Auto-5: "Light" vs "Standard"

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The light 12 has a lighter reciever, and I believe is about 1lb lighter than the standard, but don't hold me to that. It swings extremely nice, and makes an excellent upland gun.

Both guns have a 4+1 capacity.
 
I want to drag this one back up to the top to get some clarification. Will the stock and fore end from a standard Auto-5 fit a "Light 12"? How about barrels? Help me out here folks...the wheels are turning.....can you say "old school combat shotty"? :D
 
EVIL5LITER said:
Please don't "sporterize" or make a "tacti-cool" Auto 5. It makes JMB cry.
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Nope, not "tacti-cool". No lights, lasers or other gizmos involved. More along the lines of what was used by the military and LE way-back-when. And I PROMISE that the Auto-5 (or Remington Model 11) that I use will be in such a condition that anything I do will be a rescue and an upgrade!
 
I've see A5's with a solid rib - does that have anything to do with the light vs regular classification?
 
I don't think so. I have seen several "Light 12"s on Gun Broker with ribs, both solid and vented. The strange thing is that I have access to the official Browning Shop manual for the Auto 5, and it doesn't specify what the difference is either. Stranger and stranger....
 
The light gun has lightening cuts in receiver and stock. The barrels and stocks interchange with standard ones. I have a 20ga Mag, a light 12(which IS tacticool as it was a worn out $150 ex duck gun before the rebuilding and mods), a Sweet sixteen, and an old, original Browning Brothers Ogden Utah gun with no engraving and a straight grip from 1913 in great shape.
The two piece loading gate with the 'speed feed' feature are on the first three guns and are really the way to go!:)
 
I have a Rem mod 11 on the way. How difficult is it to install a two-piece shell lifter?

What do you mean by the "speed-feed" feature?

Thanks
 
From what I can see, the most difficult part of installing the two-piece carrier is finding one! Brownells lists them for the 20ga and 20ga magnum and 12ga magnum, but not for the standard. The actual swap of parts, if Patrick Sweeney is to be believed, is pretty simple. You DO have his Gunsmithing Shotguns book, don't you? :scrutiny: Good...I was worried there for a minute...

With the bolt locked to the rear, the "speed feed" feature (and I don't know if this is seperate from the two-piece carrier or not) allows you to feed a shell into the magazine, where the mechanism automatically pushes it into the chamber and closes the bolt. Sounds strange, but it has been a Browning hallmark on their auto shotties for decades. The newer Browning Gold has the same feature.
 
Do you need a Browning magazine cutoff button for this to work or will it swap into my Mod 11?
 
Marshall said:
Someone correct me if I am wrong but I believe being a "Light 12" simply means it's not a Magnum/3" chamber. ;)
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That was my thought as well! Who's going to use 3" ammunition on doves?

I assumed the "Light 12" offered the 2 3/4 chamber (in improved cylinder), and the other heavier Auto-5's offered the 3" chamber [magnum] (in full ckoke). Now I understand the bore offerings today can be changed with compensator, but the chamber size determined Light vs. Standard offerings...

That's how Browning released the Auto-5 for a long time... ...on a personal level, fropm experience, the 3" chamber with #4 shot on ducks with an Auto-5 almost guarantees a headache after a few shots! :mad:
 
Camp David said:
That was my thought as well! Who's going to use 3" ammunition on doves?

I assumed the "Light 12" offered the 2 3/4 chamber (in improved cylinder), and the other heavier Auto-5's offered the 3" chamber [magnum] (in full ckoke).
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Actually, almost. I have a "Light 12" in 30" Full Choke, bought it new in '78 for use as a waterfowl gun. Shot many of them with it too. It is the chamber size, as you mentioned, doesn't have anything to do with barrel lenght or choke. :)
 
I'm sure someone here will chime in, but there are three versions of the Auto 5 in 12 gauge, Standard, Light, and Magnum.
 
Browning added the Light Weight 12 gauge to the line in 1946. Like the Sweet Sixteen, the Light Weight 12 is simply a lighter version of the Standard weight gun. Basically, weight is removed from the barrel ring by drilling three holes in it; the rib on vent rib barrels is narrower; the receiver has additional milling; and the buttstock has more wood removed. Early Lightweight 12s and Sweet Sixteens were finished with gold-plated triggers and safeties (until 1951), but there is no other visible feature that distinguishes them from their Standardweight cousins. Beginning in 1948-1949, the left sides of the receivers for the Light Weight models were engraved with the name "Sweet Sixteen" or "Light Twelve."

Basically, in the last 50 some odd years it's all been Light 12's and 3" Magnums.

The American Rifleman
 
*Thread Resurection*

Hey Guys. Iv got a Vintage 1946 Light Twelve in 90% condition. I would like to keep it that way. Can anyone show me a takedown guide for this gun?

Thanks.
 
Mr. Trooper,

I just took my Remington model 11 completely down for the first time. My suggestion is that you label all of the screws you take out. There are a bunch of them and getting them mixed up would be an enoumous PITA.

Also, Pat Sweeney's shotgun book explains that Browning screws have very narrow slits and it may be necessary to "modify" a current screwdriver or two just to fit the heads.
 
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