Browning A5 Light Twelve info needed

[Sticks-N-Stones]

I hate to do it but I'm selling my A5 and need some help pricing it as there are so many variations. It's a 1969 Belgium made 26" barrel lightweight model (as opposed to a 'standard weight') that has seen light use. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[rcmodel]

Well, a true collector won't like the cut-off stock and added recoil pad.
It orginally came with a hard plastic Browning butt plate.
But a shooter probably will like it.

Ended auction sale prices:
http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11269...rowning-arms-co.-a5-light-twelve--2f-12-gauge

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11281...c-28in-vr-2c-made-in-belgium-2c-*no-reserve**

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11372385/shotguns-for-sale/semi-auto/browning-a5-12-gauge-very-nice

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11458...gium-vent-rib-mod-choke-semi-auto-classic-gun

http://www.gunauction.com/buy/11254458/shotguns-for-sale/semi-auto/browning-arms-co.-browning-a5

rc

 

[BigJimP]

It needs some TLC....I can see a lot of crud around the trigger ...and the bolt.../ but the photos look pretty good from a distance. The question is....how does it look internally..?? You can fix all of that of course...and it'll make a little bit of difference - or it'll make it easier to sell vs no sale.

In my area ----that is a difficult gun to sell.../ I'd say in its current condition its a $ 100 - $150 .....if it cleans up real well... $150 - $ 200 gun at the most.

 

[texagun]

In my area ----that is a difficult gun to sell.../ I'd say in its current condition its a $ 100 - $150 .....if it cleans up real well... $150 - $ 200 gun at the most.

Wow, Big Jim. I'd like to know where "your area" is? Around North Texas at the DFW gun shows, a Belgium Browning Light 12 Auto-5 will bring a minimum of $500 in much poorer condition than that gun shows. Even the Blue Book of Gun Values lists that gun at $550 in 90% condition and $675 at 95%. They are very popular guns in this area and that one looks to be in VERY nice condition.

 

[rcmodel]

well... $150 - $ 200 gun at the most.

Shirley, you jest!

Just the barrel off of it will bring $300 easy all over the USA.

If it was a vent or matted rib, maybe $350 - $400 for just the barrel.

rc

 

[Gordon]

The stock looks ready to make a tactical one with a 19" matted barrel like I have. Looks like it is around 13" LOP or so, maybe a triffle less.
$400 max cash to you, the store will make 25-30% additionally generally.

 

[burk]

Maybe it's because I see a lot of them in MI, but I'd say $350, $400 tops retail. They are good guns but the demand seems to be for vent rib models, the 3" chambered guns, and the Sweet Sixteen. One other thing to check is the forearm, I see a lot of A5's with cracked forearms, a deal breaker for many stores.

 

[rbernie]

Just the barrel off of it will bring $300 easy all over the USA.

If it was a vent or matted rib, maybe $350 - $400 for just the barrel.

In my area, I see lots of $900 Light12's and $400 barrels at the local gun shows with no apparent buyers. I'm sure that there are still collectors out there looking for unmolested Belgian guns, but most folk handling Auto5s at the local shows and shops seem to be looking for shooters and unwilling to pay more than five bills to get one.

 

[BigJimP]

I'm in the Northwest.....in my area, every used gun shop has way more of these than they can sell. I have a buddy that owns one shop ....and he won't even take them for trade at any price....has too many and he can't sell them for a profit - or make enough on them to justify the rack space they take up vs any number of other guns he can easily sell.

I see literally dozens of them at my local gun shows...and I don't see hardly anybody buying them. Maybe a buyer comes in once in a while ...but they sure are not popular anymore up here. The Auto 5's are relatively slow actions, by todays standards --- and they've always been finnicky on ammo - even when I was a kid in the 50's.

There are way too many new gas operated guns on the market today ...for around $ 800 new....like the Browning silver hunter ...where a buyer has to ask themselves should I buy an Auto 5 anywhere near $ 500 or a new gun at $ 800 ....and in the last month or two, I've also seen at least 4 or 5 Browning Gold semi-autos, new in box, for under $ 750 - in 12ga ....where that model has been discontinued for a couple of yrs now - its only made in a 10ga now....but there are a lot of deals out there...that this used gun has to compete with.

In my opinion, the market is over saturated on Auto 5's - but that's just my opinion guys. I only have two semi-autos both Benelli super sport models...all the rest of my primary guns are Browning O/U's. The auto 5's are the semi-autos of my youth ...and while I understand the nostalgia side of this discussion...getting hard cash out of someone in my area...for any auto 5 is a full time job !

If you can sell them for that kind of money in your area ...go for it !

 

[rcmodel]

and they've always been finnicky on ammo

Are we talking about the same Browning Auto-5 Lite-12 like the one in my gun cabinet??

It has never missed a beat in the nearly 50 years I have owned it.

And it's seen enough reloaded shotshells to fill a semi-trailer.

As for action speed?
Who cares.

If you can get back on a bird or blue rock you missed faster then an A-5 cycles, you missed your calling in life.
You should have your own TV show doing trick shooting stunts.

rc

 

[Tortuga12]

Oh, man, sign me up for a $200 Auto-5 20 ga w/ vent rib, please!! Seriously, does your guy do FFL transfers?

 

[BigJimP]

The auto 5's are about as old as technology gets in the semi-auto world. Yes, I think they're unreliable - and very finnicky on ammo ...and I hear it all the time, " my auto 5 will only run high brass "...

but whatever you feel like is a good deal ...there are certainly hundreds of them out there on all the auction sites and in every gun shop I've ever been in for sale.

Everybody should buy and shoot whatever they want...

For me ....semi-autos like the Benelli Super Sport....are a heck of a lot better gun...but to each his own...

 

[rcmodel]

" my auto 5 will only run high brass "...

There are folks in the world to dumb to adjust the friction rings when they switch from high brass hunting loads to low brass target loads too.

That is not a gun problem.
That is operator error.

rc

 

[scchokedaddy]

AMEN to trying to operate A5 without knowing how to set friction rings. I won't call them dumb, just uninformed. But then again........... Well you know what I mean. Around here you could expect from 7-800 dollars for op's Browning. Its a southern thing. Same thing as the crazy ar prices. Run on gunbroker, gunsamerica, and auction arms with 700 starting price, you can allways drop down. Check prices on barrells too, you might be surprised!!

 

[f4t9r]

that gun will bring $500 dollars easy around here

 

[rbernie]

There are folks in the world to dumb to adjust the friction rings when they switch from high brass hunting loads to low brass target loads too.

That is not a gun problem.
That is operator error.

In all fairness - my 12ga Auto5s will cycle all sorts of field loads appropriately but they do NOT like to cycle anything under a 1oz load. On the other hand, my 12ga Beretta 390 will run reliably on 3/4oz puff loads that barely budge the Auto5 out of battery.

In terms of feel and aesthetics, I prefer the Auto5 (and the 48AL) over the Beretta and most anything else. But there is no doubt that they have operational limits that are more restrictive than more modern offerings.

 

[red rick]

+1 with rcmodel, I have used mine now for 40 + years with buckshot to 9 shot and it has never missed a beat. I tried replacing it this year with a Weatherby SA-08, I sold the SA-08.

OP, I would say you should get $400 to $500 for it, more if it was stock.

 

[evan price]

It's nice but hardly a 90 pct gun. The cut stock alone drops it to that before condition adjustments. Nice enough shooter though. A5s are very regional. Some places that are full of bird shooters have an overabundance like notd by others. They also have a reputation for being heavy recoilers. And they are not tacticool. And people don't get the friction ring setup.
I will agree with $400-$500 as a shooter.
My Savage 720- while not a belgian browning- was as good and cost me under $200 after the '12 election. The a5 is a great gun and I find it points better than any other semi I've shot. But they are old technology, like Brownings other inventions, and more collectible than daily use...like a 68 Ford mustang. Still a cool car but new ones are better in many ways..

 

[texagun]

....they are not tacticool. And people don't get the friction ring setup.... they are old technology, like Brownings other inventions, and more collectible than daily use...

"Not tacticool"...absolutely agree with that. If they're not made out of black plastic nobody wants them anymore.

"People don't get the friction ring setup...." True. It's a very complicated technological feat to turn the friction ring around 180 degrees for 2 different load settings. Way too hard for the new shooters to understand that complicated technology.

"They are old technology, like Browning's other inventions...."
Yep, John Browning built a bunch of dated junk that would never work today....like the 1911 that has been around for 101 years now and has been used through numerous wars and is still growing strong in popularity, or the .30 and .50 Cal Browning machine guns that revolutionized warfare and have been used through at least 5 wars, and dozens of other inventions by this genius that have revolutionized firearms history. Yep, I thoroughly get it!!

Who would want an old Browning Auto-5 that was designed in 1898 and has been one of the most popular shotguns in wingshooting history.

 

[BigJimP]

Oh come on guys....you surely cannot mean to compare a perfect weapon ( like a 1911 ) ....to an outdated shotgun like the auto 5.....???

I'm a big Browning fan ( I have about 20 of their shotguns - Miroku made O/U's but still ... ) ...and a big 1911 fan ( and I have 9 of them from a variety of mfg's ) ..../ and John Browning was an amazing man !

While I realize the market values are widespread on the auto 5's ....I didn't mean to offend anyone / or everyone ...?? ....but its just nuts comparing the style and design of a 1911 - and its durability - and functionality today as one of the finest defensive and fighting handguns made ---- to the very much obsolete Auto 5's ..???

....and you're right that a lot of guys don't keep them clean and don't understand the friction rings and how to install them ...and that's not a gun problem / and it certainly is a shooter problem...

But shoot a gun like the Auto 5 - next to any of the sporting models from Benelli ...and there is just no compairson...the Benelli shoots cleaner, it will cycle virtually any shell as long as its 1200 fps - even 7/8 oz shells, its way easier to break down, clean and return to battery .../ and while the Benelli's aren't beautiful ( especially the super sport models I choose )...the Auto 5's aren't exactly winning any beauty contests either...

The only downside to the Benelli Super Sport models today ...is their price ...and while they're selling new in my area for around $2,000 its still a heck of a lot of gun for the money, in my opinion. And while we all have budgets..it would be difficult to say the Benelli Super Sport is just a synthetic stocked piece of junk either....

http://www.benelliusa.com/shotguns/benelli-supersport-and-sport-2.php

I hate polymer guns of most any type ...and while I did buy a pair of synthetic stocked Benelli's ....or I may invest in a Beretta UGB

http://www.berettausa.com/products/ugb25-xcel-trap-12-ga-30/

or soemthing else down the road...going back to an Auto 5 just makes no sense to me.

 

[rcmodel]

But shoot a gun like the Auto 5 - next to any of the sporting models from Benelli

I did just that several years ago.
I bought a new Benelli M2 Field for a Turkey gun as my A5 doesn't have interchangeable choke tubes.

I missed getting a shot twice the first year cause the Benelli didn't load a shell at 0-Dark-Thirty.
Because I moved the little silver whipper-bill cut-off thing with my glove and didn't even know it.

Then to, the Benelli kicked like a stud mule on PCP with Mag turkey loads compared to the Brown A5.

I tried to like the Benelli two turkey seasons, then sold it at a loss, and went back to my old reliable A5 that didn't bust my chops every shot.

The A5 also has a magazine cut-off a cave man could operate in the dark and not screw it up!

rc

 

[rbernie]

The A5 also has a magazine cut-off a cave man could operate in the dark and not screw it up!

I literally HATE that thing - it makes carrying the gun a lot more painful than need be. I got into 48ALs specifically because of their long recoil design with smooth sided receiver.

 

[rcmodel]

Too each his own I guess.

I would not buy a semi-auto without one.

It makes crossing fences, and keeping a loaded gun halfway safe while setting decoys, etc.

I never carried any gun by the receiver much in the first place.

It is either slung on my shoulder while getting there, or at the ready and under my full muzzle control while hunting.

rc

 

[rbernie]

That makes sense for duck and turkey. For dove and other critters that are targets or opportunity while walking about, receiver carry is dang useful (and I don't like slings for jump shooting). The 48AL will not chamber a round from the mag tube unless the barrel recoils, making it pretty easy to make fence-safe just by clearing the chamber.

I do loves me my Auto5s (and I still shoot them regularly) but my opinion is that they are less flexible in certain areas than other options. When a $600 Beretta 390 will demand less and deliver more that an Auto5, it's hard for most casual users to justify spending more for the Humpback...

 

[loose noose]

I defitnitely agree with RC, About 20 years ago I inherited my Dad's Belgium Auto 5. He had the gun for at least 50 years, and never had any problems with it, in fact he shot ducks, partridge, rabbits, pheasant, and deer. Later in his life he even went on quail hunts with me and shot his share of quail out west here. I had the gun completely restored shortly after I got it, as I don't ever intend to get rid of that. Since restoring the gun I've shot a lot of chucker (red-legged partridge), as well as quail and pheasant. I've even shot trap with it, and at one time ran 50 straight and ended up with a 97 out of 100. Never did I have a problem with the gun being "finicky with ammo" as I too used a bunch of reloads, but I did turn the friction ring around when I went from shooting quail to pheasant. Incidently that was the only shotgun my Dad ever took hunting with him in N/E Wisconsin.