Browning A5 Shotgun – One Sweet Return

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 8/28/2019 | M Dickerson

[w1n1]

Browning's light and balanced A5 shotgun lets you to shoot the old 'gentleman's gauge' in a technologically updated package. As an aspiring curmudgeon (my wife might suggest that I’m already there), I frown disapprovingly when I hear that someone is remaking a classic. Be it a movie, a song or a firearm, some things are just so iconic that you simply shouldn’t mess with them. If you do, you'd better get it right, or you’ll catch hell from people whose hearts were captured by the original. Sadly, and all too often, "new and improved" translates into "new and cheapened and ugly."

I recently had an opportunity to test one such newly made-over gun, the Browning A5 Sweet Sixteen shotgun, and I'm pleased to report that, in this instance, the manufacturer got it right. By right, I mean spectacularly right.

My opportunity to test this reborn 16-gauge classic came during a three-day pheasant hunt with R&R Pheasant Hunting, an 18,000-acre, family-owned farming and ranching operation near Seneca, S.D., with four other outdoor scribes. We were there, along with representatives from Browning, Winchester and the South Dakota Department of Tourism, to test three new shotguns and ammunition from Browning and Winchester.

I spent the first day wringing out the newly announced Winchester SX4 shotgun in 12 gauge, and bagged my fair share of birds. I spent the second day happily shooting roosters with the Browning 725 Citori over-and-under shotgun chambered in 28 gauge. I held off on shooting the Sweet Sixteen until the final day of the hunt, mainly because only two were on hand and everyone wanted to shoot them. As fellow outdoor writer "Uncle Bob" Matthews observed, "The Sweet Sixteen was the prettiest girl at the dance, and everyone wanted to dance with her."

AND WHAT A DANCE IT WAS. On the second drive of the day, I took the left flanker position, outside and ahead of Bob, who walked a few rows inside a field of tall corn. We both carried the Sweet Sixteen, stoked with the new Browning BXD Upland Extra Distance 11/8-ounce load of No. 6 nickel-plated shot, and as luck would have it, most of the roosters that flushed during that drive came our way. The sky was soon raining pheasants. I think only one rooster made it past us.

To understand what makes this new gun so special, it helps to know a bit about its history. Today’s A5 traces its lineage to the original Browning Automatic 5, designed by John Browning in 1898. It was one of the most influential shotgun designs of all time. First produced by FN in 1902, it was later made by Remington as the Model 11 and by Savage as the Model 720 and other variants. Read the rest of Browning A5 shotgun.

[arkfreepdom]

Awesome gun!

[bk1000]

I love a 16 ga. Still have my grandpa’s Fox Sterlingworth side-by-side double. Ducks fear me.

[Stevenc131]

Glad to see the Sweet Sixteen is back. I know it’s not the same action as the original, but at least we’ve got a modern version available. The classic gauge for bird hunting in the old days, the 16 isn’t very common now. I’ve got a 100 year old German 16ga side by side in great shape, 30 inch barrels give it a graceful look.

If you have an older 16, many had 2 9/16” chambers prior to WWII, and RST makes high quality ‘short’ shells with appropriate chamber pressures for older guns (just make sure your gun is in good condition prior to shooting it).

[zeestephen]

From the photo I could not tell if that was a pump action or a spring loaded magazine.

You Tube has a multi-angle, beautifully illustrated, live action, interior view of what happens when you pull the trigger.

The whole barrel recoils! Not what I was expecting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MfLYgTe6NI

[Lurker]

I inherited a bolt action 16 gauge he bought at Sears in 1955 or so. I remember watching him hunt with it when I was a kid. Sadly it was beyond saving when I got it.

L

[762X51]

Just an aluminum look-alike chambered for a dead round. I have a real 1961 20 gauge A5. Svelte, light, fast and a joy to use. It’s a quail killing machine.

[elcid1970]

I just went to gunbroker.com and found an original Sweet Sixteen with Cutts Compensator for less than the new one.

Some honest wear but classic blue steel & wood, the only things a firearm should be made of.

Not an autoloader fan but I’m watching it.

[Yo-Yo]

I have a Savage Model 720 in 12 ga, which is a 1960's licensed copy of the Browning A5, and even with light target loads and the friction rings set correctly, the dern thing kicks like a mule.

There's no way all of that reciprocating mass isn't going to make its presence known.

[Hootowl99]

Yep, I also have a nice 16ga that passed on to me through the family. Mine is a 1960s vintage Browning 16ga semi although not the Sweet 16 version.

It's absolutely awesome dove hunting and quite functional for trap and skeet shooting. For bird hunting, this Browning is more fun and effective than my Winchester 12ga pump that I got for my b’day when a I was about 14yo.

These days, my main use for the 12ga pump is when I want I want to have fun watching it kick the heck out of someone that only knows the 273 AR world. If I really want to kick them, I bring out the 30-30 Winchester (no recoil pad!).

[Svartalfiar]

Damn. I usually avoid the 'Am shooting journal', but didn't look at author before clicking the link. And lo and behold, I'm not disappointed by the very first sentence:

A5 shotgun lets you to shoot...

[wjcsux]

I have a Remington model 11 that supposedly pre-dates the A 5, my dad gave it to me years ago. The gun has a low, five digit serial number. Dad thought it may have been manufactured prior to WW 2.