauge was available only in one version, no Standard and Lightweight, so the single word “Twenty” was engraved on the receiver although it was commonly referred to as “Light Twenty.” The 12 gauge 3 inch Magnum version had the word “Magnum” on the side of the receiver. In 1968 Browning introduced the 20 gauge 3 inch Magnum with “Magnum Twenty” on the side of the receiver and the 12 gauge magnum changed the wording to “Magnum Twelve”

The Standard Model A-5 was a substantial gun, weighing something in the neighborhood of8 1;4 pounds for the 12 gauge and 7 Y2 pounds for the 16 gauge. The “Light Twelve” and “Sweet Sixteen” with their lightened receivers shaved off about a half a pound. On the average, a “Light Twelve” with a 28 inch ventilated rib barrel will weigh around 7³⁄₄ pounds and with a 28 inch plain barrel closer to 7¹⁄₂pounds, not exactly a lightweight, despite its “Light Twelve” moniker. A “Sweet Sixteen” with a ventilated rib will average 7 pounds or a bit more while with a plain 28 inch barrel it will weigh 6³⁄₄ pounds as Browning advertised. The “Twenty” was advertised as being “below 6¹⁄₂ pounds” and some of the very early ads claimed 6¹⁄₄ pounds, a bit optimistic, I think. A “Twenty” with a 28 inch ventilated rib barrel will weigh over 6¹⁄₂ pounds, and some of the commemorative issue Japanese made guns with fancy dense wood will tip the scales over 7 pounds. A “Twenty” with a 26 inch plain barrel will usually weigh a bit under 6¹⁄₂ pounds as advertised. Perhaps one with a 24 inch plain barrel can be found that tips the scale at 6¹⁄₄ pounds. The “Magnum Twelve” averaged 8 pounds, and the “Magnum Twenty” at 7¹⁄₄ pounds. All in all, the A-5 was never a light gun except in “Sweet Sixteen” and the “Twenty” models, and this only with plain, short barrels. In general, a ventilated rib added about ¹⁄₄-pound to the weight of the barrel, depending on length. That is why many field shooters prefer plain barrels, especially for upland gunning.

All A-5 models were built on their own dedicated, gauge specific frames. The “Magnum Twelve” frame may look the same as the Standard 12 frame but it is larger, the same applies for the “Magnum Twenty” and the “Twenty” frames, they are different in size. The “Sweet Sixteen” frame may appear to be the same as the “Magnum Twenty” but it is not. Naturally, the smallest A-5 frame is the one on the “Twenty,” which also, not surprisingly happens to be the lightest of all A-5s sold in America. At one time there were rumors that Browning was going to come out with a scaled 28 and 410 A-5 to compete with Remington who made the only autoloaders in those two gauges on scaled receivers. But, apparently they were just rumors, nothing happened.

In Europe, at one point FN tried to market alloy framed A-5s. These models were called “Superlight” like the lightweight version of the Superposed over/under. Some of these alloy-framed guns were marked as “Superlight” on the left side of the receivers, while others were unmarked. I have seen both, an unmarked 20 gauge version and a “Superlight” marked 12 that belonged to a friend. These guns were made in the 1970s, when manufacture of Browning marked A-5s was switched to Japan. They all had “flat knob” pistol grips and looked exactly like the steel framed A-5s. The ones I saw were un-engraved models, the European Grade I versions. They were definitely lighter than the steel framed models. I don’t know how much they weighed, but my friend’s 12 felt about like a “Sweet Sixteen.” One thing I did notice in handling these alloy framed A-5s, they lacked that solid between the hands feel that steel framed A-5s have. That, of course, is understandable, since at least a half a pound is shaved from the receiver area by the use of alloy. The alloy-framed versions were never imported by Browning.

When all is said and done, it appears that the most desirable versions of the A-5 are those that were made during a decade, between about 1951-’52 and 1961-’62. Cross bolt safeties replaced the old front safeties around 1951 and “speed load” feature was introduced between 1953-’54. Of course there are other things that die-hards look for, such as the use of screws throughout instead of rolled pins, which Browning used in some places on later guns. Ventilated rib barrels are preferred by collectors, although as mentioned earlier, many field gunners prefer the plain barrel since it lightens the weight up front and gives the gun more of between the hands feel. Even in the older guns, the “speed load” feature is preferred. The so-called “speed load” feature first appeared in 1952 with the introduction of the new Double Automatic. However, it became very popular and subsequent A-5s were all provided with that feature. Many older guns were retrofitted with “speed load” either by Browning or private gunsmiths. The old Browning A-5 manual even had instructions on how to convert older guns to “speed load.”

If you are not a collector and just want a good autoloader for hunting, then any of the A-5s will do. They will all function reliably if they were properly maintained and not abused. Even those that were made back at the turn of the twentieth century, if in good condition, will work just fine. That is the great thing about the A-5s. They were built to last! Most people don’t realize that at the FN factory, as much care and attention was given to making the A-5 as it took to make the more expensive Superposed. No assembly line semi auto shotgun in the world was made with as much care and attention to detail as the FN Browning A-5. Yes, there were and are more expensive pieces such as the hand built Cosini. But no production line auto shotgun really could compete with the A-5 during its hay day!

The A-5 has had many copies and clones with many licensed copies made before World War II, most notably by Remington and Savage. In Europe there were outright pirated copies, especially corning out of Germany. Post war the Italian Franchi and the Breda with modified receivers and mechanism, are basically Brownings! In Japan SKB produced Browning type shotguns with a streamlined receiver, and Daiwa made an almost exact copy once the Browning patents ran out. Yamamoto Company also made A-5 clones with alloy receivers that were briefly imported in the U.S. Daiwa guns, incidentally, were available with all steel receivers or with lighter alloy receivers. In America the Remington 11-48 and the new Savage autoloaders were nothing but slightly modified Brownings, mainly with streamlined receivers. Savage’s attempt to streamline the receiver in the 1950s was not very successful, so they actually went back to the old humpback in the early l960s, until they were discontinued altogether in 1967.

All A-5s produced under the Browning name are worthy of the A-5s lofty reputation. The only exceptions are the guns of the last year of Belgian production (1976), which were sloppily put together with less engraving and below Browning standard finishing. Also, in 1986-’87 some Belgian A-5s appeared, put together with left over parts. They were not of the quality that one expected from Browning shotguns. The short-lived “American Brownings” were also not as well finished as the FN versions. The Miroku-made A-5s are equal to the mid 1960s to 1970s production Belgian A-5s, but not quite up to the level of those made in 1950s to early 1960s, which are considered to be the best to come out of the FN factory, better than the pre war versions.

The Japanese versions were excellent, but they did have some changes, the most obvious being that the barrel hangers were brazed on and not integral as on the Belgian barrels. However, the Japanese barrels were much harder and could be used with steel shot. Also, except for the very early versions from the 1970s the Japanese barrels came with Browning’s Invector choke tubes. Cosmetically, the Japanese Brownings were very well finished, beautifully polished and blued, but there were some minor differences. For instance, the magazine caps on Belgian guns had two knurled bands while the Japanese version had three bands. The butt-plate on the Japanese A-5s no longer had the letters FN surrounded by the words Browning Automatic as on the Belgian guns. That made sense, since they weren’t made at the FN factory anymore. Instead, the butt-plate was like those on the Superposed and the Citori with just the name Browning on it. But aside from some of these minor differences, the Japanese Brownings maintained the high standard set by FN.

Today there is a plethora of different auto-loading shotguns on the market. Only one is a long recoil, A-5-type gun, the Franchi 48 AL. Most of the guns today are either gas operated or inertia type like the Benelli. In a way, the auto-loading shotgun market is much like the auto-loading pistol market! The auto pistol field is flooded with double actions and in fact, there are more double action high capacity pistols than any other kind. Yet, the old 1911 keeps chugging along, and lately there has been a revival of interest in the Browning Hi Power! Unfortunately, the Browning A-5 has not enjoyed the same fate. However, to those who have shot this gun in the field, there is no other auto­loading shotgun quite like it.

The Browning A-5 has not only a long distinguished and storied background in hunting, but it has served in combat with distinction. Our military never used the A-5 in combat, at least not that I am aware of, although the A-5 clone, Remington Model 11 was used extensively by Navy and Army Air Corps to train aerial gunners. But other countries like Great Britain did use the Browning A-5s in combat. I remember back in the early 1960s when I was in the army, my unit the 7th Special Forces Group had an exchange program with the British 22nd SAS. Two members of our unit trained with the 22nd SAS in England, and they in tum sent two of their members to train with us. I spent six months training with one of the members of the SAS who was assigned to my detachment, a veteran of the so-called “Malayan Emergency” which took place from 1949 until 1960. The SAS member lavished heavy praise on the FN Browning A-5, which was their standard issue along with the Browning Hi Power pistol. The SAS patrols were armed with A-5s, with 28 inch full choke barrels, not short riot guns, and loaded with buckshot! He said the Browning A-5s never failed them, always worked! Of course the SAS A-5s were the FN Grade I types with no engraving and they were the Standard Model, not the “Light Twelve.”

I have been a fan of the Browning A-5 ever since I became interested in guns and hunting as a kid. I remember being mesmerized by the Browning full page ads in the old outdoor magazines back in the 1950s with words such as “The Aristocrat of Automatic Shotguns” and “Rugged as the Rockies and Smooth as Silk.” I also remember reading and gazing at wonderful color photographs in a National Geographic magazine that had a story about wild and free Bedouins in the Arabian Desert. They were all armed with long barreled Browning A-5s! Yes, to me the A-5 was the best gun in the world bar none!

With my A-5s I did some of my most memorable hunting. I shot my first California limit of geese, three snows and three specs, with my “Light Twelve” on a foggy Thanksgiving Day morning, and my first limit of seven “bull sprigs” with a “Sweet Sixteen” back in the 1970s. More recently I had perhaps the best pigeon shoot of my life with an A-5. I shot up a caseload of ammunition on a hot and dusty Mexican desert afternoon with a “Sweet Sixteen” that chugged along without a hiccup!

Perhaps the most significant reason for my fondness and attachment to the A-5 is that the man who took me hunting when I was a kid and taught me just about everything that I know about hunting, shot an old pre war Browning A-5. His was the heavy, un-engraved version with the safety in front of the trigger guard, a gun that was made before the appearance of the “Light Twelve.” I witnessed some of the most remarkable shooting that he did with that gun. That man, Arseny Yankovsky, was incidentally, the best wingshot I ever met in my life.

Yes, the Browning A-5 has a very special meaning to me. When I hold it in my hands and feel that wonderful heft and “between the hands” feel, I can conjure up old memories of long ago hunts and adventures. It doesn’t matter whether it is a 12, 16, or a 20, the A­5 has the same feel only the weight will be different from one bore size to the next. If you haven’t owned an A-5 with its careful old world workmanship and the wonderful “between the hands” feel, then you have really missed out. Today’s modem autoloaders may be technologically superior, made of all sorts of modem wonder materials, but they lack soul and have no history. Don’t get me wrong, I think the modem autoloaders are excellent shooting implements and I own several and like to shoot them. But, they are not made like the old Browning, none of that careful hand polishing and fitting. The A-5, with a distinctively (some call it ugly) shaped receiver and the wonderful balance, is a gun with history and soul, a classic with character.

One complaint that I often hear from some is that the A-5 “kicks” too much or that it will not reliably cycle certain loads. Invariably in such cases the problem lies with the fact that the friction ring is not set up properly. The other cause of kicking too much is when the magazine tube and the recoil spring are heavily oiled. It is amazing how a normally perfectly intelligent individual will not pay attention or read the instructions properly. I have known A-5 owners who have shot the old humpback for years with improperly set up friction rings and with heavily oiled magazine tubes! When properly set up and maintained the A-5 is one of the most reliable repeaters that you will find. It did not build its outstanding reputation on its looks! The British SAS troops did not have problems with the A-5s in the less than ideal conditions of Malayan jungles. That is because they cleaned and maintained their A-5s properly. Enough said on this subject.

Some double gun aficionados turn up their noses at repeaters and refer to them as “machines” and insist that only double guns have soul. The A-5 in particular, seems to be the target of their criticism, calling it “ugly, clanking machinery, a pogo stick.” Well, I have news for these critics. Double guns are machines as well! If they want to stay away from machines and be completely “natural,” they should use bows, and not compound bows, which are machines also! The double guns may not have as many parts as repeaters, but they are machines just the same. I am not suggesting that the A-5 is equivalent to an English Best Gun or another similar shotgun. When all is said and done, it is but a production line repeating shotgun, not a hand made English or European Best Gun. But that doesn’t make it an inferior shotgun. It is made of best material and fitted carefully and finished far better than most repeaters. And as for balance and handling, I’ve handled some double guns costing twice the price of an A-5 that felt like two by fours! Price has nothing to do with whether the gun has balance and handles well, neither does the brand name or the action of the gun, be it a double or a repeater.

I hunt and shoot for enjoyment, not just to kill game. I own and shoot all sorts of shotguns, including doubles, both side by side and over/under. But if I just want to spend some time in a duck blind or an afternoon in a dove field to do some serious gunning, give me a Browning A-5, a gun with soul.

This article originally appeared in Gun Digest 2013, 67th Edition.