Just bought a belgian made auto five

[Capstick1]

I recently bought a slightly used auto five made in 1975. I used it in trap yesterday and shot some of my best scores. From what I've been reading about the Auto Five it has an interesting history. It was manufactured for over ninety five years before Browning decided to discontinue it. When John Browning first introduced the design to the big wigs at Winchester the president was a retard and chose not to manufacture it because he didn't think the public would buy it. John grabbed all his design blueprints, told Winchester to shove it, and attempted to have a meeting with the president of Remington Arms to see if they would be interested. This didn't go well either because the President of remington DIED in his office from a heart attack a few minutes before John could even talk to him. At this point John left America and talked to Fabrique National about manufacturing his shotgun. It was at this point that John started his own firearms company as well. The first Auto Fives were imported from Belgian. Later on he decided to allow Remington and Savage to manufacture the Auto Five under license. I don't know of any other shotgun design that's been manufactured for 95 years straight without any changes made to the original design. My question is this. Why did Browning discontinue this shotgun? Was it becoming to expensive to manufacture? Does it have some reliability problems?

[rcmodel]

It just cost too much to make them any longer. And I think a lot of younger shooters disliked the old "hump-Back" look, so they probably didn't sell as well as they once did.

The new shotgun designs can be cranked out on CNC and screw machine lathes with no skilled assembly required.

And there is no known weakness in the A-5 design.
They will beat you & the receiver to death if you don't set the friction rings for the loads being used.

And they will crack the forearm eventually if you don't tighten the mag tube cap when you put one together.

Other then that, they will still be working when all of us are dirt.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[skinewmexico]

Supposed to be the most complicated shotgun ever built. I'm afraid to even think about trying to take mine apart. But I shoot that Belgian Sweet 16 better than any other gun in the world.

[zinj]

When John Browning first introduced the design to the big wigs at Winchester the president was a retard and chose not to manufacture it because he didn't think the public would buy it.

Actually, it was a dispute over royalties. Winchester had bought Browning's previous patents wholesale. Browning knew the Auto-5 was going to be a big seller so he insisted that he be paid a royalty for each gun produced. Winchester wouldn't agree to that, so Browning broke the relationship he had cultivated with them over the last two decades.

Supposed to be the most complicated shotgun ever built. I'm afraid to even think about trying to take mine apart. But I shoot that Belgian Sweet 16 better than any other gun in the world.

Actually, the design isn't overly complicated, rather the gun has tons of little screws and roll pins that hold it together. Disassembly and reassembly isn't streamlined like an 870 or 1100. Basically the Auto-5 was meant to run with minimal maintainance, but needed a gunsmith to service it (like many guns of the period).

[TexasRifleman]

When John Browning first introduced the design to the big wigs at Winchester the president was a retard and chose not to manufacture it because he didn't think the public would buy it.

Well Remington certainly made a lot, though I don't have any idea exactly how many. I have 2 Remington made models along with a Browning; all in 16ga.

My favorite shotguns.

[Capstick1]

+1 here. This one I've got is so easy to dust clays with in trap. If I had known these things were this good I'd have bought one a long time ago. Most of the used ones I've seen have these ugly looking poly chokes and cutts compensators on them. This must have been a popular modification at one time. The japanese ones with the invector choke systems are hard to find.

[Big Az Al]

Browning came out with the A500 supposed to be all new design, more of the Win m50 then anything else.

The A5 out sold it!

Browning introduced the A500 gold, now gas operated instead of recoil operated.

The A5 outsold it!

Browning ditch's the A5, because thier newer guns, can not compete, with thier almost 100 year old design.

Browning no longer makes an Auto shotgun anyone wants to buy. thier last one didn't sell enough to keep the production line going, so they sold it to another arms maker, one cosmedic change later, it is now a top seller.

Who doesn't know what make and model that is?

[Big Az Al]

The first shotgun I bought for myself, is an Auto 5. best buy I ever made!

[OAKVILLE SHOOTER]

They will beat you & the receiver to death if you don't set the friction rings for the loads being used.

May be a dumb question, but how do you do this. I picked up a late '30s 16 Guage last year. Absolutely LOVE this shotgun, but not sure about setting the friction rings.

Also, what is the difference between a "Sweet Sixteen" and a standard sixteen? This is not a Sweet Sixteen.

[Tijeras_Slim]

http://www.browning.com/faq/detail.asp?ID=105

FOr ring settings. Try with the setting for heavy loads first. A couple of my A-5's will cycle target loads on the heavy setting, and it makes for next to no recoil.

The sweet is a bit lighter and slimmer in profile. The sure tip off that you have a sweet, even an early unmarked one (the started making them in the late 30's) is a gold trigger. There are other signs, but I'm not a expert.

Enjoy your gun. Also, is it a 2 9/16" chambered gun? There's a sticky in the Browning forum at www.shotgunworld.com on how to tell.

[OAKVILLE SHOOTER]

Tijeras Slim-Thanks

I will check the links you posted.

As for the 2 9/16 chamber, I will have to check. The dealer that I got it from said he used it to rabbit hunt. I have put about 12 rounds of #6 through it and it seems to load and eject fine, but I will definitely check it out.

Thanks again,
Oakville Shooter