Early auto 5 questions and opinions (big pics)

aric84

aric84

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Kanata/Ottawa
I just picked up and ealy browning auto 5 and I have a couple of questions. The two most important ones are what the age is, roughly and if it should be safe to use with modern loads. I was told that it worked fine, and it looks to be completely mechanically sound, built like a tank. I need to get a friction bushing collar before i can fire it though, as it is missing, unless the early guns didn't have one.

As for opinions, I got this as a restoration gun, and am thinking of getting her back up to snuff. As can be seen, the bluing is almost all gone, has a bit of shallow rust here and there, and the wood looks to have been sanded and refinished. I would like to strip and oil the wood and am considering a reblue job, but I'm hesitant if it would be a real collectors item. I do like the patina colour it has now, but blue would be nice.

What would you guys suggest?

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Nice gun. I would not reblue, collector or not, but that is a personal preference. Can't tell you about the age.
 
Pics should be there, I see them just fine. I'm going to have to take an afternoon to get rid of some of the rust spotting on the barrell if I don't reblue. Hoping it will be a nice shooter.
 
I doubt there would be any collector value.As a restoration project, I think it is a good piece to use. If you can get all the rust off and polish the metal properly it should look great. Remember, the bluing will only be as good as the polishing job.As for shooting, what choke is it? Some older barrels may not handle steel shot to well.Good luck.
 
You definately cannot shoot steel through that barrel. Regardless of choke, you'll likely wreck it with steel use. As for collector status, guys in the US go nutty for old straight stocked A5's, usually regardless of condition. They'll fix 'em, clean 'em, and re-do them just like you're planning. If it was mint it might fetch a decent penny, but because of the shape it's in it won't get you big bucks now. Go to shotgunworld.com (Browning section), there are some big time A5 wizards there. A fellow there by the screen name Jeff Mull has a beautiful collection of straight stock A5's.
 
Thanks for the input. I was not planning on shooting anything other than lead through it. I didn't figure it has a lot of collector value due to the condition but it would be a great example of a very early Auto 5, the serial is in the mid 20000's. It would not take a whole lot of polishing to get it ready for bluing, I scraped off some rust and its barely deep enough to feel. I think she will clean up very nicely.

All I need to get up and shooting are a period buttplate and a friction ring, so off to the smith on Tuesday!

Oh, and it's a 12 gauge full choke.
 
aric84 said:
Wanted to say thanks to Browninggold for the shotgunworld site, looks like I have a 1906 era auto 5, makes me very happy!
Click to expand...

Glad I could help. IMO, that site is THE go-to place for shotgun info, especially Browning stuff. A lot of in-the-know guys there. By the way, nice Browning. Just something really cool looking about a straight stock A5.
 
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