Help identifying weird WGP spare forend and spring for browning auto-5 magnum 12

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KingOftheHorses

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Hello,

I'm a new user here, please forgive the quality of my post, and please forgive they way I embedded the pictures, I'm not familiar with the way it's done here. I've been told that this subforum might be able to help me.

I have bought a forend and a spring rebuild kit from Western Gun Parts for my Browning auto-5 magnum 12, made in 1965. I'm a bit puzzled, because the forend does not fit my gun. I asked my local gunsmith to try to fit it, but he told me he would have to remove so much wood from the rear wooden "ring" of the forend (the bit in picture #4) that there would barely be a sliver of wood remaining . No one I know has been able to tell me what gun this forend would fit (see attached pictures).
https://imgur.com/a/eSGTg1Z


The spring, on the other hand, does fit the gun, but has a bigger diameter. The original spring measures 1.230 inches and the replacement spring measures 1.300 inches in diameter. The wire itself is also bigger in diameter (.135 vs .105 inches). It is also stiffer, and trying it out in my gun resulted in a split forend (not the one mentioned in this post) due to the barrel's faster return stroke . The gun didn't even cycle with the friction rings set for light loads. (attached pictures are a comparison between the original spring and the new, slightly bigger, forend breaking spring)

https://imgur.com/a/mnpeNrG


Could anyone help me identify these parts?

Thank you all very much.
 
pulling the spring apart is absolutely useless a bubba fix that is not a fix at all
Springs on semi auto firearms are designed to function under a certain amount of tension 12 psi 6 psi what ever the number is after years of usage the tension because less and pulling it apart does nothing
you may be able to get a replacement from brownells or some such place and for sure the wood they sent is in correct
wpg is not the company they were 20 years ago the parts for old discontinued guns have been out of production for decades
 
struff55 said:
pulling the spring apart is absolutely useless a bubba fix that is not a fix at all
Springs on semi auto firearms are designed to function under a certain amount of tension 12 psi 6 psi what ever the number is after years of usage the tension because less and pulling it apart does nothing
you may be able to get a replacement from brownells or some such place and for sure the wood they sent is in correct
wpg is not the company they were 20 years ago the parts for old discontinued guns have been out of production for decades
Click to expand...
Thanks for letting me know. I would still like to have an idea of what these parts are from because I'd like to resell them without scamming some poor clueless guy like me.
 
www.browning.com

Lots of info on their site.
A buddy had to have one of my A-5 3” mags in 12 gauge.
That one uses two springs.
One fit inside the other.
My early 80’s in the same configuration only uses one spring.

And to struff, you do you and I’ll do me. 🙈
 
I believe the last year or two of the Miroku Auto5 production the Mag 12’s used the forend with the pin through it. It’s definitely factory, I used to own one all original unfired with same forend. The catalogs from that timeframe show a Mag 12 with that forened
 
kamlooky said:
www.browning.com

Lots of info on their site.
A buddy had to have one of my A-5 3” mags in 12 gauge.
That one uses two springs.
One fit inside the other.
My early 80’s in the same configuration only uses one spring.

And to struff, you do you and I’ll do me. 🙈
Click to expand...

Later production of the magnum 12 uses a single spring, which is the one I have. The mystery spring however is way too stiff.
browninggold said:
I believe the last year or two of the Miroku Auto5 production the Mag 12’s used the forend with the pin through it. It’s definitely factory, I used to own one all original unfired with same forend. The catalogs from that timeframe show a Mag 12 with that forened
Click to expand...
You think this is a miroku forend? Do you know if the diameter of the wood ring that fits in the receiver is known to be a little too big for older belgian guns?
 
madtrapper143 said:
Just how does it not fit? Too long? Too short? Mag tube diameter wrong? Your original spring looks like one from a Light Twelve.
Click to expand...
The wood ring/lip thing at the back of the handguard has a diameter that is too big to fit in the recess in the receiver. it's on the 4th picture of my original post. everything else seems ok. browninggold has identified it as a late production japanese handguard.


My original spring is fine, I think. Local gunsmith looked at it when I brought him the gun for a deep clean (bought used and parts that are supposed to to be gray and shiny were black as coal). It shoots smooth and I don't have any problem with it.
 
maybe a magnum 12 owner could send me the wire gauge of their recoil spring so I can confirm whether or not I have the correct replacement spring and the split fore end was a fluke. I tried searching for this information but it doesn't seem to be available
 
Japan built for ends often have an excess of finish (varnish or whatever type) this can cause the fore end not to fit into the receiver. You did note that your gunsmith said he would have to remove too much material to make it fit. Go to Art's Gunsmithing on you tube and watch his video on fitting Japanese wood to Belgian guns. I don't have a wire gauge but my Magnum Twelve (Japan) replacement spring from WGP measures .138" in dia.
 
Hello everyone.

I have spoken to a Browning shotgun collector in my region, and thanks to your help and his expertise, I have figured out a couple of things.

1- The Japanese fore end did just need a bit of filling (thank you madtrapper143), and I suspect my local gunsmith may have not tried very hard. In fact I don't think he knows as much about auto-5s as I initially thought.

2- My original spring is actually one of the dual springs that magnum 12s originally used, and the other spring is just missing. This explains why it is thinner than a standard/light 12 spring.

3- The replacement spring is adequate, and the fore end that cracked when I tried it was probably already weakened.

4- I misread the operation manual for the auto-5. The magnum 12 isn't really meant to cycle light target loads, but it can work some tinkering, according to the collector I have spoken to.

Just wanted to write this all down for future readers. Thanks to everyone who replied to this thread.
 
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