Strange semi auto Browning shot gun with no Magazine tube What was it??

[Master Blaster]

Today at a club fun shoot I saw an unusual Old browning shotgun. It was a semi auto but it had no magazine tube. On the right side was the normal ejection port, on the lower left of the receiver it has a shell shaped insertion port. The owner put a shell in the port on the lower left and when he pushed it in the bolt closed, bring the gun into battery. Upon firing the shell ejected out the right side of the receiver. The bottom of the receiver had an opening and a strange looking mechanism that may have been designed to hold a second shell. This was from a deceased relative's collection the owner told me.
they had no manual for it and knew nothing about it or how to load a second shell as any attempt resulted in the bolt slamming shut. No apparent way to attach a magazine either. On the barrel it said browning arms USA and had the shell size and gauge, and that was it.

Anyone have any idea what model this is and how it operates?

Thanks

 

[oneounceload]

Sounds like a twelvette double auto, meant to hold two shells

 

[Stony]

Sounds like a Browning Double Auto to me. If you will Google them, it should answer your question.

 

[Fred Fuller]

Like this?

http://randywakeman.com/BrowningDoubleAutoValBrowningsFinest.htm

 

[Master Blaster]

Thanks that's definately it

 

[SwampWolf]

I bought a brand new one in 1961 which I still have. A good friend of mine has been collecting them for the past three decades or so and has amassed over twenty DAs in pristine condition in all of the colored receivers (steel as well as alloy) Browning made. We both still hunt with one and both of us are completely convinced that the Double Auto is the finest handling repeating (single barreled) shotgun ever made.

 

[surjimmy]

Did it look like this, mine was made in 1961.

 

[Panzerschwein]

It's probably a Browning Double Auto. Neat guns!

 

[loose noose]

What a neat shotgun, I'm sure there is a way to load 2 shells.

 

[oneounceload]

Loose - it is DESIGNED to hold 2 shells

 

[SwampWolf]

Anyone have any idea what model this is and how it operates?

Not only is it a Double Auto (as I and others have identified earlier), but it operates on a "short-recoil" system (not gas) as designed by John Browning's son, Val Browning.

 

[HOOfan_1]

My dad and I were just talking about this the other day.

Isn't there a Benelli or Beretta that only holds two shells, and has a slot on the side to hold a third which has to be manually loaded?

 

[waterhouse]

Sounds like a twelvette double auto, meant to hold two shells

Thanks for posting, I had never heard of this. Neat looking gun.

Isn't there a Benelli or Beretta that only holds two shells, and has a slot on the side to hold a third which has to be manually loaded?

you may be thinking of the Beretta UGB 25 XCEL Break Open

http://www.berettausa.com/products/ugb25-xcel-trap-12-ga-30/default.aspx

 

[HOOfan_1]

you may be thinking of the Beretta UGB 25 XCEL Break Open

http://www.berettausa.com/products/ugb25-xcel-trap-12-ga-30/default.aspx

That must be it...talk about a strange design

 

[oneounceload]

That was designed mainly for the European market where gas guns are typically not allowed for competitions because the RO cannot easily ascertain the condition of the gun from a distance. By making the UGB break open, it can easily be seen as being in a "safe" mode while still utilizing a heavy gas gun for recoil reduction. They are now running about half price when they were introduced here. Having had a chance to shoot one, they are soft shooting and not too bad for even a LH to operate