About thirty years ago, my father-in-law got in a financial bind and my wife and I were going to help him out, but his pride got in the way and instead he offered to sell me his Browning Auto 5 shotgun in exchange for the cash needed. I agreed even though we were was "paying" ten times what the gun could have been bought for new. I knew my father-in-law religiously cleaned his guns after every excursion to the woods, so I just took it home, oiled the exterior and put it in the back of my gun cabinet.
This week, I got it out, looked up on Youtube how to field strip it, took it apart and gave it a thorough cleaning. I got a surprise when the magazine spring retainer was missing, so the spring came out like a novelty toy. Other than a tiny speck of rust in back of the trigger guard where my father-in-law's right hand must have spent many hours, the gun was in very good condition. The bluing was almost entirely worn off the receiver and was missing from many other spots along the 26" barrel where you would expect it to have worn. The receiver and stocks appear to be engraved, but this could just have been rolled on at the factory. It is stamped "Light-Twelve" on the left-hand side of the receiver. My father-in-law, now 90, no longer hunts, had forgotten about selling the gun to me and does not want it back (good thing, too, because we now live in different states and would have to go through an FFL).
The barrel is stamped for 12 gauge 2&3/4 inch only.
My questions are:
This week, I got it out, looked up on Youtube how to field strip it, took it apart and gave it a thorough cleaning. I got a surprise when the magazine spring retainer was missing, so the spring came out like a novelty toy. Other than a tiny speck of rust in back of the trigger guard where my father-in-law's right hand must have spent many hours, the gun was in very good condition. The bluing was almost entirely worn off the receiver and was missing from many other spots along the 26" barrel where you would expect it to have worn. The receiver and stocks appear to be engraved, but this could just have been rolled on at the factory. It is stamped "Light-Twelve" on the left-hand side of the receiver. My father-in-law, now 90, no longer hunts, had forgotten about selling the gun to me and does not want it back (good thing, too, because we now live in different states and would have to go through an FFL).
The barrel is stamped for 12 gauge 2&3/4 inch only.
My questions are:
- I have never owned a long-recoil gun before. Is there anything I need to know about it?
- Any cautions characteristic to the Auto 5?
