Bought Another One

What did they do to the barrel?

I read somewhere Poly Chokes were offered with and without the "bird cage" from the beginning. As I recall the bird cage affair was some type of early "porting". I have a few with and without the bird cage. I can't feel a difference in regards to recoil (and considering the type of recoil system an A5 has, that in and of itself doesn't surprise me) but Everyone that stands near me when I shoot tells me they can tell a difference in noise!!

(I will try to find where I read that.)

It looks like the serial number was ground off and restamped

I could keep this thread going merely with the ones I have been bringing home lately!-----A couple of weeks ago I found a 1960, in pretty good condition. Earlier today, as I was at a LGS that specializes in AR15s ( I needed a few AR parts) I noticed a round butt something leaned up against a doorway into their back room. I asked what it was, and the guy said some old Browning. "Oh yeah, can I look at it....?"
It was a 1954, with a 27.5 barrel, no rib, with a modified choke. It had a minor crack in the forearm and one in the butt stock. Both looked to be easily repairable. The bore and bluing looked really good. Recoil spring measured 9". The innards looked like decades of oil/wd-40 had turned to cheese, but there were no visible problems.

It had a $375 tag hanging on it, so I offered him $300 cash out the door in order to officially start the negotiation process. He didn't hesitate and said sure. As he walked back with the 4473 for me to fill out, he had another barrel in his hand. He says "Oh yeah, this goes with it.". It turned out to be a 27.5 full with a solid rib, like new, same time frame. Once I got it home and tore it down to a bare frame, it looked to not have been shot a whole lot, as the usual wear spots were still really nice.

I could darn-near skip my BP medications tonight.

Wish I had your guys luck. It’s very rare for me to run across an Auto 5 around here. When I do find one people think they are worth their weight in gold

Check pawn shops, make low ball offers. I don’t think they like to have their money tied up too long, and short-chambered 16’s don't exactly fly off the shelves.

Congratulations Rudolph,
I do as well like the color of the wood. I have some small piece of Euro-Walnut that are reddish brown, which I use for stock repair, but I had always wondered if the wood of that period was stained.

The wood under the buttplate was definitely lighter.

I check ALL three pawn shops we have here weekly. I’ve only seen one Magnum 12 and it had a SS number engraved on the receiver and they still wanted 450.

I’ve passed up quite a few bargains since I started collecting these guns. It’s not always easy, but I’m trying to keep the number reasonable. So each gun has to be different in some way. Mostly field guns, my collection is representative of the variations over the years.

I like it when someone asks an obscure question and I can go up to the “Library” and find the answer.

I must admit that's a good start.

There are another half dozen in the safe.

Missed a 1926 with 12 boxes of RST shells by ten minutes on my local classifieds. Seller wanted $625 for all of it. It was probably a 90% gun. So pissed that I went fishing and missed it.

I like the idea of having a representative examples of the variation that took place over the years. À pic of the side view were we can see the receiver would be nice. I am like you Rudolph, I like to keep the number reasonable. Of course, we can debate what is a reasonable number.

Is this what you’re looking for, Biz? Not much to see on this side.

That is a nice 16 gauge. What is restored? Which year? Sometime in the 20’s?

1935 Biz, and best I can tell, it hasn’t been restored.

It occurred to me that you are near “Goad”. He’s a guy who posts on Shotgunworld and lives in SD. He has a huge collection that he amassed by driving all over the country and stopping in every pawn shop he saw. A while ago he talked of reducing his hoard; you might want to get in touch.

He is a good guy. I’ve asked him a few questions on shotgunworld. I’ll reach out to him and see. I don’t visit that site very often. Thanks for the heads up

I did something unusual yesterday. I took the gun to the pattern board. At 20 yards, the IC setting shot a pattern that a small goose could fly through. Tightening it down to Modified improved things considerably. although it patterns higher than I like.

Last night I loaded up some short shells and today I shot Skeet and Crazy. I still missed plenty but this time it was because the gun’s a little too short for me.