I recently purchased a final tribute A5, for Europe. For those of you that own a copy of the Shirley/Vanderlinden book you'll be questioning this statement. The book states that the existence of a European Final tribute is unknown. My Final Tribute is chambered in 3" magnum and has a 30" barrel There are some differences between the European final tribute and the North American final tribute There are only 500 European guns as opposed to 1000 north american guns Some of the European versions were made in 3” magnum. Based on the ones I’ve seen I believe only the guns with serial numbers above 350 are magnums. I cannot confirm the number of magnum guns however. The serial numbers on the European guns is “FINAL###”. My Gun is FINAL366 The European guns all have an A5 case. It’s a nice case but it’s not of the same standard as their custom shop cases. A tolex case is also a better case. The north american guns all received polystyrene packaging within a carboard slip. The case is made by “emmebi” in Italy It’s interesting to note that a magnum A5 normally has a short stock with a thick whiteline pad. The magnum run of final tributes all have the same stock as the standard A5 without a whiteline pad Browning made the final tribute woodwork in one big run and actually made far more than the 1500 final tributes wood sets. For years you could buy final tribute woodwork from Brownells. I’ve got a final tribute forend in gloss that came off a gun that somebody put a final tribute woodset on. It would appear that the European final tribute has an oil finish as opposed to a high gloss varnish finish in north america The gold lettering on the European guns has a gold background instead of a black background I have seen on north american guns My gun is not in perfect condition and as such I didn't pay as much as an immaculate example would cost. I purchase the gun to use it so I wasn't looking for an unfired example. For those of you who own a final tribute you need to own a copy of "The American gun maker John M Browning - the comic book". The engraving on the left side of the receiver is taken directly from the comic book.
I prefer the European version as the finished seems better. The traditional Browning Automatic buttplate is also more tasteful than the ordinary one installed on the N.A. Model. The Italian case is also very nice. It is very interesting that they were sold in magnum version. I noticed as well a difference into serial number marking. Does the marking on the barrel says "Browning Arms Company Morgan Utah & Montreal P.Q."? Thank you for presenting the European model. Now, I have to find the magnum and the 2 3/4 for my collection.
Very nice, and thank you for posting. It’s much appreciated when someone shares information that’s not available in the SV book.
The pad on the gun is of the classic Browning style. It is however a new production pad so isn't textured the same as the classic Belgian pads. The barrel has no address and instead reads: Browning Auto-5 Special steel 12GA. Shells 3" - 30" The barrel is threaded for invector plus chokes
