Auto-5 Spits Live Shells When Fired

Discussion in 'Browning Auto A-5' started by Rudolph31, Nov 28, 2016.

  1. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    About that new forearm that I just happened to have. Years ago I bought a new recoil spring from Brownell's. It was aftermarket and a little too big, which I found out when the forearm on my '47 split. Brownell's sent me a new one even though I didn't ask. I was able to repair the split and I almost forgot I had this one.

    Good company, Brownell's. And they quit selling those aftermarket springs.
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2017
    Rob poston likes this.
  2. ripjack13

    ripjack13 Resident Sawdust Maker Staff Member Administrator

  3. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    That’s it, thanks!
    ripjack13 likes this.
  4. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Well, the gun is broken again. This time it’s the hammer. They made a mistake lightening this part and it broke in half at one of the holes. And now they’re no longer available! Fortunately, Numrich had one. It tried to order 3, but they literally had just one. Should be here today.
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2018
  5. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    [​IMG]

    The pin in the picture isn’t for the hammer, it’s the Safety Sear’s. I guess the hammer bent it when it came apart, and it broke when I tried to straighten it. These are still available, but I drove one out of an old Trigger Plate that I’ve got. The catch is that these are staked in place. I had to drill out the hole, drive it in, and re-stake.
  6. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Looking over this post I noticed that the old broken hammer was one of the new kind, without the roller. Art says these gall the mainspring and leads to failure. Fortunately, the replacement is roller equipped.

    And the Light Twelve has been trouble free for almost two years.
  7. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    I wonder if that area of the hammer would have been tempered too hard to drill and simply install my own roller, if it ever became an issue.?
  8. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    I was about to say I wouldn’t risk screwing up a scarce part if it could be fixed with a file, and mainsprings are still plentiful and cheap. But a quick check of the MGW website shows that hammers are available once again. I’m not sure how that happened, I had heard that they sold their remaining parts inventory to Art’s. They were certainly out of stock when mine exploded.

    So tinker if you want, but I’m thinking that since you collect older Auto-5’s, all of them have the roller. But if you ever break a hammer, don’t throw it away. You might be able to salvage that part.
    Bill Idaho likes this.
  9. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    I just noticed the hole in that hammer where it pivots is no longer round, but an oval. That would indicate to me it has had a goodly amount of rounds through it!!!! (And it kind of tells me a hammer is not tempered in that area, as the pin is broken rather than the hammer. So therefore, the pin is harder than the hammer.)
    There also might be a crack vertically in between the middle hole and the top hole. I can barely see it, but I think it is a crack. I wonder it that crack happened when the hammer finally broke in two, or before.

    And I do see "lightened" hammers from time to time on Epay. Usually relatively inexpensive.
  10. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Nope, the holes are supposed to be eccentric. And as I said in the post, that’s not the hammer pin. When things came apart the safety sear pin bent, then broke when I tried to straighten it.

    But yeah, stay away from lightened hammers.
  11. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    I got a spectacular break on Low 8 yesterday. Then I noticed that the barrel looked like this:

    [​IMG]

    I think I hit the bird with my Poly Choke, which we found a few feet away. Pieces of the bird cage had been breaking off, but I didn’t expect this.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The new barrel I bought for my Double Auto generously donated the necessary part.
  12. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    A Rose Bowl, Mardi Gras, growing up on the southside of Chicago, and Tijuana in the late 60's-----------------------and-----------------------


    I ain't never seen nuthin' like that!!!!!



    (The barrel is still usable right? I think you could find a donor Poly Choke and simply screw it on--although I wold have a real close look at the threads on the barrel portion.)
  13. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Yup, the DA barrel donated its collar. In fact, that’s the DA barrel in the picture. No damage to the A5’s, but I didn’t want to shoot it like that because I thought it might damage the collet. How nice that it waited for the last shot to break!

    Edit: The threads weren’t damaged because the threaded part of the collar remained in place. That’s the small ring in the picture — it’s supposed to be one piece.
    Last edited: May 2, 2020
  14. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    You wouldn’t have hurt anything if you would have kept shooting. I shot with an old timer that used to take his choke tubes out on one of our sporting clays stations. He called it shooting threads
  15. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    It wasn’t the threads I was worried about. It was the petals.
  16. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    I still don’t think you would have damaged the petals. However I would have stopped shooting it too
    Rudolph31 likes this.
  17. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    Fortunately, it failed on the very last shot. And hitting a clay with several ounces of steel was so cool that I’m tempted to start using slugs.
  18. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    Haha you must be a way better shot than me. I’ll take as many pellets as I can.
    Rudolph31 likes this.
  19. Rudolph31

    Rudolph31 .30-06

    I shot crappy that day, but I did get a “solid” hit on Low 8.
  20. win7stw

    win7stw .30-06

    What’s a crappy round for you?

Share This Page