I have came into possesion of a 16 gauge A-5......

with a 2 9/16 chamber that has been lengthened to 2 3/4. The serial number is 114550 and it has a ribbed barrel. The safety is in front of the trigger guard. Some of the screws have numbers on them. I came up with a date of manufacture of 1931 and I was just checking to see if I came up with the right date. Thanks for any info...d2

How about some pictures...!?

I get 1938 for that number from both of my usual references.

http://www.16ga.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14912

http://www.nramuseum.org/media/940941/serialization-date of manufacture.pdf

Your gun may or may not be reliable with 2 3/4" ammunition depending on who did the conversion. Besides the lengthened chamber, the ejection port, ejector, and forearm must be modified.

Ditto on 1938, per S&V's book.

Possible source of confusion:
Browning 12ga numbers began with number 1 in 1903. The 16ga number 1 began in 1909. The two sets of numbers are different. A common mistake is to assign the 12ga serial number date to a 16ga.

Thanks. I now know where I erred...d2

Thanks for the info Coonrod...