I picked up two pretty well stripped trigger housings at a LGS today. One was tagged "Early Browning A5", the other unmarked. The price was well within my tolerance level, so they went home with me. (I always grab A5 parts.) There is a noticeable difference between the two. The tagged one has what looks to be the very first "straight" trigger- for want of a better description. It also has the first style safety, which made me first think it was made in 1903/early 1904. (!!!) However, the bottom tang is curved, eliminating any probability of it being from a straight stock variation, and the serial number (99525) is stamped on the left side of the bottom tang. According to the bible, the serial number would indicate this housing was made around 1927 or so. On the very front of this housing, there is a letter "F" stamped, as well as a letter "L", but not near each other. Those are the primary differences between the two housings. The other housing, which was completely stripped, shows a serial number of 103390 (stamped on the right side of the tang--1928?), all the way towards the rear, and I just noticed upside down from the other housing. This housing has the customary machining for the more common front trigger guard safety-used up until 1951. I noticed several other differences as I held them up against each other. The tang on the "Browning" tagged housing is about 1/8" shorter in length, and the three holes are therefore about 1/8" closer to the housing body than the other one.Then I saw a difference in the machining where the tang extends away from the housing body. On the tagged one the width of the tang is the same as the tang on the other one, however-----keep up with me here---the tagged housing has squared off edges where the tang extends out from the housing, and the other one has a radius where the tang leaves the housing body. (That would make a difference regarding the wood butt stock fitting.) What do I have here, maybe Remington Model 11/Savage parts? The tagged one really has me confused as the trigger/safety combination tell me it is really early (1903/4), but the serial number says otherwise (1927/8). The other one appears to probably be a 1928. I looked at one of my safes full of A5s, and all have the radius where the tang meets the housing I mentioned above. I must admit, there are no 16 gauge A5 s in my herd, so could the shorter tang and differently machined corners be a real early 16 gauge housing? Or did the LGS sell me Remington/Savage parts? And, as I have stated several times, me and posting pictures are not exactly on speaking terms, otherwise I could have shown the different housings. Believe me, if I could, I would. Thanks for any and all help!!!!
I think we need to get you up to speed on the pictures. It’s really much easier now. All you need is a smart phone. Some changes were made by Ripjack13, which was a huge improvement. You know what they say” pic is worth a thousand words”. Wish I could help, but very hard to see what your seeing in words. There were lots of changes to triggers over the years. There were many different guns made off the browning patient. Way more Remington’s, which I’m sure your aware of. From what I’ve seen most will try to pass things off as Browning, cause they bring more money.
Hello Bill, If your tagged early Browning auto 5 housing has a tang with three holes it is definitely a Remington Autoloading Shotgun (later known as Model 11). I double checked my 1904, which has a suicide safety, and it has only two holes on the tang. Hope this help
Sounds like a Remington to me, they used the early safety until 1928. The tang dimensions for serial numbers below 170,000 should be: 3 5/8” top, 3 1/16” bottom.
