Help with info on this Browning

[RascalArms]

I missed this thread the first time around. I like what he did to it as it looks fine to me. I love these old Browning humpbacks!

[tradtiger]

Nice job cleaning it up. I have virtually that same gun, which was purchased in 1968. Mine is a Magnum 20, with the gold trigger and 3" chamber. Got full choke and improved cylinder barrels to hunt duck and geese as well as quail with one gun. Still works great; always did kick like a mule, though.

[Ronnie41]

Do some research using the serial number and you will learn the mfg. date and gauge. Where is the barrel. If it is a 16 ga. I have a barrel I might sell, it is not a ribbed barrel.

[viper3853]

Do some research using the serial number and you will learn the mfg. date and gauge. Where is the barrel. If it is a 16 ga. I have a barrel I might sell, it is not a ribbed barrel.

From Blake's Research, its a 1951, 16ga.

Gun did not come with barrel, my buddy said that's how they got it and must have been why none of the other kids wanted it. his wife said they are glad they got it since it has her dads name scratched in it. Sentimental value.

Yes I'm looking for a 16ga barrel. PM sent

[viper3853]

Update: been about a month since I finished this, gun came out nice, no problems cycling and ran like a dream.

ill post pics once I get on Wifi later today.

[viper3853]

Ended up getting a Boyd's Stock and a barrel off eBay. I really like the way the receiver came out.







Now to work on a old neglected .22lr bolt action my dad picked up for $50!!



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[hog_down]

That looks outstanding, well done sir

[Bretto22]

Browning Belgium made!! My dad is a die hard quail hunter and those are the only kind of shotguns he owns! I believe he has 13 of them. 20’s, 16’s, and 12’s. To this day he still shoots his sweet 16 that he got for his 16th bday more then any of the others!!! 7 of the 13 have been passed down from grand parents!

[kmon]

Very nce work getting that old gun back in action. I have one in the safe that was my Uncles. I take it out and dove hunt sometimes or if I have a quail hunt.

[RifleBowPistol]

That's a interesting old gun, old Browning A5. Probably still worth quite a bit. I would not throw the old forearm away, it can be cleaned up and the gun would be worth more with the old factory stocks. The stocks you got for it, could use a little work to get them shaped a little better, to improve how they fit the gun. The gun is in decent condition. You should look up the serial number, if you have not already, that gun is very old or early production. Looks like someone chopped the stock a long time ago. Looks like the work of gangsters from the 1920s and 1930s. Possibly was stolen a long time ago, if it was, there will be no records. It may not, it may have just gotten passed down to a younger family member or sold cheaply to someone who made it into a sawed off shotgun. You can bet that's why the barrel is missing. Back when that gun had the stock and barrel cut down, it would have been a expensive shot gun. I doubt the original owner would have done that to it.

It could still be used as a hunting gun, I would have the serial number checked to find out the production date and then look up a A5 of that grade from that time period. I would bet it's worth quite a bit. Not the type of old guns I wind up with. I got a old Stevens 16 ga. pump, that was given to us, after the husband of one of my mother's friends died. An old Stevens is not worth much, but still a good functioning gun. I plan on getting some 16 ga. shells someday and taking it out, to see how it shoots. I like 16 ga. guns, they work pretty good. My step father used to have a Browning over and under, I think a Lighting, in 16 ga. I would powder clays with that gun all day.

[viper3853]

That's a interesting old gun, old Browning A5. Probably still worth quite a bit. I would not throw the old forearm away, it can be cleaned up and the gun would be worth more with the old factory stocks. The stocks you got for it, could use a little work to get them shaped a little better, to improve how they fit the gun. The gun is in decent condition. You should look up the serial number, if you have not already, that gun is very old or early production. Looks like someone chopped the stock a long time ago. Looks like the work of gangsters from the 1920s and 1930s. Possibly was stolen a long time ago, if it was, there will be no records. It may not, it may have just gotten passed down to a younger family member or sold cheaply to someone who made it into a sawed off shotgun. You can bet that's why the barrel is missing. Back when that gun had the stock and barrel cut down, it would have been a expensive shot gun. I doubt the original owner would have done that to it.

It could still be used as a hunting gun, I would have the serial number checked to find out the production date and then look up a A5 of that grade from that time period. I would bet it's worth quite a bit. Not the type of old guns I wind up with. I got a old Stevens 16 ga. pump, that was given to us, after the husband of one of my mother's friends died. An old Stevens is not worth much, but still a good functioning gun. I plan on getting some 16 ga. shells someday and taking it out, to see how it shoots. I like 16 ga. guns, they work pretty good. My step father used to have a Browning over and under, I think a Lighting, in 16 ga. I would powder clays with that gun all day.

Both stock and forearm were given back to owner. Both had the serial stamped on to them and so did all the screws. Nothing was missing except barrel and the butt of the stock. Lol

Some minor fitting needed to be done to the buttstock but didn't know if once I sanded it if I could get that same stain for it and make it look seamless. I am no gunsmith or woodworker by any means. I have a decent knowledge of guns and mechanical knowledge and I won't touch something I know I can't put back together. lol I talked with owner and discussed everything before i did anything to it and was involved in the process. We were both happy how it turned out. If he wanted to restore it as a showpiece I would have said @:&( NO, I'm not qualified, but he was fine since he had an immaculate Sweet Sixteen in his safe already, and he wanted a working gun his wife could use since it was her dads gun.

All in all we're pleased.

I'll be doing a little more woodworking and wood refinishing with my dads .22 rifle he purchased.


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[mchildress]

Pretty common for officers to scratch their initials and date on evidence firearms.