Early Browning A-5???

[.45colt]

Hello All, local toy store has an early A-5 with the safety mounted in the front of the trigger guard. seems somewhere I hear they (the safety ) were a problem.. anyone have experience with one? Thanks.

[Blaine]

*bump*

[yooper2]

I have a an old Belgian A-5 16 gauge with the garand style safety. Its far and away the finest shotgun I own, whenever I go upland hunting with my cousin it's the gun I grab. No issues with safety, I prefer it to the side to side moving version.


Eric

P.S. I'm a lefty.

[Treetop]

.45 Colt, I have two A-5s with the trigger guard, Garand style, safety. I'm also a southpaw so I have used these 2 shotguns, a standard weight 12 ga. and a standard weight 16 ga. for all of my shotgun needs for literally decades with no issues whatsoever. My Dad, who passed away in 1987, was a Browning A-5 collector.

And IIRC, he told me that Browning switched to a crossbolt safety because of a perceived gun safety problem, IOW, the possibility of an ND (negligent discharge) due to having your trigger finger so close to the trigger in order to manipulate the safety, so it was not, as I recall, a mechanical issue but rather "safety" issue that prompted the change. He also knew the date the change occurred but I can't remember exactly, I believe it was sometime in the post war 40s or very early 50s. Hope this helps. Semper Fi, Treetop

[.45colt]

Thanks for the replies Guys. seems like the safety changed around 1950 .

[Bill in Oregon]

.45 Colt, I was fortunate to briefly own a very early straight-grip Auto 5, and found out all sorts of things in this incredible thread over at Shotgun World:

http://www.shotgunworld.com/bbs/viewtop ... 3&t=216472

[.45colt]

Holy Stuff Bill , , Thanks for that link. what a load of information. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Jim.

[Bill in Oregon]

Jim, it is the Mother Lode if you like Auto 5s.