Semi-automatic Browning A5: It is said that it represents the return of a myth, because it has been redesigned and re-proposed according to the original concept. We are talking about the new semi-automatic Browning A5, launched in Italy last January in the 12-gauge magnum version and coming soon in the super magnum model.
The semiautomatic is now the most used shotgun for hunting, both by young hunters and by the "elderly". Its versatility and practicality have practically supplanted the side-by-side shotgun and the over-and-under, also because, in this modern gun, the recoil sensation is greatly attenuated compared to the two previous smooth-bore "colleagues". We said that hunting enthusiasts consider the Browning A5 as the rebirth of a myth because it is the modern version of the first semiautomatic invented by John Moses Browning, a North American arms manufacturer who lived between the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and founder of the homonymous company. Browning A5 refers precisely to the original semiautomatic designed by its creator, namely the Auto 5. It retains its design and elegance from this, even if the mechanics have been greatly improved to adapt to the needs of modern hunters.
The Auto 5, also called “mollone”, was a long recoil rifle, while the modern A5 is a semi-automatic with inertial mass. In the first, barrel and bolt recoiled together and separated after the shot had come out of the barrel, while in the second, the barrel is fixed, and only the bolt moves, which compresses a spring. In the semi-automatic recoilers, on the other hand, the spring is pushed both by the barrel and by the bolt. The term "spring", later attributed to all semiautomatics, refers precisely to the drive generated by the large spring present in the "old" semiautomatics with long recoil.
The long-recoil Auto 5 semi-automatic was produced until 1973 by the Belgian company that acquired John Moses Browning's patent.
The history of Auto 5 has, in fact, the flavor of a soap opera or, better, of a soap opera, to put it in the American way. The legendary founder of the Browning arms factory, during his career, produced weapons for various companies: his own, Winchester, Colt, Remington, Savane and the National Fabrique of Belgium. The latter, in 1977, acquired the ownership of the Browning Arms Company founded a year after the death of John Moses Browning in 1926. All the companies mentioned had understood the talent and skill of the inventor of the Auto 5, only that Winchester at the time did not trust the idea and preferred to refuse production of the semiautomatic. The weapon, on the other hand, was appreciated by the Belgian factory, which began production by transforming it into its "flagship" product. The Auto 5 has undergone several evolutions, passing from the recoil barrel mechanism to the inertial mass one, also proposed in the brand new Browning A5. The product is presented on the website (browning.eu), of Browning International SA, which is the Belgian headquarters of the legendary American company. The same product is also described on the American site of the same company, namely browning.com. According to an article reported on the latter site, the A5 semiautomatic has been tested for hunting anatidae. The field test involved hunting ducks and geese. The weapon turned out to be practical, easy to hold and use. The shot is very fast and focused, with a practically non-existent recoil sensation, even defined as the “softest” currently on the market.
The A5 semiautomatic, in the 12 magnum caliber version, was also tested by about twenty Italian gunsmiths who made enthusiastic comments both on the gun technology and on the line.
The latter is very similar, almost identical, to the old Auto 5, but the mechanics are completely different and totally renewed. The technologies developed for the new Browning A5 are the inertial mass mechanism called Kinematic Drive System, which represents the “heart” and the engine of the shotgun, operating effortlessly and allowing incredible ballistic performance. Other innovative technologies are: the Invector DS chokes mounted on the Vector Pro overweighted barrels, the Inflex II butt plate and the Speed Load Plus express loading and unloading system. These technologies, all brand new and recently manufactured, allow you to load and unload the weapon very quickly and without failures or defects. The Browning A5 semi-automatic is produced in different versions, namely: Standard, Ultimate Ducks, Ultimate Partridges, Composite Super Magnum, Camo Max4 Super Magnum and Camo Infinity Super Magnum. The versions arriving and arriving on the Italian market are, as already mentioned, the caliber 12 magnum and the super magnum. The different versions change between them for ballistic power and for the stock, produced in wood, black composite and camuflage. The technical characteristics of the Browning A5 Standard semiautomatic are: a simple, sober but at the same time elegant casing; finishing of the burnished barrel; caliber 12-76; stock and fore-end in grade 2 walnut wood, oiled; fiber optic sights; crease at the hake 38; crease at heel 51; magazine capacity 4 + 1; weight 3 kilos; length 370 mm; barrel lengths of 66, 71, 76 cm, with Fix or Rem magazine.
The rifle is equipped with a choke key for screwing and unscrewing the chokes, stock interlayers and stock extension. The weapon is sold in an elegant ABS case. The retail price starts at around 1600 euros. The A5 12-gauge magnum model, also produced for the Italian market, shoots cartridges even with 50 grams of lead and can even go up to 60 grams. The greater weight of the lead is used to get the shot to reach a long distance, especially in duck hunting.
Hi, here it is written leave a comment, I bought the new semiautomatic Browning A5 magnum barrel 71,
I can define it as a bad buy, at 35 meters with 11 pellet cartridges the groups are fair,
even with the 7 cue they can be considered satisfactory (in any case always one step lower than the groups that my dad's long recoil Breda performs) passing to 5 - 3 - 0 cues
I can guarantee that it is better to leave this A5 at home and continue with the 50-year-old Breda.
(I used non-magnum cartridges) a pheasant at 35 meters according to the shot patterns obtained with ammunition of 5 - 3 - 0 preys two pellets.
I was baffled, I had gone to the armory with the intention of taking home a Benelli Colombo
but the gunsmith advised against it and guaranteed that the Browning was superior !.
Thanks for your attention Roberto Veronese