[waterhouse]

A friend has a Browning A-5. I haven't seen it yet, but he says the second and third shells have trouble ejecting unless he uses high brass loads.

I know very little about the A-5s (other than that most folks are really happy with them). Any ideas on a possible fix for this issue?

I don't even know enough to know what questions to ask him, but if you guys need more diagnostic info to figure it out let me know and I'll pass the questions along.

[BigG]

It may be that the friction ring assembly in forend is put together wrong. There are two ways to put it together for light loads or heavy loads. The instructions are usually laminated inside the forend.

[sadhvacman]

It could also be that it's not been cleaned and lubed properly. I've had the same problem in the past and this was my solution. Some older belgium made A-5's have just been shot so much that the spring has weakened and it takes a hotter load for it to eject properly or for the breach to fully close after the shell is ejected.
Then again I'm not a gunsmith and I'm just speaking from my own experience with A-5's.

[zinj]

I'd say that there is a 95% chance he has the gun set on the heavy load setting and doesn't realize you have to change the recoil system arrangement to get it to cycle lighter loads. As a guide:

The Recoil Spring is that big spring around the magazine tube. The Friction Ring is a small steel ring with a concave side. The Friction Brake is a ring of brass, which has a black steel Compression Ring on it. The heavy and light loads setting is based on the placement of the Friction Ring, either under or on top of the recoil spring. The flat side of the Friction Ring must always face the recoil spring. As an example, if the gun is set up for light loads the arrangement of parts on the magazine tube should be Friction Ring, Recoil Spring, Friction Brake (with Compression Ring), Barrel.

As to other possibilites, I would say there is a 2% chance that the magazine tube is completely dry, which prevents the barrel from sliding backward and cycling. The magazine tube should not have a heavy coat of oil, just enough so that the barrel slides smoothly.

I'd say another 2% is that the gun is a 3" Auto-5, in which case there is nothing you can do to get it to cycle light loads (the gun just wasn't designed for them). Lastly I would give a 1% chance that something in the gun is actually worn out or broken.

Some older belgium made A-5's have just been shot so much that the spring has weakened and it takes a hotter load for it to eject properly or for the breach to fully close after the shell is ejected.

I have never experienced or heard of this. If anything, the recoil spring weakening should actually make the gun easier to cycle, as there is less resistance to the barrel recoiling back.

[sadhvacman]

Tha makes perfect sense about barrel recoil, so could the spring being weakened prevent the breach from closing after ejection?

[zinj]

The recoil spring wouldn't do that, but weakening of the bolt-return spring in the stock could certainly cause a gun to balk when feeding a fresh shell.

[waterhouse]

Thanks a ton guys. I'll pass the information along and if he brings it over at least I'll know where to start looking.