I took one of my A5s (a 1950 plain-jane 2 3/4"A5) to my weekly (weakly?) sporting clays event yesterday. I usually shoot 2 3/4 dram, #8 shot, (1150 fps) of various brands. ( I like Estates or Kents the best.) At the local Sportsman's Whorehouse I found some of those 1 1/2" long "mini-shells". Aguilla makes them, and apparently so does Federal. $5 for 10 rounds. The offerings are quite limited, as all they had on the shelf was buckshot, slugs, #4 shot and the #8 shot shells I bought. The ones I got were 15/16 oz, at 1150 fps. Pretty close to what I usually shoot. I thought I would try them for the closer shots on the course. I figured what the heck, as I've proclaimed on numerous occasion before---Over the years I have wasted far more money for things far stupider. I predicted my A5 wouldn't cycle them but decided to try loading into the chamber and seeing if they would actually break a clay bird (which it did!) and if it would eject it afterwards (which it did). Then I loaded one into the mag to see if the short round would feed upon firing the regular 2 3/4" round first. It did as well. Interesting. Youtube videos show feeding those short shells with a pump shotgun to be problematic at best. I handed some of them out to the other guys I shot with- they all shoot those darned over-and-under contraptions. Everyone broke birds with them, and commented on the lower recoil. And everybody laughed. (The most important part!) Ok, I know some of you are wondering the main question----will an A5 cycle them from battery, then eject, reload, and fire again. I didn't buy enough to try ( I gave away too many to the other guys before I decided to try actually cycling them) but as of this AM, I bought three more boxes to play with. I think if I lube the mag tube more than usual it just might! If that doesn't do it, maybe I will install an older worn out spring I have laying around. I evidently had enough horsepower to recoil the bolt body back far enough to lock it back, so I am thinking that should be close to the amount of energy I need to cycle it "completely". I might try it as it is set up now (for lower power loads), and if that doesn't work, lube the crap out of the mag tube, and if THAT doesn't work, a worn out spring. I love A5s!!!
I won't have to deal with that, as in the shooting I do, we load one into the chamber, close the action, and then one in the magazine. But I will try it, undoubtedly. Nothing would be more fun than freezing the innards up such that I have to disassemble the whole thing to get it working!!!
I tried those shells in a Citori and was impressed. Next year I’m going to shoot a rooster or two with them
Yeah, some of my fondest memories are being on the range, shoving a pocket knife into my gun trying to clear a jam while my buddies are waiting for me to shoot. Good times!
I don't know what's up with the six postings of my thread. (I see only one, so if the mods deleted the extra ones, thank you.) Maybe it's the beginning of the alleged cyber attack the media says is coming............. Later today I might try some of the shorty rounds to see if they will actually "function". Stay tuned.
Ladies and gentlemen!!.......It is with great pleasure that I can announce my test concerning my A5 firing two shorty 12 gauge rounds was a success!! I loaded two shorty rounds into the magazine tube, manually cycled the first one into the chamber and gave it a whirl. That particular A5 with a couple of shorty 12 gauge rounds- fired without any problems. The recoil spring measures about 9". (I have bought new springs that measured anywhere from 9" to 9 1/4", so this spring has had plenty of rounds through it, but not what I consider worn out) and I had an extra drop of oil on the tube. I did not try to load more than two into the magazine tube. YMMV. Interesting.
Surprising, but good to know. Why didn’t you load more for a more complete test? Somewhere I’ve got Browning literature that specifies a minimum length shell. I’ll try to find it.
